♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Welcome back. Today, we begin with many supports.
Lorenz/Ignatz B.
Aaah! You frightened me!
Oh, calm yourself. What is it that you're drawing?
I thought I'd jot down some sketches of everyone while they're training. And then, later on, I'll try to practice their moves on my own. But I can't really concentrate on sketching if someone's watching me... Just sketches, hm? Even so, they're lovely. There's such life in them, it's as if they are moving on the page before my very eyes.
Y-you really think so? You know, I always hoped to be an artist. With skills like that, I'm quite certain you could easily make a living of it. 
And your demeanor is different when you draw. Bolder, somehow. Ah—yes, there's an idea! Perhaps in the future, you will join my retinue as my personal painter! Wait, have we not discussed this arrangement already? I had decided to take you into my service as a knight, had I not? Becoming a knight was my father's idea... Being an artist is out of the question, I'm afraid. So you've said. Well then, I suppose you shall simply have to become a knight who also paints. A knight...who also paints? I have seen your talent and can attest to it. Your gifts are too great to wither away in obscurity. A knight with the rare gift of artistic talent would be most welcome in my employ. 
Heh. I had never thought of that! Still, I don't understand why you'd want me as one of your knights. As a fighter, I'm unremarkable. There is more to knighthood than combat! Courtly manners, a dignified bearing, and an aesthetic sensibility are also essential. A knight with an eye for art, and the talent to create it, is sure to improve the image of the nobility. Lorenz... I'd never have guessed you were prone to such eccentric ideas. Thank you. I'm feeling a little more confident after hearing your kind words. No cause for thanks. It is a noble's duty to provide guidance to those in need!
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Lorenz/Lysithea C.
I know you're always seeking the attention of ladies, but why are you wasting your breath on me. Don't be silly. I want to discuss the future of the Alliance. To have a constructive and candid exchange of opinion. I'm not so sure I'm the one being silly. Actually—I'm busy. Stuff to do.
Now, hold on just a moment! House Ordelia will never benefit from such a narrow-minded mentality! I was under the impression you were interested in me as a person. What do house matters have to do with anything? As it stands, the bonds between Alliance lords are quite weak. If this state of affairs persists, I am afraid those bonds may dissolve entirely. The world is in ruins! Have you given no thought to how the Leicester Alliance might address this crisis? I couldn't care less. House Ordelia may be small, but a small house is fettered by fewer obligations than a larger one. Apply yourselves actively in diplomacy, negotiate wisely, and you could do much to help maintain peace among the neighboring lords. The recognition of those lords would benefit your house immensely. To that end, why not start with me, the heir to House Gloucester? It couldn't hurt for us to become friends, could it?
Yes, yes, of course. When the time comes. But right now, I'm quite busy. Maybe later. As it is, I'm studying magic for the benefit of the Alliance, and I would appreciate it if you left me to it. As it is, I'm studying magic for the benefit of Fódlan's future, and I would appreciate it if you left me to it.
Ah. I see. Then forgive the intrusion. I will take my leave of you, for now. But if there is any way I can be of help, to you or your house, I hope that you won't hesitate to ask. After all, as I'm sure you know, the future of the Alliance is my responsibility!
The future, he says. Hmph.
As though I have a future...
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Lorenz/Ferdinand B.
I suspect I know what you are referring to. A certain noble who caused a stir at one of the local taverns, correct?
For someone of status to make such a scene! What a disgrace. I thought just the same. A noble ought to hold himself to a higher standard. It is hardly appropriate to drink and mingle with a tavern full of commoners. Oh, ah, that is not quite what I meant.
I do not object to a noble patronizing their local establishments. In fact, I would say such excursions have value. Is that so? I would be very curious to hear what value you mean exactly. But allow me first to venture a guess. Is it that you suppose it is proper for a noble to bolster a town's wealth with his patronage? If that is your thinking, then I would counter that whatever one adds to a merchant's coffers seldom makes it to the pockets of the townsfolk. I think that if a noble wishes to use his resources to ease the burdens of the commoners, he ought to go about town and spend it more directly. That is wonderfully insightful, Lorenz, albeit not what I had in mind. What I meant was this—we can benefit from crossing the threshold and learning more about regular folk. 
We scarcely understand the reality of their lives. In turn, they do not know about us. I have heard that some believe we have horns growing from our heads. It is an embarrassing, and potentially perilous, state of affairs. You are quite right. In fact, that reminds me of something a boy once said to me when I visited a village on my family's territory. He actually asked me if I had a tail. Ah, hilarious! We all need a laugh now and then. As a man of status, I feel it is my calling to right the world's wrongs. But there is only so much I can do alone. Working in tandem, though, you and I could make tremendous accomplishments. My sentiments exactly. Together we could achieve a great deal. Though the circumstances of birth may have placed one of us in the Empire and the other in the Alliance, we can still study and fight together. Yes, precisely! Together, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. By the way, Lorenz... Do you have a tail?
The two's animations suggest that they're laughing.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Raphael/Ignatz B.
I-Ignatz?
Hey! Ignatz is here!
What's gotten into him?
Hey! Aaaaagh! Hey, you've been acting weird lately. Are you sick or something? R-Raphael! No, I'm...fine... So, what's going on with you? Are you worried about something? Wanna talk about it? I don't know about "worried." It's just, you know, your parents... Hey, now! Aaaagh! What is it?! I thought I told you to drop it? Just forget about it! I can't just forget about it! You lost your parents! And when you were in need, my family did nothing to help you. Well, what were they supposed to do about it? It's not like they killed my parents. And besides, that's our folks you're talking about. That's got nothing to do with us, right?
I still can't help but feel responsible, like I owe you somehow! Look, if you wanna do something, just be my pal like you used to.
We can eat tasty meals together, play games, make jokes, and laugh until our bellies hurt! Are you sure that's what you want? Of course it is! We were friends before, and there's no reason we can't be friends now! Raphael, I... Thank you. And I'm sorry about before.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Ignatz... You don't need to burden yourself with your parents' mistakes...
Petra/Ignatz C.
Please take my apologies, Ignatz. I did not have enough care.
That's OK, Petra. Just... Have you seen my glasses?
Glasses... Ah, yes! Transparent lenses for viewing things. Yes, exactly, yes.
Hmm, your face looks different without the glasses. Ah, well, I dropped them. That's why I'm looking for them.
I have no wounds. And you? I'm OK too. Thank you. That is goodness. How long have you needed the lenses, anyway? Hm? Oh, ages. I can't see without them. You've never used glasses, I gather. I guess you don't need them. In Brigid, glasses are not existing. I think all of our eyes must be good there. I kind of figured. I'm a little jealous, to tell the truth. Inside the shadows, dangerous beasts are lurking. If you cannot see, you cannot live. So bad eyesight means death? Brigid sounds scary. You need to have sight for hunting too. If not, you will starve until death. Oh yeah, lots of hunting in Brigid, right? I guess that requires good eyesight. I wonder why eyes would change and need lenses...
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
Ashe/Annette C.
I am! It's quiet here. Easier to concentrate.
It really is. Hey, would you like to study together? We can help each other out if we get stuck.
Oh, yes! We'll get a lot more done working together.
What's the matter, Ashe?
This question's got me stumped. "A ballista inside a castle is ready to fire at enemies outside. What angle should be used for the shot? Assume the ballista is the same as those in Garreg Mach. Ignore the effects of wind." This is for defensive strategy, isn't it? Why is it so complicated? Don't you just aim and fire? Hmm... It may help to focus on maximizing target accuracy to reduce your miss rate. This is important stuff. This math will be useful on the battlefield one day.
To start, let's sort out the setup. Let's see...using these ballista specifications... If the ballista quarrels follow this trajectory, they'll hit the enemy lines, right? Oh, that makes sense! Because the enemy line will be here! That's it! OK, now try using that same technique and applying it to this other problem. If the walls are this high, and the enemy lines are at that distance—ah! I think I see! I knew you'd get it. Wow. I didn't expect math, of all things, to be useful in a siege. This is tough. Numbers are not my strong suit. But this really is the sort of thing you have to know if you want to command troops. That's true. But not everyone is good with numbers. That's why we have tacticians do these calculations for us, or prepare them before we go to battle. A century ago, the Empire's mathematicians played a huge role in the Battle of the Wall of Fódlan.
I had no idea. Hey, you really know what you're doing, Annette!
You think so? Definitely! You've obviously done a lot of studying. I really admire that. I suppose I have! Studying is a necessity if you want the advantage over your enemies. But necessity aside, it's nice to hear you say that.
♪ A Guide for the Future ♪
♪ No music ♪
And with that, let's fighting.
How so?
Plenty of places to hide, and our pick of paths to advance through. It's the perfect battlefield for our tactics. I have my eye on that low hill over there. See it? It's the ideal spot to lure our enemies to, and then surround them with fire. Fire is unacceptable. Gotcha, Teach! I know, I know. We want all students to make it back to the monastery. With you in command, we can't lose. The Imperial princess and the crown prince don't stand a chance.
What do you expect? It's Claude. I am certain he was foisting more of his ill-advised schemes on our poor professor.
Oh, you have me all figured out, Lorenz. You know me better than I know myself. We were just going over our strategies. Win or lose, it's an honor just to participate in the legendary Battle of the Eagle and Lion!
We've got to win so we can show Captain Jeralt what we're made of! Yes! I'm ready! Let's go!
Haha, I shall give it my all!
I'll just...stay quiet and follow along so I don't get in anyone's way. That will not be acceptable, Marianne. The whole point of this exercise is for each house to act as one.
Do your best! I can't wait to see how well everyone does. All right, sounds like Hilda will be taking control of a central hill and watching the battle from there. It's almost time. Come on, Teach! The battle starts now!
♪ As Swift as Wind ♪
Hello again, Gronder. Been a while, hasn't it?
Unit positions are much the same as last time, but which side is which has obviously radically changed. The Black Eagles are the red army, while the Blue Lions are the yellow army.
Manning the central hill for the Black Eagles (how is it fair that they start with control of it?) is Bernadetta.
Persecution Complex: Grants Atk +5 when unit is not at full HP.
Bowrange +1: Increases bow range by 1.
Vantage: When foe initiates combat, unit still attacks first if HP is ≤ 50%.
Stealth: Makes it more difficult for foes to target unit.Bernie could be a credible non-ballista threat with her 2-4 range...if she wasn't reduced to 4 AS by that longbow. She also has little in the way of Prt and Rsl.
This would be Ferdinand, if we hadn't poached him.
Canto: Allows unit to move again after completing certain actions, if there is movement remaining.
Armored Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants Def +6 during combat.
Swordbreaker+: Grants Hit/Avo +30 when using a lance against sword users.Confidence and Swordbreaker+ would be a real threat if this guy was actually Ferdinand. He's got a lot of Def when initiating combat, too.
Heya, Caspar, how's it going?
Born Fighter: Adjacent foes suffer Avo -10 during combat.
Desperation: If unit initiates combat with HP ≤ 50%, unit's follow-up attack (if possible) occurs before foe's counterattack.
Lancebreaker+: Grants Hit/Avo +30 when using an axe against lance users.Pretty standard axe unit, honestly. Not much special about him.
There's ol' Edie.
Charm: Adjacent allies deal 3 extra damage during combat.
General: Nullifies instant death effects and halves damage from enemy gambits.
Seal Strength: If unit damages foe during combat, foe suffers Str -6 for 1 turn after combat.
Seal Magic: If unit damages foe during combat, foe suffers Mag -6 for 1 turn after combat.Edelgard's danger doesn't come from her abilities, it comes from that tomahawk she's wielding.
Tomahawk: Requires Axe rank B. 1-2 range. 12 Mt, 60 Hit, 14 Wt, 20 durability. Requires Wootz Steel x2 and 1275 gold to repair.Don't let the fact that it's a 1-2 range weapon fool you, this thing can seriously fuck someone up. Tread carefully around Edelgard.
Additionally, as is always the case with lord bosses, Edelgard's packing a lot of Cha, so good luck with gambits against her.
This would be Linhardt if bla bla you know the deal by now.
Defiant Res: Grants Res +8 when HP is ≤ 25%.
White Magic Avo +20: Grants Avo +20 when using white magic.
Unsealable Magic: Prevents unit from being silenced.Surprisingly dodgy for a level 15 priest, but not really remarkable otherwise.
'Course Hubert would be here.
Officer Duty: Grants Mt +5 with gambits.
Defiant Mag: Grants Mag +8 when HP is ≤ 25%.
Dark Magic Uses x4: Quadruples the number of uses for dark magic. Unsealable Magic: Prevents unit from being silenced.Packs a decent punch, and has a bit of extra range with Mire Β. A reasonable threat!
Hey, that's cheating, where did you get those flying abilities?
Songstress: Adjacent allies recover up to 10% of max HP at the start of each turn.
Alert Stance: If unit takes no action except Wait, grants Avo +15 for 1 turn.
Darting Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants AS +6 during combat. Unsealable Magic: Prevents unit from being silenced.Dorothea gets 16 AS when she initiates combat, which shouldn't be messed with. She will instantly melt the second a weapon user looks at her, though.
Petra replacement. Alert Stance: If unit takes no action except Wait, grants Avo +15 for 1 turn.
Keen Intuition: Grants Avo +30 during combat with a foe 2 or more spaces away.Major pain to take down without gambits. On most turns, if you hit her with a ranged attack, she'll have 70 Avo. Not fun.
Moving onto the Faerghus kids!
Staunch Shield: If unit takes no action except Wait, grants Def +4 for 1 turn.
Defiant Def: Grants Def +8 when HP is ≤ 25%. Armored Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants Def +6 during combat.Doubled by damn near everything, incredibly weak to magic, but can take any physical hit no problem, and can hit at 1-2 range.
Ugh...
Live to Serve: When healing an ally with white magic, unit recovers the same amount of HP. White Magic Avo +20: Grants Avo +20 when using white magic.
Miracle: Chance to survive lethal damage with 1 HP, if HP is > 1. Trigger % = Lck stat. Unsealable Magic: Prevents unit from being silenced.I know, I know, this isn't Silver Snow endgame, Miracle isn't that bad this early into the game, but an 11% chance to endure fatal damage on an enemy unit is still 11% too high. I don't like Miracle on enemy units.
Ashe replacement.[Bowrange1]
Defiant Avo: Grants Avo +30 when HP is ≤ 25%.Really short on abilities compared to his peers.
Annette replacement.
Seal Speed: If unit damages foe during combat, foe suffers Spd -6 for 1 turn after combat. Unsealable Magic: Prevents unit from being silenced.Unremarkable.
Felix replacement. Darting Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants AS +6 during combat.
Axebreaker+: Grants Hit/Avo +30 when using a sword against axe users.That steel sword weighs him down so badly that even Darting Blow only brings him up to 15 AS, which is unremarkable for sword users.
Oh hey, an actual major threat.
Lady Knight: Grants Mt +3 and Hit +5 with gambits. Canto: Allows unit to move again after completing certain actions, if there is movement remaining.
Lancefaire: Grants Atk +5 when using a lance.
Avo +10: Increases Avo by 10. Darting Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants AS +6 during combat.
Pass: Allows unit to pass through spaces occupied by foes.This is a good time for me to bring up a fun fact about enemy pegasus knights: they cheat. See, enemy pegasus knights use a special version of the pegasus knight class which has Lancefaire. Why? Beats the hell outta me, but it's unfair. Ingrid is dangerous to leave in range of anyone but your absolute sturdiest units. Thankfully, we're early enough in the game that she doesn't have effective damage prevention.
Sylvain's pretty boring by comparison.
Philanderer: If a female ally is adjacent, unit deals 2 extra damage and takes 2 less damage during combat. Canto: Allows unit to move again after completing certain actions, if there is movement remaining.
Death Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants Str +6 during combat. Swordbreaker+: Grants Hit/Avo +30 when using a lance against sword users.I guess he can activate Death Blow at range.
Just as much of a pain as Edelgard. Charm: Adjacent allies deal 3 extra damage during combat. General: Nullifies instant death effects and halves damage from enemy gambits.
Defiant Str: Grants Str +8 when HP is ≤ 25%.
Here's our squad for today. Flayn is Ferdinand's adjutant, Annette Felix's, and Raphael Ignatz's.
Constance gets the privilege of holding Thyrsus, since...well, she's much better-equipped to make use of it than Marianne or Lorenz.
Balthus gets the Chalice today.
Nothing notable otherwise, so let's go. I'll be skipping over the intro dialogue and cutscene, since nothing has changed.
Constance opens things by frying this cavalier from like a million miles away.
I, uh, forgot to outfit Yuri with weapons before deploying, so he grabs some swords from the convoy.
Balthus buffs these two up for an incoming ballista hit.
Do your thing, Ferdinand.
Hell yeah.
Hits.
Southern Blue Lions units start moving west, while this guy misses.
Acceptable. Flayn'll never be fast.
"Oh well" is right.
Bernadetta looks like she's going to go after Ingrid instead of us. Smart move.
Hits.
Oh, hell, can you guys not wait until I'm further along? Jerks.
Ingrid is dangerous.
I'd say "sorry, Bernie," but defeating her clearly cursed me. Just look at that level.
Steel weapon users are so pathetic. Can't even double Constance.
Ah, that's really good.
...Hubert, you could've just used Mire Β if you wanted to be safe.
Now, Dorothea, that makes sense, she doesn't have a 1-3 range spell.
Please bring out the King of Grappling. I dare you.
Impregnable Wall serving me well here.
I fail to see how the AI could've thought that was a good idea. At all.
Unless it's just deliberately making these two kill each other to make things harder for me.
Well, there go Hubert and Dorothea. Cripes.
I can do this!
Utterly pathetic that Ignatz can't kill this guy with a crit.
My Str-reliant units, I am begging you: stop getting Mag.
I'll take it, I suppose.
Oh dear, the Blue Lions killing Hubert has enraged Edelgard.
...Holy shit, I'm glad Ingrid didn't come for me.
Bad.
That +2 Mt from Ignatz's support with Raphael is really saving him right now.
The Black Eagles are really getting thinned out.
Perfect opportunity for us to start cleaning up. The Blue Lions have suffered quite a few losses, too.
No clue why the Petra wants to try a gambit instead of just hitting Lorenz, but whatever.
Excellent work on all counts, Yuri.
Ah, dammit, just when I'm starting to engage Dimitri.
More than makes up for the bad level from Bernadetta.
Honestly surprised the Petra replacement went for a gambit over just waiting her turn out. She'd have gotten +15 Avo from that.
One thing Ignatz has going for him is that, even if he can't kill someone, he can at least inflict -6 Str and -5 Def on them with Seal Strength plus Break Shot. That's a serious enfeeblement for any unit.
Not the greatest level, but I can't be too sad about any level that has Spd for Ferdinand.
Whoops.
Bah. A failure of tactics on my part, but units not being permanently lost plus this being the very end of the battle (Ingrid is the only unit left for either enemy army) means I'm not too bothered about it.
That's not progress.
Just getting Faith experience on Constance.
And Balthus brings this to a close.
The Golden Deer!♪ Beneath the Banner ♪
Okay, phew, I didn't mess up the very easy secondary objective.
♪ Words to Believe In ♪
Yes, I must wholeheartedly agree. As ever, I have proven to be no match for you. It is the utmost honor to receive praise from your royal— I'm kidding, of course. Really, though, I was lucky to have Teach on my side. In all honesty, you two made me work for it. If I had to face you again, there's no telling which way it would go. What do you think, Teach? How did the other houses fare?
They were nothing. Too true, Teach! That just about sums it up. Oh, I'm sorry. That's probably hard for the losers to hear, isn't it? In any case, I hope the day never comes when we have to put this experience to use. Agreed. I would hate to know a future in which I'm forced to cross swords with you.
I wouldn't mind. I'll accept a challenge from either of you at any time. Heh, I'm kidding, of course! Well, now that the three-way battle has ended in an Alliance victory, I daresay it's time for some post-battle reconciliation. The victor has but one request. Hear me out... When we get back to Garreg Mach, let's have a grand feast to break down the walls between our respective houses. And by a "grand" feast, I mean a fairly regular feast in the dining hall. Hmph. I accept your proposition. Please notify me once your preparations are complete. It seems I have no choice but to drown my sorrow at losing in overindulgence. I'll help you with the preparations. It's not a feast if you don't eat too much! Leave it to the Imperial princess to say such wonderful things.
That's not exactly what I said, but... Ugh, forget it. Laugh all you want. Oh, if you insist! Hahahaha! Hey, Teach. Looks like you're having a good time, too. Seeing you smile like that means we've got no choice but to have a great time tonight. Let's get going!
♪ A Promise ♪
As long as we have you and Claude, the Golden Deer House is unstoppable! I am sure we did not require Claude for our victory, but it certainly would not have been possible without our professor.
Haha! I'm so pleased to be in your class, Professor. You truly bring out the best in us. Let's keep fighting! And winning!
I knew the tactics you learned from the captain would be something else. I better work harder to catch up! I have had the opportunity to experience much. Please allow me to offer you my gratitude once more, Professor. Because of you, I managed to get through the fight without feeling like a burden. Thank you, Professor.
I hear Lady Rhea and Seteth are singing your praises too! Just wait until you see my true power. Oh, wow! I don't doubt it.
Oh, look. Claude has been revived. Your tactics were ingenious, and you've somehow mastered the power of the King of Liberation's Relic. You really are incredible. Though you can be a bit absentminded at times. Your mind is like a giant bowl with a tiny crack in it... Claude, saying that only makes your own mind bowl seem tiny. How dare you! My bowl is much bigger than Teach's! Unfortunately, it doesn't just have a crack. The whole bottom of my bowl is missing. In other words, you are the absentminded one, not our professor. That's true. He just admitted it.
Hehe! It's unusual to hear you laughing, Marianne. Your smile is really cute. If Lorenz and Marianne have a B rank support or higher (I think), Lorenz adds the following line. I agree. You really don't know how beauti— Eh... Never mind. It feels so great to laugh and joke around like this, doesn't it?
Hm? Well, look at that. Someone's having a secret rendezvous in the courtyard...
The honest truth is that I'd hate to have you as an enemy. If possible, I wish for you to fight by my side. If I could use the Sword of the Creator, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I bet if I could use it, you would trust me to... Right? That selflessness may be what I like best about you.
Next time: more new paralogues? Yes indeedy!
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