[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/201123/117f24ebf11c0a01c648eeafeb796351.png[/img][/center][hr]
Von Varley. As much as Auberon would've liked to believe that their resemblance was a coincidence following that revelation, he was all but certain it wasn't. He wasn't aware that his wayward cousin who had shamefully eloped with a Varley boy had a child, though it shouldn't have been a surprise. What was he to do, then? Call this Albrecht's mother a - well, Auberon would never repeat the words he'd heard her called, so that was probably out. [i]Should[/i] he do anything? Whatever indecency his parents may have committed against House Galatea had no bearing on their son. Sins of the father and whatnot. Besides, House Varley was allegedly composed of pious men, by Imperial standards at least, whatever that counted for.

It seemed the time Auberon had spent staring liberated him from the need to decide on a course of action, as his choice was fortuitiously delayed by Professor Bartels' interjection. Another combat exercise was liable to be the last thing the class wanted after what happened at Luin, especially one with more innocents in the crossfire. It should've been the last thing [i]he[/i] wanted. They should be running war games amongst themselves, not marching off to war on the Church's behalf. And yet every fiber of Auberon's being was wound tight with anticipation, fingers trembling as they itched to curl around the haft of an axe and cleave these heretics in twain until they abandoned their reprehensible crusade against the defenseless. Unlike those who resort to banditry in hard times, there were no words to be had with them; the Goddess may send rain down upon the just and unjust alike, but She sent Auberon Galatea against only the latter.

[color=ffd700]"I volunteer for the advance unit,"[/color] Auberon announced with all the righteous fervor that was no doubt to be expected of him. Albrecht was all but forgotten under the grim determination that filled him. This would not be another Luin. Never another Luin. He wasn't decisive enough last time. His lack of resolve saw Derec concussed and Kellen nearly eviscerated when he should've unleashed all his fury on that Saints-damned chieftain the moment he entered Auberon's sight. Armored in faith as he was, he had no reason to merely react to the moves of his enemy when he would serve as a far better bulwark for the weak by excising the heart of the threat immediately.

[hr]
[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210505/2a9d9af6b732afe380e700aea286758d.png[/img][/center][hr]
Rudolf watched Lienna's all-too-familiar startled reaction with impassive weariness, though it faded as quickly as it came when she promptly settled down without a tedious comment about his sudden appearance. He was thankful for that, even if her answer gave him nothing that he couldn't surmise on his own. The professor's much more informative answer came as if on cue, though Rudolf sorely wished it hadn't. 

He didn't know which side looked worse here, the Church marching a bunch of teenagers out to fight their ideological battles for them, or the dissidents that thought holding villages hostage would win converts or even paint the Church in a poor light. Then again, if their tactics were as ill-considered as their motives, a group of teenagers was probably more than a match for these apostates. The only problem was that said group of teenagers included [i]him[/i], which meant he'd be given responsibility, which meant he'd fail at those responsibilities, and then compromise his position, and then let his weakness be exploited by the enemy, and then they'd all get flanked and die. It was just as his father had always said, a formation falls apart the moment a gap is made, and Rudolf was ever the flimsy shield in the phalanx, the flank that routs prematurely, the inept soldier that everyone overestimates. At least they were asking for volunteers instead of forcing him into an assignment. 

Though truly it was only a matter of picking his poison. If he let the advance unit down, then he'd just doom the reserve unit to fall under the full might of the opposition. If he let the reserve unit down, they'd still all be brutally slaughtered along with the villagers, but at least there was a chance the advance unit would handle the dissidents without giving them a chance to engage the back line, or regroup and flank the enemy even once they did. 

Lienna and he appeared to be of one mind on the matter, judging by her comment, though she seemed rather blasé about the whole ordeal. Goddess above, was one flirt with death at that stupid little hamlet really enough to desensitize them all to this? Or were the heroes of the hour just that confident in their abilities that they saw no danger in this exercise? They shouldn't be; Rudolf von Bergliez was watching their backs, and they'd take comfort in that like the oblivious fools they were.

[color=b300b3]"Wherever I'll let less people down, I guess,"[/color] Rudolf muttered under his breath, [color=b300b3]"You're all the miracle workers, not me."[/color] He really hadn't intended for the professor to hear him - in fact, he sincerely hoped she didn't, but maybe someone out there would hear his plea and deign to answer it. If the Goddess didn't listen in Garreg Mach, She didn't listen at all.

[hr]
[center][img]https://fireemblemwiki.org/w/images/thumb/0/07/FETH_Crest_of_Daphnel.png/60px-FETH_Crest_of_Daphnel.png[/img][img]https://fireemblemwiki.org/w/images/thumb/e/ed/FETH_Crest_of_Noa.png/60px-FETH_Crest_of_Noa.png[/img][/center]