/
Joshua was the very picture of a mighty general as he rode his glossy black horse into Peril Castle.
A hundred Wilhelm Knights followed close on his heels, their black armor exuding a subtle aura of mystery.
The castle was almost perfectly silent, much to Count Keiros’s consternation. He’d expected raucous applause, but most of the soldiers were too dumbfounded to open their mouths. Perhaps Joshua was just that intimidating.
Keiros sighed and stepped forward.
“Baron Sanders, we’re delighted to welcome you to Peril Castle.”
“Thank you for your kindness.” Joshua got off his horse and flashed a winning smile1. His voice was a clean, youthful baritone, belying his actual age.
Count Keiros found himself deeply troubled; Joshua had gone out of his way to help them, despite his young age. Despite their nominal ranks, the Count couldn’t bring himself to treat the young Baron like a subordinate. He had trouble figuring out how to treat Joshua, period. It was quite a unique quandary for a nobleman.
“Um
 First of all, thank you. We’re enormously grateful for you—”
“Joshua.”
Keiros blinked. “Young Lady?”
“It’s been some time.” The red-haired woman appeared beside Keiros, drawing a wider smile from Joshua. “You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you.” Charles’s eyes darkened.
Icarus saw that and ran up and prodded Joshua in the side.
“Um
”
“It must have been quite difficult.”
“Well
 It took a lot of work.”
Strangely enough, Icarus’s ire melted like snow under the sun from a few short words from Joshua. He had a strange way of making people’s hearts skip a beat2.
“Long live the God of War!” a voice shouted from somewhere. Words Icarus wanted to say but lacked the confidence to do so. It felt like a disease festering in Icarus’s heart.
“Long live Baron Sanders!”
“Hail to the Baron! Welcome to Peril Castle!”
“Thank you! Thank you! Master!”
Peril Castle rumbled with shouts and celebration.
The Wilhelm Knights watched this from behind Joshua and smiled to themselves. They were proud—elated—to have a man like this at their head. They would be together for a long time, that much was certain.
Count Keiros smiled at Charles and Joshua.
“Everyone, stand to attention!” he suddenly shouted. “To Baron Joshua Sanders, who traveled far to help our family! Salute!”
The Pontiers’ troops brandished their weapons and cheered. Then, as one, they stamped their feet.
That Sunday afternoon, the warm noon sunlight lit Peril Castle in a golden glow.
“You wanna die?”
Cain broke out in a cold sweat under Icarus’s murderous gaze.
“
What do you mean, miss?”
“Miss? MISS?”
Cain wisely kept his mouth shut.
“I’m not going to believe a single word that comes out of your mouth from now on. You have to be crazy to come up with a joke right now—you have to be even crazier to say it out loud!”
“What did I do wrong? I’m just kidding, so
”
His quip earned him another death glare from Icarus.
“How amusing. Just what do you think about me?”
“What?”
“That elbow.”
Cain followed Icarus’s eyes and flinched.
“You got yourself hurt pointlessly. You went in at the most dangerous moment possible, and you had no idea what the enemy was going to do. If you had any faith in my tactical skill, if you ever thought of me as your comrade—no, I guess not.”
After a moment of stiff silence, Cain bowed his head.
“Sorry.”
The apology came from his heart. Icarus was right: he’d been careless. There was nothing else he could say.
It’s not that he didn’t care about Icarus, but for a split second, he couldn’t control himself; he was too eager to wield his sword alongside his master.
Icarus eyed his lowered head and sighed.
“You better not do this again if you care about me at all.3”
“I’ll remember!” Cain saluted. “It’s never going to happen again.”
“That better not be lip service—”
“I swear it on my name, Cain de Harry, First Knight.”
“You’re having a lot of fun with this ‘first’ thing.” Icarus snorted with pursed lips. “Must be nice.”
“What are you two talking about?”
“Ack—!”
They spun around with wide eyes.
“How are you feeling?” Joshua smiled at them. This was the first time all three of them had been in the same place at the same time since the Master Battle.
Icarus shivered wordlessly, but Cain

“Master. Let me hug you, just once.4 Just one
 hug.”
Joshua took a step back as Cain approached him.
“The main force will arrive soon. Marquis Crombell and the Mercenary King are on their way.”
Cain and Icarus straightened up immediately.
“The Mercenary King is bringing tens of thousands of hired troops with him. We can’t treat them like the ones we fought earlier.”
“You mean—”
“I don’t know about the Mercenary King, but the Marquis’s forces shouldn’t be too bad.”
Joshua’s companions clapped their hands over their mouths. They couldn’t believe that their master was treating the threat so flippantly. War was no joke; who could fight when they were outnumbered by a dozen or even a hundred times?
“Is it possible?”
Joshua and Cain turned to regard Icarus. The young tactician5 was startled to discover the trust in their gazes.
“Time to use your hidden cards,” Icarus said to Joshua.
“Got it.” He grinned.
“It would be ideal if I could pick somewhere near Reinhardt. To do that, we need a qualified, neutral, and well-regarded notary.”
“I know just the one.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Cain frowned. “What do you mean—”
“First, can I ask you for your thoughts?”
“Anything.” Joshua nodded to Icarus’s beautiful face6.
“What is your real goal, master?”
Cain’s eyes narrowed. He was very curious as well.
“
I want to rule the world. A little bit of it is just personal satisfaction, but it’s mostly to protect my people.”
“Woah
” Cain’s jaw dropped. He looked around nervously. If anyone had heard that, it wouldn’t be surprising if Joshua was immediately sentenced to death for treason.
“Does that mean you’re considering it7 for the job? As far as I know, only a Britten can be the Emperor.” The idea seemed to put Icarus in a poor mood. It was like sacrificing yourself to save someone else.
It was just Icarus’s misunderstanding, though.
“How old-fashioned. I don’t need to stick to the Britten name.”
Icarus blinked in surprise and smiled widely. “I have a dream, too. I want to be a member of the Royal Knights, not of a noble house’s order.”
“You can be.” Joshua smiled back.
“Ah! I don’t care how hard it is; the first position belongs to me, master,” Cain loudly insisted.
Joshua and Icarus gave him a bemused look. No doubt Iceline would have had many things to say if she’d been there.
“Were there not Seven Knights of the Emperor, once upon a time? When the Avalon Empire was at its strongest.” Cain raised his chin. “If anyone asks, I’m the First Sword.”
“I’ll consider it,” Joshua said with a laugh.
“Master!”
“For the record, I’m in charge of choosing who’s who.”
Cain was silent for a moment.
“
Now that I think about it, the Second Sword doesn’t sound so bad either. Well, the numbers don’t really matter that much. Even a three-year-old wouldn’t be so childish—”8
“Pft—” The abrupt change in position made Icarus laugh helplessly.
The day after the battle ended in good cheer.
TLN: well shit, I like cain more but don’t smile like that joshua
 it’s bad for my heart ↩
EDN: Read: Icarus is a simp ↩
TLN: what is this flirty flirty over here ↩
TLN: do you all remember when cain tried to kill joshua? No? Just me? ↩
EDN: I’m just gonna headcanon Icarus as Robin from FE:A now, yeah. ↩
TLN: joshua my boy on his way to ruin cain and icarus’s peaceful life ED: Tags: NTR ↩
TLN: what ‘it’ ↩
PR: The man really opted for being side piece number two, down bad for real. ↩