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Sylvain knew when to not push a girl. He was notorious for pissing off women of all ages due to his flirtatious personality. A part of Sylvain realized that some of these women must have noticed how fake he sounded toward them. Other times, Sylvain would intentionally sabotage a good relationship just to make a point to himself that he couldn't trust any of them.
After he scored with a girl and they ran off, he never pursued them. He never went after girls who weren't interested in him from the start either. The redhead could admit that he wasn't a nice person, but he also wasn't a sleazy guy either. He wouldn't go to the extreme to get what he wanted.
There was an exception. If he really liked the girl, he would stop at nothing to get them to notice. At that point of time, Sylvain expected Ingrid to butt in and lecture him before the cycle repeated itself. However, sex was not on Sylvain's mind when this girl came to mind. This was something more personal.
The current target was Bernadetta Von Varley. In no shape or form would Sylvain ever pursue her. He noticed right away she had issues that prevented her from interacting with others. Not only was Sylvain not interested in her baggage, but he didn't want to add to her problems. He was more interested in getting to know her as a friend…and as a fanboy.
So Bernadetta had left one of her manuscripts in the library. In it contained a fantastic story that Sylvain was sucked into immediately. He had a feeling that the story was written by the shy Black Eagle student due to how the protagonist acted. Most fantasy stories tended to revolve around the writer as someone they were not but hoped to be.
When the cavalier failed to return the half-finished manuscript the first time, Sylvain decided to use a different method in order to deliver it back.
He wrote an anonymous review for Bernadetta that conveyed his thoughts on her story right next to her manuscript. He watched from a distance when he saw her retrieve her manuscript. She read the note out loud. Sylvain was pleased that Bernadetta took the review to heart. He wanted to boost her confidence and hope she'll keep writing. Of course, he was foolish enough to reveal himself and ask her out for tea. Old habits die hard even if he did want to talk about her stories rather than go out with her specifically.
While she ran away from Sylvain initially, when he stayed at her door and asked (more like scratching at the door like a hungry cat), she reluctantly let him in. Students witnessed Sylvain pick his next victim, and he was aware that the rumors weren't going to be nice to either of them. No matter what, Sylvain was going to be Bernadetta's writing companion!
Bernadetta remained on guard. She forced Sylvain to sit on the chair while she remained on her bed. She continued to stare at him while holding onto her adorable teddy bear. Sylvain stopped himself from complimenting how cute it was simply because it would only make her freak out. He only cared about the writing after all.
Progress was difficult the first week given how closed off she was being. As a result, Sylvain came in after class with sweets that she happily accepted. He didn't want to bribe her, but seeing as how Byleth did the same thing and got good results, he needed to do it too.
Day ten and Bernadetta finally caved in and spoke normally to him. Sylvain's restraining himself from flirting finally paid off.
The cavalier was surprised to hear that Bernadetta was already working on another story on top of her main one. She only began the idea recently, so she only had a "draft" of the first few chapters.
This was a different story. The title read "The Legendary Swordsman." It didn't take a genius to know whom this book would be about. Sylvain held his breath and quickly began reading while Bernadetta worked on her main story.
Like Bernadetta's main story, this one described an adventure revolving around a mercenary for hire and the harem he attracted during his adventures.
Since the beginning of time, the world had been plagued by monsters, dragons, and demons alike. A hero arose in those dark times and vanquished the great evil. His descendants have continued for more than a thousand years, but there had only ever been ninety-nine heroes listed.
The current hero, the hundredth in line, had the largest expectation of all. At some point, the demons realized that corrupting the hero line would be better than trying to eliminate it all together. As a result, the Demon King sent a female temptress to corrupt the ninety-sixth hero . While she had betrayed her master in favor of her lover, the bloodline still became corrupted with demon blood. Children afterwards had to deal with the cursed blood. If all went well for the Demon King, the hundredth hero would become the enemy to mankind.
The hero's name was Beleth , a rather emotionless fighter. When he was born, his parents feared the worst. Seeing as how his father met a sad end due to the demonic curse, Beleth would meet the same fate. If he slays the demon before then, he would be able to lift the curse.
His mother had passed away mysteriously a few months after Beleth's birth. Rumor had it that his mother had to be used as a sacrifice to reassure her son's humanity remained in place. People also assumed Beleth's lack of emotion to the point he didn't speak often came from the demon blood.
Beleth would not be alone in his journey to break the curse. The hero had two companions, a boy and a girl, accompanying him. While they both excelled in archery, only one of them was good at everything.
The boy was named Theon, the heir of the Sky Kingdom. Despite being the Sky Prince, he went to the surface to become the bodyguard of the hero against his father's wishes . The sky was filled with fighters that excelled in riding dragons and pegasi. They could wield any weapon so as long as they were able to befriend a flying companion. As the heir to the throne, Theon learned from a young age how to become a wyvern rider when he was old enough to wield a bow. From there, he became the best fighter in all the kingdom, and no one could hope to beat him.
He was also charismatic. Theon excelled in negotiations. His sweet talk allowed him to be close to Beleth from a young age. Despite Beleth's stoic demeanor, he didn't mind having a hyperactive sidekick who could hold his own in battle.
The girl's name was Honey. She used a bow too, but she wasn't all that great in comparison. She lived in the same village as Beleth. She was the girl next door who warmed up to Beleth from a young age. She wasn't much of a fighter . Instead, most of her talents were domestic . Honey cooked, cleaned and tended to the animals with a cute smile plastered on her face . Thanks to her terrible father, she had become a recluse. That monster wearing human skin eventually abandoned the village in search for glory, not looking back at his family. Her mother was overprotective of her daughter as a result and loathed the idea of her daughter leaving the village, even if it was for her own good.
It wasn't Beleth who convinced Honey to leave the house for the journey. It was Theon. With his sweet words, Theon convinced Honey's mom that the journey would benefit her daughter's development. If she had two (strong) men like him and Beleth by her side, nothing terrible would befall her. She would no longer be in the house for the rest of her life and she' d return with souvenirs and stories. Honey cried when her mom kicked her out with nothing but a customized bow and tools used for hunting, cooking and medicine.
Sylvain laughed at the odd combination of heroes. A quiet hero, an introvert love interest, and finally a charismatic sidekick. However, because the harem was a large part of the story, Sylvain needed to consider that the sidekick was also in love with the hero.
The trio of travelers would head off to the capital of the fictional world of Fuudam. The church would assign them the first mission for Beleth once they recognized him and the prince.
Here, Sylvain saw that Bernadetta skipped the quick journey from the starting village to the capital. The hero's village was next to the holy capital in order to avoid the worst-case scenario from occurring. There were notes about how she would fill in the details later.
Beleth's first assignment in his journey to breaking the curse and saving the world dealt with human sacrifices. The hero would be given a message by the heaven's above detailing where he needed to travel and whom he needed to save. Every person was important in this journey.
Sylvain had to do a double take on the first mission. Bernadetta did not write the prologue for the introduction of this character. It was more of a quick summary of the next party member joining.
A child had been taken away from his father at a young age by a wicked servant of the Demon King. He was one of the weakest demon s on the list, but he was still dangerous to humanity. This demon was said to be able to have strength so powerful that he could split the land in two and cause earthquakes every time he took a huge step. This demon ravaged villages, stole valuables, and kidnapped women for breeding.
This kidnapped child was the reincarnation of a legendary swordsman dating back to the first hero. While the hero's bloodline passed down time and time again, their companions were not so lucky. The bloodline of the other legends had been lost to time. Only recently had they been resurfacing in the form of reincarnation. Many of the demon commanders realized this and knew that if they offered these reincarnations to their king, they would be granted powers equal to him and be able to stand by his side.
This child was born in a town of growing fighters . The people here learned how to fight with a weapon before they learned how to read. As a result, many of the children of this town were naturally born warriors at the tender age of five. By the age of thirteen, they would be able to protect the town from demons without any protest from their parents. The chief of the village was a proud father. To see his son being taken away from him while the town was swiftly defeated by the demon army was nothing short of humiliating. The only reason why the demon general did not burn the village to the ground was plain arrogance. The child realized his worth and begged the demon to not destroy his homeland swearing not to flee from the demons if they spare his home and his people. The demon general preferred the child not struggling. Nothing was worse than activating the boy's hidden potential at a young age. Keeping him subdued was the wiser option.
There was nothing the father could do. He could only watch in horror as the demon made off with his son. Even if the child put on a brave face when he gave himself up for everyone he loved, he ended up a sobbing mess the moment he was taken away from them. The demons mocked his weakness but chose not to hurt him. They would need more than ten years for the child to be ripe for the sacrifice.
When the sacrifice happened and if it succeeded, the demon would be granted even greater powers. If the sacrifice were to fail, the unfortunate human would join the ranks of the demons. It was a lose-lose situation for the young boy. He had given up on escaping a long time ago but to know that he was to die for the vile demons angered him. He wanted to fight back but couldn't. Being in the demon's captivity prevented him from training in anything! He was almost seventeen years old without any experience in fighting! Even if he did escape, he and his town were doomed!
The boy's name was Amber. The demons learned his name from the many mercenaries and warriors who ventured into their territory in a bad attempt to try and return Amber back to his father. Every man and woman that came were murdered gruesomely in front of the boy and always sent back to Amber's father as a reminder that his attempts will fail time and time again. Despite this, the demon general was merciful and never attacked the town for the attempts. Amber didn't see it as merciful. He just saw the cruel demon as arrogant for believing no one can defeat him.
Amber wanted to believe that a powerful fighter had yet to challenge the demon general. He didn't get his hopes up even as the day of his seventeenth birthday arrived. The demons forcibly bathed him, put him in a beautiful dress that was fitting for the Demon Realm and perfected him into a gorgeous beauty. Anyone would have mistaken Amber for a girl. That was the intent. Sacrifices adored virgin women, but Amber could pass as one with his long indigo hair and amber colored eyes.
The sacrifice would be gruesome. Amber would be tied to a table and be offered in a ritual. Demonic beings from the underworld would come to take Amber's soul before tearing him apart piece by piece.
Fortunately, the hero's group would be the last group that would attempt to rescue Amber before nightfall. It required scouting the enemy and executing perfectly to prevent Amber from even being injured. A fourth companion would join. He was a soldier hired by the church but was of lower rank. The Archbishop ordered the soldier to accompany Beleth and his friends. He was to flee should the mission to save Amber failed. Of course, the soldier had other ideas.
Reed was the soldier's name and he was always the guy who followed those who were brave enough to try and take down the demon general. He always watched from the shadows never allowed to take part in combat due to inexperience…never mind that his father was a legendary hero in the northern region of Fuudan. He wanted to make a name for himself and ran away from home. Of course, he wasn't that successful finding any jobs without mentioning his family name. Should anyone figure it out, he would be forced back home. The church was an exception to this rule. They would keep him, but he would be forced to obey whatever request they had.
Reed wanted someone to succeed in saving Amber. Whomever saved the poor guy would be rewarded with a title, money and fame due to Amber's dad. Reed knew that he could insert himself into the chaos and save the damsel in distress. He just needed to pull the winning lotto. He could then take credit along with the heroes and from there, he would be free from his dad and the church.
That's why he did everything in his power to make sure that Beleth and his friends succeeded. Years of observing the demons allowed him to figure out an attack pattern that would work with these three friends.
Sylvain continued reading even as he felt eyes melting the back of his head. At some point, Bernadetta had stopped writing to quietly observe Sylvain. He pretended not to notice her starry eyes looking his way. She was waiting for his opinion. If it was any other girl, Sylvain would have automatically flirted with them. However, what the Black Eagle student wrote so far already fascinated him. If Sylvain didn't know any better, every heroic character in this story was based off someone Bernadetta knew.
She's not subtle with the names. Sylvain thought to himself. Beleth is Byleth but more demonic sounding to make it sound cool. I guess Bernadetta named herself Honey as a reference to the teddy bear she always has. I guess Reed is me and Theon is…Claude? Then that means Amber is Felix…
Some of the name conventions were weird. If Sylvain didn't understand some references, most of these would have gone over his head. Reed for example was taken from the Sreng language for "red". Bernadetta seemed to have wanted to put great emphasis on this character by bringing up his hair color. Alas, Sylvain wished she wouldn't use the language of Gautier's enemy to make a character based on him.
"I see you're having a lot of fun with this idea," Sylvain hummed. "What inspired you to write this story? Are you crushing on someone?"
It was probably a bad idea to tease her about a crush. Her face turned bright red as she shook her head vehemently. "A crush? No! No! Why would I have a crush? Me? Bernie would never have a crush! I just wanted to try something different! Y-You know, it's not everyday that a harem has both genders pining for the protagonist, r-right?"
She had a point. Stories with harems tended to feature a majorly female cast. It usually leaned toward erotica in the end. Bernadetta did not have the mind of a virgin maiden. While this was clearly tame in comparison, Sylvain couldn't help but smile to himself at how he wasn't involved in the harem. He was just someone to take one of the love interests out of the harem.
"How many people are going to follow our handsome young protagonist?" Sylvain asked. "There's already three people here and an extra person tagging along."
Bernadetta smiled. "Well, I'm still deciding on the amount of people that will be in the party. The amount of people who pine for our hero will be many but they won't all travel with him due to their roles. I was thinking the final party count would be eight but…"
"Six people who all seek after the hero…and the tag along," said the redhead in disbelief. "Really, you don't have to make me be the stand-out person here."
Bernadetta knew that Sylvain was more observant than he let on. There was nothing she could do to deny his statement.
"But you're not interested in Professor Byleth!" Bernadetta squeaked. "I thought about everyone who might be interested in him, and then I realized that you're the odd one out. You joined the Golden Deer for Professor Beth, but you're always looking after Felix…so I thought maybe it was just a ruse and uh…your true affections are toward him instead…?"
Sylvain wanted to do a double take on her words.
"Excuse me? What could you ever mean?"
Bernadetta flinched the moment she felt she was being attacked. However, she kept going. "I-I just assumed that you enjoyed Professor Beth's presence because she's like you, b-but you also want Felix to look your way so umm…"
Sylvain mentally rolled his eyes. That was impossible. He wasn't interested in Felix. Yes, he enjoyed seeing the aggravated look in his eyes whenever he talked about Beth, but if Felix continued to cling to Byleth like he was the second coming of the Goddess, did his friend really have the right to complain?
"I think you read me wrong," Sylvain said rather smoothly, "I always love to be in the presence of a beautiful maiden. Beth…is different. Always overshadowed by her brother when she has so much potential. I enjoy showering her with the praise she deserves." He smiled when he said this. He wasn't lying about this at the very least. "Felix followed after the Professor. I know he's not much of a fan of Professor Hannaman, but he just wanted to get the most out of his sword training."
"But he's happier!" Bernadetta exclaimed. "I totally don't spy on anyone here or anything! I just noticed how happy Felix is when he's around the Professor…"
Sylvain felt his heart ping at that. A happy Felix was so foreign to him. The last time his childhood friend was ever truly happy was when Glenn was still alive. After Sylvain comforted him after his brother's death, Felix never displayed emotions like that ever again. Yet, even he noticed how "upbeat" the young swordsman was in the proximity of the aloof professor. It almost made the cavalier feel like he'd been replaced.
"Eek. Don't look at me like that!" Bernadetta suddenly screamed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Woah, easy there, Bernie!" Sylvain exclaimed. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"Liar! You're angry at what I suggested! I take it all back! Just pretend I never said anything!"
Bernadetta was going to kick him out of the room at this rate. Sylvain held his hands up in the air as if that would calm her down.
"I'm not angry. I was just thinking how it would be nice if you joined the Golden Deer if you wanted to be near the Professor."
Her mind shut immediately. "What."
"Compared to the fantasy of your writing, being near the Professor isn't hard. You just have to work up the courage and ask to join his class. I'm certain he'll allow you to switch."
Perhaps it was a bad idea to make such a bold suggestion. Bernadetta wanted to remain a secret admirer to the former mercenary. If she made her feelings more apparent, then attention would be brought to herself. A part of Sylvain just wanted Byleth to choose someone already so the little harem he was building up would die down (he wasn't jealous or anything!)
"Nope! Nope! No! I could never do that! Everyone would see what a disgusting person I am! I couldn't live with myself if he saw me! No! No! No!"
"It was just a suggestion-."
It was hopeless. Bernadetta already descended into her paranoia rants. Sylvain was better off leaving despite wanting to calm her down.
"Okay, I think I'll come back tomorrow…when you've calmed down. I just hope you'll take my suggestion…"
Bernadetta continued to panic even as Sylvain got off the floor slowly and escorted his way out of her room. He sighed to himself, realizing how his pettiness got the better of him again.
I need to do a better job suggesting for her book. Sylvain thought to himself. It would be more productive than trying to play matchmaker.