[ A teacher. It sounded too ridiculous to possibly be true. Who would hire a famed, feared mercenary to teach at the academy, of all places? However abbreviated Yuri's tenure may have been, he was a student at Garreg Mach once upon a time. And then he'd lived directly beneath it.

What would have convinced Lady Rhea to make someone so young, whose resume consosted entirely of mercenary work, into a professor? The students were hardly that much younger than Byleth himself, much of the time. He supposed somehow Jeritza had been hired on, but he was just a man with a peculiar penchant for wearing masks.

No one knew him as the Death Knight.

But even someone who lived under a rock had heard of the Ashen Demon.

What tipped the scales too far in absurdity, however, was the suggestion that in some other life he could be a knight. Yuri knew well enough to know that were it not for Aelfric's machinations, he'd have led a different life, but still... The laughter bubbled up inside him before he could quite catch it, a brighter sound than this situation merited, but hell, he might've needed a good laugh.

It died away quickly enough, leaving Yuri to compose himself and ignore any onlookers. ]

As though I'd steal a job meant for Ashe. [ That had always been the guy's dream, for as long as he'd known him. And Ashe fit the bill, where Yuri assuredly did not. ] Me, clanking about in armor...no thank you.

[ He didn't even want to imagine the way that'd ruin his physique. ]

And most people know me as a mercenary, nowadays.

[ Kind of. ]