Shadow magic... activate!
Reel him in!
Get back!
Keep calm.
It really does take its toll on you, huh?
We survived...
Indeed. You did great.
Akira, it's thanks to you that we all made it back alive.
You're the one who helped me wrangle my magic
when it nearly went berserk in training.
I'd never even heard of this "Shadow Magic" Extra Skill before.
It is highly powerful, but it's hard to control and saps you.
Try not to use it unless needs must.
Yeah, I know.
That aside, I brought you something.
It's called a "katana." The very first hero forged it himself.
Why give it to me and not the hero?
The hero has his holy sword.
Besides, if he were to carry this, the king would take notice.
And why would that be an issue?
Well, I stole it from the royal armory.
What?
Thanks. I'll take it.
What's it called?
Its name is engraved next to the hilt.
Not that I can tell you what it says.
Yato-no-Kami, "God of the Night Blade."
There's more inscribed here.
"I pray this finds its way to you, my successor, and guides you in your hour of need."
I'm starting to want to meet this guy.
If possible, I would've loved to meet him too.
Speaking of the hero...
Oh, right!
The curse afflicting him is vicious. It refused to be dispelled.
I have a good idea who's responsible.
Tsukasa Satou...
May you be a puppet, a false hero.
Who are you?
That takes care of the curse on the hero.
How could you enter a lady's room without her permission? Have some shame—
A lady doesn't use curses to control other people. You're more like a witch.
Why are you doing this?
All I do is for His Majesty.
Why follow his orders? And to what end?
All I do is for His Majesty.
Ryuusuke Oka.
Sakura Inoue.
Natsumi Sakata.
You were right on the money, Commander Saran.
So he still hasn't given up, huh?
"He"?
Wait, did you reveal yourself to the princess?
I wanted to know what she thinks she's doing.
I couldn't get a straight answer, though.
At this point,
she's merely the king's puppet.
You should turn in for the night.
But I wouldn't lay your head in the royal castle.
Why not?
The princess will proceed to curse everyone other than the hero.
But she can't touch you because she knows nothing about you.
You mean she'll try to kill me instead?
They're bound to search every nook and cranny of the castle.
You're not gonna scold me for revealing myself?
All a part of youthful folly.
It's our job as adults to make up for that.
I wish my world had more adults like you.
If that's how you feel, take me with you when you go!
I'd love to see your world. Show me around the place, will you?
On second thought, I take it back. Sounds like a pain.
What's going on so early?
What's the matter?
Akira?
Where were you?
Looks like the curse is broken.
I was sleeping.
So, what's all the fuss?
It's...
the commander.
This can't be...
Commander Saran?
How? What happened?!
Oh, quit hamming it up.
Isn't that the dagger you were using?
You all saw what happened to my dagger!
You always were kinda suspicious.
You go missing, only to show up for training!
You appeared out of nowhere in the dungeon too.
- The princess's curse got to them? - What were you doing until then?
Yeah, answer us!
You're the biggest suspect.
Wait a second! You can't accuse him of murder just for that!
What?!
You've committed the grave sin of killing the knight commander!
Face justice and meet your maker!
They set me up.
Conceal Presence!
Find him! He can't have gone very far!
Gilles.
Is that you, Akira?
Commander Saran was killed by the king's personal assassins, the Night Ravens.
They're after you too.
The commander left provisions for you in his room.
Take them and flee.
Thank you so much, Gilles.
Please be safe, Akira.
So he knew this might happen...
Commander Saran...
I can't believe Saran, of all people, went down so easily.
I've finished applying hexes to everyone but the hero.
Now we only need a justification to declare war on the east.
We need those kids to be effective pawns for us.
That one brat will be dead in a ditch soon,
but have the Night Ravens pursue him to be safe.
Very well. Your wish is our command, Your Majesty.
If you ever find yourself on the run,
there's nowhere better to hide than a dungeon.
But remember, you'll have limited access to water there, so plan carefully.
You want to know how to level up your class?
The answer is still a dungeon.
The deeper you go, the stronger the foes you'll face.
Why doesn't everyone go there, then?
Because it's dangerous.
Even your Conceal Presence won't work on monsters with enhanced smell and hearing.
But if you can increase your Assassination skill,
you'll be able to mask your scent, footsteps, and even your heat signature.
Man, I've got a lot to do.
But it's all worth it.
When your class level reaches 100, you unlock a Special Skill.
It's guaranteed to help you survive in this world.
A Special Skill, huh?
To get started, head to the Labyrinth of Kantinen
and try taking out the bosses you'll find every tenth floor.
Once you enter a boss chamber,
you won't be able to leave until one of you is dead.
But should you win, you'll see considerable growth in your abilities.
If I die here, I can't go home!
Much less avenge Commander Saran!
Fine... I'll go all out.
Shadow Magic...
activate!
Rip it to shreds!
The master's injuries have exceeded acceptable parameters.
Automatically engaging Shadow Magic.
Recovery mode.
Healing will require the use of emergency mana stores.
What'd you wanna talk about?
Not gonna say we oughta go fight the Demon Lord, are you?
Good guess. I want us to set out immediately.
But we're still in shock over Oda killing Commander Saran.
Are you stupid?
This must be the princess's curse Vice Commander Gilles mentioned.
Fine. I'll go by myself.
I will join you.
I'm going as well.
Me too.
Count me in.
- And me. - Same here.
I'm surprised we got out so easily.
His Majesty's the one who said we should go fight the Demon Lord.
It'd be too weird if they tried to stop us.
Anyway, why'd you all join me?
Well, y'see, Tsukasa-kun, I think everyone here is free of the curse.
Huh?
I'm a disenchanter, so I'm resistant to curses.
And lately, I've grown to sense if someone else is cursed.
I'd wager my actions had something to do with it.
My memory of it is hazy,
but I vaguely recall breaking crystals in an unfamiliar room.
With this katana. I have no idea where it came from.
My Manipulation skill is stronger than a curse when it comes to controlling individual people.
I've now carried out Commander Saran's final orders...
I wish you safe travels, heroes from another world.
I need to connect with Akira.
I should've talked to you while you were keeping hidden.
And, cursed or not, I failed to stick up for you.
Oda Akira?
Uh, you're in my class, right?
Asahina Kyousuke.
So, about what you saw here...
You don't want anyone to know, yes? I understand.
Thanks.
I don't want anyone at school finding out, particularly my little sister.
She's a first-year.
Yours too?
What do you mean?
That's my little sister.
And that's mine there.
Wait, so you're Keika-chan's brother?
Small world, isn't it?
A dream about Kyousuke?
I hope he's doing okay.
And I hope Mom and Yui are eating right.
Huh? I'm not in pain.
Status.
My stats have gone up quite a bit.
Wait, why is my HP almost full?
I thought I broke three ribs.
The poison had spread through my legs too...
My Shadow Magic was at level 3.
SHADOW MAGIC - It jumped two levels just by using it once?
It felt easier to control too.
I don't get what's going on, but all I can do is keep moving.
A slime? This far down?
What in the world?
An elf?
She's got the prettiest face I've ever seen.
Guess it's finally time to try out that one weird skill.
WORLD EYES - Activate World Eyes.
Oh crap! Abort skill!
That was absolutely insane.
That skill's too dangerous.
I should avoid using it.
Huh?
Are you hurt anywhere?
No, I'm fine.
Really? You're not just saying that?
Why?
Er... no reason.
I caught a glimpse of her stats just now.
Her HP's down to barely 2 percent of her max.
Oh, she's got World Eyes too.
Where are we?
Floor 75 of the Labyrinth of Kantinen.
What are you doing here, Akira?
I came to level up.
Huh...
Look, I know you saw it, but show some courtesy and ask for my name first.
Whoa!
I knew it. You're burning up.
Did the sound of your own belly rumbling wake you?
Either way, here. Drink up.
When you have a fever, it's best to hydrate and keep warm while you sleep.
I'm too hungry to sleep.
Fine, you got it.
I made porridge.
It's hot, so blow on it before you eat.
Okay.
If you can eat like that, you'll be just fine.
How do you know so much about tending to the sick?
I'm just used to it because my mother's in poor health.
I see.
You wrote this, right? What's it say?
Sixty-nine.
I do it on each floor to keep track.
You said we were on floor 75 earlier.
So you came back up?
Why? Aren't you here to level up?
This was the closest watering hole.
So you carried me up here?
Did you touch me anywhere weird?
I did not. Go back to sleep already.
Okay.
I'm royalty, you know?
Yeah, I know. I saw that earlier.
Nobody's ever done this for me before.
Yeah?
She's quick to fall asleep.
Guess I'll catch a wink too. With Detect Danger activated, of course.
I'm lying on stone, yet I'm so warm.
Gravity!
Aren't you all better now? Why are you following me?
I just happen to be going in the same direction.
I'm not protecting you, okay?
I get that you have superhuman strength,
but I can take care of myself just fine too.
A dragon?!
Conceal Presence!
Gravity!
Now!
It's tracing your mana!
Diffuse your magic into your surroundings!
Quit asking for the impossible!
My magic, huh? How about this?!
Akira!
Akira, what did you just do?
I'm not skillful enough to diffuse my mana.
So I used the mana around me instead.
Wait, you can do that?
What's happening?
EPISODE 2: THE ASSASSIN TAKES CARE OF THE WOUNDED
NEXT TIME EPISODE 3: THE ASSASSIN PLAYS WITH A CAT