EPISODE 8: SHELTER FROM THE RAIN
I'm Lynphia, an adventurer.
At Prince Arnold's order, I will be serving as your bodyguard starting today.
I am Finne Von Kleinert.
Nice to meet you.
Lynphia is quite skilled.
You won't need to worry about a thing while we're gone.
You chose her, Arn.
So I won't worry at all.
You really trust the prince, huh?
Yes!
I see.
So your schedule for the day involves going to see Prince Leonard, yes?
Yes.
Master Arn, I'll be off.
Great. Thanks.
Where'd you find her?
What's your relationship to that adventurer?
Well, some things happened.
Now, are you free after this?
What, are you going to ask me on a date?
Yes, something like that.
I thought I could take you out to lunch as thanks for your help with Finne.
S-So that's it.
You're thanking me, right?
I can accept that!
So, do you have plans?
None! I'll get ready, so hang on!
What should I wear?
Not this...
This?
This isn't right...
But maybe this would be okay?
I'm ready.
That hat, is that a magic item to prevent people from recognizing you?
That's right.
You look great. Including the hat.
Of course I do.
Come look! These are fresh ingredients that just came in this morning!
Take a look!
This is perfect. I was thinking I wanted to look around the capital.
You know, I was just going to have lunch.
Oh, Prince! It's been a while!
Going shopping with that pretty lady?
Yes, something like that.
The weather's fantastic! Have a wonderful day!
He's got no idea that the lady I'm with is the daughter of the Supreme Archduke.
That's right.
Thanks to this, I can relax today.
Relax?
I want to take this opportunity to go to all the places I remember.
I haven't had a chance to take a stroll around the capital lately.
I'm sure it's hard, being a royal knight.
But that's my duty as a knight.
Fine. I guess I'll go around with you.
Thanks.
Let's go this way, first!
I don't think anything's changed much, though.
Do you remember? This is the spot where you got bullied.
Give us your wallet!
Don't be mean to Arn!
E-Elna...
I had an awful time calming you down.
It's their fault for ganging up on you.
You were crying.
Hey, wait. Don't make things up.
I wasn't crying.
You were.
Not then.
I was crying after you dragged me off for "training" and bullied me more.
I wasn't bullying you!
I just wanted you to be a great prince.
I was worried and wanted to make sure you could at least protect yourself.
That was supposed to teach me to protect myself?
Oh, I get it. I was supposed to learn how to protect myself from you.
Not at all!
What, are you saying your memories with me aren't good ones?
Oh, hey, Mister!
You're not with the girl with the big breasts today, huh?
The black-haired lady!
Before that, it was a girl with brown hair!
Also there was, um...
The one with the short hair?
He's always got a different girl with him, so I don't remember.
Always got... a different girl with him?
Excuse me, Arn. Can you explain this?
Now, now.
Listen up, brats. You keep your mouths shut about that.
Now go have fun somewhere else.
Okay!
Sorry!
Arn, you have a good explanation for this, right?
I think we'd better eat first.
You're sure you wanted to go to a place for commoners like this one?
It's fine.
The food here's delicious!
Since this is my way of thanking you,
I was assuming we'd go someplace fancier.
Those places take forever.
I don't want to waste the time we've got.
You're such a kid.
Don't call me a kid.
Now, let's keep going!
You've got so much energy.
This place is new.
But this looks great.
You want some too?
We just ate lunch.
You're eating more?
Sweets go in a separate stomach.
We used to play in the plaza up ahead, didn't we?
We'd play tag and stuff.
Yeah. Until I couldn't even walk anymore.
That's because you've got no stamina at all.
Oh dear.
Let's get shelter from the rain somewhere.
Yeah.
Elna?
Where are you going?
An inn.
We used to play there a lot, remember?
Play there?
You don't mean that one inn?
Yeah, that's right.
If we give our names, they should let us in.
Listen, that's a bad idea.
Why?
It's the perfect place to get out of the rain.
Or is there some reason we shouldn't?
No, but... let's not.
I said we're going, so we're going.
A knight never goes back on her word.
Well, whatever.
It's faster for you to see for yourself.
Come on, we can stay here till the rain stops.
Oh, fine.
You figure it out?
This is a love inn, for couples only.
Come on, let's go somewhere else.
W-We're going in.
Huh?! This is a love inn!
I-It doesn't matter! A knight never goes back on her word!
I'll just pretend I didn't hear it.
N-No!
S-Since I used the word "knight," I-I have to go in now!
We're just getting out of the rain, okay?
We can kill some time here, I guess.
We have to dry our clothes, too.
Don't look at me!
I guess we should take a bath to start.
Come on, now... You're kidding me.
Fine.
Elna, I'll go stand outside. You take a bath.
It's fine. I'll go stand outside! I'm a knight!
I can't have a lady do that.
I'll just stand in the hallway.
The other customers will see you if you're here.
Who knows what they'll say!
It's the same for you, right, Arn?
I don't want people making fun of you because of me.
Listen to yourself...
Are we supposed to both catch cold, then?
One of us can take a bath while the other just doesn't look, right?
Come on...
Sheesh! Just go take a bath already!
I'm done.
Th-That was fast.
I'm not going to take my time.
Now it's your turn.
We didn't have to come if you're going to get that embarrassed.
But...
If I break my word as a knight even once,
then it casts doubt on everything I've ever said!
My vow, my resolve, that stuff.
If nothing else, I don't think so.
Well, I think so!
So I'll never break my word as a knight!
I don't know if it counts if you're crying.
I'm not crying.
How did you know this was a love inn, anyway?
Who'd you come here with?
Why?!
I wanted women who have no choice but to sell their bodies
to have a way to relax once in a while...
So I buy their time for a day and let them spend it however they want.
As far as anybody knows, I take them here to this love inn.
I don't change that to change anything, of course.
But it's better than doing nothing, isn't it?
I see...
But if people were to spread rumors that you were sleeping with those women...
It'd just hurt your reputation.
Who cares? As long as they're happy.
It doesn't bother you?
Maybe it would, if I was alone.
But I'm not.
There are people who accept me for who I am.
It's the same for you, right?
It's not fair to put it that way...
Shall we get going?
Just a little longer.
Let's stay until our clothes dry.
All right.
It's been so long since we've had fun like this, just the two of us,
like we used to.
Yeah.
What?
Nothing.
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
I, Leonard Reks Adler, will take command of this diplomatic mission
to the Grand Duchy of Rondine as Ambassador Extraordinary.
I, Arnold Reks Adler, will carry out my mission as aide to the ambassador.
I expect positive results.
Take care on your way.
Brother Erik, thank you for coming to see us off.
I'm simply here as part of my job as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Make appropriate decisions as Ambassador Extraordinary.
Of course.
And in the struggle for the throne as well.
If you're useful to me, I'll treat you fairly.
You make it sound as though you're the emperor.
I will be the next emperor.
Neither you two, nor Gordon or Zandra,
can do anything at all to change that fact.
Remember that well.
I'll leave the rest to you, Mary.
While we're gone,
I want you to work with Finne to get through whatever trouble arises.
Yeah.
Okay, off we go.
Lynphia, take care of Finne.
Yes, of course.
And Finne, don't do anything crazy.
Okay! Come back safe with Leo, okay?
Yeah, leave it to us.
Captain! Look!
ALBATRO
ADRASIA
RONDINE
The Rondine Duchy...
One of two nations to survive the southern warring states era.
It's just not fair...
So? Why are you in my room?
I can't let my men see me embarrass myself like this!
But you can let me see it?
I've seen you embarrass yourself numerous time!
So we're even!
How?
I'm amazed you've kept your fear of water secret
this whole time, though...
Once a member of the Supreme Archduke's family bears the holy sword,
they almost never leave the country.
That's why I trained as hard as I could at age 12 to learn to summon it!
'Cause I didn't want to get on a ship!
But thanks to those three, I'm stuck here!
Erik, Gordon, and Zandra all wanted anybody on our side out of the capital.
So they appointed you escort to the Ambassador Extraordinary.
Give it up.
They'll pay for this!
Y-You just laughed, didn't you?
Part of this is your responsibility!
The reason I'm scared of water is that I watched you almost drown!
Arn's dead!
It's your own fault.
If anybody should be afraid of water now, it's me.
Ow!
You really are useless on the water.
Am I going to die here?!
Of course not, dummy.
The ship stopped?
Come in.
Excuse me.
A word, brother...
Seasick?
You're not Elna. Try to compose yourself.
Sorry.
You seem to be pretty sick yourself, commander.
I'm alive...
So, what happened?
A ship from the Albatro Duchy has asked to speak to us.
We're in Albatro territory already, huh?
The Albatro Duchy is located next to Rondine,
and has cold relations with the empire.
So they don't want us going to Rondine, I assume.
They're calling it a meeting, but they likely want to search the ship.
G-Get all the knights to their rooms.
We don't want to offend them.
Agreed.
Let's go, then.
Pretend to be me and rest here.
But...
It's fine.
If you do that, your reputation will only suffer more.
I don't care. It's already as bad as it can get.
Arn...
Brother?
I'll accept their request for a meeting.
Get things prepared.
I was planning on leaving it all to Leo, honestly...
Where's Prince Arnold?
Seasick, I heard.
That insipid prince...
PRINCESS OF THE ALBATRO DUCHY, EVANGELINA DI ALBATRO
Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Prince.
I am Evangelina Di Albatro.
The Princess of the Albatro Duchy.
Call me Eva, if you'd like.
PRINCE OF THE ALBATRO DUCHY, JULIO DI ALBATRO
And this is my younger brother, Julio Di Albatro.
I am Leonard Reks Adler, eighth prince of the Adrasia Empire.
I have been appointed Ambassador Extraordinary to Rondine,
and am currently en route.
I am honored to meet both of you,
as well as see the warships of your famed maritime nation.
I've heard the rumors about you too, Leonard.
When monsters were running out of control in the eastern part of the empire,
I'm told you led an army of knights in a charge against them.
Just what I'd expect from an imperial prince.
Both brave and talented in military affairs.
My knights fought bravely, that's all.
And I'm sure the two of you are shrewd soldiers as well.
I assume two members of the Duke's family
wouldn't be coming aboard a warship just to see me.
You're letting it show on your face. Idiot.
I'm sorry, Sister.
I'll just come out and say it.
We want you to change course.
We won't stop you from going to Rondine,
but we'd prefer you take a circuitous route.
May I ask why?
I'd rather not say.
I don't trust you, or the Empire.
I see.
We're changing course.
We'll take the long route to Rondine.
Prince!
But that will take longer than planned!
I don't care.
We have plenty of food and water,
and Rondine won't be upset if we're a little late.
But...
I've made my choice.
Will this suffice, Princess Eva?
Just what I'd expect from a potential heir to the throne.
You're a bold man.
I thank you for your wise decision, Prince Leonard.
I thank you as well.
We'll be going, then.
A prince and a princess leading a group of warships themselves...
What do you suppose they're up to?
Assessing our forces, I assume.
Reconnaissance of where, though?
I haven't heard anything about a pirate fleet...
What?
Get us away from the other ship!
We'll both capsize at this rate!
Raise anchor!
Don't get thrown overboard!
Captain!
We're getting separated from my brother's ship!
I have my hands full trying to keep us from capsizing!
This is no normal storm!
Grab on to something!
Fast!
I'm certain a sea monster is behind this!
A sea monster?
Could it be the sea dragon?!