Nejimaki Seirei Senki: Tenkyou no Alderamin – Episode 10 [La Saia Alderamin]

9 years prior to the current events, Ikta and Nanaku Daru were childhood friends. The flashback shows Nanaku coming to visit Ikta for a “nighty call”, something adult women would do, not children. Ikta knows this and teases Nanaku, so they lay beside each other in bed and chat instead.

Back in the present, Nanaku races into her home to find her relatives dead on the floor. Nanaku manages to kill some of the soldiers before being pinned to the floor. They are arguing about who will rape her first when Ikta and Yatori come racing in. Ikta punches one of the soldiers before pointing a crossbow at the remaining ones and telling them their behaviour’s unacceptable.

After the fires have been put out and the remaining Sinack rounded up, Ikta and the others discuss recent events. Ikta says that the men in black who killed Warrant Officer Deinkun were probably Kala Karm, aka the Ghost Squad, who are a special forces unit from the Kioka army. In retrospect, several things about the entire war now make sense – Major Toakk’s murder, Nanaku Daru using the term “holy war,” the guerilla tactics used by the Sinack and even some of the weapons they were using. All of these signs now point to Kioka meddling with the Sinack in an effort to strike at the Empire.

Just then an Alderan inspection team shows up, informing Lieutenant General Safida that there had been rumours of spirit abuse committed at the Northern Garrison. The man looks around and sees dead spirits buried in the rubble, and he makes a vague reference to an awareness of the cell of spirits being confined at the Northern Garrison’s dungeon. The inspection officer leaves, and Lt. General Safida commands that a platoon chase after the Alderan inspection team.

What Ikta and the others find while looking for the inspection team find is a shock to everyone. Ikta and Torway spot approaching troops from La Saia Alderamin: the army of the nation of Aldera. Their troops are deployed only when executing holy duties performed in the name of God, and this includes invading other countries. Their timing is horrible – the troops from the Northern Garrison are severely depleted, and they would not be able to hold off another invasion.

Seeing the La Saia Alderamin troops gives Ikta his finally epiphany, and he is able to put all the puzzle pieces from the last several episodes together. Kioka was manipulating the Sinack, and the acts committed by both the Sinack and Lt. General Safida’s army against each other was enough to convince the Alderan priests to invade the Empire. Someone is behind this master plan, but that person’s identity is not yet revealed.

Naturally Lt. General Safida is not happy to hear about this latest development. Ikta convinces Captain Sazaluf to propose his idea: that a single defensive battalion move to the rear of the army to delay the La Saia Alderamin troops, a platoon which will be comprised of both leftover Sinack villagers and Northern Garrison troops.

After the meeting, Ikta and Yatori meet with Nanaku. He wants to apologize, not for the inhumanity of war but for the acts their soldiers committed under their authority. Yatori hands Ikta a wooden board, and he brings out a dagger. Ikta recounts for Nanaku a fable she had told him when they were children, and then he makes the first cut (the Sinack apparently cut off their own fingers as a way of apologizing), after which Ikta reveals his identity to Nanaku.

But he’s not done. He has to ask Nanaku for three favors: to accept his apology for what their army did to her people, that the Sinack help repel the army of Alderamin, and that she allow him to continue to call her Nana as he did when they were children. Nanaku eventually agrees to all three favours, and Ikta is left with a small nub for a pinkie. One cut for each of the favors he asked of her.

Outside the tent, Ikta and Yatori discuss his decision to cut off his finger. They meet with Haroma, Torway and Matthew, and then Captain Sazaluf finds them. Lt. General Safida has decided that as a reward, Ikta and Yatori have been promoted to first lieutenants. In addition, Haroma, Torway and Matthew have been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant.

Yatori praises Matthew and Haroma for their efforts during the way and encourage them to pull back from the upcoming battle, but Matthew takes great offense and asks Ikta if he had ever been a hindrance to him in battle. Ikta and Yatori recognize their mistake and allow Matthew and Haroma to accompany them in the upcoming fight.

Two days later at the Great Forest of Gagal Kasakan, Ikta’s platoon puts his master plan into action. The troops chop down swaths of forest and set it on fire, preventing the Alderan troops from following too close behind them. In retaliation, the Alderan troops start a fire of their own in an effort to combat Ikta’s blaze.

As they watch the fire burn, the Alderan leaders reference their “guest” military officer, but his identity continues to remain a mystery.

On the other side of the blaze, Ikta seeks out Haroma for some medical aid for his hand. After news arrives of the Alderan army’s retaliation, they discuss this “guest” military officer who is the exact opposite of Ikta in almost every way. He is a young man from Kioka who goes by the nickname “The Unsleeping, Shining Officer.”  In the final moments of the episode, it’s revealed that his name is Jean Alkiniks.

My thoughts: The scene with Ikta cutting off his fingers in segments was really hard to watch, even though not a lot of blood was shown, surprisingly. It was handled pretty well. But still, the mental fortitude it takes to do something like that to oneself is almost beyond comprehension. It just goes to show that Ikta will go to any length to uphold the values he holds in high regard.

I also thought the scene with Yatori, Ikta, Haroma and Matthew was a nice touch. Remember that Matthew feels inferior to Ikta, and being invited to leave the battleground for more relative safety feeds into that insecurity. That Ikta and Yatori recognized their error and reversed their original offer shows once again that Alderamin fights popular tropes and strives to have genuine character growth and development. Matthew could have accepted the offer to retreat with Haroma, but he didn’t. He wants to push himself to be a better soldier, to do what Ikta does in battle and hopefully be just as successful. And Ikta could have stuck to his offer and forced Matthew and Haroma to leave the front lines, but he doesn’t want to offend Matthew as his superior or as his friend.

There’s two episodes left, and I’m curious how this battle with Major Jean Alkiniks will play out. It will be Jean’s extreme drive versus Ikta’s science and laziness. Which will prevail?