Welp it looks like our crew of heroes decided to take the chance and help escort the prisoners and captors to their destination, and boy is that not looking good for them. But on the bright side, it does seem like Yotsuya’s been separated from the party so there is a chance for our other heroes to show us what they are made of. Or perhaps by falling for an obvious trap, Yotsuya’s separation is actually the key for all of them to escape. But still, good luck to those who didn’t get shoved off an 8 story drop and now have taken on some undead monsters!
So, we pick up right where we left off in the previous episode by making the decision to tag along with the prisoners and soldiers to their destination. They’re heading to a foreign land to execute some prisoners in order to make a big statement due to an ongoing political conflict in their own country. So, on the one hand we have a group of people who support a religion and the king going versus a group of people who solely support the king. It’s been an ongoing piece of conflict for the two groups which eventually turned into an all-out war once some statues were toppled over. From there religion was banned and people have been crucified to boards of wood in order for the Kingdom to establish dominance and fear into opponents. The way the situation is presented to us is… pretty cut and dry despite the considerations of everything that is happening. And by that, I mean the heroes first talk to a missionary about the situation in which he lays out the king v. king & religion conflict all while they are still trying to heal the unconscious child who is being sentenced to his death. And then next they attempt to make us feel for the soldier by allowing him to express that after seeing the how dangerous the war can be why he would side with the King. But it’s okay because the king promised they would be provided with slaves and work towards more control of the continent.
Based off all of that, I definitely thought the episode was going to be spent planning how they would rescue the prisoners once they made it to the destination, but instead Yuka’s outburst to the soldier likely was the pushing point towards the eventual betrayal. I mean, they were probably going to get betrayed just from the potential fight that was going to happen in the beginning due to Kahabell, but with at least 2 of the party members expressing their distaste for the situation, the soldier probably made the right decision for himself to trick them later on.
And so, that’s how we end up trapped under a mountain going up some undead monsters in hopes to catch up to the soldiers before they reach the destination. It was good that they had Yotsuya with them in the beginning so that they could at least make their attempt to move forward as he helped them solve the first puzzle. But I am pretty interested to see how the remainder of the party is going to be able to handle things without him. Personally, I have a feeling Iu is going to be key in this battle, especially due to the cut away of her sword training with Kahabell earlier in the episode. But who knows! We haven’t really given Yuka a chance to show off her stuff, perhaps she’ll also be able to be the magical girl she’s always wanted to be.
But if I’m honest, I really want the child prisoner to wake up. I have a feeling he’ll have something pretty important to say or do later on, but until then we need to make sure we can rescue him before he’s turned into a spectacle. Best of luck to the heroes in the next episode! Things aren’t really looking to be in your favor, but I’m sure you’ll figure something out in time.
