I'll use everything I have to protect the 2nd Lieutenant.
That must be...
...how this huge body should be used.
That's because...
...I cannot allow this unfairness.
"They cannot be punished because they are noble."
"They are allowed to do so because they are commoners."
That's ridiculous!
If you are guilty, then you will be punished.
If you do evil, then I will slash you,
whether you're a noble or a commoner,
or even His Majesty, the Emperor...
...that is the only justice I can display.
This coat...
...has the smell of Section III.
The territory you spoke of...
I have one now, too!
From this moment on...
...this place is the operational area...
...of the war relief unit, Pumpkin Scissors!
Oh!
I found some potatoes!
We must~ eat it~ all up~ okay~?
I wonder if he'll be happy when I bring this back.
Mer-kun~
M-Mer-kun?!
That's embezzling rations, you know?
C-C-Captain?!
Ah, b-but, these are all burnt up anyway.
U-Um... I-I... U-Um...
Where are the other three?
You guys should've been back hours ago.
You guys are always like this, for crying out loud.
Yeah...
So... umm...
Come straight home sometimes.
No!
This place isn't the marshes of Loderia!
Guys...
The hesitation in her steps is gone.
Perhaps, it's because of who you are.
Your sword strikes are really straightforward,
and thus easy to read.
This... is a noble?
Damn, she was close!
N-No, I'm not...
...taking the side of that noblewoman...
Whatever speech she gave,
nothing would matter if she doesn't win.
I want to just smash this duel out of the way right now.
H-Hey!
Hey!
Someone give me some help here!
We can do this if we all attack him at the same time!
B-But...
Don't worry!
This guy's all injured!
And killing this injured guy...
...are we still acting justly?
Wh-What are you talking about?!
Who cares about justice, anymore?!
But then-
Have you forgotten what they've done?
I know!
But, that doesn't mean-
Maybe this way was wrong after all.
Why you...
What about you guys?!
But...
That's why they should've just stayed as a mob.
They're not all composed of people who could care less about using justice as an excuse.
If they wanted to kill you,
then they shouldn't have talked about justice.
Why do I have to be hated so much?
Assuming...
I mean assuming...
...assuming I embezzled money...
It's not as if I had killed someone!
I did eat delicious food!
But is that something to be so jealous about that they want to kill me?!
Is it?
From what I just heard...
That guy that appears to be their leader...
He's been through a lot of things, hasn't he?
So what?
Is he trying to say that if I hadn't embezzled, his children would have survived?
How ridiculous!
Of course not.
He knows that things aren't that naive in this world.
Besides, even if the money you embezzled was used properly,
what the civilians see is just whether or not there's an extra grain of rice in their hands.
But, you see...
If they were able to put that extra grain of rice inside their mouths...
...if they were able to live a bit longer from that grain of rice...
...they could have heard one more word from their children.
Perhaps they could have stood up in life had they heard that word.
What you took away from them are those grains of rice.
Try calculating it...
...how much wheat could have been bought...
...with the money you spent having fun?
That's basically it.
I was right.
Although slowly,
the road lights on the way towards this ballroom are getting turned off.
This place has been smelled out by Section I.
Even if the LT wins the duel,
would Section I accept the terms that Leonir Taylor proposed?
But...
...I don't think they'd put down their weapons easily...
We need something... to make them lay down their weapons...
We can't let you go through here,
even if it's you, Section III chief, Captain Hunks.
Ah, I see.
Besides, you're not even on duty right now.
Please don't interfere with Section I's...
...with the army's operations.
Hmm...
I thought I saw something crawl up...
Given that height...
...it must have been a cat...
Captain! Welcome back!
How did it go?
Section I's siege has been set.
No one will be able to escape.
All of them will be captured,
and their entire families will be tortured.
Our entire families...
Our family...
Our families have nothing to do with this.
Don't worry!
Alice and the others are there.
And Mer-kun must be bringing them some kind of secret plan, right, Captain?
There's such a thing?
Then what did you give him?
It almost escaped me,
but for Section III, Alice L. Malvin, may not always be the correct answer.
Looks like the first half of the duel has taken its toll on you.
You used too much unnecessary energy, didn't you?
2nd Lieutenant!
A noble's...
All nobles'...
...pride.
This duel is over.
This duel is not yet over.
2nd Lieutenant...
But... if she's scrambling for her breath so much...
...she won't be able to take the Royal Guard's attack...
I must not let that happen...
I may still be in training,
but if it's one-on-one...
...I can finish this!
My princess should be right-handed.
Are you planning on taking on my sword with your left hand?
How amusing.
Then take this!
She bounced it back?!
No, that's not it.
Without a doubt, she used my power to deflect it back.
But with the same power as before, she derailed the trajectory of my strike?!
She brought her sword together with mine and just changed its trajectory?
And... this unique and clear sound...
It can't be!
A long time ago,
when my grandfather helped bring down the civil war in your country,
he received three gifts from the former King.
One was the nickname of the Noble Flamme.
One was the great sword, Noble Flamme.
And the last one...
...when he was assaulted by young soldiers on the streets...
...he had no choice but to cut them down and lamented...
...so the King personally taught him His own defensive sword techniques...
...the unreachable Main Gauche...
So that's how it is... but...
...against a foreigner's crude imitation of Loderia's sword technique,
we Royal Guards cannot lose.
Our King's... our Royalty's sword!!
It is strange...
I have not had much success with this all these years,
and my body is all worn out,
but when I realize that I am before these guys,
I can move so freely...
So freely!
That girl...
For being so bad at dancing...
I've forgotten...
...to breathe...
I've held the sheath with my right hand and tried drawing the sword with my left hand for years.
Now that I'm finally able to use it correctly,
I've come to realize something.
Guarding doesn't fit my style.
My princess has caught her breath.
"Finally able to use it"... how conceited of you...
Here I go!
She's fast!
Although the power of her strike is weaker compared to her right hand,
her left hand is fast!
I screwed up.
I lost my calm over Loderia's prestige.
Or... is there something that is lighting the fire under this noble?
No...
I was...
...just too immature...
I took the liberty to pull a little prank for what you did to my dress.
I am not as straightforward as you say I am.
Victory is yours...
...Noble Flamme.
That's got to hurt.
I say, young man.
If she's a "noble",
what do people see me as?
Just a noble that committed a crime.
A-A noble...
2nd Lieutenant.
I am all right.
Do not worry.
Malvin won, that means-
We're safe... right?
If we put down our weapons now, we'll be innocent.
Can we go home?
Don't let them confuse you!
We didn't come here to watch that duel.
We came here to kill nobles, right?!
But that was because we thought we were carrying out an act of justice.
Are you just scared of capital punishment?!
That's not it...
It's that woman...
It's because of that woman that everyone's gone weird.
If it weren't for you!!!
Corporal!
A-A military hound?!
Mercury!
It's from the Captain!
What?!
Fourth Axe mobilized the cops?!
We're completely surrounded.
So even if we did persuade these guys to put their weapons down,
we're no longer able to return them home secretly, eh?
And we don't have any time left either.
The encirclement is collapsing.
Maybe it's an assault that doesn't involve any rescuing.
And what about this one?
A simple authorization document.
Then it's really no different than the usual Section III authorizations.
The LT's here.
Even without these documents, authorizations like these-
These aren't for the 2nd Lieutenant!
These are all for Sergeant Major use.
For us?
Ah-
Wait,
we still need to...
...have them drop their weapons first.
You guys came here to exert your anger on nobles.
There's no way you'd accept an end like this.
Come.
I'll take on all of it.
2nd Lieutenant!
Mer-kun, it's time for the final episode.
To protect, to be protected, our battle shall continue...
...because we want to see the smile on everyone's face!
Next time, "Soldiers - Commoners - Nobles"
Let's go! It's time for war relief!