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We’re going that route after all. I always thought this bit in the novels was a bit overkill for Dein, but the author does thrive on bringing out the desperation in characters.

I love the little detail of actually showing Milkit do her writing practice.

Eterna is concerned for Flum, and only Flum. Those men surrounding their home, not a threat at all.

Hey, it’s that guy she caught the other day. Not surprised he’s already out if the cell they put him was also controlled by the corrupt West District guards.

Gotta love how people who have no idea of Flum’s true abilities are always unnerved about how she intentionally harms herself, and then even further unnerved when they watch as her wounds heal themselves without the use of normal healing magic.

That’s on you, Flum. Most people never look up, unless you’re seen by countless witnesses jumping up onto a roof. It’s a good vantage point to get a lay of the land, but’s also incredibly exposed.

Flum, take a deep breath and take into consideration that Dein only mentioned Milkit. Ask him how his men got past your housemate, and if he acts confused, he’s just assuming the men he sent to your house only had to deal with one defenseless girl. That’s the first critical mistake Dein made, he set this all up without properly looking into Flum’s identity, abilities, or connections. He underestimated her because of her size, age, gender and slave mark.

Okay, this change does make a lot of sense. I can believe with all the men he had running around, they stumbled on that particular girl, and decided to use her as a human shield. Better than some random maimed slave girl who was forgotten by the author almost immediately. I’m still peeved about that!

Going with the poison. I can understand that for a few reasons. First, a random girl they took as a hostage can’t be forced to blow herself up, but you can force poison down her throat. Second, I’ve noticed the animators have mostly avoided gore, especially human gore, and bombs of that size are especially messy. Third, it demonstrates that Flum’s reversal abilities do have limits on what they can actually reverse. Magic that affects the body directly is reversed, but something she has to consume works the same as for everyone else.

Knowing who this girl is and what she was doing before Dein and his gang snatched her, I can imagine all the things going through her mind. Especially the significance of a complete stranger potentially sacrificing her own life for her.

Oops, now you don’t have a hostage to hide behind now and since none of you are guards, Flum has no reason to hold back anymore.

Okay, Kahnis being the one to question Dein’s order to retreat is the perfect set up for his role in the manga, and I like that addition. I like how the anime sets up future plot points early on.

There’s Dein’s second critical mistake. All the commotion he caused was bound to attract attention. And a Lieutenant-General of the Royal Army no less, it’s almost impossible to f*** this up any worse.

That’s Phil! Hold on, let me look this up. And yep, it is who I think it is. Well, sucks to be Phil.

Maybe some people already recognise her, but if you don’t, go back to that scene from Flum’s village in the first episode, Ottilie was the one escorting her. So yes, they know each other.

Okay, that pause as if you had to think about it is proof enough that you do not have amnesia. Not that anyone actually believed her in the book either. It’d be more believable to say you’re lost and don’t know the address, especially if you’re blind and in an unfamiliar place after just being kidnapped.

Not even worried for a minute. S-Ranks like Eterna and Ottilie are just built different.

Ottilie, it really isn’t on you. You weren’t the one who chose Flum to be a Hero. You weren’t the reason she couldn’t just stay in her village. It’s also not like you could have kept an eye on her every time the party returned to the Capital. There’s an argument to be made that Eterna and the rest of the party bear some responsibility for not keeping a better eye on Flum and Jean, but you weren’t aware of the goings-on in the party. However, you did make sure Flum made it to the capital in the first place, which is good, because back then she’d have no means to protect herself.

I like how when Flum says she’s alright, she’s glancing at Milkit. That’s the thing, isn’t it. She still hates Jean and will probably break his jaw if she ever sees him again, yet through all the pain and despair, it was weirdly the best thing that could have happened to her. She was miserable before, constantly crushed by feelings of uselessness and loneliness. Now she has Milkit, Eterna, actual strength of her own, and the past few days are some of the happiest she’s been in a long while. Not to mention, there’s something sus about the very Church that named her a Hero. It’s probably a good thing she’s no longer part of that quest.

Eterna, you protect both the house and Milkit when Flum is away. Given all the enemies she seems to have, that service is priceless. Plus, it would have been difficult and expensive as hell for Flum to find and hire an underground pharmacist to prepare medicine for Milkit.

Okay, the corruption within the West District guards is part of Ottilie’s responsibilities as part of the Royal Army’s leadership, so I’ll agree with her there.

Flum’s just a farm girl from the countryside. Of course she doesn’t know about some washed up former noble’s brat.

I respect whoever wrote the subtitles who translated onee-sama as milady instead of sister like was done in the novels and manga. It causes confusion as they are not actually related as far as I can tell.

Wait, did they censor nostrils? Why?! Who?! Forget Ottilie, whoever made this decision is the real weirdo.

I do respect how Ottilie owns it though. She’s a degenerate, but she’s neither hiding nor apologising for it. And trust me, she is so much worse than you think she is.

Of course the Church experiments on orphans. They have no families so no one will notice if they disappear. And since the Church runs all the orphanages, the higher ups can arrange transfers to different facilities without raising suspicions among those ordinary people lower down the chain.

It’s quite confusing, isn’t it. If her power was a threat, the Church could have easily killed her or simply left her alone. If they just wanted to use her power for themselves, they could have abducted her. They could have also easily arranged for Maria to teach her how to use her power as part of the journey. They haven’t made any attempts to bring Flum or Eterna back to the party either. Their experiments have also tried to kill Flum specifically. It seems like whoever’s behind all this can’t make up their mind about what they actually want to do with Flum.

That must be some good tea Eterna is drinking there.

I suppose the animators also decided having a young girl’s eyes sewn shut would be too disturbing for wider audiences to see animated.

Using the scene from the novel for Kahnis’ betrayal and eventual takeover is a brilliant use of both novel and manga material.

Now that is appropriately disturbing! More of that, please! That is what this series is best known for! That is pure nightmare fuel!