I haven't seen you before.
What is a woman doing out here so early in the morning?
Oh, don't worry about it.
Just come here.
Hey...
Do you like flowers?
Troops—
Let him have it!
Al Huma!
Troops! Follow those two fools!
They're firing the night-banisher.
Close your eyes.
Whoa...
It's just like everyone said! Incredible!
That's... the White Whale?
It's so huge.
Are you scared?
Yeah, I'm scared.
Scared of the blindingly bright future
where I'm revered as a hero for defeating it!
Now, let's run like hell!
Yes!
It's so fast!
You greatly underestimate us
if you think you can look away so carelessly.
A phantom sword, with no regard for range.
That is Crusch-sama's sword art,
famous for its Hundred-Man Strike.
Disperse!
For fourteen long years,
I have dreamed of nothing but this day.
Fall here, and leave your corpse behind.
Like the monster you are!
How wonderfully cooperative of you,
coming here to be slain!
Oh, crap!
Don't you look away from us, moron!
Here we go!
Everyone, now!
Troops, fall back!
Fire! Aim at its flank!
Algoa!
Looks like that was pretty effective!
I think we can pull this off!
No, truthfully,
we had hoped that attack would ground it.
It's not losing altitude at all...
We used all of our best attacks right from the get-go.
If that didn't make it fall,
it's a lot tougher than we thought.
The magic attacks didn't work?
Its white hair scatters mana and neutralizes force.
My magic was not as effective as it appeared either.
Fire!
Time for round two.
Let's do this! Hack away at its remaining strength!
Acting as a decoy now would cause more harm than good.
So all we can do is watch until it makes a move?
I feel just as irritated as you do.
I don't even have any attacks,
so watching is all I can do in the first place.
But your healing specialty makes you our lifeline.
All you have to do is fulfill that role for us!
We're counting on you.
You've really changed in just one day, huh?
What happened?
If I had to say,
I've just become a slightly better man.
Wilhelm-sama is...
Upsy-daisy!
Miserable...
What is that?
Hey, something's odd...
What's going on?
The color of its eye...
Have you come to like flowers?
No, I hate them.
Why do you take up the sword?
Because it's all I have.
It disappeared?
We're going to move! Hold on tight!
Troops, retreat!
Retreat!
Retreat! Re—
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
That's what the magic fog looks like?
If that hits us...
How many men did we lose?
My unit has twelve men left.
We're short three.
Who was lost?
I don't know.
I have fourteen men left.
One deserted.
I'm missing six. I'm sorry.
No one was riding on the opposite side from me.
Who is Rem?
Rem... Who is that?
You've forgotten Rem too?
That's it...
People hit by the White Whale's fog
vanish from existence, along with any memories of them.
A Fog of Elimination.
You're back?
Forgive my haste.
What's our damage?
A total of twenty-one men.
It appears one whole platoon was wiped out.
It won't even be possible
to properly protect the honor of the lost.
My apologies.
Why do you take up the sword?
Because I could think of no other way
by which I could protect.
Now that it's in the fog,
we won't know whence it will attack.
Staying grouped is the worst thing we could do.
Disperse immediately.
What is that?
Is that the White Whale?
Hey! What's wrong?
Hey!
Hey! Rem!
That voice is the fog,
which is directly attacking our minds.
Similar to mana sickness,
but much worse...
Some people can resist it, and some can't?
I don't feel anything...
It's all right.
It will settle down now.
Hey!
Enough... Stop it!
Ferris!
Have the unaffected help them!
They say wounding people is harder on an army than killing them,
but what monster does that?
Move!
I guess Ferris can remove the effects of the fog's contamination.
But there isn't enough time...
If it comes for us now, we're finished.
Crusch-san!
I'll buy us time.
Have everyone regroup!
What?
Rem, sorry, but I need you to accompany me to the most dangerous place here!
Of course. Anywhere.
Wait, Natsuki Subaru!
In this fog...
Anyone who can't, stay where you are!
I'll Return by Death to—
I'm back!
Well, Rem?
Do I smell like the Witch?
Yes, you reek!
That's what I wanted, but did you have to say it that way?
Those who can move, get the injured to the foot of the tree!
We'll have to use a bit of force.
With the ulgarm,
it was strong enough to cover the entire forest.
What will it do this time?
Honestly, I'm not sure how effective it'll be...
No, it's working.
It's coming.
I-It's coming!
Ul Huma!
How?
Sis! Together!
Captain!
I got this!
Rem!
Looking away from me? How cold of you.
And here I spent the past fourteen years utterly mad for you!
This is startin' to get fun.
It's sturdier than expected, but not all that strong!
No, it's putting up less of a fight than it should.
I find it hard to believe this witchfiend
got the better of my wife, a Sword Saint.
The fact that we got the jump on it,
and that it didn't use its fog to divide our forces to begin with—
I'll be taking a parting gift on my way out!
Wilhelm-san!
Be alert!
We don't know whence it will come.
What's up?
It ain't gonna follow?
It comes.
The fog's coming down!
Run!
Hey, have you come to like flowers?
What is it?
There was talk of conferral,
and I became a knight.
Well, congratulations.
Then you're one step closer to your dream.
My dream?
Don't you wield a sword to protect?
A knight is someone who protects another.
I don't want... to die...
It's humiliating!
I see.
Were you laughing at me!?
Answer me, Theresia!
No...
Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea!
I won't be coming here again.
With a face like that,
you shouldn't be holding a sword!
I am the Sword Saint.
I didn't understand the reason why,
but I do now.
The reason, you say?
Taking up the sword to protect someone.
That sounds nice to me too.
Wait, Theresia...
I will take your sword from you!
I don't care about the role bestowed upon the Sword Saint!
Don't you dare...
look down on taking up the sword or the beauty of a steel blade!
You hear me, Sword Saint!?
We have trouble!
You're kidding me...
Wilhelm van Astrea
But even for a die-hard trader, an intense battle like this surely is no bed of roses.
Ah, well, no matter.
Even that is part of the job!
Yes, Commander, no matter!
But trading surely entails a lot of unpleasant work.
Tell me about it!
Don't get me started on the scorching heat in the summer.
Huh?
And me as well, me as well!
My clothes become all sweaty every time!
When it starts raining as well, we smell like rats.
Ojou does not like that at all.
He always drags me to the bath along with her...
Yes, and we don't get any sleep.
Well, she always gets so angry when I kick and squirm.
What are you?! Some kind of pet?!
Oh, next time: A Wager that Defies Despair
Alright, quick, back to work or she'll get angry again.