[KANATA] It was the first time I'd been hunting
with Gobkichi in quite a while.
[both grunt]
[KANATA] Along the way, we caught sight
of 12 armed human soldiers.
Looks like we'll be taking a different path.
- Let's go! - Right!
[KANATA] We followed them until they stopped
on the side of the road, careful to conceal themselves.
After a little bit of eavesdropping,
we figured out their plans.
They'd come to kidnap the daughter
of the elvish chieftain.
She'd be taking this route on her way home
from a festival.
The reason they know this,
is because someone among the elves
tipped them off.
She'll arrive two hours after sunset.
[fire crackling]
Hm.
There.
[KANATA] That's the chief's daughter?
Elves are attractive as a general rule,
but this one's above and beyond.
[gasps]
[both groan]
- [grunts] - [gasps]
[grunts]
[muffled groaning]
[MALE SOLDIER 5A] Target confirmed! Attack!
[KANATA] Jeez.
I can't leave now or I'd be abandoning her.
[ALL] Hm.
[grunts]
[ALL] Huh.
[all scream]
[GOBROU] You got that? They look heavy.
It's no problem. Let's do this!
[KANATA] We'll just have to pray
the others rest in peace.
[KANATA] So yeah, about those 12 humans
we took prisoner.
Turns out the rest of their army
will be making a move within 20 days.
Huh.
[KANATA] I figured I should go ahead
and take their abilities.
No sense in letting them go to waste.
[indistinct chatter]
[groans]
- Huh? - Huh.
Oh good, you're finally awake.
[gasps and screams]
[GOBROU] Huh. Hey, you've got wings.
I haven't seen anything like that on the other elves.
[whimpers]
[ELF CHIEFTAIN DAUGHTER] Where in the world am I?
What happened to my guards? Did they make it?
[chuckle] Settle down.
Do you intend on robbing me of my chastity?
I'm not even gonna respond to that.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN DAUGHTER] Forgive me for losing
my composure.
[KANATA] When the timing was right,
I told her how things went down.
No! That's terrible!
And you didn't even make an attempt
to save the others?
What good does it do to stay quiet?
[KANATA] I suppose it's a fair response
considering the context.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN DAUGHTER] How could you do that?
What a cruel soul you have!
You're a big old meany!
- [grunts] - [gasps]
Ugh! 'Kay, first of all, don't call me a meany,
and secondly, we don't need to know
anything about you and those humans.
Honestly, you should worry more about
the traitor among the elves.
[gasps]
If you've got enough time for a meltdown,
perhaps that fury could be used to expose the perpetrator.
[trembling]
[crying]
[sighs]
[GOBROU] You should go get some rest.
I'll get you home safely tomorrow.
[GOBJII] Gobrou!
What's this I hear about a fine piece
of elf among us?
How do you feel about giving me a taste?
Absolutely not, you disgusting perv!
[GOBJII] Where is your sense of adventure?
[KANATA] As promised, we set out from the village
the next day to take her home.
So, I'm curious, what's going on
with those things that were coming out of your back?
Well, they're wings,
and you would only see them on those of us who are high elves.
Even that would be rare as we normally
hide them inside our bodies.
[KANATA] "High elves."
A fitting name for elves that rank up.
Or elves that can fly.
They're actually not meant to be seen by others,
but since I'm still getting used to mine,
they've been popping out unexpectedly.
[KANATA] We trekked on, for three hours or so.
When we finally arrived at the elf village,
they were ready.
♪
[KANATA] More than 25 of them waited,
armed with mythril arrowheads.
Ogres like us should be able to survive
a couple dozen shots.
Please don't hurt them!
They saved my life and helped me
return home to you.
[ALL] Huh?
[GOBROU] Huh?
[KANATA] It took a little longer than necessary,
but we were eventually allowed to enter the village.
[gasps] Father!
Forgive me if I've worried you.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN] You don't need to apologize.
I'm glad to see you've returned safely.
You have my deepest gratitude
for courageously rescuing my daughter.
I am the chief here, welcome to our village.
[GOBROU] I have to be honest with you, chief.
I didn't save her life purely out of good will.
Ah. A reward, then?
- Go. Bring it here. - Huh?
As you wish, sir.
[KANATA] Now's his chance to show us
how much his daughter means to him.
This should give me a good idea
of what kind of judgment he has, if any.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN] This is the Failnot.
A family treasure of ours, and a magical item.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN DAUGHTER] But Father!
You've returned home alive and in one piece.
That's worth nothing less.
[GOBKICHI] Huh?
[GOBROU] I apologize for testing you.
And to make up for it, I have some information
that I think you may find useful.
Oh? And what information would that be?
The movements of the human army,
for instance.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN] I believe you and I will quickly
become good friends.
[KANATA] As a token of our new friendship,
the chief gave us tons of mythril equipment.
I, in turn, sealed our deal by providing him
with spirit stone knives and magical item shovels.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN] If you don't mind,
I have a question to ask of you.
Sure.
[ELF CHIEFTAIN A group of our elite fighters
went missing nearly 20 days ago.
I wonder if you've heard anything?
[GOBROU] Nope! Can't say that I have!
[laughing]
[KANATA] Before we left,
they had going-away presents for us.
These are medicines and fine liquor
made right here,
and I hope they will be useful to you.
And if you need our help, give us a call!
We'll offer a friend discount!
[GOBROU] Damn, that's good!
How do they make the flavor so rich
and crisp like that?
[KANATA] I guess that's another reason
to play nice with the elf chieftain.
Aw!
[Gobrou groaning]
Hey, Gobmi.
It's morning time. Rise and shine.
Huh.
[groans]
[KANATA] At some point last night,
she ranked up into a dhampir variant.
[indistinct chatter]
[KANATA] Turns out it wasn't just her.
We've got eight new hobgoblins.
[GOBROU] Hey Gobmi, don't take those glasses off
unless it's around an enemy.
[gasps]
[DHAMI] Yeah, yeah, I know.
[KANATA] According to her, the God of Ice
has blessed her with the ability to create
and manipulate large amounts of the stuff.
[giggle]
[KANATA] Her "evil eyes" ability can charm enemies
into fighting amongst themselves,
and the usual weakness she'd have to sunlight
is offset by the blessing she's received.
Although,
her new appearance...
It looks familiar to me, for some reason.
Hm? Is something wrong?
Nah, just dazzled by your charms.
Oh, you!
Hi, did you miss me?
[KANATA] Yeah, that's Gobe.
She evolved into a half-earth lord.
Earth lords can lord over the ground, or earth.
She can identify weak points in bedrock
with geological assessment,
and is also able to increase her body strength
and detect gems with lightning magic.
Check out my new look, Sei!
[KANATA] That would be the evolved Hobsato,
who is now a half-bloody lord.
Their distinguishing feature is their ability
to control blood and make it into weapons.
Something isn't adding up, though.
The locations and shapes are all different,
but they all have tattoos like mine.
They believe the tattoos give them power;
I hope we figure that one out soon.
Well, would you look at that?
It seems that you've all evolved again.
That's wonderful!
I suppose this means I should get to work
on your new names, huh?
Hobsei will be Spellsei, Gobmi will be Dhami,
Hobsato is now Bloodsato, and Gobe is now Earthe.
Gobkichi will be Ogrekichi...
[KANATA] I guess all that really matters is
that we can tell each other apart.
This is the basic breakdown of how powerful
the different races are.
Once their war with the humans begins,
the elves will reach out to us for help.
The more assets we have, the more tactical options
will be at our disposal.
That being the case,
I gave them all a new set of communication earrings.
Except...
It's very kind, but we can't put those on.
We know you meant well,
it's just that it's forbidden for elves
to let their ears be harmed or decorated.
[KANATA] It seems I have no choice.
Who knows where they heard that,
but I took my time relieving them
all of that ridiculous pretense.
[KANATA] With the addition of the kobolds
and elves who now have earrings,
there were more participants than usual
in our daily training.
Later on, we did some practical combat sparring.
The opponents were skeletons I made
with the Summon Lower Undead ability
I got the other day.
♪
[KANATA] They had dark bones, instead of bleached ones,
and heavy-duty equipment.
As a general rule, the more armor a skeleton has,
the higher ranked it will be.
[grunts]
[KANATA] Although the elves had mythril weapons
effective against undead,
they lost most of their matches.
But they seemed to accept the outcome.
I find that building trust the natural way
tends to work best.
[KANATA] If I use less mana, I'm able to create
regular skeletons, zombies, and all kinds of undead.
I wanted to know what they tasted like.
Turns out, you can't eat ghosts
due to their lack of a physical form.
The various undead made great opponents
for the elves to practice on
and gave them plenty of experience.
Unfortunately, they purify
in just a few dozen seconds of daylight.
Sucks not being able to use them during the day.
For now, I'm focusing on training the elves
and kobolds.
After all, this village is currently bursting
at the seams with over 100 members,
and the kobolds are in a pretty low position.
At this rate, things will become hard for them.
The only way to get past that
is for them to develop their strength.
No, rotten meat is the best meat.
[KANATA] Today, I headed out to the caves
where the kobolds live.
After grabbing their belongings,
I let Earthe handle the rest.
[EARTHE] Hell yeah!
[KANATA] Yep, that should ensure
no more skeletons show up.
And there was one other thing.
I had the kobolds practice group hunting.
We needed to increase our number
of black wolf familiars,
and the kobolds moved far better than I expected.
We were able to capture 20 of the creatures.
None of them were pack leaders,
but they'll make good familiars regardless.
We also encountered a stamp boar.
Those are said to be as hard as stone.
How am I supposed to stand still
after hearing that?
[roars]
[screaming]
[thumps]
- [blood splattering] - [DHAMI] Huh?
I'm so sorry!
[KANATA] Later that evening,
we all enjoyed a boar meat stew.
[OGROU] Oh, hell yeah!
[KANATA] Remember the axe that was damaged
when I fought the red bear?
Well, now I've got a massively upgraded form of it!
Actually, nearly the entire thing
had been modified with an impressive blend
of spirit stone, iron, and mythril.
I worked very hard on it!
That's obvious, and I'm genuinely impressed.
Since when have you been able to make
something like this?
I'll be happy to tell you.
Huh?
[KANATA] Apparently, she had become so experienced
with handling spirit stone,
that the smith was now an elemental smith.
[chuckles]
[KANATA] Another day, another kobold hunt.
And on this day, I found myself hunting stamp boars.
[whimpering]
[OGROU] All right, spill.
What did you want to talk about?
[OGREKICHI] Oh, yeah.
You have to promise not to laugh, though.
The truth is, I've had a crush on Earthe
for as long as I can remember.
I, uh... I know this might seem kinda sudden.
It's not.
I've assumed that was the case for a while.
[gasps]
You've been pretty obvious about it, Ogrekichi.
Me? Obvious?
[OGROU] Yep.
[OGREKICHI] She's always been cute.
But ever since she turned all half-earth lord,
she's gotten even prettier.
And seeing her like that,
I just can't hold it in anymore!
Help me! I have to tell her something,
but I don't know what to say!
[KANATA] It's hard not to be touched by how desperate he is.
[OGREKICHI] Ogrou!
[OGROU] Are you ready?
Tonight's the moment of truth!
What? It is?
You're gonna be just fine!
And if not, then at least you don't have
to wonder about it anymore.
I have faith in you!
Let me know how it went tomorrow, all right?
♪
What's this all about, Kichi?
I think you should.
Argh! I think you should be happy.
And we should be happy together!
Hm. Wow. I don't know what to say.
The truth is...
[Ogrekichi roars]
- [thumps] - [grunts]
[KANATA] He did that to me a few times.
It's amazing how much lighter I feel today!
I'm also feeling stronger than ever before!
And it's all thanks to you, Ogrou!
Well, glad I could be there for you.
[KANATA] Looks like his confession
last night went well.
No surprise there.
Earthe had actually asked Dhami
about him yesterday.
Then she told me and I told her,
and we were able to set the stage for them.
I'm just hoping Ogrekichi didn't get too excited
and leave poor Earthe hobbled.
[Earthe chuckles] Ogrou!
Are you all done training for today?
[KANATA] Looks like I had nothing to worry about.
[grunts]
[OGROU] He's been so strong and full of energy
that I had a black skeleton take over.
[laughs] Guess that's my fault!
[KANATA] After training,
the four of us went out hunting.
There were a lot of insect monsters
I had never seen.
Turns out they're great for hard, armored materials.
[indistinct narration]
[KANATA] An exoskeleton, huh?
Let's try it out.
[gasps]
I look like one of those transforming heroes.
[clanging]
[KANATA] It's as durable as expected,
repairs itself, and disperses impacts.
It's a little too conspicuous for my taste, to be honest.
Yeah, I get that.
But I think it still looks cool.
Besides, I like the outfit
- I was wearing before. - [gasps]
[OGREKICHI] Huh. [EARTHE] Hm.
[KANATA] I had more clothes on under that.
I guess they were used to create the exoskeleton.
Dammit, I really liked that outfit.
It was made from the red bear's pelt.
♪
[KANATA] Well, that's cool.
I kinda wanna register forms
for aerial and sea battles, too, then.
[whirring]
[KANATA] Grow Elytron gives me the ability
to sprout insect wings.
It's harder than it seems.
Gonna need a little more practice.
Aw, he fell!
But it looked really cool!
[KANATA] After our hunt, I took the stamp boar meat
back to camp and we all ate together.
I'd say we had a productive day today.
[FEMALE NARRATOR 01A] Rampage. Tail Attack.
[KANATA] How long has it been since we've seen rain?
Oh, well.
No hunting today, but I can do some crafting.
Hey there, Ogrou!
Do you wanna come spar with me?
[KANATA] The short-haired redhead has been asking
to train lately.
She's feeling more confident about
the progress she's making.
She used to remind me of a puppy
or a small fluffy dog.
Now she's more like a Doberman.
And so, I started out the morning
by sparring with her.
[RED] Ha!
[KANATA] After working up a sweat,
I headed out to see the blacksmith.
She's been spending a lot of time with the elves lately
and discussing new weapon ideas with them.
[chuckles]
[KANATA] I guess I should mention that
those two elves are Kirue and Arue.
Mythril has to be turned into an amalgam
before reshaping.
The spirit stone alloy used in my halberd
is crafted in the same way.
The smith's currently working on developing
a repeating crossbow.
[arrows thwack]
[KANATA] I think she's got it down,
so I've asked her to go ahead and manufacture it.
[KANATA] I also provided her with some new materials.
I'll get started on that right away! Thanks!
[KANATA] That evening, I helped out our chef sisters.
Can someone grab me a soup plate, please?
[KANATA] It turns out, they've both acquired new jobs.
They are now head cooks.
After dinner, I had them try to make foods
from my past life.
Ya know, like potato chips and stuff.
I've never even heard of most of the foods
you've listed, but they seem really interesting!
Hey, the more complex they are,
the more we can learn!
[KANATA] After that, I had a meeting with the alchemist
about manufacturing magical items.
[ALCHEMIST] I'm liking these black skeleton bones.
They've turned out to be very handy.
I've created a bone nail, and whoever's struck with it,
will immediately be frozen in place.
It's the first thing I've produced
since becoming an item creator.
What a great feeling!
Promise you'll take good care of it.
Just pretend it's me, okay?
[gasps]
[KANATA] I was thrown off
by her unusually playful attitude.
And that's when...
Ah-ha!
I knew I'd catch you sneaking around again!
[KANATA] As for what happened next...
[ALL] Aah!
No need to elaborate.
[MALE UNDERLING 5A] Ogrou!
- Come here quick! - [BOTH] Huh.
[MALE UNDERLING 5A] There are some strange elves
at the entrance!
♪
We have a message from our chief,
who you claim as a friend and ally.
[KANATA] They passed by their old comrades
on the way in, but the earrings
they were wearing had a disguise effect
that made them look like dark elves.
[both grunt]
It's about the humans, we've learned that their army
is finally advancing on the Kudel Woods.
They'll arrive with a large force,
one we'll be unable to repel on our own.
I've come here hoping to secure your assistance and protection.
Right, right.
So, you never found out what happened
to your elite force?
[ELF MESSENGER BOY 5A] Oh well, no.
Actually, we've been told to consider them dead.
Ah, I see.
[ELF MESSENGER BOY 5A] Price is of no concern.
Our chief wants the enemy to be eliminated.
However, in the event of your retreat,
the contract will be considered void.
I humbly accept the job.
And I appreciate the advance warning.
But you should know we'll be making our own moves.
Hm.
[OGROU] Take this to your chief.
It will allow him to communicate with us.
[ELF MESSENGER BOY 5A] I'll see that it's delivered.
If you'll excuse me.
[KANATA] It's true that information
is always a crucial weapon.
And I've already got my creations
canvassing those woods.
You know, there are those who say,
"If you want peace, you must prepare for war."
[chuckles]
That so?
Please go and gather the others.
[OGROU] The time has come to put everything
we've been working on to use.
Starting today, we're a mercenary company!
[OGREKICHI] Whoa! What does that mean?
To spell it out, it means
we're a professional force of fighters.
- [ALL] Aw! - We sound so cool!
And what'll we be called?
We're Parabellum.
Parabellum Mercenaries, let's prepare for battle!
The time has come!
[all screaming]
Parabellum!
[all chanting] Parabellum! Parabellum!
Parabellum!
[KANATA] And now, it's time for our first big mission.