Summary:

2nd Lt. Karl Oswald is sent by from the Central Army to the front lines to be Selvaria’s new aide, and he thinks that this is his chance to earn a big promotion. In a tame repeat of Alicia’s keep-away scheme, Karl has been ordered to insure that Selvaria does not accompany Maximilian back to the palace, and Karl is only able to stop her by reminding her that Maximilian ordered her to stay on the front lines in his stead. Naturally, Karl is merely an unwitting pawn in a larger scheme.

It turns out that the whole Gallian war was a power play by Maximilian’s older brother to lower Maximilian’s influence. Maximilian is ordered to provide the king with a personal explanation as to why Gallia is not under Imperial control yet, and the plan is to have assassins kill Maximilian before his audience with the king. Fortunately, Radi and Selvaria save Karl from an assassin (sent to dispose of Karl, once Selvaria has been detained), and the three hop a jeep to go save Maximilian. With some impressive off-roading, Karl gets Selvaria there in time to see that Maximilian has already killed the main assassins. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.

Reaction:

If that fake patrol hadn’t jumped the gun on killing Karl, the plan to detain Selvaria would have been successful! Too bad the wannabe-ninja assassins seemed kinda incompetent, using knives all the way until the end, when a few of the smarter grunts tried to use their rifles on Selvaria. Maximilian showed some impressive sword skills as well, although I doubt he can dodge/deflect bullets the way Selvaria can; I guess he figured he could hold out until Selvaria surfed in on a jeep. It’s good to know that when you reach out to a loli, one day she might turn into a super-powered, loyal, busty, sword-wielding, bullet-slicing subordinate.

As silly as this episode was, it gave some insights into the other side of the Gallian conflict. Maximilian’s forces seem less like random, shallow, generic evil guys, even if they are jerks for invading Gallia and blowing up the Sister Mills. It seems both sides have their share of useless nobles and pompous officials, and I look forward to the puffypants battle of wits between Maximilian and his brother. Even though Maximilian foiled the assassination attempt, he still had to explain his slow progress to his father, and the possibility of having Maximilian’s army reduced came up. This means, it’s probably time for a big Imperial push!

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