01x12 - A Brave's Secret

[bunniefuu]

Sensei!

Sara!

Master...

Their wicked deeds that drag
innocents into danger...

must not be allowed to continue.

We should make haste after them.

They've already gotten away! Now lie down!

I cannot.

As a Brave, I must...

Even E3 can't regenerate an
organ that's been totally lost.

But in spite of that...

She still...

Master?

Jogamine Aki.

Is she really...

human?

Ever since that day, the Coffin
Count of Storms has gone to ground.

Word on the street has it that
Levi chick k*lled her, but...

I sure as hell don't buy it.

She's probably holed up somewhere
and prepping for w*r.

Don't you think?

No clue. And if you're finished with your
revenge thing, how about paying your tab?

It's not over yet!

Someone sent them after Ishino.

There's no way that four-eyes would've lost
to four-ish guys in a straight-up battle.

Besides...

I've got something else I need to figure
out, along with Half Dragon's deal.

Which includes a question for you.

Is it true that my master was married?

What brought that on?

That dumbass couldn't have
handled being married.

Here. My elephants are out.

How about you move those silver palisades?

Don't try and change the subject!

I heard from Jogamine that she's
apparently Master's daughter.

You mean to tell me you didn't know?

Look at me when I'm talking to you!

Shut up! And hurry with moving
your silver palisades!

It's not just that!

There's more to it! Her left eye
was gouged out, but it grew back!

Just like those freaks who
were using that E4 sh*t.

But according to her...

I'm as surprised as you are!

Do you suppose it's a miracle,
granted to the chosen Brave?

Which doesn't explain a damn thing!

And if she doesn't know, then the
answers are tied to her father.

Which makes me wonder if my master
was wrapped up in this E4 business.

No clue. And I made a promise.

That sure makes it sound
like you do know something!

Fess up!

No clue.

Here. Now, the game's over.

Yo.

Man, you're as trash as ever, Yashiro.

Whatever. I just had some bad draws.

Ed, I'll take a beer and some edamame.

And pizza. Half teriyaki chicken
and half mochi, if you don't mind.

Man, you're acting real c*ck.

You could say I'm "productive."

I've been kicking the asses of a
string of small-fry Dark Lords.

How about you? You bored or something?

Obviously not!

I'm about to go meet with a tipster.

At Retsu's place.

Actually, Joe, since you mentioned
free time, you like traveling much?

I'm not going.

I've got a new lead. And if I've got
this figured out, in the north there's—

I said no.

I didn't even say where to!

I ain't going. You mean Hokkaido, right?

Last thing I wanna do is
see that shitty priest.

Besides, I've got some digging to do.

About your master, for one.

You were eavesdropping?

You weren't exactly whispering.

I'm on better terms with the bureaucrats.

You really gotta learn to delegate, man.

It's true.

And considering this is
someone I owe a lot to...

I'd rather not go digging
around in their dark secrets.

Mind your own business. Who do you
think you are, other than a gorilla?

If you want a travel buddy,
why not take Malta?

He hasn't been coming in lately.

Ed, you seen Malta around?

Not since last week.

He mentioned something about
finding a good part-time gig.

I doubt he'll be coming by for a while.

Hell of a time to pick up some extra cash.

Well, if he wants to operate solo,
no sense in worrying about it.

You really oughta just buy Malta a phone.

Hell no! He'd just lose it, anyway.

Come on, Ed. What the hell was the
deal with my pain in the a*s Master?

He wasn't just some idiot?

From what I know, he was the
strongest Brave of all.

And he died over some nonsense.

That much I know.

I don't think he died
with any regrets, though.

Said he'd accomplished
everything he wanted to.

When Master got drunk, he would
start talking nonsense.

It had nothing to do with
work or training me.

It sounded delusional.

Or so I thought...

Y'know, being a Brave might be a
job for the lowest kinda scum...

But I've always been pretty stupid.

I looked up to them.

Y'know those fairy tales
about King Arthur?

Or Momotaro, or Lord of
the Rings, or whatever.

The point is, those guys were
brave and fought the bad guys.

I hoped that people like
that were still out there.

And it led me to taking on this job...

Me, Joe, Ishino... We
all mocked him for it.

The ideal, heroic Brave
from out of a story...

I never had the guts to admit
that's what I wanted to be.

Master... and Jogamine's condition...

Does it have something to do
with E4 and the Half Dragon?

What was going on in his head when
he trained me and raised Jogamine?

I need to find out myself.

Because, otherwise, I can't
keep being a Brave.

You're late.

Yeah.

It was hard to get off campus.

High security.

Well, they did just have someone break in!

And things have gotten busy around town.

With the Coffin Count of Storms missing,

the other Dark Lords are all
looking to expand their turf.

Some Braves are thrilled
about the potential payday.

Including you?

I don't work that hard.

Here's a lesson: any Brave who's dedicated
to the job is gonna die early.

The same goes for those
who get too curious.

What?

I'm hungry.

Can I order something?

Yeah.

Let's call it the price of intel.

Order whatever you want.

Katsudon then.

And a Japanese-style Hamburg steak.

And the chicken pilaf, prosciutto
salad, some cheesecake...

And a drink to go with it.

Was it good?

It wasn't bad.

Oh, wait...

It was very good. Thank you.

Yeah? You satisfied?

Because I expect you to talk
just as much as you ate.

What do you want to know?

Well, for starters...

You're ex-military, right?

That's where you learned to use those
knives, not the academy, yeah?

Yeah. You noticed, Instructor?

Well, that's another thing.
The way you talk.

And that's without getting into your
whole deal, and the way you fight.

Before enrolling in the academy,

you were probably at the Shadow
Territory in the north, right?

The Shadow Territory.

To the east of Sapporo, composing
the majority of Hokkaido...

A bunch of powerful
Dark Lords decided to

establish their own
countries and city-states.

It got bad enough the Japanese
government threw in the towel.

There were a bunch of mercenaries
who thought they could make a living

by both keeping an eye on and
defending against these maniacs.

Mercenary Braves who use E3...

And a military organization
in charge of them.

That's where Indo came from.

Yeah. I was in the Lamplights, up north.

Was that the name of your
unit or something?

I'm not sure.

Probably, though.

Be sure to eat up.
You won't grow big if you don't.

They were my brothers and sisters.

It was my home.

We'd eat food in the cafeteria...

And train together.

We went around to the places
we were supposed to defend.

Lighting lamplights, and keeping
an eye towards the north.

I'd heard that the northern mercs had
started adopting w*r orphans as recruits.

But kids like that tend to be lifers.

So, what's one doing in the academy?

Nephilim.

That's what you called
those monsters, right?

Nephilim...

Yeah. They're enemies.

Enemies?

We'd run into them, from time to time.

We treated them like bears.

They didn't go into populated areas much.

And you had to fight them before?

The adults would, sometimes.

We didn't know that they moved in
groups until a camp was attacked...

On that day...

A whole bunch of them came.

Our squad fought back.

But they were so strong...

I was still weak then.

It wasn't my job to fight.

I was supposed to lead
the younger kids away.

That's a pretty important job.

I failed.

It's catching up!

Go!

No way!

We're going!

When it caught up to me,

I couldn't move at all.

I was too scared.

I couldn't fight.

The reinforcements were late.

But only a little.

Hey. You can stop now.

Yukine!

Haru... saved me.

Don't cry.

I want to get stronger!

I could make a snide remark,
or try and brush it off.

"You think that's what the dead want?"

"What's there to be gained
from you being a Brave?"

But... there'd be no point.

Because Indo is determined
to do this her way.

Just like I am.

Okay, Indo.

I'm gonna make you stronger.

I know what we need to do next.

Hokkaido. That's where we'll find a lead
on the people behind those monsters.

I'm heading there to do some digging
tomorrow, and you can come along.

Really?!

Yeah. I'm honestly pretty
desperate for help.

These guys need to pay.

And I'll get to show off how awesome I am.

Then what about training?

Can we do some right now?

I was hoping to drink a
bit before turning in...

- Training! Training! Training! Training!

- Hey, let go!

Indo... you were followed!

It was hard enough getting out unnoticed.

Well...

There's gonna be some time
until I can book a flight.

Have it your way. Let's train!

Master! Why do Yukine and Sara
always get preferential treatment?!

And why do you never read my texts?!

Probably because I blocked you?

Next time: Episode 13, "A Brave's Doubts."