The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 09 – The Selfish, Mistaken Prince

For her role in saving everyone from the horde of monsters with her purification magic, Sei is rewarded by being teased by Grand Magus Drewes, much to Albert’s displeasure. Upon returning to the palace, word of her great saintly deeds precedes her, and she’s even more of a celebrity with the nobles.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Prince Kyle specifically waited until Sei returned in order to stage his spat in the courtyard with Elizabeth, who both wants to be a friend to both Sei and Aira. Kyle lays it on rather thick, calling Sei an “impostor” and “most definitely not the Saint”, making things even more uncomfortable for poor Aira.

Liz, unaware that Kyle is carrying out a ploy, takes him to task for his foolishness, but then both she and Aira spot Sei, and Kyle takes aim, pretending not to know who she is and even trying to put his hand on her. Albert comes out of nowhere to prevent that.

Drewes, who slinked off, returns with the king himself and his retainers, and takes Kyle to task for spreading fake news. Kyle continues to maintain that despite Aira having no accomplishments of note, she’s still the only person he summoned. The king orders them to continue this discussion in private.

There, Kyle bears all, admitting he was intentionally acting like a boorish lout so that all the heat from the public would fall on him, while Aira would be seen as a victim in his craven schemes. After learning he played the fool for Aira’s sake, Liz is no longer angry at her fiancé, and in fact seems to have come to admire him even more, while lamenting how awkward he is.

As for Liz, Aira is left in her care, and she arranges a tea party so that Sei, who is now officially recognized by all as the Saint, can finally meet Aira, and vice-versa. It’s a little awkward at first (due to the age difference, among other things), but Aira soon learns that Sei is a gentle, kind person who is eager to spend more time with her.

She and Liz also suggest that if she wants to continue her magical studies, she should join the Royal Magi Assembly. Considering how long Sei and Aira were kept apart, this first meeting has a very understated, almost anticlimactic quality. And maybe that’s for the best: one thing Sei and Aira have in common (besides their homeworld) is a general distaste of the limelight. A laid-back tea party was the perfect place to begin their friendship in earnest.

The king, striking an Ikari Gendo pose, consults with his chief of staff about the region in most need of assistance against the scourge of monsters and miasma: Klausner’s Domain, AKA “The Alchemist’s Holy Land”, the kingdom’s primary source of medicinal herbs.

When Sei learns Albert and his knights will be headed to Klausner’s, she volunteers to come along, surprising her director who assumed Sei would want to stay put at the institute and was preparing excuses for her. Albert says Sei’s safety is paramount, but what’s a safer place for her—or him—than by each other’s sides?

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 08 – Into the Western Woods

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent would prefer if we forget about Aira and whether or not she and Sei will ever actually speak to each other, and despite being somewhat frustrated by the sudden page-turn, I came to accept it in the spirit of enjoying watching Sei’s magic power continue to evolve, which all starts when she finally gains access to the forbidden section of the library.

Yuri Drewes might have the line of the night when he sidles up to her and asks if she’s thinking about murdering someone. But her interest in poisonous plants is obviously more honorable and altruistic. When her attempts to create holy water or imbue plants with magic fail, she learns from Yuri about “Saintly Conjury”, which is the closest analogue to the “blessing” of water of which she speaks.

At the end of the day, Sei more or less figures out how to perform Conjury quite by accident, simply because she’s concentrating very intently on her desire to help those who have helped her. An orb of magical energy appears just below her throat, and it lets out a little shock wave that imbues all of the surrounding plants with magic, just like she’d been trying.

While this is inarguably a huge breakthrough, Sei isn’t quite sure how she did it, and so isn’t sure how to repeat it. But then duty calls, as the knights request the institute’s best healer to accompany them on a dangerous expedition to the infamous Western Woods. Johan expects her to be very low on the prospect, but to his surprise, she’s fully prepared to do whatever she can to prevent or mitigate more casualties of the kind she treated before.

So early the next morning, she dons her durable, practical, yet stylish adventurer’s outfit and prepares to depart. She’s met by several surprises, first Jude and Johan seeing her off (though I don’t see why she’s surprised; they both adore her). Then she learns Commander Hawke will be joining the expedition in order to protect her. That goes for Yuri too, though a part of him is coming along just in case she pulls off Conjury again.

While Sei is wearing the hear ornament Albert gave her because she knew she’d want to keep her hair out of the way, he tells her that it’s actually enchanted, and will keep her safe come what may. His delicate, respectful, and above all dignified courtship of her has been one of the many surprise delights of this series.

But heck, even if her hairpin didn’t do jack, she’d still be fine, right? I mean, she’s got a Knight Commander and the Grand Magus protecting her. Well, maybe not so much, as the miasma becomes denser and the monsters grow stronger, Yuri and Albert’s hands are full stemming the tide of lesser beasts when a boss-type salamander appears.

When it spits its fire breath at Sei, she doesn’t have time to raise a magical shield, but her hair ornament has her back, raising an ice barrier in the blink of an eye that protects her from the flames. So yes, practical choice of hair accessory, but also a literal lifesaver. Though I suppose she could always heal herself if it came down to it…

But up to this point in the ongoing battle, Sei had been on her back foot and serving a support role as a healer and buffer, a role she knew well from the video games she’d play when not working her ass off. But when she witnesses a demon cat bite Albert in the shoulder, drawing blood and causing a deep wound, Sei just…reacts.

Whether it’s Saintly Conjury or simply Saintly badassery, Sei casts the same spell she cast the other night, but instead of simply imbuing nearby plants with magic, it eliminates all monsters and miasma across a vast area-of-effect, while fully healing Albert and everyone else’s wounds, right down to minor cuts and bruises.

Sei’s not just a healer or supporter. She also might just be the greatest weapon against evil alive. That aside, it was just hella fun to finally see her operating in the field, rising to the occasion as I expected she would.

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – Director’s Cut – 13 (Final Scene Only)

MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW

Re:Zero Season 2 won’t be here until Summer 2020, but there’s at least one more bit of business to attend to: the very end of the thirteenth and final episode of the “Director’s Cut” of the first season.

I didn’t re-watch the series, but did re-read my reviews to re-familiarize myself with the plot. The truth is, these final post-credit minutes are the only wholly new scenes in the new cut; everything else was visually tweaked a bit here and there. So I picked up where the 25th episode left off.

We start with Subaru and Emilia riding in the back of Otto’s wagon. Suspicious of what the two were talking about alone earlier, Petra claims her property by clinging to Subaru. When Subie tells Emi not to take the little kid too seriously, Emi resolves not to let her guard down.

While on the topic of romantic rivals, Subaru decides to finally broach the topic of Rem, something he’s very nervous about doing because he’s not sure how Emi will respond. When he finally steels himself and tells her that Rem confessed her love for him, she asks…“Who’s Rem?” She’s never heard of her! Uh-oh…

This is obviously a much bleaker ending than Emi’s adorable “Thank you for saving me Subaru!” So opens a new can of worms for the second season to explore, and likely with it a new gauntlet of suffering for Subaru. Something to look forward to!