Naofumi and Raphtalia undergo rigorous dragon vein training with Gaelion with only Sadeena accompanying them. Sadeena breaks out a little booze that proves too much for Raph or the dragon, allowing Sadeena to ask Naofumi a simple question: What are your feelings towards Raphtalia?
His answer is the predictable one: he sees her as his daughter. At least he wants to believe that’s all. Even if it truly isn’t any more complicated than that, as long as Raphtalia can smile, Naofumi’s heart is at ease. He cares for her a great deal. Of all the comrades he’s amassed, she’s his number one.
When Elhart comes to Luroluna with the delivery of a gift made specially for Raphtalia, it’s not a weapon, but a miko outfit, and Naofumi can’t mask his delight. The fact is, Raphtalia looks super cool (and cute) in what to him looks like traditional Japanese garb.
Unfortunately, this turns out to be a serious unforced error made completely by mistake. Naofumi doesn’t know it until Sadeena returns to town and insists Raphtalia take off the outfit immediately. But it’s too late: a bomb goes off in the house in which she’s changing, and suddenly the village is lousy with ninja-like assassins.
These assassins turn out to be tough customers by dint of their apparent immunity to attacks from heroes; Naofumi, Ren, and the recently acquired Itsuki are of no help. That means Atla, Fohl, and Sadeena must keep them at bay while Naofumi and Raph do chorol magic to cast confuse on all of their foes, allowing them to be mopped up.
Sadeena identifies the assassins as being from Q’Ten Lo. Raph was born into the royal family of Q’Ten Lo and is a descendant of its Heavenly Emperor (a lot of analogues to the Japanese imperial family). Her parents flet Q’Ten Lo to escape all the political wrangling, but then Luroluna was attacked by slavers.
That day happened to be one of the few days Sadeena, a royal guard of Q’Ten Lo who went on protecting Raph’s parents, wasn’t there to protect her, as she was busy fighting wave monsters at sea. She also makes clear that these would-be assassins have been watching Raph since before she was born, not lifting a finger to keep her from suffering or being enslaved.
As we know how important Raphtalia is to Naofumi, this obviously cannot stand, so he prepares to head to Q’Ten Lo immediately to open a dialogue. He can’t have assassins roaming around when the Phoenix arrives in less than two months. He stops in the captial, where Queen Reina rewards him for gathering the other three Heroes by committing knights to help protect his town while he’s away.
Naofumi intends to travel to Siltvelt with Wyndia aboard Gaelion, then open a portal for everyone else to join him. There’s a ferry from Siltvelt to Q’Ten Lo, and it will be interesting to see not so much if he gets support in his diplomatic venture from Siltvelt—which essentially worships him as a god—but how much.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until Season 4 to learn what will transpire. Will the Phoenix attack while all this Q’Ten Lo stuff is going down? Will Raphtalia be able to reject her claim, or be forced to wear the crown of a country she never knew? Who will Bitch swindle next? There will be plenty to cover, but it’s good to see Naofumi has his priorities straight.
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 