01x07 - Examiner of Curses, Blessings, and their Shapes

[bunniefuu]

Funeral rain.

It falls as a ritual to cleanse the

signs of battle in the Katakombe.

Guided by the music of the weather players,

Weather Players

it absolves all blood and all grudges.

You're hurt.

The wound no longer pains me.

I can still play Schwert Musik for the dead.

What happened?

I fought a priest of the Katakombe.

He showed tremendous skill.

Tom Collins, his name was.

Adonis's dad?!

I slew him.

Why did you do it?

The divine summons orchestrated that

battle down to the closing band.

I cannot stay my sword when

our god wills otherwise.

Your sword's the last one

I'd ever want to die by.

As nobility of the castle,

I was born into this fate.

Nobility

I think I'm done crossing swords for today.

Bye Bye, Earth

Bye Bye, Earth

Sorry.

I wasn't paying attention.

I see now. The city's simply full of pain.

Can you stand?

I taste iron!

I'm not accustomed to walking around the city.

Maybe that's why I keep

falling again and again.

Bumping into people, tripping on stairs

But this is the first time I've gotten hurt.

Who knew blood came out of noses?

What an enormous sword!

You must be a solist.

Do you feel okay? Are you hurt anywhere else?

It's like she just expects other

people to clean her up.

Is she nobility from the castle?

Are you on your own?

You didn't even bring an umbrella.

I've never gotten permission before.

To go out on the town alone, I mean.

They did give me an umbrella,

but I didn't know how to open it,

so I threw it away.

What does she mean, she didn't know how?

Are noblewomen really that sheltered?

Um, Miss Solist?

Oh, just call me Belle.

Goodness.

That must make you Belle Lablac.

How lovely you are.

E-E-Excuse me?

So bold and dashing.

A mighty solist, I'm certain.

You'll catch a cold standing out here.

This rain wouldn't dream of harming me.

I mean, I called it up with my own song.

Funeral rain is effected through

a chorus of united musicians

and the castle's lead vocalist,

who harmonizes with all things

in heaven and earth.

Lead Vocalist

Don't tell me you're

Oh, I haven't introduced myself.

I'm Sherry. I'm on my way

to see lead solist Shandy Gaff.

You sure brought a load

of trouble with you, didn't you?

What else was I supposed to do?

I don't know anyone else who

might have clothes that fit her.

She must be freezing. Let her use your bath.

And, anyway, I came to see you as a woman.

How'd I get stuck with two drunk guys?

Hey!

I can't help it.

I haven't been a woman since I was injured,

though I don't know if that's the cause.

Please, come right this way.

My! What a bath!

O-Oh dear.

Remember: you peek, I fillet you.

Really, Belle. I have my

good name to consider.

That's rich. You're always running

off on some fling or another.

And you seem awfully hung up on

that girl you gave your sword to!

What's this?

You break it and hot water comes o—

Oh, it's for breaking.

No! My best carpet!

What did I do to deserve this?!

Are you certain this is enough water, Belle?

Her Highness doesn't even

know how to take a bath!

Belle! Take responsibility and show her!

Sherry, let's get in together.

Certainly!

These bubbles have such a lovely fragrance.

I guess Bennett doesn't skimp

on foam fruits, either.

I must tell my maidservants when I get back.

Man, you really do live like a princess.

You think maybe Belle doesn't know?

How could she not?

Princess Sherry is the castle's

lead vocalist and

King Rawhide's daughter?!

Why, you have the same furniture as Shandy.

I borrowed it off him.

Gaff's been a lifesaver.

And you've done so much for me.

I wish I had some way to repay you.

Sing for me, then.

Sing? Really?

Yeah. I want to hear you sing.

But what should I sing?

Nothing here is broken,

and I mustn't stop the rain yet.

That's okay. I'd love to hear you

sing whatever you feel like.

All right.

Thank you. That was amazing.

No one's ever asked me to repay

a favor with song before.

Seems singing's really hard on you.

Sherry?

Huh?

Shandy!

Sherry? I never dreamed

I'd find you with Belle.

Do pardon me.

I've been imposing.

But she's just like you said she was.

Strong, gallant, and profoundly perceptive.

Her insight is so keen it's frightening.

Apologies for the trouble, Belle.

Don't sweat it. I could say the same.

Sherry.

Tiziano's sword?

What a dreadful Schwert Streich.

If Belle Lablac dealt this blow,

I couldn't hold a candle to her

now that I've lost my own sword.

I need to ask you something.

Kir

Do you know about the examiner?

Examiner

One who tests

I've heard of them.

A royal inspector who visits

solists with broken swords.

Right now, I fulfill that role.

The price I paid for sacred ashes.

I was given something similar

called "Ashes of the Tried,"

Sacred Ashes

Ashes of the Tried

and I go around testing the good and evil

in solists who've broken their swords.

Testing them how?

When a broken sword is reborn,

the sword tests its wielder.

"Reborn"?

So when Gaff shattered this sword

of Tiziano's, you restored it to life?

The resurrected sword turned

Tiziano into a Nidhogg.

Nidhogg

Fiend

I came back from the Katakombe with

that certainty, and that doubt.

Doubt

I'm going to revive your sword,

together with this one.

That's my latest order from the priests.

But if the reborn sword only exists

to turn its wielder into a Nidhogg,

I mean to break it again and ask

the priests to explain themselves.

Please allow me that.

You witnessed Tiziano's final moments.

Do as you wish.

Ashes of the Tried

Your Lived. Tiziano's Legna.

I will now subject both

swords to examination.

Examination

The magic of testing

Look at the spells!

Dillegnave!

"One who bears good tidings"

in the tongue of the age of gods.

Dillegnave

One who bears good tidings

I can't believe you know that.

I didn't. The sword told me.

The sword told you?

Far from a thing of evil, this sword

will grant me boundless strength.

Thank you, Adonis.

Then it wasn't the sword

that drove Tiziano mad after all

That's a lot to digest.

Yeah. I've made my peace

with what happened to Tiz.

Have you? I'm glad to hear it.

Anyway, sorry about that. You were saying?

Oh, right.

I felt kind of annoyed. Or maybe lonely.

When Gaff put his arm

around Princess Sherry's shoulders?

Bennett and Gwyn were cracking jokes about

love, but I do not have a thing for Gaff!

Maybe it has more to do with the princess.

You think I fell for her?

Listen, my point is

you could never be like her,

even if you tried.

What's that supposed to mean?

You're featureless.

You don't have to rub it in.

You're the one who asked.

I don't judge people by their looks.

I like it.

Sometimes I even wish I could shave off

my ears and fur so I'd look like you.

Now you're giving me the creeps.

How old are you?

Who knows?

I know how long it's been since I hatched

from that stone egg, but that's it.

But you're a grown woman physically, right?

Who just comes out and asks that, jackass?!

How would you feel

about having my kids someday?

Huh?!

That way, I might end up

with little ones who look like you.

Your kids aren't you, you know?

I know.

Basically, I want to sleep with you.

What'd you say that for?!

Not just to say it, and not

on a whim. I know that much.

I'd go berserk if that's all it was.

So, what do you say?

If I fall for you, then sure.

To be honest, I'm not totally sure

what possessed me to say it either.

Seriously?

Tell me, Adonis.

You can't grow swords, can you?

Oh, right. I still haven't told you anything.

Huh?

I just assumed I must have explained

my whole deal at some point.

What?!

I'm completely at ease with you.

You're so strange. A total mystery.

One of us sure is.

Bamboo.

This is my curse.

I've been stuck with it since I was born.

No way

Like you said, I can't grow swords.

Is there a reason?

It's a nomad's curse.

Before I was born, an old

nomad visited the Katakombe.

He wanted the Collins family

to give him a funeral.

If he died in the Katakombe,

raven blossoms would carry the news

to his lost homeland.

By way of payment,

the old nomad offered to help my family

in what little time he had left.

He defended the Katakombe alongside them

and ultimately fell in battle.

My father was there when it happened.

He cradled the nomad's

body without thinking.

And then

You must not touch my blood.

It's my curse.

It spreads through nomad blood.

Have faith that it will become a blessing

The curse didn't manifest in my father.

That trial only affects those who

overcome fear and accept it.

Still, the nomad's blood never left my father.

I was born a few years later.

And this is the form

the nomad's curse has taken.

You could say I was born to become a nomad,

even though I still have no

reason to leave on a journey.

I kept knocking on the door of journeys

and wound up one of the top four solists,

wondering what the hell our god wants.

I still haven't found any kind of meaning.

In the end, no one knows

what they're living for.

I've always felt the same way, deep down.

I I want to know my roots!

So I can find my roots.

I want to know who I am, where I

came from, and where I should go!

Let's go on a journey, Adonis.

Knock on the door of journeys with me!

Do you remember those pops?

I noticed you feeding them,

and I couldn't understand why.

Why does she feed them?

And if she's feeding them,

why not take them in?

Why does she look so happy?

Why does she want to leave on a journey,

even if it means taking on a curse?

I bet traveling with you

would never get dull.

I'd like you to return these

clothes to that gentleman.

I see you learned how to work an umbrella.

I had Shandy teach me.

Oh, how I struggled at first.

I'll bet.

To be honest, I wanted to see you

so I could ask you something.

When I sang here, you said that it

seemed hard on me, did you not?

No one has ever said

anything like that before.

Singing is all I have.

I've been singing for the castle and

the people since I was but a child.

Who would spare me a glance if I couldn't?

How could singing be hard on me?

Why, Belle?

Sherry.

Belle.

Oh, you already have company.

No big deal. I was just wondering if you

wanted to get something to eat.

That's it!

Sherry! I might just have your answer!

Nice going, Adonis!

My, you have so many charming friends.

They can be your friends, too,

if you ever feel like it.

Naturally.

Just say the word.

Thank you.

There she is.

I ordered a song.

A song?

E-Excuse me!

She cannot speak except for in song.

Likewise with her hearing.

It's her nomad's curse.

I hate crying. It's cowardly.

I don't want to cry and feel better.

Look. Does she shed a single tear?

As a fellow songstress, I feel envious,

frustrated, and heartbroken.

But

the thought that I can still

cry fills me with joy.

Well, Belle wept when

she first heard a song here.

You mean you cry too?

Well, yeah. Whenever I feel like it.

I want to be needed!

Does anyone have need of someone who cries?

You'll forget how to need other

people if you keep that up.

Must be hard on you.

True

I bet you won't stay that

way anymore, though.

True.

No, I said too much. Sorry.

True.

Basically, er, I want

to feel needed too, so

You understand, right, Sherry?

Thank you, Belle.

Seventh Movement

Examiner of Curses, Blessings, and Their Shapes

Let's keep the guests entertained.

Belle Lablac awaits me.

Run, Belle!

This is the sword you're so proud of?!

This is your last duty before

you can go journeying!

Eighth Movement

A Ball Shaking Before the Fiend Flower