Guys, can’t we all just get along?

Episode Summary
It takes two attempts at an exchange before the Chaikas are returned to their rightful place, but it’s not as though our two sides have been friends or anything. Red Chaika tries to lure Toru to her side, but when he turns her down, she attacks him in the hopes of killing White Chaika. In the end, our siblings are able to fight back Red Chaika and her retainers, but since she survives the encounter, she continues to plot White Chaika’s demise.

Notes
• The exchange tries to go down when magic-casting cockatrices appear. Yes, cockatrices that can spell-sling. I don’t even… But really, it’s all the third party’s doing, i.e. Alveric’s underlings. The bald guy seems proud that he isn’t directly killing our heroes. Naw, he’s just having the animals do it for him instead. In practice, of course, things hardly go according to plan. All this does is allow Red Chaika to team up with her captors. She had given Toru this… “look” as the exchange was about to occur, however, so meh, I wonder if she’s suddenly fallen for Toru or something already. Even during the battle against the cockatrices, Red Chaika continues to stare at Toru as if he’s the guy she should’ve gone on a journey with all along. But why? And why so sudden? It’s not like she’s been under his watch for more than a single night. If they had been together for at least a week, I could at least sort of see this happening, but not a single night.

• Um, after the fight, our siblings and Red Chaika return to find Fredrika lounging by the vehicle, and the dragoon just casually asks the three what they’ve been up to.

Our heroes aren’t remotely curious where Fredrika has been this entire time, but hey, she can also use magic to drive the vehicle they had initially abandoned in last week’s episode. It almost feels like she’s re-entered the story just for this purpose.

• Leonardo offers up the suggestion that perhaps the late emperor had many wives and thus many daughters, each named Chaika. Well, I doubt they would all look the same too, but maybe genetics work differently in this universe. Still, I don’t think this is the correct solution. It just doesn’t feel magical enough.

• Elsewhere, at the Council of the Six Nations, it doesn’t appear as though the arguing nations take the whole Chaika business seriously. Alveric and his group is thus forced to suppress farming villages or something. I don’t even know.

• Red Chaika tries to hire Toru away, but he says it’s part of the saboteur’s way to never betray their employers or something. How noble of them. Even so, has Red Chaika already determined that Toru and his sister are superior to the original duo she runs with? All in a single day? Anyway, Red Chaika fittingly wants to restore the Gaz Empire, so some of Alveric’s fears are legitimate after all. It just depends on which Chaika ends up surviving. Now I’m actually curious to see what the other Chaikas are like. If White Chaika simply wants to honor her father’s remains, and Red Chaika wants to return her father’s empire to its former glory, then are the other Chaikas different as well? But what else could a deposed princess of a former empire want with her father’s remains? A puppet show seems unlikely.

• Ultimately realizing that money wouldn’t sway Toru, Red Chaika tries to appeal to his primal lust for battle. She thus promises Toru that he would have all fights that a saboteur could ever hope for if he joins her side. But after thinking about it for a short while, Toru still turns her down all because White Chaika is so weak and thus needful of his help. I guess saboteurs operate on some sort of welfare system. In any case, the next exchange goes down in the middle of a town’s busy plaza. I suppose the interested parties think this location will make it less likely for outsiders to interfere, but little do they know, Alveric’s group has been called off for the time being anyhow.

• It turns out Red Chaika’s duo had tried to double-cross our heroes, but with Fredrika disguised as Akari, the real Akari could sniff out the sniper’s location. That’s neat, I guess. But apparently, everything about Red Chaika is meaner, including the people she works with. As much as Toru yearns for battle, he doesn’t actually seem to go looking for it at every single opportunity. What I mean is, could you ever see Toru and Akari double-crossing someone like that? They merely prepare for all possible contingencies, but they don’t actually seek to create as much conflict as possible.

• That’s what I’m wondering:

• In the end, Toru clashes with Red Chaika once more. She continues to offer him a spot by her side, but unfortunately, this would mean killing off White Chaika since she deems any additional Chaikas to be wholly unnecessary. Red Chaika might be both physically and mentally stronger than White Chaika, but she isn’t very smart. If she so desired Toru’s service that badly, then why not just pretend to cooperate with White Chaika until they’ve gather all of their father’s remains. Once this happens, she can then backstab White Chaika to her heart’s content. I joke about Red Chaika being superior to White Chaika, but I really don’t care who wins. Obviously, Red Chaika wouldn’t win anyway, but that’s besides the point. I just think these characters are unnecessarily fighting when there are multiple ways to go about this.

• Again, I have to wonder where Fredrika is. I thought she liked to fight too. If it’s any consolation, however, Toru finally uses his Iron-Blood Transformation dealio, and it’s enough to force Red Chaika and her gang back. Still, the girl swears to kill White Chaika one day, so hey, if you like Red Chaika, we’re certain to see her again. I just think the way and speed in which she’s become attached to Toru is silly.