Homecoming is often bittersweet.

— Wendelin has come home in order to purify the nearby forest of its myriad zombies. Normally, this would be greatly appreciated by the locals, but to nobody’s surprise, Kurt is giving his younger brother a hard time. Their father is still alive, but I guess he’s pretty much handed the reins over to Kurt. He just sits there quietly and says nothing. Of course, I can’t expect much from a noble who can’t even write or read.

— The problem with Kurt is that he’s a bit over-the-top in his evilness. When the zombies are laid to rest, Wendelin intends to hand their possessions over to their loved ones. Kurt, however, argues that this is pointless, because the people here are poor. And because they’re poor, there’s nothing worth handing over. Geez, dude. Do you also steal candy from babies?

— Luckily, not all of Wendelin’s brothers hate him. In fact, it seems like Kurt is the only one who holds him any ill will. Well’s still on good terms with Hermann. It’s funny to me that Kurt would be so scared to lose his position as the heir. Well has already established a different Baumeister line. Not only that, he’s already filthy rich. There’s really no reason for him to gun for Kurt’s position, especially out here in the boondocks. He clearly doesn’t want to be here.

— When it comes time to purify the forest, the group stands in a clearing and starts hurling insults. Yup, that’s apparently how you aggro the zombies. Give them your best “yo mama” jokes and see them slowly shuffle after you.

— At first, Erwin whines about how there’s nothing to do. That’s when all of the zombie fauna start attacking. So the operation from way back when was pretty pointless, huh? They killed all of these monsters only for these monsters to come back as zombies. What a waste of time.

— Hermann’s wife Marlene has a grandfather who also died in the expedition, so the group hangs around long enough for him to show up. Luckily, he doesn’t put up a fight. As soon as he hears that his granddaughter is doing well, he allows Elise to send him off peacefully. It’s a bit cliche, but this is probably the only touching moment in the entire episode.

— Kurt might not be appreciative of Wendelin’s efforts, but the villagers are. So naturally, the heir has to make himself look even worse to his subjects. He suddenly shows up and demands that all of dead soldiers’ equipment be handed over. He claims that he wants to use the iron from them to develop the land, but obviously, this doesn’t go over well with the villagers. See, this is what I don’t get. If you keep treating your people this poorly, they’ll eventually revolt. This happens all the time in history. Maybe Kurt is just that myopic. Sadly, the same can be said about Arthur since he’s allowing his son to run the territory into the ground.

— This is funny, because Wendelin already outranks his brother.

— Anyways, Well solves the problem by whipping out a huge cube of iron from his magical sack. Jesus, how much would that cube weigh? I guess you can look up the weight of pure iron and do some quick math, but I’m lazy. In any case, I imagine it must be difficult to haul it to the blacksmith.

— Wendelin thinks that he can now leave, because his job is done. Unfortunately, he’s asked to stay until all of those equipment have been returned to their loved ones. Why would Wendelin need to be present for that? Well, let’s just say the conspirators are still trying to kill him.

— The next day, a funeral is held for those who died. The villagers are dismayed that Kurt doesn’t even bother to show up. I think I smell revolt in the air.

— Huh… do you normally throw a big feast after a funeral? I wouldn’t know. I’ve been lucky enough to have never had to attend a funeral.

— Even though Kurt despises Wendelin, it’s interesting that his toxicity has not spread to the rest of his family. His wife Amalie (and amusingly enough, Wendelin’s future wife) is still on good terms with the hero. I guess Kurt doesn’t talk to his wife much, because I can only imagine two scenarios. Either she doesn’t know how much Kurt hates Wendelin, or she knows but doesn’t try to quell his hate. She doesn’t seem like a bad person, so I doubt it’s the latter. In any case, her two children are enamored with the famed Dragon Killer! It also helps when your uncle spoils you with sweets.

— For some reason, Well’s retainers are acting out a play in honor of his exploits. Seems kinda tacky for a post-funeral feast, but again, what do I know?

— Having seen the man that Wendelin has become, the village head Klaus begs our hero to consider taking over the territory. Well still wants to be an adventurer, so Klaus suggests putting someone he trusts to run the place. After all, anyone’s gotta be better than Kurt. Still, I can’t imagine Wendelin directly opposing Kurt even if the latter hates his guts. Kurt will get himself killed before Wendelin actually attacks him. Oh well, we’ll see what happens next. Not like we’ve got many episodes left.