E2 - The Mad Forest

Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:26] Menel
    All right. Got a new sword in the process.
[00:32] Menel
    If the demon commanders
    were the gatekeepers...
[00:35] Will
    Yeah. The lord of the forest is ahead.
[00:44] Menel
    We're going in.
[00:45] Will
    Got it.
SIGN    The Faraway Paladin
SIGN    The Lord of the Rust Mountains
SIGN    The Mad Forest
[02:26] Will
    That big tree is...
[02:28] Menel
    Yeah. The Lord of Holly that rules
    over this forest's winters.
[02:43] Menel
    Words of Creation?
[02:44] Will
    That's... a curse.
[02:48] Will
    They're blasphemous words.
[02:49] Cernunnos
    What has happened to my gatekeepers?
[02:52] Menel
    What do you think?
[02:54] Cernunnos
    I see, I see.
[02:57] Cernunnos
    I presume, then, that you are the
    Faraway Paladin, Sir William,
[03:02] Cernunnos
    and you are the one called
    Meneldor of Swift Wings.
[03:07] Will
    General...
[03:08] Will
    Cernunnos.
[03:10] Cernunnos
    If the two celebrated heroes have come here,
[03:13] Cernunnos
    we need not waste time.
[03:18] Cernunnos
    I will see that you die right here.
[03:24] Will
    A few days ago, on the summer solstice...
[03:27] Will
    I saw snowdrops blooming out of season,
[03:31] Will
    and that's where it started.
[03:34] Will
    Crown Prince Ethel of Whitesails asked
    me to find out why it was happening,
[03:39] Will
    so we came here, where we found...
[03:49] (Flashback) Will
    What in the world...
[03:51] (Flashback) Menel
    The forest...
[03:53] (Flashback) Menel
    The forest has gone mad.
[03:58] (Flashback) Menel
    This entire forest region is
    ruled by two ancient trees,
[04:03] (Flashback) Menel
    the Lord of Oak and the Lord of Holly.
[04:05] (Flashback) Will
    Ancient trees?
[04:07] (Flashback) Menel
    They're twin brothers.
[04:09] (Flashback) Menel
    The Lord of Oak rules from the winter
    solstice to the summer solstice.
[04:12] (Flashback) Menel
    The lord brothers yield the royal authority
    to one another at each solstice,
[04:16] (Flashback) Menel
    keeping the four seasons turning
    throughout the forest.
[04:19] (Flashback) Will
    Then...
[04:20] (Flashback) Menel
    The transfer of the royal authority
    may have stagnated for some reason.
[04:26] (Flashback) Menel
    If it's been thrown off right
    on the summer solstice...
[04:29] (Flashback) Menel
    It must be the Lord of Oak.
[04:33] (Flashback) Menel
    Great Lord of Oak, ruler of the forest,
[04:37] (Flashback) Menel
    why do you refuse to transfer the
    royal authority to the Lord of Holly?
[04:41] (Flashback) Oak
    Nay, children of man.
[04:43] (Flashback) Oak
    It is the Lord of Holly who will
    not accept the transfer of power.
[04:50] (Flashback) Menel
    Why not?
[04:51] (Flashback) Oak
    I do not know.
[04:53] (Flashback) Oak
    My communication with the
    Lord of Holly has been severed,
[04:56] (Flashback) Oak
    and the transfer of power
    cannot be performed.
[05:00] (Flashback) Oak
    The royal authority is great.
[05:02] (Flashback) Oak
    If it does not lie with the correct
    owner at the correct time,
[05:06] (Flashback) Oak
    it will only foster the spread of evil.
[05:08] (Flashback) Oak
    It may be only a short time before
    this forest suffers a fatal collapse.
[05:14] (Flashback) Menel
    Then, give it to me.
[05:16] (Flashback) Will
    Menel?!
[05:17] (Flashback) Menel
    Lord of Oak, entrust your
    royal authority to me.
[05:23] (Flashback) Oak
    I cannot.
[05:25] (Flashback) Oak
    It may have been possible for
    the true fae from days of old,
[05:29] (Flashback) Oak
    but because you carry human blood in
    your veins, you would not last a month.
[05:33] (Flashback) Oak
    Your soul would be destroyed.
[05:36] (Flashback) Menel
    One month is no problem.
[05:39] (Flashback) Menel
    He and I will resolve this
    whole matter in that time.
[05:42] (Flashback) Oak
    Why would you go to such lengths?
[05:46] (Flashback) Menel
    Because I swore I'd live
    my life looking forward
[05:49] (Flashback) Menel
    to atone for my sins.
[05:51] (Flashback) Menel
    Through a friend who saved the
    soul of the one who saved me,
[05:55] (Flashback) Menel
    I made a vow to the great goddess.
[05:57] (Flashback) Menel
    No greater reason than that.
[06:11] (Flashback) Oak
    This trial is a secret rite
    known only to this forest.
[06:16] (Flashback) Oak
    You, agent of the goddess of light,
[06:20] (Flashback) Oak
    do not have the right to participate.
[06:24] (Flashback) Will
    I realize that.
[06:25] (Flashback) Will
    I'll wait here, for days if I must.
[06:32] (Flashback) Menel
    I won't make you wait for days. Don't worry.
[06:43] Will
    I don't know what happened in there,
[06:46] Will
    what hardships Menel went
    through, or what he overcame.
[06:53] Will
    But...
[07:11] Will
    That was how Menel received
    the royal authority.
[07:20] Will
    Menel, you ready?
[07:21] Menel
    Perfectly. You handle the rest.
[07:24] Menel
    Lord... Lord of Holly!
[07:27] Menel
    Twin brother who rules from the summer
    solstice to the winter solstice!
[07:31] Menel
    I bestow upon thee the power I received
    from your lord brother, the Lord of Oak,
[07:35] Menel
    the power that makes a king!
[07:56] Cernunnos
    You will regret that.
[07:58] Cernunnos
    To think you had already
    won over the Lord of Oak!
[08:02] Will
    We will defeat you. For this forest...
[08:05] Will
    By the light of Gracefeel,
    goddess of the cycle of death and rebirth!
SIGN    From smoke to flames
[08:14] Cernunnos
    De fumo ad fla—
SIGN    Be Silent, Mouth
[08:16] Will
    Tacere, Os!
[08:20] Menel
    It went off anyway?
[08:23] Cernunnos
    Well done, well done.
[08:41] Cernunnos
    Are you really human?!
[08:52] Holly
    I am the Lord of Holly.
[08:55] Holly
    For your bravery and valor in
    eliminating those insolent invaders,
[08:58] Holly
    and for performing the transfer
    of the royal authority,
[09:02] Holly
    I commend you and thank you
    from the bottom of my heart.
[09:05] Holly
    I must first restore order
    to this maddened forest.
[09:25] Menel
    He uses that insane power like
    it's just another hand or foot.
[09:30] Holly
    Child of both elf and man,
[09:32] Holly
    you will be like me one day.
[09:36] Menel
    Huh?
[09:37] Holly
    You forged a contract with
    my brother, the Lord of Oak.
[09:42] Holly
    Though only briefly, you held within
    yourself the authority to rule the forest.
[09:47] Holly
    The human and fae blood and power within
    you is already inclining toward fae,
[09:52] Holly
    bringing you closer to being a suitable
    vessel for a Lord of the Forest.
[09:57] Will
    Huh?
[09:58] Menel
    I had no intention of doing any of that.
[10:01] Holly
    That is what it means to entrust
    the royal authority to another,
[10:05] Holly
    young sprout.
[10:09] Holly
    Worry not.
[10:11] Holly
    This does not mean you will
    transform right away.
[10:14] Holly
    So long as you do not neglect your training,
[10:16] Holly
    then perhaps after well
    over a hundred years,
[10:20] Holly
    you will become a new Lord of the Forest.
[10:23] Menel
    Can I refuse?
[10:25] Holly
    It is not impossible.
[10:26] Holly
    If you wish it, you may still
    die as a child of man.
[10:30] Holly
    Give it plenty of thought.
[10:32] Holly
    And you, child of man, disciple of light...
[10:36] Will
    Yes?
[10:37] Holly
    There is something I must tell you.
[10:41] Holly
    Do you know of the mountain range to
    the west whose rocks have turned red?
[10:47] Will
    You mean the Rust Mountains?
[10:51] Holly
    In a future that is not so distant
    for you children of man,
[10:54] Holly
    the Fire of Black Calamity will break out.
[10:59] Holly
    The flames will spread, and may even
    consume this land in its entirety.
[11:05] Will
    You mean...
[11:06] Holly
    Those demon beasts came here from
    the Rust Mountains, as well.
[11:11] Holly
    That land is now a nest of demons.
[11:14] Holly
    A land where the enormous
    Lord of Hellfire and Miasma sleeps,
[11:19] Holly
    making his bed from the riches
    of the mountain people.
[11:22] Will
    Lord of Hellfire and Miasma?
[11:25] Holly
    Whether you choose to fight
    it or accept it, be prepared.
[11:29] Holly
    That day is not far off now.
[11:31] Holly
    This is both a warning and an act of duty.
[11:35] Holly
    Child of man, young sprout,
[11:39] Holly
    I promise you a bountiful
    harvest this autumn.
[11:44] Will
    The Fire of Black Calamity...
[11:49] Ethel
    I truly asked too much of you this time.
[11:52] Ethel
    Or perhaps I should say "again"?
[11:55] Menel
    I'll say. You put us to work every
    damn time something happens.
[11:59] Ethel
    Well, the paladin here is a
    retainer of mine, after all.
[12:03] Ethel
    And if I send for Sir William, I get
    a fine hero like you along with him.
[12:07] Ethel
    A real bargain!
[12:09] Menel
    I'm not some bonus from a market stall!
[12:12] Ethel
    But you are the paladin's friend.
[12:15] Ethel
    Just as a friend fights for his friend,
[12:17] Ethel
    a knight fights for the people
    and for his lord.
[12:21] Ethel
    Am I wrong?
[12:22] Menel
    Service, devotion, loyalty...
[12:25] Menel
    It all sounds nice on the surface,
    but what's the reality?
[12:29] Menel
    If you burden someone too
    much, you breed discontent.
[12:32] Menel
    So what if, the next time you really
    need them, they don't want to help?
[12:35] Ethel
    That's true. I wouldn't want the
    paladin to run away from me.
[12:39] Ethel
    So I must make sure to compensate
    him generously so he sticks around.
[12:43] Menel
    Exactly. It's important to
    have that kind of attitude.
[12:48] Menel
    That makes him feel good about
    demonstrating his loyalty.
[12:51] Ethel
    I'll give you money and whatever
    goods you want later.
[12:55] Will
    Leave it to Menel.
[12:56] Ethel
    That aside, Sir William...
[12:59] Will
    Y-Yes? What is it?
[13:01] Ethel
    I have a big favor to ask of you.
[13:04] Ethel
    Would you give Meneldor here to me?
[13:07] Will
    Huh?
[13:08] Ethel
    He's a talented fairy user as
    well as a masterful hunter.
[13:12] Ethel
    Plus he's a half-elf who doesn't age,
    and he doesn't hesitate to tell me off.
[13:17] Ethel
    Yes, I want him. I truly want him.
[13:20] Will
    Your Highness, Menel isn't property.
[13:26] Bagley
    I apologize for the wait, Your Highness.
[13:29] Ethel
    Thanks for coming, Bagley.
[13:31] Will
    It's good to see you again, Bishop Bagley.
[13:34] Bagley
    Hah. Victorious again, I suppose?
[13:38] Bagley
    My word, hero... After all the flattery
    for your peerless acts of valor,
[13:41] Bagley
    I thought perhaps you'd have gotten
    cocky and lost at least once by now.
[13:46] Ethel
    Now, why don't you give us
    your report on this incident?
[13:50] Will
    "The Fire of Black Calamity will
    break out in the Rust Mountains.
[13:55] Will
    The flames will spread, and may even
    consume this land in its entirety."
[14:00] Will
    That's what the Lord of Holly told me.
[14:03] Ethel
    I thought the matter of the demon
    beasts and demons had settled down...
[14:07] Ethel
    Now we have an unknown
    "Fire of Black Calamity"
[14:09] Ethel
    and "Lord of Hellfire and Miasma"?
[14:11] Ethel
    I'm also concerned about
[14:13] Ethel
    the story you once told me about the demons'
    High King sealed in the City of the Dead.
[14:18] Ethel
    It's just one disturbance
    after another, isn't it?
[14:22] Ethel
    Honestly... Never a dull
    moment on this continent.
[14:25] Bagley
    Hunter, what sort of power does
    this Lord of the Forest have?
[14:31] Bagley
    Can this prophecy of his be trusted?
[14:34] Menel
    Call me by my name, old man.
[14:36] Bagley
    Are you in any position to talk?!
[14:39] Will
    Um, could you two please get along?
[14:42] Bagley
    With this insolent brat?
    Spare me your jokes!
[14:45] Menel
    I hate pompous oafs like him.
[14:49] Ethel
    But he makes a fine business
    partner, doesn't he?
[14:54] Bagley
    Well, I do admit that he is talented.
[14:58] Menel
    I wouldn't be sitting at the
    same table with you otherwise.
[15:06] Menel
    Look here.
[15:07] Menel
    The Lords of the Forest rule the entire
    region adjacent to this ley line.
[15:11] Menel
    It can be a spirit dwelling
    within a great tree or rock,
[15:15] Menel
    an aged beast that's acquired intelligence,
    or one of many other forms,
[15:18] Menel
    but they've all lived for
    at least a century or two.
[15:22] Menel
    They're known as the
    forest's heart and brain,
[15:26] Menel
    and they know everything that
    happens in their domain.
[15:29] Menel
    If a prophecy comes from
    a Lord of the Forest,
[15:31] Menel
    there's probably solid
    grounds to back it up.
[15:33] Menel
    You can consider it a forecast.
[15:37] Bagley
    This seems like a matter we should
    treat as a high priority.
[15:41] Ethel
    Yes.
[15:43] Ethel
    The Rust Mountains,
    the ruined dwarf capital,
[15:47] Ethel
    is a nest of demons now, eh?
[15:49] Will
    That sounds great!
[15:52] Will
    In other words, we can go
    as crazy as we want, right?
[15:56] Will
    We know where the problem is located.
[15:58] Will
    A desolate, hostile land where there's
    no fear of harming bystanders!
[16:01] Will
    In other words, this is a case meant for me!
[16:06] Ethel
    Yes, I suppose you're right.
[16:10] Ethel
    Would you take care of this matter, paladin?
[16:14] Will
    Of course.
[16:16] Bagley
    Good grief...
[16:17] Ethel
    If a Lord of the Forest
    promised a bountiful harvest,
[16:21] Ethel
    we can probably assume we're
    safe until autumn, at least.
[16:24] Ethel
    The first step is to gather information.
[16:26] Will
    I'll talk to my troubadour friend and
    the dwarfs living in Torch Port.
[16:32] Ethel
    Can I entrust all of this to you?
[16:34] Will
    Yes.
[16:35] Ethel
    This matter will remain a secret
    between the four of us for now.
[16:40] Will
    Not a problem. I'm sure it'll all work out.
[16:43] Ethel
    When you say that, it makes
    me feel like it really will.
[16:46] Bagley
    Hmph! Don't get cocky after all this
    hero treatment and let your guard down!
[16:54] Bee
    About the Rust Mountains?
[16:56] Will
    Yeah. I want to learn all I can about them.
[17:01] Bee
    A troubadour's song doesn't
    come free, you know.
[17:04] Bee
    What'll you pay for my information?
[17:05] Will
    U-Uh...
[17:07] Menel
    If we end up having to go
    to the Rust Mountains,
[17:09] Menel
    we'll tell you any stories
    we pick up there first.
[17:11] Menel
    Is that good enough?
[17:13] Bee
    Okay! It's a deal!
[17:17] Bee
    Two hundred years ago, the Rust Mountains
[17:19] Bee
    were known as the Iron Mountains.
[17:23] Bee
    It was home to the Iron
    Country, where the dwarfs,
[17:26] Bee
    mountainfolk who followed the god of
    fire and technology, Blaze, lived.
[17:31] Bee
    It was a powerful country that
    was once included in the Union.
[17:36] Will
    The Iron Country...
[17:38] Bee
    But it was lost in the great
    uprising two hundred years ago.
[17:42] Bee
    To stop the advance of the demons,
[17:45] Bee
    the dwarf monarch of the mansion on the rock
[17:47] Bee
    led many powerful warriors to fight them,
[17:50] Bee
    but they all died in battle on the mountain.
[17:52] Bee
    Much blood was shed, many
    weapons were dispersed,
[17:56] Bee
    and the mountain became the demons' nest.
[17:58] Bee
    Then, at some point, the area became
    known as the Rust Mountains.
[18:03] Menel
    Because that's what happens when iron dies?
[18:05] Bee
    The details of what happened in that
    battle didn't survive, even in song.
[18:10] Bee
    There's really no information
    about it at all.
[18:12] Will
    Why?
[18:13] Bee
    Because all the dwarf warriors
    and citizens were wiped out.
[18:17] Bee
    And...
[18:19] Bee
    The fate of any dwarf who fled the country
[18:22] Bee
    was just too cruel to speak of.
[18:25] Menel
    Half a year ago,
[18:27] Menel
    we took in some dwarf
    refugees at Torch Port.
[18:31] Menel
    I'll never forget it.
[18:33] Menel
    All of their eyes looked utterly exhausted.
[18:36] Menel
    It made me realize that if we'd
    taken one wrong step somewhere,
[18:38] Menel
    that could've been us.
[18:41] Will
    Menel...
[18:42] Bee
    Everyone knows what befalls people who
    are driven out of their homeland.
[18:47] Bee
    That's why none of them want to
    talk about their home mountain,
[18:51] Bee
    or what happened in that final battle.
[18:53] Will
    So that's why...
[18:55] Bee
    So that's all I can tell you. I'm sorry.
[18:59] Will
    No, you were a big help.
[19:02] Bee
    But you know, Will...
[19:03] Bee
    If you were to talk to them with
    the understanding you have now,
[19:08] Bee
    they just might talk to you, if no one else.
[19:12] Will
    All right. Thanks.
[19:19] Menel
    This way.
[19:26] Will
    The fairies' path...
[19:28] Will
    Is this the right way?
[19:30] Menel
    Yeah, I can tell. I mean, I can tell now.
[19:33] Will
    Because of the royal authority?
[19:35] Menel
    Apparently. Not that I asked for it.
[19:38] Will
    You know, if you and I get
    separated, I'm done for.
[19:42] Menel
    Don't worry. I won't lose you.
[19:45] Menel
    If you stray away, I'll drag you back.
[19:46] Will
    You can do that, too?
[19:49] Menel
    I was planning to train myself to do this...
[19:51] Menel
    But hey, whether you get it free
    or work for it, power is power.
[19:55] Menel
    It's all the same once you
    make it a part of yourself.
[19:59] Will
    It's amazing, though. You're going
    to be a Lord of the Forest someday?
[20:04] Menel
    In two or three hundred years, if not more.
[20:08] Menel
    It's probably somewhere in that realm.
[20:12] Will
    I'll be long dead by then.
[20:15] Menel
    True.
[20:16] Menel
    Maybe I'll be your gravekeeper
[20:19] Menel
    while I watch where your kids
    and grandkids end up...
[20:22] Menel
    I guess everything will
    have settled down by then.
[20:26] Will
    You've been planning to do that?
[20:28] Menel
    Yes, I have.
[20:30] Menel
    I have all kinds of debts to
    you that I can never repay.
[20:35] Menel
    All half-elves have to make a
    life-altering decision at some point.
[20:40] Menel
    To live as an elf, almost like the fae
    for perpetuity alongside the earth and water...
[20:45] Menel
    Or to live the human life, like a
    flickering fire or a gust of wind.
[20:51] Menel
    That's the fate of those
    born with both bloodlines.
[20:58] Menel
    I want to see what becomes
    of all your accomplishments.
[21:03] Will
    I might not be able to
    do anything that great.
[21:06] Menel
    You're already enough of a legend.
[21:09] Menel
    And you'll keep making more legends,
    all with that spacey face of yours.
[21:14] Menel
    I'll be fighting by your side,
    and if I survive until your life ends...
[21:19] Menel
    Yeah... It might not be so bad to wrap it
    all up by fading away into the forest.
[21:24] Menel
    After I say some awesome line to make
    myself look good in the end, of course.
[21:30] Will
    You'll be a legend.
[21:32] Menel
    As will you. Doesn't sound bad, right?
[21:35] Will
    Yeah.
[21:43] Will
    Amazing... That distance should've
    taken days to cover...
[21:47] Menel
    Pretty handy, aren't they?
[21:48] Will
    It's a little scary that you
    use them so easily, though...
[21:58] Will
    We've made it back to our Torch Port home.
SIGN    The Last King