E4 - Flickering Flame

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.)
[00:01] Narrator
    While she's traveling with Kanata,
    the hound of the late fire hunter Haijuu,
[00:06] Narrator
    a great white dragon attacks
    the truck taking Touko to the capital.
[00:12] Narrator
    Meanwhile, in the capital,
[00:14] Narrator
    Koushi has a fateful encounter
    with the Okibis' daughter, Kira.
SIGN    The Fire Hunter
SIGN    The Fire Hunter
SIGN    The Fire Hunter
SIGN    Flickering Flame
SIGN    Flickering Flame
[01:57] Touko
    Come on, Benio! Run!
[02:08] Benio
    Touko!
[02:15] Touko
    Kaho!
[02:16] Touko
    Kaho, can you hear me?
    We need to get out!
[02:26] Touko
    Kaho!
[02:27] Benio
    Hurry, Kaho! Come here!
[02:32] Kaho
    He's dead.
[02:35] Touko
    Kaho, hurry!
[02:38] Kaho
    The doctor is dead.
[02:42] Touko
    Kaho!
[02:43] Kaho
    Why him and not me?
[02:49] Kaho
    Why? Why couldn't it have been me?
[02:52] Benio
    Kaho!
[02:53] Benio
    Kaho, you blockhead!
    Pull yourself together!
[02:57] Shouzou
    Hit, damn it!
[03:07] Shouzou
    This thing's useless!
[03:56] Touko
    Kanata.
[04:01] Shouzou
    Over here, kid! Hurry!
[04:06] Shouzou
    Run!
[04:13] Kaho
    The dragon god... My village's guardian.
[04:18] Shouzou
    You mean that's a guardian deity?
[04:21] Touko
    What?
[04:22] Touko
    Why would a guardian do this to everyone?
[04:38] Shouzou
    Get away! The sparks will
    get us if we stay here!
[05:01] Touko
    Kanata...
[05:06] Enzen
    Kanata! You're a hunting hound!
SIGN    Koushi and Kira
[05:27] Narrator
    Once a year, when spring rolls around,
    a ship leaves the capital,
[05:31] Narrator
    bound for an island far to the south.
[05:35] Narrator
    In the placid bay, expensive boats
    luxuriously decked out bob on the water.
[05:40] Narrator
    Onlookers often enjoy debating
    which boat is the most magnificent.
[05:50] Kira
    Here, Hinako. Try one.
[05:53] Hinako
    Okay.
[05:54] Kira
    That boat practically
    glides across the water.
[05:58] Kira
    When you're feeling better,
    you should come watch it with me.
[06:02] Hinako
    What about your family, Kira?
     Don't you have a boat?
[06:06] Kira
    We do, but my father is an awful decorator.
[06:12] Kira
    He thinks being gaudy
    and garish is all it takes.
[06:17] Kira
    I feel ashamed every time I see our boat.
[06:20] Kira
    Oh, but don't tell him I said that.
[06:25] Kira
    That goes for you, too, Koushi.
[06:26] Koushi
    I won't say a word.
[06:28] Hinako
    Honestly, Koushi. You always
    have your nose in a book.
[06:31] Kira
    Oh, that reminds me. You go to
    my father's study every afternoon.
[06:37] Kira
    What for?
[06:39] Koushi
    Huh?
[06:40] Koushi
    Oh, he lets me read his books.
[06:43] Koushi
    Mr. Kouhachi's lessons are way beyond
    what I learned at the academy,
[06:48] Koushi
    so I'm working hard to catch up to you.
[06:53] Kira
    Sugar perks up your brain and your spirits.
[06:57] Kira
    Here. Say "aah."
[07:00] Koushi
    Aah.
[07:06] Hinako
    It's sweet!
[07:09] Yuoshichi
    How are things progressing?
[07:12] Yuoshichi
    If there's anything you need,
    just say the word.
[07:16] Koushi
    In that case, I would like
    a few things, if you don't mind.
[07:20] Koushi
    I'd also like to visit the central archive
    again tomorrow afternoon.
[07:25] Yuoshichi
    Feel free.
[07:27] Yuoshichi
    You mustn't put any questions about
    this work to your tutor, after all.
[07:32] Koushi
    I know crystal plates are expensive, but...
[07:35] Yuoshichi
    Crystal plates and additional fiendfire?
[07:40] Yuoshichi
    I'll get you everything on this list
    by the end of tomorrow.
[07:43] Yuoshichi
    Keep up the good work.
[07:46] Narrator
    Colorful sweets are placed
    outside shops, pharmacies,
[07:49] Narrator
    and the little shrines to the
    city's many guardian deities,
[07:54] Narrator
    and children are free to eat
    whatever they wish.
[08:04] Koushi
    If the spiders were to invade the capital,
    how and where would they—
[08:08] Yuoshichi
    If I were in their shoes,
    I wouldn't bother infiltrating the city.
[08:12] Yuoshichi
    I'd go straight for the divine palace.
[08:14] Yuoshichi
    Striking the divine clans' stronghold
    would be my top priority.
[08:19] Koushi
    Could you get a map of the factory district
     and the area around the palace for me?
[08:24] Koushi
    I'd like one as precise as you can make it.
[08:27] Yuoshichi
    That's quite a tall order.
[08:31] Yuoshichi
    I shouldn't need to tell you
    how tight palace security is.
[08:36] Yuoshichi
    I doubt anyone has ever charted
    its surroundings in detail.
[08:42] Yuoshichi
    Still, I'll see what I can do.
[08:55] (Flashback) Hitoo
    Once, when humans possessed natural fire,
[09:00] (Flashback) Hitoo
    we spread out from our original home
     and inhabited the whole world.
[09:07] (Flashback) Hitoo
    Fire allowed us to adapt to frozen tundras
     and lands where food was scarce.
[09:14] (Flashback) Hitoo
    Yet now, swallowed by the dark forest,
[09:18] (Flashback) Hitoo
    we have no way of knowing
    what has become of other nations.
[09:23] (Flashback) Hitoo
    Seeking out news of them is
    part of the ship's yearly mission.
[09:28] (Flashback) Hitoo
    That said, the ship always
    goes to the same place:
[09:32] (Flashback) Hitoo
    a small island with people
    who speak our language.
[09:36] (Flashback) Hitoo
    Every year, we sail there to ask them
    for news, but it is always in vain.
[09:47] (Flashback) Hitoo
    The ship returns laden with island goods that
     are hardly worth the fuel burned on the trip.
[09:56] (Flashback) Hitoo
    Nevertheless, it sets out once more,
    and the capital celebrates the Boat Festival.
[10:03] (Flashback) Hitoo
    In short, that island is as far as
    modern humans can go and come back.
[10:14] (Flashback) Haijuu
    Skyfire is both flame and light.
[10:18] (Flashback) Haijuu
    Flame fiends have black blood,
    yet the fire they yield gleams like gold.
[10:27] (Flashback) Haijuu
    What could it be, I wonder?
[10:29] (Flashback) Haijuu
    Fiends rush to attack fire hunters on sight,
[10:34] (Flashback) Haijuu
    like they're mad with rage.
[10:38] (Flashback) Haijuu
    But they fall still the moment
    a sickle takes their life.
[10:44] (Flashback) Haijuu
    They never so much as spasm or groan.
[10:48] (Flashback) Haijuu
    They die and provide us
    with their golden fire.
[10:54] (Flashback) Haijuu
    Sometimes, I think the
    flame fiends might be a gift.
[11:01] (Flashback) Haijuu
    A gift from someone in ancient times
    to sustain us in this savage world once...
[11:10] (Flashback) Haijuu
    No, I shouldn't say any more.
[11:13] (Flashback) Haijuu
    The Forest God would curse me for it.
SIGN    Touko and the Treefolk
[11:58] Touko
    Was it everyone, not just Benio?
[12:01] Touko
    Are Mr. Enji and Mr. Sakuroku
    and even Mr. Enzen dead, too?
[12:09] Shouzou
    Yeah. No one could've made it out of that.
[12:13] Kaho
    I'm sorry. It's all my fault.
[12:16] Shouzou
    Don't cry or you'll set me off, too.
[12:20] Shouzou
    What could a kid like you do
    to cause that disaster, anyway?
[12:25] Kaho
    But...
[12:26] Shouzou
    Anyway, forget that. You've got a fever.
[12:30] Shouzou
    Please, don't anyone else go dying on me.
[12:38] Shouzou
    Wh-What the...
[12:47] Touko
    They're the treefolk, Mr. Shouzou.
     They bring medicine to villages.
[13:04] Treefolk Woman
    That hound summoned us.
[13:08] Touko
    Um...
[13:09] Treefolk Woman
    We know what happened.
[13:12] Treefolk Man
    Fiends won't attack you if you stay with us.
[13:23] Kaho
    E-Excuse me, what...
[13:27] Kaho
    What happened to my village?
[13:34] Treefolk Woman
    The white dragon guards Crystal Village.
[13:38] Treefolk Woman
    The village's ward is
    useless without its god.
[13:47] Treefolk Man
    Any village that loses
    its guardian is doomed.
[14:21] Shouzou
    That's bitter!
[14:28] Touko
    Kaho!
[14:29] Shouzou
    Hey. Are you awake?
[14:32] Shouzou
    These, uh, treefolk guys patched you up.
[14:37] Treefolk Man
    Village guardians are incarnations
    of the capital's Lady Goddess.
[14:41] Treefolk Man
    If your dragon god went mad,
    someone likely made it so.
[14:48] Treefolk Woman
    The spiders.
[14:50] Shouzou
    Did you say the spiders?
[14:52] Shouzou
    Hang on. How could the spiders
    control that dragon god?
[14:56] Touko
    What are "spiders," Mr. Shouzou?
[14:59] Shouzou
    Can it!
[15:01] Shouzou
    The spiders used to be
    one of the divine clans.
[15:03] Shouzou
    Meaning they're related to the gods.
[15:06] Shouzou
    The spiders broke with the capital and now
     they wanna turn our world upside down.
[15:10] Touko
    But they're family. Why would they fight?
[15:13] Shouzou
    Hell if I know!
[15:15] Shouzou
    So that's who got us?
    The spiders? The goddamn spiders?
[15:23] Treefolk Woman
    We will guide you to the nearest village.
[15:26] Shouzou
    And after that?
[15:28] Treefolk Man
    We cannot take you any farther than that.
SIGN    Koushi
[15:39] Hibana
    Oh, are you going out today?
[15:42] Koushi
    Yes. To the library.
[15:44] Hibana
    I picked out some clothes for Hinako,
    since she still seems ill.
[15:49] Hibana
    Dressing up should help improve
     her mood, don't you think?
[15:54] Koushi
    Yes, thank you.
[15:56] Hibana
    My husband drags her to
    so many dinners and events
[16:00] Hibana
    that the poor girl will miss
    the Boat Festival this year.
[16:05] Koushi
    I know this scent.
[16:07] Koushi
    Asafuyou?
SIGN    Central
SIGN    Archive
[16:32] Hitoo
    Why, fancy meeting you here.
[16:37] Koushi
    Mr. Hitoo?
SIGN    Hitoo
[16:39] Hitoo
    I was sorry to hear you left the academy.
[16:44] Hitoo
    But I'm relieved to see
    you're still eager to learn.
[16:49] Hitoo
    Is there anything I can help you find?
[16:54] Koushi
    I'm studying fire.
[16:57] Hitoo
    Fire? I see.
[17:00] Hitoo
    Try the third floor.
[17:02] Koushi
    Why there?
[17:05] Hitoo
    I'm certain it holds precious
    texts even I've never seen.
[17:11] Koushi
    Thank you very much.
[17:48] Koushi
    "It is said that an ancient cataclysm
    gave rise to the flame fiends."
[17:55] Koushi
    "The ruined land altered
    the creatures living on it."
[18:01] Koushi
    "The resemblance of the fiends to
    ancient mammals backs up this theory."
[18:10] Koushi
    "Adapting to a changed environment
    turned existing animals into fiends."
[18:18] Koushi
    "Yet much about the life and habits of
    the fallbeast remains shrouded in mystery."
[18:25] Koushi
    "We nevertheless distinguish it from other
    flame fiends due to the potency of its fire."
[18:35] Koushi
    "This, too, we call by a different name from
    the fire produced by other fiends: skyfire."
SIGN    Patron Goddess Tokohanahime
[18:46] Koushi
    "A goddess of the foremost clan, the clan
    of fire, became the patron of fire hunters."
[18:52] Koushi
    "Tokohanahime was her name."
[18:56] Koushi
    "Her younger sister, Tayurahime, is said to
    sustain this nation as its immortal guardian."
SIGN    Tayurahime
[19:06] Koushi
    "Tokohanahime used natural flame to forge
    a sickle even as her own body ignited."
[19:13] Koushi
    "Her dying words survive to this day."
SIGN    The Millennial Comet
[19:21] Koushi
    "'With the fire of the Millennial Comet,
    we need no longer fear the dark forest.'"
[19:37] Koushi
    "The Millennial Comet is a man-made star
    once launched from the earth."
[19:46] Koushi
    "After the final war, however,
    it drifted into the void and disappeared."
[19:54] Koushi
    "This humanoid star, which shall never
    return, was called the Flickering Flame."
SIGN    Flickering Flame
[20:01] Koushi
    "And whoever catches it shall become
    known as the Lord of the Fire Hunters."
SIGN    The Lord of
    the Fire Hunters
[20:20] Hitoo
    So did you find any useful books?
[20:23] Koushi
    No, but I appreciated
    the advice all the same.
[20:27] Hitoo
    My lungs can't handle the dust,
    so I can't go to the third floor.
[20:34] Hitoo
    I envy you.
[20:36] Hitoo
    That reminds me. A young fellow once
    begged me to let him into the archive.
[20:41] Hitoo
    I think he must have been a fire hunter.
[20:44] Koushi
    What?
[20:45] Hitoo
    He was a fine young man, with red hair
    you couldn't miss, but he smelled of dogs.
[20:54] Hitoo
    So you didn't find it, then. Oh well.
[20:57] Hinako
    Koushi!
[21:03] Hitoo
    Your sister seems much better.
    I'd heard she was ill.
[21:16] Kira
    Hinako wanted to come get you.
[21:19] Kira
    Because you lose track of time
    when you study, she said.
[21:26] Kira
    And since she seems to be feeling better,
[21:28] Kira
    I thought we could all go watch
     the Boat Festival while we're out.
[21:36] Koushi
    But isn't it dangerous
    for you to be out alone?
[21:39] Kira
    That's why you're coming, too.
[21:45] Narrator
    No flame fiend or fallbeast gives up its fire
    unless slain with a hunter's sickle.
[21:53] Narrator
    It is said the Lady Goddess birthed
    the first sickle from within herself.
[21:59] Narrator
    Records hold that this event coincided
    with the maturation of the first fiends,
[22:09] Narrator
    as though the goddess had been waiting
    for their life-giving flame to ripen.
SIGN    Next Episode
SIGN    Next Episode
SIGN    The Spider Child
SIGN    The Spider Child