Rating: A-
With its fourth episode, the economic scheme that Lawrence has gotten a whiff of expands, with Lawrence wading into deeper water as he arranges a deal with the Milone Trading Company. But while the potential returns are fantastic, this also leads to the series’ first true crisis and cliffhanger ending.
In the long run this is going to be a valuable lesson for Lawrence, because, though still relatively young, he’s experienced enough that he should have anticipated the trouble. (Holo, who’s not a merchant, did, but her vices kept her from remembering until almost too late.) A gain big enough that he could open his own store has his head in the clouds, and thus not able to see the dangerous situation he’s put himself in. Economically speaking, merchants like him are small fish in a vast sea, and he has swum into the territory of sharks. With so much money potentially at stake, naturally there will be some who won’t be above using violence to make sure that others don’t interfere. And while there’s no better protection in the city than the grounds of a major trading company (which is virtually an embassy), such a company isn’t going to help you in a crisis unless there’s a vested interest in them doing so, either.
Which brings us to the matter of why, exactly, the Medio Trading Company (who’s behind the scheme) went after Lawrence and Holo. Richten, the Milone branch manager, is rightly confused about this point, since under normal circumstances having Lawrence and Holo captive gives Medio no leverage; Lawrence has already passed on the crucial info, after all, and their plans are already in motion. The clue to that goes back to the series’ first current-timeline scene: Lawrence’s conversation at the military checkpoint. The Church of this world, which has been portrayed as analogous to the Roman Catholic Church of medieval/Renaissance Europe, would regard beings like Holo as heretical. The Church has waged wars against pagans, and so would prosecute vigorously anyone associated with a heretic. Even a great company like Milone would be in a tight spot if they were known to be working with a heretic, so the not-so-veiled threat to turn over Holo to the Church is no idle warning.
But for Medio to go after Lawrence and Holo with intent to use them (or, more precisely, Holo) for this kind of leverage, they would have had to know who Holo was. Lawrence wasn’t shy about using Holo’s name, but since she was an obscure local god, only someone from that area would recognize it. Given how episode 1 played out, only two characters could possibly fit that role, and one makes far more sense to be the mysterious arrival in the episode’s epilogue than the other. And that effectively reveals who the noble behind Medio has to be, too.
The episode isn’t all crisis, though. Lawrence is in the best mood we’ve seen him in prior to that, which prompts him to share his long-term dreams. A traveling merchant’s greatest desire being to settle down in a town and open a store is a goal also explored in Ascendance of a Bookworm, so it’s little surprise that Lawrence has a similar goal, but while Holo is genuinely happy to see Lawrence potentially be that successful, it also puts her in a fix. She’s looking to travel north, not settle down, and as she makes clear in her weaker moments this episode, companionship is everything to her now. She’s been alone too long, so she is getting every bit as much out of this relationship as Lawrence is, maybe more. Unlike Lawrence, she just doesn’t measure the value in coins. How effectively the writing portrays that may be the actual true highlight of the the episode.
In terms of comparison, this episode covers the exact same ground as the original episode 4 and stops in the exact same place, and minor adjustments to scene design and framing don’t create any exciting improvements. While the artistic merits are perhaps a bit higher, this production also leans more into darker lighting, not always to the production’s benefit.
After three generally more relaxed episodes, the plot is cranking hard and the tension is building. How will Lawrence be able to pull off the rescue of Holo that she expects? Come back next episode to see!
USA Anime 