History Anime / TheSacredBlacksmith

[[redirect:LightNovel/TheSacredBlacksmith]]

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[[quoteright:306:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Blacksmith.jpg]]

''The Sacred Blacksmith'', an anime from Creator/{{Manglobe}} based on a series of light novels by Isau Miura, began airing in October of 2009.

Cecily Cambell, a Knight Guard of the Independent Trade Cities of Housman, is new to her job of keeping the peace in the HeroicFantasy world she inhabits. She soon meets Luke Ainsworth, an exceptionally skilled blacksmith who is the only one that can make katanas, along with his overly-cute Elfish apprentice Lisa. Circumstances soon conspire to reveal Luke has a very unusual and magical way of forging swords; a talent desired by the nearby empire, and that's not all. Demons appear in the Trade Cities along with swords that harness the powers of nature. All three are rooted in the recent Valbanill War, which might not be quite over yet....

----
!!''TheSacredBlacksmith'' provides examples of:
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: It's been shown on a few occasions that Katanas can cleanly slice through other swords.. [[BeyondTheImpossible Even when the Katana is resting and another sword strikes it, the other sword will cleanly slice in half.]] See KatanasAreJustBetter below.
* AdaptationalWimp: The manga and light novel incarnations of Cecily were much better fighters than the anime version.
* AFatherToHisMen: Hannibal, the leader of the knights of Housman, takes good care of them.
* AmusingInjuries: Just look at Luke's face after being on the receiving end of Cecily's MegatonPunch (all due to Cecily's ClothingDamage).
* AncestralWeapon: Cecily's sword belongs to the Cambells, which [[WreckedWeapon breaks]] the first time [[FauxActionGirl Cecily]] tries to use it. Her quest is to [[strike:fix it]] get Luke to forge another one.
* ArmsDealer: Luke is actively avoiding getting into this business, and even leaders of Independent Trade Cities have a hard time pressing him into it.
* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:Poor Lisa. She was created from her sort-of namesake's wish.]]
* AttemptedRape: Averted (in the manga and light novel). Just when Siegfried's attack [[spoiler: on Cecily]] looks like it will end in rape he tells her he ''hates her'' too much even if he were capable of doing it. It was intended as the [[MindRape icing on the cake]] in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown intended to break her spirit.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking:
** Hannibal may be around 60 years old but [[BadassGrandpa the man knows how to kick ass]]! As expected from a man who's a veteran of the Valbanill War.
** Cecily in the manga and light novels. Rallying a group of knights and mercenaries against a large number of thieves with werewolves to victory.
* {{Badass}}: Luke knows how to kick ass.
* BadassGrandpa: Hannibal is the oldest character on the show [[spoiler:(the only one who ultimately remains alive)]] and also the most badass.
%%* BareYourMidriff:
* BareHandedBladeBlock: Luke barely manages to do one in episode 3 after Cecily tries to stab him with a dagger when Aria wonders if the two insulting each other meant they were a couple.
* BerserkButton:
** Do not tell Cecily you would like to ''purchase'' her friend Aria. Actually, just don't insult her friends in general.
** [[spoiler: Do not even try to say anything about Lisa being a "replacement" to Luke. While he may acknowledge it, but he will, at worst, give you a black eye.]] What really broke the camel's back was [[spoiler: Siegfried attacking, stripping naked and beating Cecily]]. This triggered a full-on RoaringRampageOfRevenge with a side of TranquilFury from Luke.
* {{BFS}}:
** Used by [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Jack Stmdr]] to break Cecily's sword. It's quickly cut by Luke's [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]].
** The demon sword Claymore wielded by Doris exceeds the size of any normal sword by a fair amount.
* BigEater: Everyone. And then they make either Cecily, Luke or Mayor Housman pay all the bills.
* BigDamnHeroes:
** Luke for Cecily often. The very first scene in the anime is a FlashForward to him rescuing her for the third time. It's defied in the manga and light novels, where Cecily decides that she's not gonna just stand there and let Luke have all the fun.
** [[spoiler:Siegfried attacking Cecily is a subversion. While he's tearing her clothes off, Cecily ''screams'' for Luke. It's exactly the time when the reader expects Luke to appear in a blaze of righteous fury to save her, just as he's done every other time before... but he never does. Siegfried strips Cecily naked and beats her to make her feel ashamed of her gender. He doesn't rape her but only because he is physically unable to]].
%%* BrokenAce: Luke.
%%** [[spoiler: Cecily for a short while after Siefried's assault.]]
* ChainmailBikini: Cecily's armor leaves nothing to the imagination, resembling nothing so much as a polished metal sports bra. Downplayed somewhat in that her fellow male knights have plating with similar coverage.
* ClothingDamage: Even the aforementioned bikini isn't immune.
%%* ConvectionSchmonvection
%%* CoolBigSis: Fio to Cecily. Cecily and Aria to Lisa.
* CoolSword: So many of them from magic sowrds to demon swords but [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]] trump them all.
* CowboyCop: Deconstructed (at least in the manga). While Cecily possesses the single greatest weapon in the city, her unreliability and temperament ([[{{Jerkass}} trying to punch a diplomat from]] TheEmpire [[EveryManHasHisPrice because he pissed you off?]] makes her unpopular with the rest of the Knights so she's viewed primarily as a Troubleshooter/thug by the city's PowersThatBe -- with the exception of Hannibal, though ''he'' calls her out the most.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Cecily, with dark magenta hair and eyes.
* CuteBruiser: Charlotte's trio of bodyguards have the skills to back up such a position.
%%* DarkMagicalGirl: Charlotte in the novels, but not at all in the anime.
* DealWithTheDevil:
** The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Demon Contracts]] which uses the "death song" engraved on the victims' heart (normally sung by their spirits upon their deaths) prematurely, killing them and combining their souls with the ambient magical energy from Valbanill to morph them into giant monsters.
** [[spoiler:Luke believes he created Lisa using one of these. Not quite. Apparently it's also possible for some people to use their death songs to create more benign forms of demon like Lisa (and presumably Aria).]]
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Charlotte and her gang become Cecily's housemates after Luke defeats them but still not quite friends. [[spoiler:That happens after Cecily defeats all three of them herself.]]
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: ''Bollock Dagger'' is TruthInTelevision: The Bollock Dagger (also known as the kidney knife) was an actual weapon used during Medieval Europe, deriving its name from its "unique" shape. Specifically, the bollock dagger was a style of dagger especially popular in the British Isles, with a guard shaped like, basically, two ''balls'' (in the geometrical, as well as the colloquial, sense); it was also commonly worn in front, in a deliberately suggestive position. "Kidney dagger" is a later Victorian euphemism.
* {{Dojikko}}: Lisa, who is shown in the ending credits tripping to the rhythm of the music.
* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Averted.
-->'''Luke:''' ''You're sorry?'' You have a [[ClothingDamage wardrobe malfunction]] and beat the crap out of me, and you expect ''sorry'' is gonna cut it?
* ElementalPowers: Ice, Wind, Fire, Earth, Darkness, etc...
* TheEmpire: Where Charlotte hails from. It's trying to gather the demon swords so it can expand.
* EnforcedColdWar: According to Siegfried, this is the reason ''why'' peace exists in the first place. The war was beyond [[WarIsHell horrific]] to the point of severely traumatizing entire ''nations'' which is why: A) they would do anything to avoid a war and B) Demon weapons are so lusted by everyone and their mothers. [[ILied He might]] [[SmugSnake be lying]], but still it makes a lot of sense in the setting.
* EntitledBastard: Charlotte and her GirlPosse. In their debut episode they attack Cecily, try to steal Aria and strongarm Luke into working for them, then whine about people being rude to them. Then they expet Cecily, someone they just tried to kill, to put them up while they stay in the city, expecting to [[PrettyFreeloader live it up and be treated like Royalty]].
* EquippableAlly: Some Demon Swords are capable of assuming human form.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer:
** Lisa refused to stop talking about Cecily's breasts for the first two episodes.
** Aria repeatedly sneaks into Cecily's bed to use them as pillows, declaring pointedly she wants to claim Cecily for herself.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: [[ShipperOnDeck Everyone in the show is shipping]] Cecily/Luke except the two involved.
* EunuchsAreEvil: [[spoiler: This is the second reason Siegfried doesn't rape Cecily after beating her up; he's physically unable to]].
* ExoticWeaponSupremacy: No one in Housman except Luke can forge and use katanas. For that matter, not many people in the city have ever seen a katana.
* EyeScream: During a particularly brutal duel in the Manga, Luke takes a blow to the head that causes his fake eye to pop out onto the floor, much to the horror of the nobles watching the fight.
* FallenPrincess: Charlotte is kicked out and even {{UnPerson}}ed by her homeland.
* FanDisservice: In episode seven, during the bath scene, there's an old woman sitting outside the tub. While the groping is going on in the background, the camera pans out... and out..
* FanService:
** This is ''the only'' reason for Cecily to be forced into a maid outfit in episode 07.
** In episode two, Cecily's breastplate cracks and falls off. It takes her shirt with it. There are a few other examples of panty shots and nudity.
* TheFederation: The Independent Trade Cities, including Housman.
* TransformationIsAFreeAction: This is an AvertedTrope. Luke usually has Cecily keeping his opponents busy or they're so stuck up they think it's fun to watch him struggle.
* GivingUpTheGhost: Happens to Charlotte and her friends. First to Charlotte when the shock that a ''princess'' has to perform the tasks of a common servant and look the part, and then by her friends when Fio effortlessly knocks them out.
%%* GlassCannon: Penelope.
* GlassEye: Luke's left eye is fake. [[spoiler: His real eye was used to create Lisa.]]
* GodIsEvil: Valbanill is the only god mentioned, and is the source of the demons. In response, the humans are gathering Demon Swords, whose purpose is to "slay God".
* GoThroughMe: In the first episode, Cecily takes several blows for Luke after the ice demon breaks his katana. She continues guarding him while he forges a new one. She does this in the last episode, too... then uses the katana he forges for her to break a demon sword!
* GratuitousEnglish: The Cambell motto "Guard, Save, ''Belive''". It's probably ''meant'' to be that way, though. However, in a brief flashback in episode 8 the tombstone displays the motto as "Guard, Save, ''Believe''. OffModel, text edition?
* {{H-Game}}: In ''LightNovel/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai''.
* HeroicFantasy: {{RPG}} [[{{Troperrific}} tropes to the max]]. We have knights, magic swords, demons, and fights ForGreatJustice.
* HeroicBSOD: Cecily has a minor breakdown when she's told she needs to mercy kill a zombie. Her coworkers are less than impressed. It gets worse when [[spoiler:later in the novels, Cecily suffers a major [[{{HeroicBSOD}} breakdown]] coming close to being raped by the BigBad.]]
* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Cecily is asked this a couple of times regarding Luke by a few characters. She usually vehemently denies it.
* HotBlooded: Cecily. The best swordfigther in the city who puts her best into everything and walks with honor, guts and [[{{Determinator}} determination]]. Too bad this has left her with poor self control and a [[DidntThinkThisThrough lack of foresight]], which impair her abilities in politics, diplomacy, commerce and... normal human interaction.
* IAmNotAGun: While Aria realizes that she can't fight her fate, she really, ''really'' relishes her times of peace. She's also grateful that in Cecily's hands she's used to protect people instead of slaughtering them.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Luke torments himself (creating a mental block that prevents him from finishing the Sacred Sword) believing his actions led to the death of his childhood friend Lisa (pronounced Leeza, not Leesa...). [[spoiler:In fact, Lisa died protecting him against Valbanill, but by her own choice.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:Eventually, this becomes Luke's reason for continuing to keep silent about his feelings for Cecily. He knows that his life is coming to a swift end, and he doesn't want his death to cause Cecily the same pain that Lisa Oakwood's caused him. He tells Euen that he's sure that someday Cecily will find happiness with another man. However, when Euen asks Luke if he'd ''really'' be okay with watching Cecily fall in love with someone else because Luke never told her how he felt, Luke grits his teeth and doesn't answer]].
* InstantRunes: Lisa's eye generates them for Luke's magic forging.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Reginald, [[WhatTheHellHero who bawls Cecily out for being unable to kill a zombie in episode 03]]. He calls her a coward and says that she doesn't deserve to be a Knight Guard. Harsh as his words are, he does have a point, when Cecily's reluctance to killing puts herself and others in danger.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Charlotte is making the transition to SpoiledSweet but is not quite there yet.
** Luke, to a much lesser degree of jerkiness. He's a great friend to Lisa but less so to others.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Played with.
** Played straight initially when Luke cuts a giant claymore cleanly in half with his katana and then subverted later on in the same episode when Luke's katana is broken by an ice demon.
** [[JustifiedTrope All of the other blacksmiths in the city make their swords out of unfolded slabs of cast steel, so it's no wonder they're brittle.]] On the other hand, Luke's katana are magically enhanced and he tries not to cut armor or other weapons. Even Lisa admits that any sword can be broken by abuse and Luke tends to break his katana fairly frequently.
** [[DiscussedTrope Lisa gushes on the virtues of katana.]]
** Averted in that the most powerful sword in the city, the 'demon sword' Aria, takes the form of an estoc.
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Siegfried's non-sexual assault on Cecily proves, once and for all, that he is an asshole.]]
* MagicAIsMagicA: To instantly turn tamahagane ores into katana, Luke has Lisa conjure some InstantRunes (by apparently tracing them with one eye), then recites the steps of forging a katana.
* ManOnFire: Reduced to ashes in no time, in great numbers.
* MadeOfIron: Cecily can absorb an insane amount of damage and be fine by the next day/week, when a normal warrior would be crippled for life if he was lucky. She also can bleed around 40 gallons in one go.
* {{Meido}}: Inverted by Fio whose closer to the AlmightyJanitor than the classical version of this trope. Then she makes Charlotte, her bodyguards, and Cecile dress up as maids and do chores. They play it straighter.
* {{Nosebleed}}: This happens to Luke when Cecily's armor cracks and falls off, exposing her naked breasts.
* OldSoldier: The veterans of Valbanill War. Some can adjust to peace, [[ShellShockedVeteran others not so much]].
%%* PantyShot
* PleaseIWillDoAnything: At one point, Cecily begs Luke to help her save Aria, and promises him anything he wants. "If it's money, I will work for you until the day I die. If it's my body, you can do whatever you want with me." [[spoiler: Luke [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold doesn't ask for anything]].]]
* PluckyGirl: Cecily. Though her anime incarnation lacks the manga version's skills, she certainly doesn't lack guts. She knew Jack Stmdr was an seasoned veteran but still challenged him to fulfill her duty as a knight. She didn't stop fighting until her sword broke.
* PowerDegeneration: [[spoiler: Because their work involves shaping ''glowing, white-hot'' pieces of iron, most blacksmith develop damage to one (or both) of their eyes. Luke starts to lose the vision in his one remaining eye. This turns out to be a lie Luke tells to comfront Lisa but the trope is still being played straight. Luke is using his own flesh for "Demon Sword Materialization".]]
* ThePowerOfLove: Played with: Luke is convinced that lacks sufficient hatred to complete the Sacred Sword but it's the PowerOfLove that finally allows him to finish it ...kinda. [[spoiler:He had already completed it but it took even ''more'' love to convince him he had succeeded.]]
* PrettyFreeloader: Defied. Charlotte and her bodyguards think they're going to be pretty freeloaders at the Cambell house until Cecily's maid Fio puts them to work. It's likely that Fio is also punishing them because they ganged up on Cecily and tried to steal Aria from her.
* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler: While Sigfried doesn't actually rape Cecily, the scene where he beats the crap out of her, strips her naked, and tells her that she's pretty for a country girl while straddling her naked body, as well as Cecily's reaction to it, crying out for help that never comes, and vomiting afterwards, all evoke this trope. This is especially the case when one remembers that rape isn't just about sex, but about power and control, which Sigfried clearly robbed from Cecily.]]
* RazorWind: Aria's magic sword power.
* RedShirt: In the anime at least, Cecily's fellow knight guards (all of whom are male) are about as competent as she is. Note that they all use the same kind of Western European sword; it seems this world runs on the principle of KatanasAreJustBetter.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Subverted. [[spoiler:Luke thinks he created Lisa in this way, but it turns out that the original Lisa was the one who did it, in order to give Luke someone to help him around the house.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler: Siegfried to Cecily]], along with a brutal beatdown. He broke every bit of her [[HonorBeforeReason entire]] [[HotBlooded psyche]] until he left her broken in a barn... because he didn't care enough to finish her.
* RockSteady: The power of Doris' demonic sword is earth.
* RoyalWe: Queen Zenobia speaks in this fashion.
* ShareTheMalePain: In the manga, Cecily and her squad find a group of bandits... responding to nature's call. Cecily immediately shrieks "I'll cut them off!" and her men all cover their crotches.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Cecily is initially mortified to be seen in a dress and then totally flummoxed when Luke compliments her on it.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Jack Stmdr was in the last war and it broke him. Now he's a shell of his former self.
* ShoutOut: A rather ingenious nod, at least in the dub.
-->[[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Luke: "No! That's not true! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"]]
* SingleStrokeBattle: Cecily versus Siegfried comes close, although it's actually four strokes total.
* SkinshipGrope: The {{Meido}} episode includes a FuroScene where Charlotte and her AmazonBrigade take the chance to play with Cecily's GagBoobs.
* StrawNihilist: Siegfried is one of these, talking about the pointlessness of peace and stuff like that. [[spoiler: He gets violent when Cecily [[ShutUpHannibal tells him to shut up]].]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Anime!Cecily takes her first level in the fight against the fire demon and keeps improving from there. Her second fight with Charlotte's handmaiden/bodyguards in the anime is a complete reversal of her first, with her first splitting them up and then soundly beating each one with tactics specifically designed to counter their abilities. Hell, even the first fight (three against one and she held her own) showed she had improved. In the manga she manages to take down all of Charlotte's handmaiden/bodyguards one after another without splitting them, sniping Margot behind from a wall and fighitng off the other two.
* {{Tsundere}}:
** Luke is a type A (default:tsun-tsun) because he is generally aloof or jerkish.
** Cecily is Tybe B (default: dere-dere) because she is generally friendly or at least well meaning.
%%* UnprovokedPervertPayback for Luke, but satirized/ given a TakeThat.
* UltimateBlacksmith: Luke is the 'Sacred blacksmith' from the title.
* TheUnfairSex: Cecily is often unfair to Luke though more from being too HotBlooded and impulsive for her own good than any malice. She will verbally attack Luke without provocation (or information) because she can't handle her own feelings. When she snarks about his sorest point [[spoiler: (the death of his first love)]] before [[AllLoveIsUnrequited fleeing in tears]] Lisa insists that ''he'' be the one to apologize.
* WarIsHell: The last war terrified entire nations and created people like Jack Stmdr.
* WhenAJerkLovesATsundere: Only question is, which one is which?
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The final credits show the citizens rebuilding the city, Aria paying her respects [[spoiler: at Elsa's Grave]], and Charlotte and her GirlPosse returning to Housman.
* WomenAreWiser: Invoked as HypocriticalHumor. Luke even asks Cecily why (despite all evidence) she feels qualified to give him advice about his relationship with Lisa. Her answer? "[[PunctuatedForEmphesis I'm. A. GIRL]]?!."
* WreckedWeapon: Happens twice in the first episode. [[spoiler:Then said weapon crumbled to pieces by Episode 2]].
----

Have we mentioned that KatanasAreJustBetter?
----

** [[UltimateJobSecurity Considering that she's basically pinning her employer down and stripping her down]], this is the only reason for Fio force Cecily into a maid outfit in episode 07.

** Fio forces Cecily into a maid outfit in episode 07.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: ''Ballock Knife'' is TruthInTelevision: The Ballock Knife (also known as the kidney knife) was an actual weapon used during Medieval Europe, deriving its name from its "unique" shape. Specifically, the bollock dagger was a style of dagger especially popular in the British Isles, with a guard shaped like, basically, two ''balls'' (in the geometrical, as well as the colloquial, sense); it was also commonly worn in front, in a deliberately suggestive position. "Kidney dagger" is a later Victorian euphemism.

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Siegfried's non-sexual assault on Cecily proves, onece and for all, that he is an asshole.]]

* StrawNihilist: Siegfried is one of these, talking about the pointlessness of peace and stuff like that. [[spoiler: He gets violent when Cecily [[ShutUpHannibal tells him to shut up.]]]]

* CoolSword: So many of them, but [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]] trump them all.

* DealWithTheDevil: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Demon Contracts]] which uses the "death song" engraved on the victims' heart (normally sung by their spirits upon their deaths) prematurely, killing them and combining their souls with the ambient magical energy from Valbanill to morph them into giant monsters.

* TheEmpire: Where Charlotte hails from.

** Aria as well, who repeatedly sneaks into Cecily's bed to use them as pillows, declaring pointedly she wants to claim Cecily for herself.

* EunuchsAreEvil: [[spoiler: Siegfried]].

* FallenPrincess: Charlotte who is kicked out and even {{UnPerson}}ed by her homeland.

** This is the '''only''' reason Fio forces Cecily into a maid outfit in episode 07.

* [[TransformationIsAFreeAction Forging Swords Is A Free Action]]: This is an AvertedTrope. Luke usually has Cecily keeping his opponents busy or they're so stuck up they think it's fun to watch him struggle.

* HeroicFantasy: {{RPG}} [[{{Troperrific}} tropes to the max]].

** Subverted in that the most powerful sword in the city, the 'demon sword' Aria, takes the form of an estoc.

* {{Meido}}: Inverted by Fio whose closer to the AlmightyJanitor than the classical version of this trope. Then she makes Charlotte, her bodyguards, and Cecile dresses up as maids and do chores. They play it straighter.

* [[spoiler: RapeAsDrama: While Sigfried doesn't actually rape Cecily, the scene where he beats the crap out of her, strips her naked, and tells her that she's pretty for a country girl while straddling her naked body, as well as Cecily's reaction to it, crying out for help that never comes, and vomiting afterwards, all evoke this trope. This is especially the case when one remembers that rape isn't just about sex, but about power and control, which Sigfried clearly robbed from Cecily.]]

* RockSteady: The power of Doris' demonic sword.

* StrawNihilist: Siegfried is one of these.[[spoiler: He gets violent when Cecily [[ShutUpHannibal tells him to shut up.]]]]

* UnprovokedPervertPayback for Luke, but satirized/ given a TakeThat.

* WomenAreWiser: Invoked as HypocriticalHumor. Luke even asks Cecily why (despite all evidence) she feels qualified to give him advice about his relationship with Lisa. Her answer? "[[PunctuatedForEmphesis I'm-a-GIRL]]?!."

* AbuseIsOkayWhenItsFemaleOnMale: Averted.
-->'''Luke:''' ''You're sorry?'' You have a [[ClothingDamage wardrobe malfunction]] and beat the crap out of me, and you expect ''sorry'' is gonna cut it?

* [[spoiler: RapeAsDrama: While Sigfried doesn't actually rape Cecily, the scene where he beats the crap out of her, strips her naked, and tells her that she's pretty for a country girl while straddling her naked body, as well as Cecily's reaction to it, crying out for help that never comes, and vomiting afterwards, all evoke this trope. This is especially the case when one remembers that rape isn't about sex, but about power and control, which Sigfried clearly robbed from Cecily.]]

* CowboyCop: Deconstructed (at least in the manga). While Cecily is the best swordfighter and possesses the single greatest weapon in the city, her unreliability and temperament ([[{{Jerkass}} trying to punch a diplomat from]] TheEmpire [[EveryManHasHisPrice because he pissed you off?]] makes her unpopular with the rest of the Knights so she's viewed primarily as a Troubleshooter/thug by the city's PowersThatBe -- with the exception of Hannibal, though ''he'' calls her out the most.

Cecily Cambell, a Knight Guard of the Independent Trade Cities of Housman, is new to her job of keeping the peace in the HeroicFantasy world she inhabits. She soon meets Luke Ainsworth, an exceptionally skilled blacksmith who only makes katanas, along with his overly-cute Elfish apprentice Lisa. Circumstances soon conspire to reveal Luke has a very unusual and magical way of forging swords; a talent desired by the nearby empire, and that's not all. Demons appear in the Trade Cities along with swords that harness the powers of nature. All three are rooted in the recent Valbanill War, which might not be quite over yet....

* {{Badass}}:
** Luke knows how to kick ass.
** The manga and light novel incarnations of Cecily also know how to kick ass. Her anime counterpart ultimately reaches this status by the climax.

* TookALevelInBadass: Anime!Cecily takes her first level in the fight against the fire demon and keeps improving from there. Her second fight with Charlotte's handmaiden/bodyguards in the anime is a complete reversal of her first, with her first splitting them up and then soundly beating each one with tactics specifically designed to counter their abilities. Hell, even the first fight (three against one and she held her own) showed she had improved.
** In the manga she manages to take down all of Charlotte's handmaiden/bodyguards one after another without splitting them, sniping Margot behind from a wall and fighitng off the other two.

* {{Badass}}: Luke knows how to kick ass.

* BareYourMidriff: It'd be easier to list all the female characters that don't do this.

* BerserkButton: Do not tell Cecily you would like to ''purchase'' her friend Aria. Actually, just don't insult her friends in general.
** [[spoiler: Do not even try to say anything about Lisa being a "replacement" to Luke. While he may acknowledge it, but he will, at worst, give you a black eye.]]
** What really broke the camel's back was [[spoiler: Siegfried attacking, stripping naked and beating Cecily]]. This triggered a full-on RoaringRampageOfRevenge with a side of TranquilFury from Luke.

* CowboyCop: Deconstructed (at least in the manga). While Cecily is the best swordfighter and possesses the single greatest weapon in the city, her unreliability and temperament ([[{{Jerkass}} trying to punch a]] [[AssInAmbassador diplomat from]] TheEmpire [[EveryManHasHisPrice because he pissed you off?]] [[WhatTheHellHero ''Not Cool'']]) makes her unpopular with the rest of the Knights so she's viewed primarily as a Troubleshooter/thug by the city's PowersThatBe -- with the exception of Hannibal, though ''he'' calls her out the most.

* {{Badass}}: Cecily and Luke. Both of them know how to kick ass.

* EntitledBastard: Charlotte and her GirlPosse. In their debut episode they expet Cecily, someone they just tried to kill, to put them up while they stay in the city, expecting to [[PrettyFreeloader live it up and be treated like Royalty]].