- A synopsis of Episode 10, titled "Pumpkin And Scissors" ("Kabocha to hasami" (カボチャとハサミ).
Synopsis[]
- The Pumpkin Scissors group is clogged in a firefight that finally ends when Oland faces the enemy tank head-on. Although he is alright, his uniform is once again damaged in the battle.
- As they return at the office, Stecchin sews it up for Oland and starts talking about how the group has changed from how it was at the beginning. She recounts that it started out with just her, Mercury and Captain Hunks, with Oreldo, Martis, and then Alice joining later.
- A year ago, Martis had been assigned to the Elite Unit, a group within Section I, and was at odds with his commanding officer Major Ranke about war relief supplies. He had gotten together with Oreldo at a bar and the two drank until Martis threw-up. Oreldo had offered Martis a place in the 3rd Section, though Martis hadn’t taken it at first. It wasn’t until Martis got assigned to the reserve by his commanding officer that he joined Oreldo. And even that would have ended prematurely if Hunks hadn't hinted that he might take the corruption case against Major Ranke that Martis had been investigating.
- During Stecchin's story, Alice's sisters overreact to Alice' near-death experience the previous day, and Elis and Solice lock her in her bedroom 'for her own good'. However, Alice uses her bedsheets to fashion a rope and climbs out.
- Back to Stecchin's story... during one war relief effort where they were handing out food to the masses, they had encountered one of Martis' former colleagues – Ranke’s subordinate, Rudolf. The man had chided Martis for being degraded to this kind of work, but Oreldo had forced the guy to leave.
- Upon returning to the office the next day, they had met Alice, who had just joined the group. They learned that she was the successor to one of the Thirteen Appointed Families and had assumed that she was here on a whim. She had claimed to be devoting her life to war relief, but Martis didn't want to hear anything about it and excused himself. Regardless, the group had done its duties normally - until one day Alice burst into the office and announced that they were going to arrest Major Ranke for corruption. Martis had wanted to be sure they had a chance at succeeding, but Alice made him realize that it didn't matter because they couldn't back down for sake of the people.
- Upon arriving at Major Ranke's office, Alice had produced the warrant, but Ranke had called in troops. When Ranke claimed Alice and company were traitors, Alice had called Ranke himself the traitor to the people. The soldiers were reluctant to shoot the group, so Ranke commanded his subordinate Rudolf to do the job. To make things harder on Rudolf, Oreldo had revealed that Alice was the daughter of a Malvin, one of the Thirteen Appointed Families. Rudolf had pulled the trigger after more urging by Ranke, though Martis dived in the way just in time. In the end, Martis wasn’t injured seriously and they got the corruption evidence against Ranke.
- Stecchin remembers how after that incident, Alice had come up with the Pumpkin Scissors emblem. They were up against people who used money, violence and power as protection for their own interests, much like a pumpkin's thick skin. They needed a blade – scissors – to cut through that outer layer, and that’s why they’re called the Pumpkin Scissors.
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