English Dub Review: Reincarnated as a Sword “The Horrible Lieutenant of the Knights Brigade”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Monsters aren’t the only adversaries waiting to challenge Fran, but defeating slimy nobles at their own game will take a specialized approach—and a certain new skill.

Our Take:
What better way to start the second half of the series than with a highly stubborn lieutenant with a Falsehood skill? The season’s first half came to a close, with Fran and Teacher completing their first dungeon quest together and absorbing the demon’s precious crystal. As a result, Fran is now promoted to rank D, which is better than E, F, and even G. Even though they kept it a secret from Klimt, they weren’t so lucky with August Allsand (Adam Noble), an arrogant vice-captain of Alessa’s knights who used his Falsehood skill to identify Fran’s lies. However, Teacher immediately discovers through his “identify” skill that August’s been abusing his abilities to falsely accuse commoners and charm his superiors.
Fran and Teacher later get revenge on August by using Skill Taker to steal his Falsehood and Etiquette skills, leaving him socially dysfunctional. That’s one way to deal with an abusing bully besides punching them in the nuts. So not only do they have the ability to see people’s deceptions but also a skill that makes Fran more charming. Although, she already looked charming way before they stole the Etiquette skill. However, it’s later revealed that the douchebag captain isn’t the only thing for them to worry about.
This is another episode that takes a slight breather from the heavy action to focus on one of Fran and Teacher’s harmless activities. Aside from teaching August a lesson, the episode sees Fran and Teacher making meals to keep preserved in their pocket dimension, including the curry Teacher promised to make for Fran. That scene is one of my favorite parts of the series so far regarding its humorous and charming take on Teacher’s brief instructions on making curry. But, more importantly, it’s also because of the cute reactions Fran makes when she tastes the different types of curry.
Aside from the harmless stuff, “The Horrible Lieutenant of the Knights Brigade” did a solid job setting up another series of dilemmas for Fran and Teacher to face in the season’s second half. One of them, in particular, is an assassin hired by August, who’s hellbent on revenge against Fran for “cursing him”. The assassin is none other than a Blue Cat, and judging by Fran’s expression, it doesn’t look like this cat is friendly. The other is a mysterious woman with pointed ears approaching Alessa, but we won’t know who that is until later. Regarding its humor, mainly the meal-cooking sequence, and handling of its teases, this is my favorite episode of an otherwise endearing and refreshing isekai series.