A Lazy, Cowardly Princess

A Lazy, Cowardly Princess is the seventeenth episode of the Log Horizon anime. It covers Game's End, Part 2 chapter 2.

Cold Open
Minori sits high on a tree branch, observing the goblin skirmishes using magic eye drops and a telescope. She receives a call from Naotsugu, informing her of a couple of squads of goblins heading her direction. She relays the message to the rest of the party, Touya acknowledges his role will be to lure the goblins in. Feeling responsible for getting others to agree to the preemptive strike, Minori remembers how she managed to convince Marielle, Naotsugu, and Nyanta to let her party begin a surprise attack against the goblin forces to confuse them and draw them away from attacking Choushi.

Shiroe, Krusty and Michitaka are discussing the trainees' independent decision to defend Choushi. Michitaka is annoyed that action is being taken before anything has been decided, but Krusty points out that they would want to do the same thing themselves. Shiroe agrees with Michitaka in that this quick decision might be perceived as a selfish move by the adventurers, so they must come to a consensus before meeting with the Eastal lords.

Deliberating at the Palace
Meanwhile, at the council of the Eastal lords, they begin coming up with wild theories that the goblin invasion is a plot by the Adventurers. Baron Krandit points out how such a claim is a drastic leap, but the other lords remind him this private meeting was so that everyone could speak their mind. One of the lords remarks he doesn't expect Choushi to hold out long, and Lord Kiliva's Tsukuba City is the next likely target or possibly Maihama.

Michitaka grows steadily impatient as the representatives remain on hold, Krusty supposes the lords are probably discussing matters they didn't want to mention to the Adventurers. Shiroe theorizes that the lords probably don't want to be indebted to the Adventurers and would thus likely try to enlist the aid of the Izumo Knights.

Serjiad Corwen informs the other lords that the Izumo Knights are missing, and his scouting parties have found no clue of how or why they vanished. Lord Kiliva responds that all the lords must combine forces to attack the goblins, but another suggests that a better strategy would be to lure the goblins into attacking a well-defended city, then kill them in the boxed area. However, just as Kiliva assumes, this meant sacrificing Tsukuba. As he strongly objects, Duke Corwen suggests they take a break.

The Trainees Start Fighting
Back in the forest, Minori watches and coordinates the others from her branch. As Touya lures in the first group of goblins, Serara snags them with vines, and Rudy enhances Touya's sword as he vanquishes the monsters. Just as Rudy is commenting on their victory, Minori announces the second group is inbound. Isuzu boosts Rudy's magic and he blasts the second group quickly.

Final Preparations
Shiroe prepares specific roles for himself, Krusty, and Michitaka for their talks with the Eastal Lords for when they are finally summoned. He would support assisting the Landers, Michitaka would oppose, and Krusty would act as the mediator and would make the final call.

Meanwhile, Rayneshia sits alone at the gazebo when she overhears two of the lords talking about the possible sacrifice of Tsukuba and how expensive it would be to hire the adventurers. However, what shocks her the most is the decision to withhold the fact the Izumo Knights had disappeared. When the Round Table Alliance's representatives are finally summoned, she crosses paths with them, and after a little banter with Krusty, she leaves them to their meeting.

Rudy's New Gear
Minori is reporting by telepathy they have cleared the area of enemies and are resting. As Rudy polishes his magic bracers he recalls how he acquired them: they are the first item the party acquired together, and when Isuzu suggests that Rudy be the one to use them, he breaks character and humbly accepts. Returning to the present, Minori has the group move out to look for more enemies.

The Final Talk
Having predicted that the Lords would try to gather more information from them, Shiroe uses the same tactic against them. He asks that the Izumo Knights be summoned to work with the Adventurers, but the lords make no response. Krusty chastises the absence of the protectors of Yamato, which prompts Baron Krandit to protest that the goblin threat is beneath the help of the knights, and that adventurers are more suited to combat the threat. Krusty then asks whether the lords are requesting the help of the Adventurers, which makes them reluctant to answer again.

Michitaka becomes frustrated that the lords are grilling the representatives instead of discussing solutions. Shiroe notes that the Adventurers decide formal engagements as a group rather than having a designated army at the ready, prompting an outburst from Kiliva, who stated that the Adventurers have a responsibility to protect the land. Michitaka violently retorts that the Adventurers of Akiba are not recognized citizens of Eastal; without a seat in the council, they have no basis for involvement in the proposals. Krandit clarifies that the nobles are not requiring troops from Akiba, which puzzles Shiroe as he points out Kiliva's dissent. Kiliva is outraged at the accusation that he is acting selfishly, and Michitaka reiterates that the Adventurers are not obligated to fight for Eastal. Shiroe looks on coolly, thinking to himself that although Michitaka was supposed to oppose providing assistance to the Landers, his anger wasn't completely scripted. Krusty nonchalantly remarks that Michitaka may have lost the representatives' footing in negotiations.

At this time, Rayneshia reluctantly makes a sudden appearance with the intention of asking Krusty to take her to Akiba to gather a volunteer army, stating that she understood that the Adventurers were free thanks to the time she spent with Krusty, and the way the nobles were treating the Adventurers was improper. She was taught to show respect when asking from someone, and so believes it improper to withhold the Izumo Knights' disappearance. The nobles become outraged that she revealed the secret, but are silenced by Duke Corwen. Rayneshia continues that despite the power disparity, no one has the right to exploit others into their bidding. If adventurers could simply agree to help, she was willing to go to Akiba and plead with each person individually if that was what it took to raise an army to save Eastal. After her impassioned speech she collapses into Krusty's arms.

Conclusion
Afterwards, as Minori's party continue fighting with their own resolve, Shiroe, Akatsuki, Krusty, and Rayneshia make their way to Akiba by griffins. Shiroe is impressed by the princess's performance, pointing out that she understood the due respect to the freedom the adventurers had to considering a request, and that it was so obvious yet the conference was almost deadlocked. She may be the one to change the Cities of Eastal.