Degenbrecher's oprec was something that I was looking forward to immensely; my personal hopes were that it would be about her friendship with Gnosis, and perhaps detail the moment they began to truly bond with each other, perhaps through the form of some other of Gnosis's schemes or shenanigans. (Though it seems those hopes were fulfilled in her second module.)
In that respect, I find her oprec to be on the somewhat disappointing side--it gives us no new information about her at all, simply detailing once again an average day of hers, how she spends her time helping the locals with their farmwork or engaging in her hobbies, and how beloved she is in Kjerag to the competition knight seeking her. All of this is content we already knew, from her profile, voice lines, and RS, and I am bit let down that we didn't get anything truly new (and the inception of her friendship with Gnosis, after the manga, would have been something new and would give them both additional depth).
However, I believe her oprec serves another purpose: to reinforce the idea that, post-OS, regardless of what she says, Degenbrecher isn't leaving Kjerag.
At the end of OS, Degenbrecher says this:
Gnosis's question and unease demonstrate that he's fearful of her departure, that now that Karlan Trade has changed hands to him and Enciodes has taken a step back from the public, she will leave as there is no more work to be done. Degenbrecher reassures him that he need only call her and she has his back, though it's preceded with a rather tsundere line about their paths just so happening to go the same way; Degenbrecher has quite the tsundere streak when it comes to her friends, often denying to their faces that she cares about them at all but asserting her unwavering loyalty to others when they are out of earshot, to say nothing of her actions speaking volumes.
Still, this line is ambiguous enough that it could arguably be taken to mean that she might leave. However, both Reignfrost's Talk 1 line and his profile paint a rather different image, as well as the post-event comics that I mentioned earlier.
But aside from those, which are more easily overlooked, the strongest piece of evidence that Degenbrecher does not intend to leave but fully plans to remain in Kjerag comes from her oprec.
The oprec revolves around a nameless competition knight (nicknamed "Chilly Knight") and his attempts to secure a rematch with Degenbrecher, as he still bears her a grudge for an incident which occurred during her departure from Kazimierz, where she kicked a pebble into his face. Degenbrecher, however, is utterly disinterested in engaging with the Chilly Knight, dismissing his attempts to coax her into a duel in favor of gathering chickens and searching for a lost burdenbeast, leading the Knight to drown his sorrows at a bar and try to learn more about her from the locals.
The locals share their anecdotes about her life and her likes--from her love of animals, children, fishing, and even suggesting that she's quite devout--before sharing her pastime of 'battling' avalanches. This spurs the Chilly Knight to pursue her once more, where he finds her preparing to face another avalanche.
Degenbrecher is once again surprised to see him, and once again refuses to engage with him in favor of her true pastime, going as far to lay out her feelings about Kazimierz and knightsports in general.
And thus we come to what I think is the point of the oprec:
"I know that is where I'd stay."
Despite the shifting of the powers in Kjerag once more, despite the changes that the country is facing, Degenbrecher remains unmoved, her feelings unchanged. As long as Kjerag remains Kjerag, it remains her home. Even the fact that the Chamber of Commerce is desperate enough to be willing to allow her to return despite being exiled from Kazimierz doesn't move her. She wishes to continue her simple "retirement" in Kjerag with her friends, and nothing more. She cares not for the "warrior's glory", but finds fulfillment and value in using her strength to selflessly help others instead, something the 'Chilly Knight' cannot comprehend. He belongs in Kazimierz, is Degenbrecher's final line of the oprec; people of this sort belong there, while she belongs in Kjerag.
There really isn't much else I can say about it; like Degenbrecher herself, it's simple, blunt, and to the point. But by no means is that a detraction--as a "day in the life" episode, it succeeds in hitting that comedic note and depicting the Kjerag commoners' love for Degenbrecher and their shared adventures with her, as well as fleshing out more of her hobbies and pastimes, inasmuch as they were already mentioned in her profile.
However, what I can say is that I have seen a few people speculating that Degenbrecher will leave Kjerag now that Enciodes has left Karlan Trade and she isn't formally employed by him (though, ironically, as a diplomat, now he requires a bodyguard more than ever). But that, to me, seems a very far-fetched assumption when everything about Degenbrecher's character, particularly after this oprec, emphasizes repeatedly that she's a Kjerag through and through. Her second module is also about her 'new contract', though I'm still dodging spoilers about it so I will talk about it when the time comes. As much as OS shook up the status quo, I don't think Degenbrecher is going anywhere.
titsay
kaledo-art
tangentwithtanner
pixelskylines
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
