The Butler, Sympathizing is Chapter 175 of the Kuroshitsuji manga.
Summary[]
Lau reminds Baldroy that Athena Sanatorium "harms the interests of the Earl" and asks him what he actually came here for if not for this. Baldroy assures him that he knows his mission, and Lau replies that they should kill all the doctors and nurses to accomplish it. However, he does not know what to do with the tradesmen.
Baldroy remarks that they cannot only kill the staff as they are easily exchangeable, and Lau says that it would be the easiest if they simply burned down the sanatorium. And while Baldroy agrees that they have to destroy it, he reminds Lau that Ciel has never ordered them to kill the patients too. Baldroy states that he will complete his mission, though he is unsure how he wants to proceed exactly. He asks Lau to give him a few more days to settle this matter, and Lau approves his request.
At night, Baldroy retrieves his gun and sneaks downstairs to Ada's office where she is already expecting him as she has known since his arrival that he was not "Matthew Burgh." After all, when he screamed about his war experiences, the war he spoke of happened in America, not in Africa. Ada wants to know who he is and why he has come to Athena Sanatorium. Instead of answering her, Baldroy points out that, although she has been suspicious of him since the beginning, she led him to the blood drawing room, and notes that she must have done this out of guilt. Then, Baldroy tells her that he has been sent by a "certain gentleman" to investigate the sanatorium after the events at the Sphere Music Hall. As people have died at the music hall, he proceeds to ask Ada how she, as a nurse, could put her patients at such a risk.
Ada replies that she is not putting them at risk—she is actually protecting their dignity by drawing their blood as every other nursing facility in England is filthy, and she cannot stand by and condone this. She tells Baldroy that she was part of the nursing team in the Sudan campaign and witnessed all kinds of cruelties. And while the soldiers were brutally murdered, she could not do anything to hold them. As she has "shamelessly survived," she now has to repent her "sin" through nursing. Upon hearing her words, Baldroy entrusts her that he "shamelessly survived" too.
Years ago, when Baldroy was still an active soldier, he was the last survivor in his group. He hid with his comrade's corpses in a cave. Just as he was about to cut off the arm of one of his friends to eat, he noticed Sebastian setting up a picnic before offering him a cup of tea.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Lau
- Baldroy
- Ada
- Sebastian Michaelis (flashback only)