this week’s reading was fairly easy for me so it was a pleasant read.(especially since yesterday’s one was hard)
Spoiler
The old guy was less impressive than I thought. He did come from a place we never heard of.
I found it funny that the old guy was saying “follow the rule or the calamity will come. Do not make it fly again” then エサル was “Who cares about him let’s make him fly are you scared.” kinda. Wasn’t he suppose to be rational? I feel like he lost all the rational part of him that was like “should I let エリン
go even if it can cause her problem later on.” a few chapters ago. I like the flying scene but I just find エサル just became childish which feels out of character for me. Am I alone?
I felt like a kid again when I was thinking about flying on リラン too but I am probably less rational the エサル.
The old guy said something to the effect of “I know you won’t understand since you haven’t seen what’s beyond that mountain”. So it appears we still don’t know what that was about, but it’s safe to say he can’t just explain it so that エリン will understand. エリン here thinks that the simple act of talking with リラン can’t be the cause of whatever that old man is afraid of. Something more must have happened.
Found it surprising she directly suggested that エリン should teach リラン to fly. But I wouldn’t say it’s out of character because it was already foreshadowed that in エサル’s childhood she was probably as excited and caring about 王獣s as エリン is now, but she was probably forced to let go of certain dreams by the situation back then.
I wonder what could have happened. I can only think that they were use for war. Then the country was devastated by war or something. I do believe that speaking with them and making them into war machines is on a different scale though.
It seems pretty much in character to me. エサル is a very logical individual. She knows that リラン will fly again now that she knows how, and this was her best idea to ensure that she comes home afterward.
Plus I’m sure Erin knowing how to fly with リラン will be convenient for the plot.
Is it me, or has Erin not seemed to mature at all despite four years having passed?
I’ve barely started but I have a question about the second sentence of the chapter section:
Does anyone know what the difference between 一族 and 親族 is supposed to be (since I can’t tell much from the dictionary telling me it means ‘relative’ (family)?
Based on a quick dictionary search, it looks like 一族 is only blood relatives from the same ancestor, while 親族 includes relatives by marriage. I have no idea if there’s more to it than that.
I found the way the man expressed himself a bit harder to understand than usual (which reading of 己 am I even supposed to use here?). I even learned some new grammar but in the end I think I got it.
I still have a question from a different part though:
Summary
When エサル says:
「そうよ。そういうふうにさきのさきまで事態を考えておかねば。王獣の場合はね」
What is さきのさきまで? I thought it might be an expression but I couldn’t find anything on it…
About the story, I had a lot of mixed feelings. I want エリン and リラン to be able to go on living freely and bond but everything is pointing to something really bad happening if they keep it up. And if keeping the whole thing a secret seemed hard before… anyone can see a giant flying thing now.
On the other hand I had fun imagining the man like… ‘Well, I told her, I did my job. Hopefully it works.’ cut to 5 minutes later and エリン is literally flying with a saddle and everything in front of several people.
I imagine the アリョー use older words and grammar because they’ve remained isolated for so long. So while the rest of the country has progressed to use different words and grammar, they basically were frozen in time. At least, that’s the impression I assume the author was trying to give.
I don’t remember the context, but if it was used as “oneself” I think it’s usually おのれ.
Mind sharing specifically what you learned?
Response about the story: The guy did say she wouldn’t understand without seeing beyond the mountain herself, and afterward she even admitted (to herself) that it didn’t seem as big a deal as the guy made it out to be. She also doesn’t see how having a familial bond with リラン can be a bad thing. I think in her mind, she’s not manipulating an 王獣, so it’s not the same.
Exhibit A:
だが、この保護場で観察をし、きみが行った〈操者ノ技〉は、一族が伝えてきた技ではないと知ったとき、一族がどんな衝撃を味わったか、きみには想像もつくまい
This wasn’t really ‘new’ but I initially found the もつくまい hard to parse, which made me realize even that though I knew まい from seeing it around I’d never actually officially learnt about it and didn’t really know how the construction worked so I looked it up in more detail.
Exhibit B:
人はこうして、知らぬまに、大罪を犯す道へと足を踏みだしていくのかと…
I was confused what the まに was and what it was doing so I searched around and found this explanation (apparently it’s another reading for 間 but I did not know that). I guess this isn’t technically grammar after all
And I think that’s it but I could be forgetting something.
This part really bothered me from a reader’s perspective because, as you mentioned, it didn’t feel like any time had passed at all. エリン still acts like a child. The fact that she didn’t really seem terribly bothered by whatever calamity the man mentioned seemed weird, especially since she’s been portrayed as very curious and detailed, and always motivated to inquire or learn more. If she didn’t understand how what happened related to her relationship with リラン, why didn’t she ask? Why didn’t she mention to エサル that some strange man had been stalking her at the school? It also would have made more sense to me if she was training リラン to fly in order to go see what had happened beyond the mountains. To me, this section didn’t really seem consistent with the plot and character development so far.
Apparently he told his piece, turned around and left, leaving little time for such?
But yeah, you have a point. I keep forgetting how much time has passed, but she’s like 18 now, isn’t she?
Still plenty young, and I suppose it’s easy to ignore things you don’t really understand that don’t go well with what you want, either. But I agree that it doesn’t really fit her inquisitive nature. On the other hand, not wanting to leave リラン does fit her ‘caretaker’ nature…
. 
But I agree that