"Flesh&Blood" Vol. 16 - Pirate Series Reading Club 🏴‍☠ ⛵

[NicoleIsEnough]

“Flesh&Blood” series home thread

Welcome to the “Flesh&Blood” Vol. 16 Reading Club!

Back to Vol. 15
Forward to Vol. 17

Participants

• I am planning to read this book
• I am currently reading this book
• I have finished this book
• I am taking a break and will return
• I have dropped the book and will not return
• I don’t plan to read this book

Please update your status accordingly whenever it changes.

Chapters

Chapter	eBook %	Physical
Chapter 1	%	p. 7
Chapter 2	%	p. 35
Chapter 3	%	p. 62
Chapter 4	%	p. 81
Chapter 5	%	p. 103
Chapter 6	%	p. 127
Chapter 7	%	p. 149
Chapter 8	%	p. 176
Chapter 9	%	p. 199
Chapter 10	%	p. 217
あとがき	%	p. 230-231

Discussion Rules

Discussing anything is fine, be it about language questions, about the contents or about real historic events! Please state clearly which chapter (or roughly which percentage) you’re referring to, and please hide spoilers. Also, don’t forget the forum etiquette, of course.

Buying the Book

If you’re planning to buy the book on Bookwalker or Amazon and if you’re outside of Japan, you will need a VPN to buy them. Afterwards, you can download it to the app without the need for a VPN. I think you cannot read it in the browser without VPN, though.

Vol. 16 on Bookwalker
Vol. 16 on Amazon

Vocab sheet

FLESH & BLOOD ~ Volume 16 ~ Vocab list

Artwork from volume 16

Spoiler warnings

Character overview

Full color art

Vol 16, ch 1, p 15

Vol 16, ch 3, p 75

Vol 16, ch 5, p 125

Vol 16, ch 6, p 147

Vol 16, ch 10, p 227

Vol 16, あとがき

Historical Figures, Events and Places

The book mentions a lot of real (as far as we know ) historical figures and events. Here are some information resources on them. (Please be aware that if you want to go in 100% blind, these lists will contain some spoilers for you)

Please add Chapter, Page, if possible, when something is mentioned in the story.

Historical Figures and Groups

Drake, Francis (Ch 7) Francis Drake - Wikipedia
Farnese, Alexander, Duke of Parma, Governor-General of the Netherlands (Ch 1, p 11) Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma - Wikipedia
Hawkins, John (Ch 7) John Hawkins | Admiral, Privateer, Slave Trader
Medina Sidonia (Ch 1, p 20) Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia - Wikipedia
Raleigh, Walter (Ch 7) Wikipedia article
Walsingham, Francis (Ch 7) Wikipedia article

The Royal Diagram

Places and Rivers

Cadiz (Ch 1, p 20) Cádiz - Wikipedia
Deptford (Ch 5) Deptford - Wikipedia
Maryland (Ch 9, p 200) Maryland - Wikipedia
St Andrew’s Church, Plymouth (Ch 3) St Andrew's Church, Plymouth - Wikipedia
Talbot County (Ch 9, p 200) Talbot County, Maryland - Wikipedia

Historical Events, Things etc

Battle of Britain (Ch 3) Battle of Britain - Wikipedia
Star Chamber (Ch 6) Star Chamber - Wikipedia

Historical, geographical and other inaccuracies

(Ch 1, p 13) The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs - Wikipedia

[ekg]

Chapter 1, thoughts

I did not expect us getting another glimpse of Raul and Jan, who is again forced to do Raul’s dirty work it seems (by disguising himself as a monk.). I’m unsure what a government-general is, ngl. Aha, turns out it’s explained on Farnese’s wikipage and it’s Governor-General. Jisho got it wrong.

We also got full-color art of these two! ^>^ <3

As always, Raul is plotting for his own benefit. And, putting Jan in a tough spot is still his favorite pastime. ^^; There’s also some interesting introspection on the part of Jan on Raul’s personality. Gotta say, I still find these two characters - and their antagonistic dynamic - super interesting. XD

Chapter 2, thoughts
We are not done with these two it seems! After the meeting with Farnese, they’re moving toward the prison blocks. Raul is again trying to rile Jan up, with little success. We get a flashback into Jan’s past as well.

I wonder about the shipnames getting dropped here, if they existed? I’m assuming デ ギースト = De Geest. The other ship is just named Catherine. And is the Captain’s name Vash ワーシ (like Vash the Stampede? ^^') I can’t find anything on that at all. I guess, it could all just be fictional stuff.

Though there is some recapping done here, a new name appears, George? Horche? ホルヘ Both are unfortunately caught up in the spiderweb of Raul. Horche is a slave of Islamic origin, who ends up having to tends to Jan after he’s been tortured. Over time their chats turns to real friendship. There’s a reason Horche can’t stand up to Raul, which has to do with his son, having been born into slavery (if I understood it right), so the son is owned by Raul and Horche just want to keep him safe, even if it means serving Raul obediently. In the end, he’s resisting Raul in this way, true in his heart and Jan ends up learning an important lessons for himself.

Ngl, the descriptions of Horche as beautiful, does give the whole friendship a certain BL vibe. XD

Another spoiler
It turns out, Horche was killed in a truly awful way, to serve as a body-swap for Jan who’s shipwright knowledge Raul has plans for. But Horche’s son is still alive and so, Jan has promised Horche to keep him safe! And so the son remains an effective hostage to keep Jan in line. o_o Though, apparently he doesn’t know where he is, but is using his money to have people search for him! Good man! ^>^

Spoiler
I guess, Matsuoka-sensei also wanted to serve us something limeish with these two. XD I’m not saying no to that, even if this pairing is such a dark one, and it’s not going as Raul planned! XD

[ekg]

Chapter 3, thoughts

Back in our time, Kaito is on the mend while going through rehabilitation and counselling. I can’t stop feeling like Kazuya is a rather manipulative person (trying to get in with Kaito’s mother and stuff).

It seems Kaito has been telling Kazuya a bit about his time on Gloria. Though, he’s been leaving stuff out clearly. And Kazuya is wondering why Kaito is not talking about things in more detail, but keeps his experiences secret.

Kaito is set on finding out more about Jeoffrey and so wants to go to St Andrew’s Church in Plymouth and look at the old records there. But, Kazuya is quick to describe the various issues with this plan.

Chapter 4 thoughts

spoilers
After much waiting, Kaito has finally a lead on the fate of Nigel (and by extension Jeoffrey?). The scholar he contacted is asking him to come see him in Plymouth to talk about things in further detail or to call which is what Kaito immediately do. Turns out JP Conner is a friendly American who’s read about Kaito’s disappearance/reappearance in the newspaper and so he’s taken an interest. Which is great for Kaito, as he now finally has an ally in his search for Jeoffrey.

more spoilers
Of course, it makes sense that it’s Nigel’s name that comes up since Jeoffrey wrote over his assets, including Gloria, onto Nigel + Nigel has since renamed the ship Precious as well.

Big plot spoilers
This chapter make F&B feel like a detective story! I don’t mind, as I love that stuff. XD It’s great to see Kaito learning about Nigel. But, it’s also great to see JP turn the tables on Kaito, because how can he be asking questions about an unknown captain, crew and ship, if they’re never mentioned in any books! Turns out JP has quite a secret of his own here! O_O And the twist about his connection to Nigel is

Kaito will have to travel to Plymouth to be able to talk freely with JP. But, he’ll need to do so without raising suspicions from the police or Kazuya or his own family. Feels like we’re moving into spy-thriller drama. XD dun dun dun

Well, Kaito being who he is, is just not spy-material it seems. He’s way to reliant on others for help, Kazuya’s included even though he recognizes the inherent cruelty of doing so. I’m also quite unsure why he has to avoid the police. he can just refuse to answer questions. Then again, very awkward indeed. Still, he’s not a suspect of a crime and can travel wherever he wants to. The police certainly doesn’t have the right to keep him under tabs as to his travels either. But, I guess, we’re not going for full realism here in the end. ^^’

[ekg]

Chapter 5 thoughts

Back to Nigel’s POV! ^>^ And he’s waiting around for Kit to return. It seems Jeoffrey is getting a respite from torture, but at the same time, he’s stuck in terrible conditions and slowly fading away for sure in that dark cell. They’ve sent a petition to the queen, but things are not looking great. Walshingham is still creating headaches for them. Kit gets back only get them to change lodgings and keep out of way as a manhunt is underway, though not for them. They end up paying a water-seller for transport to Deadford to stay low.

Once they’ve made it to safety in Deadford, Kit tells Nigel about how the son of Walshingham, Thomas, has gotten himself into serious problems in a triangle drama by loosing his temper about a lover oogling another, ending up in a skirmish. Now the love rival is on the run. This is clearly an opening for them, against Walshingham, the fact that he’s aware of his son’s proclivities and keeps them hidden, even in the face of the state religion’s rejection of homosexual acts. Also, I kind of thought so when I heard the description, but it’s Cyril on the run, whom Kit has helped escape, thus their sudden departure from the inn. ^^;

I’m still a bit confused as to the details here. First I thought Tomas had killed the lover in a jeolous spat, while the rival escaped, but, apparently it was Thomas that got hurt badly and is seemingly on death’s bed. Meanwhile, Walshingham is keeping this scandal under wraps, while hunting down Cyril that was at the scene and saw the fallout of the fight.

Using this to threaten Walshingham about going public about Thomas is a dangerous game, as Kit is soon to tell Nigel. But they have also very few other means at their disposal to pressure Walshingham and the queen into acting to save Jeoffrey. It’s a gambit they need to take.

Things are sure heating up considerably with various plots and schemes and whatnot. Lots of things to keep track on for sure!

And, another thing heated up as well: Kit finally took made things clear to Nigel, expressing his real feelings. That kiss in the chapter art!

[ekg]

Chapter 6, thoughts

Finally we get a glimpse of Jeoffrey. Poor man has been out for days it seems, but now Raven is suddenly feeding him better food. Meaning, Nigel & Co’s intervention is helping Jeoffrey’s situation a tiny bit at least. Apparently, Jeoffrey is to appear before the Star Chamber for questioning, and so they need him to get his strength back for a bit at least, thus the food and water. Still, that chapter art is just heart wrenching!

Turns out this is indeed Robert’s plan for an intervention and soon enough, he shows up to bring Jeoffrey to the Star Chamber. Of course, Jeoffrey understands how Nigel now has implicated himself, potentially risking Walshingham’s wrath as well - and Jeoffrey is NOT pleased about this. He was quite content on taking the full blame and allowing everyone else to live in freedom, but nope, his navigator and best-friend has to ruin that. XD Good man, Nigel!

Chapter 7 thoughts

Well, we now move over to Nigel’s POV where he’s talking with Drake about Jeoffrey appearing for the Star Chamber. Apparently Nigel is to show up as well, which made me confused. But, clearly, Jeoffrey’s strong will to never confess to the charges and the lack of evidence in the end, has given him the benefit of the doubt from people in the Star Chamber, where there is talk of it all being a false charge even. And with Walshingham being pre-occupied with his son’s affairs, this seems indeed like the timing to make a move!

There’s a flashback to Nigel’s and Kit’s additional preparations, and I guess, that’s the real reason for Nigel’s appearance? Kit has certainly done it all, by first gathering a list of names of men Thomas has been involved with, which he’s threatened Walshingham with, but there’s also written testimony from these men as well, about their time with Thomas. He’s gone all out here! Even Nigel is impressed (but worried about his recklessness as well)!

Well, back to present events and they’re gathered for the questioning/hearing of Jeoffrey in Star Chamber. It begins with animosity for sure, you can feel the sparks flying. XD But, there’s some pretty decent stuff put forward in Jeoffrey’s favor here as well, it’s the F&B court drama part 3! ^>^

Nigel has made it imperative that Jeoffrey is kept alive as the sole person with detailed knowledge about the new Spanish ships used in the armada, going so far as inventing a third sea battle encounter that got Jeoffrey sweating when he heard about from Raven (why make this lie). Well, it’s part of the above mentioned aim of making what Jeoffrey knows even more valuable, while Nigel’s cover story (for not participating in the battle) is a stretch to believe to be sure. Also, the ship log was destroyed by Jeoffrey apparently, smart man. ^^;

Finally, Jeoffrey is brought in. Only to leave us with a cliffhanger as the chapter ends!

[ekg]

Chapter 8, thoughts

Back to Kaito’s POV. His mother is going away on a trip, like a true jetsetter and Kaito is left alone at home it seems. Perfect for him, but that seems incredibly irresponsible when you’ve had a child that’s been at death’s door basically. ^^; In any case, she’s off and so Kaito can finally leave for Plymouth!

It’s actually explained also, that Kaito is under some kind of travel restrictions. I don’t understand how that could be the case. But, clearly he is, since he has not yet spoken to the police? Whut? Anyway, taking all of that onboard, I guess, he needs to hide his travels? I still wonder what he’s planning to do about Kazuya, having brought him along? (though it’s more like Kazuya bringing Kaito along here. )

They arrive in Plymouth and are greeted with the peppy granddaughter of JP, feel-good vibes all around! ジャージー種 - Wikipedia But, what’s her name, Jisho supplies Maury; Mori; Mory​ for モリ but I can’t stop thinking of reading it as “Mouri”, as Mouri Kogoro and his daughter, Ran. Detective Conan Also, the more we learn about JP and his fam, the more he seems like JR or some character in Dallas? (well, if he’d been a good guy.

I was just wondering if it really IS Jeoffrey’s mansion JP is living in, seeing as Jeoffrey wrote over his assets on Nigel. spoilers: yes it is!

This chapter has so much foreboding and heavy feels. Put me completely on edge while reading it! But it ends on a very bright note, JP having actually found Jeoffrey in the historical record! dun dun dun

---

Chapter 9, thoughts

Again, I got confused as I thought Kaito and JP had kept their previous conversation a secret. Now it seems Kazuya knows about JP’s timeslip as well, even though it had been a well-guarded secret. ^^; I guess, it makes it easier for them to chat openly? Kaito is also being very forward here with his question about why JP returned to our time, if he loved Nigel’s grandmother?

Well, things were not going all that well for JP apparently and in the end he felt the need to get back to stay safe, being helped to get back from Nigel’s grandmother much like Kaito got help from Jeoffrey. Romance is not dead! Still, JP choose a more pragmatic route for his ending for sure.

Kaito again puts his foot in his mouth, by telling off Kazuya for his remarks regarding JP and his lost love. He’s clearly showing some deep-seated sentiments, giving Kazuya more water on his mill about what Kaito is planning.

SPOILERS
The main thing is that JP has found records regarding Jeoffrey. And it’s finally revealed that Jeoffrey’s name is indeed spelled with a G! I’m in shock! Well, not so much, since even with the change of the character artist, she kept the spelling of the name as before. Only in the Character Art Book is his name spelled Jeoffrey it turns out. Sadly, for me, since it’s literally ingrained in my mind by now and I don’t feel like changing it. There I said it. I know it’s wrong, but Edward Jeoffrey Rockford it’ll be for me!
more spoilers
I also notice that both of them have their given name in the middle: Henry Nigel Graham and Edward Jeoffrey Rockford. Not that I can complain, since I have my second name first as well, given in the middle and family last. But, I was not aware this was common outside of Scandinavia. Maybe it’s just a Japanese misunderstanding thing? Or perhaps it IS common in the UK as well?

In any case, the real break comes when JP learns that Jeoffrey was an atheist, but soon the conversation turns darker at the mention of imprisonment. Kazuya is also needling Kaito for a confession about his feelings for Jeoffrey. Stop it! :C

[ekg]

Chapter 10 thoughts

We’re getting Kazuya POV for the final chapter of this volume and it starts off with a a very possessive inner monologue about Kaito. which continues with even more in the same vein…Kazuya is defo falling into yandere territory feels here. >_>;;;;

New vocab, sort of: 多少虫 while I could not find this on Wikipedia, they’re clearly talking about “silverfisk”, who eat paper, i.e. old documents. Or it could be a broader category of insects, but silverfisk are the specific ones that are a problem for old archival records.

Seriously major spoilers!!!
In any case, they get to the church and JP helps them find and read the records. And there Jeoffrey is listed along with a long list of crimes and finally the day of his death 1687-06-30. Kaito is in shock as he knows these charges are all wrong. He knows things went south after he left. He finally realize that this date is before the arrival of the armada but also, there is also still some time. in his panic, he blurts out his intention to return and well now Kazuya is full on antagonistic about never allowing that to happen! >: dun dun dun

[eefara]

Started the book last night! …And am still reading today. I should finish chapter 1 today, but it’s really long, haha. I’m always so confident in my reading skills until they start talking about politics, haha.

[eefara]

Okay, finished chapter 1! Like I said before, a long chapter. We’re back with ヤン and Raul, who are visiting the Duke of Parma. Raul is counting on his good graces to shield him while he’s living in exile in the Netherlands. What follows is a lot of talk about how the Peace Faction is unsatisfied with King Philip II’s pushing the war against England, but Duke Parma can’t not support the war effort either, or he’ll appear traitorous. Raul reports that Kaito reported to the king that the Armada would meet with some kind of incident while docked in France (referring to the Armada docking at Calais, I believe), and since Kaito was pretty vague on the details, Raul proposes they use that as a starting point for sabotaging the Armada’s progress while not drawing suspicion. Pretty genius plot-wise if you ask me; I was pretty excited when I saw him suggest it.

The Duke is put off by Raul boldly declaring they go kill their own countrymen, but Raul sweet talks him into it. It’s funny; everyone in that room knows what Raul’s like, but the guy gets what he wants anyway.

There’s a small section where Raul’s leverage over ヤン is danced around again; not entirely sure why they don’t just state what it is, unless I misread and they did?

Gah my reading speed for this chapter took a noticeable dive. Too much polite language and circumlocution.

I must say, @ekg, you did a wonderful job filling out the historical notes in the OP with these volumes. Every time I go up to make an edit you already added it!

[pyororon]

Read about halfway through chapter 1, until it seemed like it might get a little too complicated to follow with late night before bed brain. It was satisfying to see Raul get insulted right to his face, 「飢えた野犬ですら素通りするほど腐れた肉塊」is quite the burn.

[eefara]

@pyororon

quite the burn

Agreed, haha. Good thing Parma can take advantage of his station to step on Raul a little bit, haha.

[eefara]

Finished chapter 2. We’re still with Raul and ヤン; they’re headed off to a prison to pick someone up. It’s the same prison ヤン was imprisoned and tortured in after being captured by the Spanish, and we finally get to learn what his objective has been, why he hasn’t snapped Raul’s neck yet: Raul’s previous slave, ホルヘ, had a son who he entrusted to ヤン, and ヤン intends to find him before making any moves against Raul. Interestingly, it’s apparently the guy ヤン was traveling with at the beginning of volume 14 who ヤン’s paid to look for the son.

I gotta say, this was yet another hard chapter; trust 松岡先生 to get me to tear up about a guy I’ve barely met… And Raul adds yet another notch to the belt of “wow I hate this guy”.

Chapter 3 also completed. We move back to Kazuya’s POV; he’s hanging out with Kaito, and we learn that Kaito’s going to be discharged soon. Kaito’s not really thrilled to be going back home, though Kazuya points out that Reevers might have a hard time getting to him there. Kaito does request that Kazuya take him to Plymouth without Reevers knowing, saying that he wants to look up some information on a person in the archives of St. Andrew’s Church.

It comes out that he’s hoping to find records of Geoffrey there, but Kazuya points out that the church was badly damaged during WWII, and most of their pre-18th century records were destroyed or hopelessly jumbled together, making looking for information difficult. Kazuya gets to learn a little bit about Geoffrey as well, and he’s already suspicious of Kaito’s relationship with him, haha.

This ended up being a nice, quiet chapter; just what I needed after that trainwreck of chapter 2. Kazuya’s still in the emotional clear, at least for now. The illustration for this chapter is exactly the one I was hoping for too, haha. Maybe it’s just me, though, the two look really awkward together on the couch. Ugh, can’t believe I’m already a third of the way through the book. That’s the bad thing about becoming more proficient: while it doesn’t take me a solid month to read one of these books, that just means that it’s over sooner. Waiting to get back to Nigel still.

[eefara]

Chapter 4: we switch back to Kaito. Kazuya’s supposed to be visiting, but he’s been delayed for some reason. Kaito finds out he got a letter from the dude he contacted last chapter, asking about information on Geoffrey.

He has no information on Geoffrey, unfortunately, but he has, shockingly, knowledge of Nigel! Specifically, a man named Henry Nigel Graham, son of a rich farming family. Does that mean our Nigel’s first name is Henry? And apparently the Nigel in Kaito’s world owned a ship called Precious, which is very interesting, given that’s what Gloria was renamed (by Geoffrey? Nigel? I didn’t remember) after Geoffrey gave the papers to Nigel.

Makes me wonder if Geoffrey also did exist in Kaito’s world. The differences we’ve seen between the two have been…not exactly minor, as Kaito’s been saying, but so far haven’t seemed to be consequential, so I’m trying to decide whether it’s more likely Geoffrey died of starvation while young and Nigel just happened to acquire a ship later and name it Precious, or whether Geoffrey survived up until the current point in the books, and either died here under torture, or survived but his records were destroyed during the Battle of Britain. Hard to say, and it doesn’t necessarily matter, granted.

Anyway, Kaito calls the man, James P. コナー (Conner?), for more information. And this is when a huge bombshell is dropped: not only did JP travel back in time himself, he’s actually Nigel’s grandfather! Ridiculous stuff; I’m loving it. (And it appears Nigel’s grandmother’s name is Joan, for future reference.)

Kaito agrees to meet JP in person, as he wants to know something about Nigel and he figures Kaito can help him, and Kazuya arrives after Kaito hangs up. I have to say, my first thought was that Kazuya was hanging around and eavesdropping for this convo, since his timing was juuust right. >.>

I’m glad we got some Nigel love this chapter; I’m incredibly biased, but so is Kaito in a different direction, which makes me sad sometimes, haha.

[eefara]

Chapter 5: Nigel and Kit are in/around London; Robert is trying to submit some sort of petition to the Queen in an attempt to free Geoffrey, but it’s taking time. While they await news, Kit has Nigel leave the inn he’s been staying at and move to a new one. Seems Walsingham’s men are looking for someone.

Turns out Walsingham’s son Thomas made a pass at Cyril, who’s honor was violently defended by Cyril’s current boyfriend or something, which is why Walsingham’s been cooped up in his manor for a while now. Nigel wants to blackmail Walsingham with the info to force him to release Geoffrey, but this feels like a bad idea on multiple levels. Kit convinces him to hold on while he goes to double-check Thomas’ condition.

I’m curious what plan they’ve put into action here, what petition they think Queen Elizabeth will listen to.

Chapter 6: So it seems either Robert was more successful than Nigel realized, or time has passed. Geoffrey gets notified that the Star Chamber would like to question him about something, and the only person who could call that would be Queen Elizabeth. Robert Congress to pick him up, and we’re left in suspense yet again.

[eefara]

Chapter 7: And we’ve flipped back to Nigel. Gotta say, I’m enjoying the focus on the 16th century side of things recently. As much as I love Kaito and Kazuya, it’s killer to have to swap back and forth constantly.

We’re getting closer and closer to reuniting with Geoffrey; Nigel and Drake are going to be attending a meeting at the Star Chamber, where Geoffrey’s being brought in as a witness to the engagement with a fictional ship called Todos Santos. Apparently the angle that Robert is going for is that Spain’s new ships could drastically change what kind of strategy England needs to adopt in their upcoming engagement, but the only person who’s fought them consistently is Geoffrey. And Geoffrey also hid and/or destroyed the Gloria’s logs, so they have to stop the torture to bring him in.

I’m not yet sure how Robert and Nigel plan to free Geoffrey from here; I suppose the plan is to have him testify here, then bring up the fact that there’s no evidence for the crime Geoffrey’s been accused of and he hasn’t confessed to before the Queen, and hopefully get a pardon there? Seems like a good idea as any, at least.

Nigel and Geoffrey reuniting was so sweet. The tear running down Nigel’s cheek…

Took a peek at the beginning of chapter 8, and uuuugh, of course we’re moving back to Kaito. @.@ For a moment I seriously considered skipping to chapter 9 so I could (presumably) see what happens in the trial, but I must persevere. @.@

[pyororon]

Sorry for being mostly mia for a bit, I’m currently in the process of transferring schools so I’ve been traveling around visiting campuses for the last few weeks. Due to that I haven’t been keeping up much with reading but I did manage to read a few chapters while out and about.

Finished up chapter 1, Raul feels like the devil on Parma’s shoulder with that plan. Ironically it’s very good for Kaito since it helps avoid Spain managing to change history using his predictions.

Chapter 2

We finally get all the details on why Jan can’t go against Raul. In his time being imprisoned and tortured after being captured he met and befriended a man named Jorge(?). Jorge ends up dying, forced to take Jan’s place in prison by Raul, leaving behind a son who Raul now uses to threaten Jan. Jeez, with all the stuff Raul’s done so far I didn’t think he could get this much worse but somehow he always outdoes himself. I really hope Jan’s plan works so he can finally escape from Raul’s control.

Chapter 3

Back to Kazuya’s pov, he’s going to visit Kaito like usual. Kaito hasn’t gotten any response from the email he sent to try and get information on Geoffrey so he opens up to Kazuya about wanting to secretly go to Plymouth to investigate in person. Kazuya however knows from his own investigation that the church with the records he’s interested in was damaged in the second world war and many of the records from before then were damaged or lost. He instead recommends that Kaito send an email to a historian whose contact he received from the church. In the process they speak about Geoffrey a bit and Kazuya starts to have doubts about the kind of feelings that Kaito seems to have for him. Seems like Kazuya gets a bad feeling whenever Kaito speaks about his time in the other world but hasn’t realized his plans yet.

Chapter 4

Surprisingly a response does come to Kaito’s email this time. The historian doesn’t have any leads on Geoffrey, but he does know some stuff about Nigel. While speaking to JP it becomes clear that he has also experienced a time slip. On top of that the reason he’s been looking into stuff about Nigel is because he’s possibly his grandfather! Once again Kaito is met with the need to sneak to Plymouth so they can meet up in person and share their stories.

Lots of new info in this chapter. I’m getting the feeling Kaito search is going to lead him to finding out that this world’s Geoffrey died in prison.

@eefara

That’s the bad thing about becoming more proficient: while it doesn’t take me a solid month to read one of these books, that just means that it’s over sooner.

I don’t know what I’ll do with myself when we’ve read them all

@eefara

I have to say, my first thought was that Kazuya was hanging around and eavesdropping for this convo, since his timing was juuust right. >.>

I didn’t think of that possibility. Definitely wouldn’t put it past Kazuya right now.

[eefara]

@pyororon

Sorry for being mostly mia for a bit, I’m currently in the process of transferring schools so I’ve been traveling around visiting campuses for the last few weeks.

No worries; I read a whole bunch, and then put the book down for like a week. Just been busy as well. Good luck finding a new school!

@pyororon

(Ch. 4 spoilers) I’m getting the feeling Kaito search is going to lead him to finding out that this world’s Geoffrey died in prison.

…I have a bad feeling you’re right. I wonder if might end up kicking Kaito into high gear to return to the 16 cen. asap? I can’t help but notice that the cover illustration hasn’t actually occurred yet, which makes me think it’s going to be a whopper of a scene. What better way to pull the feels than learning that this timeline’s Geoffrey got tortured to death?

[eefara]

Finally finished chapter 8! Unfortunately, it seems like we missed Kaito’s doubtless tearful reunion with his father and younger brother; one day I’ll meet them, one day. Kaito’s mother is leaving for a trip to somewhere in Switzerland, leaving him completely alone. I have to say, every new development is just another nail in the coffin of Kaito ever staying in the 21st century. I hope Kazuya can also see this when the time comes; Kaito may have him, but that’s literally it. I wouldn’t want to stay, either.

I say literally, but it’s possible JP could become another friend. Kaito and Kazuya go off to meet him, and Kaito gets to meet JP’s granddaughter Molly. He gets to chat with her a bit; turns out JP’s an incredibly rich man, with business interests in multiple areas and a family to run it for him. I wonder if Nigel got his business sense from him… JP’s company is also the company Kaito’s dad is meeting in Africa for a business deal, too, which was a neat detail.

And speaking of Nigel, JP bought the Graham family estate and is now living there, hilariously enough. We meet him just as the chapter ends, and it turns out Nigel got his eyes from his grandfather, which was a very sweet detail, I thought. JP has news: he’s finally managed to dig up information on this world’s Geoffrey! All of a sudden I’m nervous; there’s no reason for him to be tortured to death in his current situation sans Kaito, but if this world’s Geoffrey still dies in some grisly way…

I have to say, I think I preferred when Geoffrey and co. and the Gloria were implied to be one of the differences of the other world, for no other reason than it makes them a bit more mundane to have counterparts here. Although that does make me wonder now: who was this world’s Nigel’s grandfather? A man from the 21st century from the other world?

Chapter 9: short chapter. We continue with Kaito’s meeting with JP. Apparently, Henry VIII was getting ready to/in the midst of rounding up and imprisoning vagrants when JP arrived the past, and he was forced to hide out at an abandoned mine and could only rely on Joan. Seems like the circumstances just sucked bad enough that stressing was never a real option for him, which is a development I wasn’t expecting. As much as he loved Joan, it wasn’t a fairy-tale ending for the two of them.

Anyhow, JP has managed to scrounge up Jeoffrey’s (this world’s Geoffrey, that is) birth records, but nothing else. No marriage license and no notice of death. Unfortunately, that lack of death notice seems to insinuate that Jeoffrey might have died in an irregular way; i.e. prison, in this case, for continually skipping out on church and being unable to pay.

Kazuya’s getting closer and closer to sussing out Kaito’s feelings, it’s easy to tell. Kaito’s not really able to act all that unaffected by this…

@ekg

I also notice that both of them have their given name in the middle: Henry Nigel Graham and Edward Jeoffrey Rockford. Not that I can complain, since I have my second name first as well, given in the middle and family last. But, I was not aware this was common outside of Scandinavia. Maybe it’s just a Japanese misunderstanding thing? Or perhaps it IS common in the UK as well?

I’ve been wondering about this as well, whether it’s something that differentiates “our” G&N from the “other” G&N or if our heroes actually go by their middle names. Hopefully Kaito will be kind enough to ask if he can remember when he gets back…

[eefara]

Chapter 10: Oh my god. Oh my goooood.

Listen, I was initially sad that we weren’t returning to Geoffrey and Nigel. Continuing on with Kaito and Kazuya? Old news, nothing interesting there. But step 1: we switch to Kazuya’s POV. Excellent, good start, he’s usually fretting over something. Step 2: Kazuya’s yandere meter has been steadily rising, unbeknownst to Kaito, for a good while now. He’s totally got it under control guys, don’t worry, seeing as how Kaito has no plans to ever leave him again. Really.

Step 3: We learn the juicy details that Jeoffrey does indeed die in prison after being accused of being a Catholic spy for Spain, the same situation he’s in right now. I see now why 松岡先生 is keeping G&N away from us for the time being: she wanted to make to sure we had this info. This news comes as a shock to Kaito, and he inadvertently realizes out loud that he still has time to save Geoffrey if he returns before that execution date.

Step 4: Kazuya immediately loses all sanity and reason. His first, immediate plan of action is to return to London with Kaito so he can get Kaito institutionalized until Geoffrey’s execution date. Oh my god.

Why are you so good at ending these books on horrendous cliffhangers 松岡先生?! And for once the chapter art doesn’t do this scene justice. This final chapter was literally perfect in my eyes. I think you’ll enjoy this one @pyororon; this is absolutely ridiculous.

[Edit: I just noticed this after re-reading a relevant part of F&B 1: Kaito first lands in the 16th century on March 1587, and he leaves it the next year, 1588. But according to records here, Jeoffrey dies on July 30, 1587… Is this a mistake on 松岡先生’s part? Or intentional? Maybe Kaito just doesn’t realize the date discrepancy due to his panic, and no one else at the scene is going to know afaik the exact years Kaito would’ve lived in, right?

If it’s on purpose it means that Jeoffrey died after being accused of being a Catholic spy about three months after book one starts… I don’t remember what was happening then, unfortunately. :\ This was about when some of the Gloria’s men, Rufus included, knocked up a few young ladies iirc; I think GNK were just getting back from France after dropping off that ambassador. But they wouldn’t have had any reason to go to London in the first place, and hence get that assignment to transport the ambassador, if Kaito wasn’t there… @.@ Though I suppose she could’ve asked Drake and he could’ve told Jeoffrey at Plymouth…

It’s probably just a mistake on the author’s part, I’m thinking.]

While I generally enjoyed this volume, it’s definitely setting up for some ridiculous stuff in volume 17; I both can’t wait and can’t bear to look at all this fallout, haha. Now tell me if Vicente gets a spot in v17 I also wonder if we’ll get a bonus short story that talks about Jeoffrey a little bit? Highly unlikely, but would be interesting for sure.

[ekg]

1gnore the way of the 1 1nstead of … 1 can’t type 1t.

But, yeah, 1 agree. Th1s 1s probably a way to spec1fy these characters h1stor1cally, as the wr1ter has become aware that western people have mult1ple names, 1nstead of d1fferent kanj1 to say the same name.

When 1 wrote that last part, that’s when 1 f1nally got 1t as well! But yeah, names matter and who 1s really who. So, th1s just M1GHT be a m1ssconsept1on from see1ng examples of names l1ke that, or 1t can be 1ntent1onal. But, to me, 1t carr1es l1ttle mean1ng to be honest. 1t seems just l1ke an odd1ty of th1s story!