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Chapter 2
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Chapter 3
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Chapter 5
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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) youâre referring to, and please hide spoilers. Also, donât forget the forum etiquette, of course.
Buying the Book
If youâre planning to buy the book on Bookwalker or Amazon and if youâre 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.
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.
Weâre starting off with Kaito, of all people; feels like itâs been a while since we last started a book from his perspective. He and Geoffrey are headed back home after the events of last book (seeing the signal indicating the Armadaâs approach), determined to finally be able to spend a night alone before all the fighting begins. Lilyâs visiting his house and taking all the men there to the brother for one last fun night, haha, and she lets Kaito know sheâs left a gift for them to try.
Joeâs the last one left in the house by that point, but Geoffrey lets him know heâll be needed to help Nigel at the docks getting everything ready for the morrow. Apparently Joe will be joining them, and ăŻăź as well!
Weâre treated to a flashback of some days previous, when Kaito went to Lily to ask for advice on making sure his and Geoffreyâs first official night together goes as smoothly as possible. Kaitoâs worried at this point that them putting it off yet again is just going to herald some new disaster, so heâs looking for any trick Lily can give him to make sure things work.
They eventually work to the topic of what Kaito brought back from the future with him; thereâs a nice bit where he has to explain the Internet and cell phones to Lily, haha. Overall, he lists a bunch of stuff he brought back:
(Tea for Lily, mentioned before)
(The letter and ribbon from JB, mentioned before)
6 monthsâ worth of TB meds for two people
Antibiotics
Hair dye
A shaving razor for Geoffrey (one that folds and you have to sharpen yourself)
A compass for Nigel
A world history book and world map, both in Japanese (to keep too much future knowledge from accidentally leaking) (is there much point in having the map be in Japanese?)
Anyway, after that Lily gives Kaito a few more tips on making sure the night is a success (relaxing, preparing himself himself beforehand [which I wonder whether heâll have any issues with after the Inquisition inspectionâŚ], etc.). Lilyâs so forthright about all this, itâs refreshing, haha.
Back in present day, Kaito and Geoffrey find Lilyâs gift, some âlotionâ. They get ready for a bath, and while Geoffreyâs gone Kaito finds a few more instructions from Lily, namely that he needs to make sure to use a bidet before and afterwards, to which Kaito grumbles about how much of a hassle this is, haha.
Chapter 2:
Now to Nigel. Heâs back at the mansion himself, and finds Kaito and Joe moving spices to the secret tunnel to keep them safe from potential robbers while everyoneâs away at sea. Dinnerâs done, so Nigel and Kaito go to wash up, with lots of Nigelâs usual pining along the way. Ugh, this is harder to read than usual after that first chapter. Maybe Nigel does need to just have a drunken night with Kit at some point so he can release some of his tension⌠ahem Anyway, Nigel reaffirms to himself that, though he still wishes Kaito were his, heâs not going to let it get in the way of enjoying the time he does have with him.
After dinner, Nigel and Geoffrey confirm plans for the next day; Kaitoâs warnings mean theyâve been able to procure extra supplies just in case, but that wonât be the same for the rest of Englandâs ships going out to sea. Theyâre still refining the âslather Geoffrey with lardâ anti-fire plan and still needs some practice manuvering the coracle safely. Nigelâs able to tell Geoffrey straight-out how much he hated how Geoffrey had essentially abandoned him and chosen to die when he was captured by Walsingham, which I thought was a good moment. Thatâs pretty much it, and Nigel leaves to put any finishing touches on things and call it a night.
Alrighty, so. Some life stuff happened in May, and I got really sidetracked with all my Japanese, and coming back to F&B now, I realized that I just really, really didnât want to have to wade through the incredible cringe thatâs been ongoing so far. A friend whoâs also read F&B offered to send me their summary of all the awkward Kaito and Geoffrey chapters for this part of the book, and man am I glad they did. I was cringing even just reading the summary. So, in short, my usual chapter summaries and thoughts will now begin on chapter 5.
Chapter 5: Weâre joining Vicente at sea! Itâs been a long journey, and itâs only just now that theyâre seeing England (Lizard Point, specifically). If Iâm understanding the timeline correctly, they have yet to go pick up reinforcements from the Netherlands, so the current plan is to ignore England and go pick them up. Vicente and Alonso think this idea is moronic and decide to go suggest some way to convince Medina Sidonia that it would be a better idea to head for Plymouth instead.
Chapter 6:
Alonso and Vicente attend a meeting with all the captains and commanders of the invading Spanish fleet; Alonso proposes their idea of attacking Plymouth now while the conditions are right to severely weaken Englandâs forces and gain a foothold on the island, but Medina Sidoniaâs having none of it, still choosing to stick to the kingâs commands to the letter and push on towards the Netherlands. They do win a small victory at the end here, though: one of the commanders points out that Plymouthâs harbor is small enough they could leave one fleet here to lay siege to it, and afterwards have the main fleet meet back up. Medina Sidonia concedes, and the meeting ends.
Man, I really shouldâve been taking notes on whoâs who and whoâs leading what. I was hoping Iâd be able to more-or-less remember, but it would be better with a nice diagram of everyone, I think.
Alonso will be going with the squadron sent to Plymouth; I wonder if this messes up Raulâs plans at all? Jan will apparently be there as well, so weâll see⌠We get a lovely, heartfelt goodbye scene with Alonso and Vicente, and even Leo! Ack, I love the Spain crew so much.
Chapter 7: Back to Kaito and Geoffrey, itâs the morning after. Itâs a pretty peaceful morning; Kaito wakes up, takes a bath, gets dressed, and brings breakfast to Geoffreyâs bed, insisting a cup/bowl of chicory coffee. He manages to convince Geoffrey to take a sip, whoâs horrified to taste how bitter it is. This was mostly just a cute chapter of the two; I did like the laid-back vibes and joking around, especially regarding Blackie.
And itâs a final nice moment with everyone before we sail off! Ewan comes to pick up Geoffrey and Kaito, and we get to have a nice moment with the usual suspects on the Gloria. Geoffrey retakes his rightful place as captain, and the ship begins to set sail!
Geoffreyâs guessing at this point that Nigelâs guessing that Kaitoâs finally slept with him, but both are thankfully doing everything they can to pretend everythingâs fine. We had a nice moment between Geoffrey and Nigel there at the end; Iâm hoping we get a bit more as the battle against the Armada starts in earnest.
Chapter 9: Why help there Raul, been a while. Heâs plotting Alonsoâs eventual death with Alonsoâs cousin, but seems to be unaware of Yanâs defection so far. Plans have been alerted a bit, from exploding the ship Alonsoâs on to exploding a different ship, making sure Alonso goes to help them, and leaving him to fight on his own against the English. Raulâs trying to maneuver things so that he might be able to get his hands on the çŤçŤăŽĺĺćś, which is apparently a giant ruby King Philip II possibly gave Alonso as a charm to aid in his fight against the evil Drake.
Overall thoughts: Iâm really not sure what to think of this book. The first ~five chapters were some of the hardest reading emotionally Iâve had to do in a long time, so much so I decided to spare myself having to read more. But the rest of the book was excellent, and was what I had been going volume 20 would be more like, especially in the English sections. Iâm looking forward to the action finally starting next volume, especially from the Spanish side. Vicente still has not looked at that note Kaito left him, and itâs driving me crazy!
) 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)
Maybe Nigel does need to just have a drunken night with Kit at some point so he can release some of his tension⌠ahem Anyway, Nigel reaffirms to himself that, though he still wishes Kaito were his, heâs not going to let it get in the way of enjoying the time he does have with him.
I was hoping Iâd be able to more-or-less remember, but it would be better with a nice diagram of everyone, I think.
Ack, I love the Spain crew so much.
This was mostly just a cute chapter of the two; I did like the laid-back vibes and joking around, especially regarding Blackie.
The first ~five chapters were some of the hardest reading emotionally Iâve had to do in a long time, so much so I decided to spare myself having to read more. But the rest of the book was excellent, and was what I had been going volume 20 would be more like, especially in the English sections. Iâm looking forward to the action finally starting next volume, especially from the Spanish side. Vicente still has not looked at that note Kaito left him, and itâs driving me crazy!