"Flesh&Blood" Vol. 4 - Pirate Series Reading Club 🏴‍☠ ⛵

NicoleIsEnough · August 28, 2022, 4:28pm

“Flesh&Blood” series home thread

Welcome to the “Flesh&Blood” Vol. 4 Reading Club!

Back to Vol. 3
Forward to Vol. 5

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Chapters

Chapter	Kindle %	BookWalker %	Physical
Chapter 1	0%	0%	p. 5
Chapter 2	11%	12%	p. 31
Chapter 3	18%	20%	p. 50
Chapter 4	28%	30%	p. 75
Chapter 5	38%	38%	p. 96
Chapter 6	46%	47%	p. 120
Chapter 7	55%	56%	p. 142
Chapter 8	61%	61%	p. 156
Chapter 9	68%	69%	p. 175
Chapter 10	77%	78%	p. 198
Chapter 11	85%	85%	p. 217
Chapter 12	92%	92%	p. 235
あとがき	99%	98%	252-253

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. 4 on Bookwalker
Vol. 4 on Amazon

Vocab sheet

Artwork from volume 4

Full color Extras

Vol 4, ch 1 , p 9

Vol 4, ch 3, p 53

Vol 4, ch 5, p 107

Vol 4, ch 8, p 165

松岡なつきのあとがき, p 252-253

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

Admiral’s Men (海軍卿一座) (Ch 9) Admiral's Men - Wikipedia
Alcibiades (アルキビアデース) (Ch 4, p. 82) Wikipedia article
Alexander the Great (Ch 2, p. 46) Wikipedia article
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán y de Zúñiga-Sotomayor (Ch 2, p. 43) Wikipedia article
Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán,1st Marquis of Santa Cruz (Ch 2, p 31) Wikipedia article
Anne Boleyn (アン・ブーリン) (Ch 6) Anne Boleyn - Wikipedia
Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick (ウォリック伯夫人) (Ch 6) Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick - Wikipedia
Antonio de Leyva, Duke of Terranova (Ch 1, p 13) Wikipedia article
Apollodorus of Acharnae (アポロドーロス) Ch 4, p 82 Wikipedia article
Arthur, King (Ch 3, p 53) Wikipedia article
Blanche Parry (Ch 6) Blanche Parry - Wikipedia
Burbage, James (バーベッジ) (Ch 7) James Burbage - Wikipedia
Burbage, Richard (Ch 9) Richard Burbage - Wikipedia
Carlos, Prince (Ch 2, p. 34) Wikipedia article
Cecil, William (セシル) (Ch 9) William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley - Wikipedia
Christopher Marlowe (Ch 4, p 83) Wikipedia article
Cromwell, Oliver (Ch 5) Oliver Cromwell - Wikipedia
Dickens, Charles (Ch 9) Charles Dickens - Wikipedia
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (ディエゴデシルバ) (Ch 1, p.18) Wikipedia article
Don Juan d’Austria, John of Austria (Ch 1, p. 22) Wikipedia article
Eighth Wonder (エイス・ワンダー) (Ch 12) Eighth Wonder (band) - Wikipedia
Elizabeth Throckmorton (Ch 6) Elizabeth Raleigh - Wikipedia
Falstaff, John (fictional character) (Ch 9) John Falstaff - Wikipedia
Francis Walsingham (Ch 3, p. 73) Wikipedia article
Hannibal (Ch 2, p. 46) Wikipedia article
Christopher Hatton (Ch 12) Christopher Hatton - Wikipedia
King Henry VIII (Ch 4, p. 75) Henry VIII - Wikipedia
Henry Carey (ハンズドン) (Ch 5, p. 103) Wikipedia article
King James I. (Ch 5) James I of Scotland - Wikipedia
House of Mendoza (Ch 1, p. 14) Wikipedia article
Admiral Luis (ルイス提督) (Ch 1) is maybe Luis Colón, 1st Duke of Veragua - Wikipedia ?
Merlin (Ch 3, p 52) Wikipedia
Miguel de Cervantes (Ch 1, p. 22) Miguel de Cervantes – Wikipedia
Moses (Ch 10) Moses - Wikipedia
Edward “Ned” Alleyn (アレン) (Ch 9) Edward Alleyn - Wikipedia
Patsy Kensit (パッツイ・ケンジット) (Ch 12) Patsy Kensit - Wikipedia
Philip Henslowe (Ch 7) Philip Henslowe - Wikipedia
Sir Philip Sidney (Ch 4) Philip Sidney - Wikipedia
Privy Council of England (枢密院) (Ch 9) Privy Council of England - Wikipedia
Richard Tarlton (Ch 11) Richard Tarlton - Wikipedia
Robert Burns (Ch 10) Robert Burns - Wikipedia
Robert Devereux (エッセクス) (Ch 12) Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex - Wikipedia
Robert Dudley (Ch 5, p 102) Wikipedia article
Saint James the Great (聖ヤコブ, span. Santiago), namesake of Vicente’s ship (Ch 1) James the Great - Wikipedia
Scythians (スキタイ) (Ch 8) Scythians - Wikipedia
Socrates (Ch 4, p. 82) Socrates - Wikipedia
Tilney / Tylney, Edmund (ティルニー) (Ch 9) Edmund Tylney - Wikipedia
Walter Raleigh (Ch 5, p 103) Wikipedia article
William Cecil (Ch 5, p 100) William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley - Wikipedia
William Shakespeare (グッドウィル) (Ch 9, 188) William Shakespeare - Wikipedia, see also Shakespeare authorship question - Wikipedia

Places

Algiers (アルジェ) (Ch 1) Algiers - Wikipedia
Alhambra (Granada) (Ch 1) Alhambra - Wikipedia
The Azores (アゾレス諸島) (Ch 3, p. 55) Wikipedia article
Bankside (Ch 8) Bankside - Wikipedia
Bethlem Royal Hospital (ベドラムの脳病院) (Ch 8) Bethlem Royal Hospital - Wikipedia
Cambridge, University of (Ch 4) University of Cambridge - Wikipedia
Canterbury (Ch 3, p. 59) Wikipedia article
Charing Cross (Ch 9) Charing Cross - Wikipedia
Clink Prison (クリンク監獄) (Ch 8) The Clink - Wikipedia Google Location
Corpus Christi College (Ch 4) Corpus Christi College, Cambridge - Wikipedia
Curtain Theatre, London (カーテン座) (Ch 9) Curtain Theatre - Wikipedia
Devil’s Point, Plymouth (デヴィルズ岬) (Ch 3, p. 64) Wikipedia article
Deptford (デットフォード) (Ch 4) Deptford - Wikipedia
El Escorial (Ch. 1, p. 15) Wikipedia article
Exeter (Ch 3) Exeter - Wikipedia
Goa (インドのゴア) (Ch 2) Goa - Wikipedia
Gravesend (Ch 4, p. 75) Gravesend - Wikipedia
Hatfield House (Ch 5, p. 96) Hatfield House - Wikipedia
Kingdom of Naples (Ch 2, p. 34) Wikipedia article
La Goulette (ラ・ゴレータ) (Ch 2) La Goulette - Wikipedia
Land’s End, Cornwall (Ch 3, p. 52) Wikipedia article
La Rochelle (Ch 3, p. 55) Wikipedia article
Lizard Point, Cornwall (Ch 3, p. 50) Wikipedia article
Lower Hope (apparently a section of the river Thames off of Gravesend) (Ch 4, 75) Gravesend - Wikipedia
Maiden Ln, London (メイドン小道) (Ch 8) Google Location
Maluku Islands (モルッカ諸島) (Ch 3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_Islands
Medina-Sidonia (Ch 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medina-Sidonia
Newgate (Ch 5, p. 117) Wikipedia article
Normandy (Ch 4, p. 85) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy
North Sea (北海) (Ch 4, p. 75) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea
Palace of Placentia, Greenwich Palace (Ch 4, p. 75) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Placentia
Palace of Whitehall (Ch 3, p. 70) Wikipedia article
Reims, English College (ランスの神学校) (Ch 4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_College,_Douai ?
Reinosa (Ch 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinosa
River Thames (Ch 4, p. 75) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Thames
Royal Wharf (王官桟橋) (Ch 5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Wharf
Sagres (サグレス岬) (Ch 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagres_(Vila_do_Bispo)
Saint Nicholas Island, aka Drake’s Island (Ch 3, p 65) Wikipedia article
St Paul’s Cathedral (Ch 8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul’s_Cathedral#Old_St_Paul’s
Sheerness (Ch 4, p. 75) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheerness
Shoreditch (Ch 4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoreditch
Southend-on-Sea (Ch 4, p. 75) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southend-on-Sea
Southwark (サザーク) (Ch 4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwark
Tavistock (Ch 3, p. 57) Wikipedia article
Tilbury (Ch 4, p. 75) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilbury
West Indies 西インド諸島 (Ch 3, p. 66) Wikipedia article
Westminster (Ch 5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster
Winchester (Ch 7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester

Historical Events etc

Historical inaccuracies

According to Wikipedia, Elizabeth Throckmorton’s nickname was “Bess”, but in the book she is called “Elsa”

NicoleIsEnough · September 2, 2022, 5:49pm

Chapter 1 thoughts:
The first chapter takes us back to Vicente and his page Leo. For some reason I found this extremely hard and slow to read, don’t really know why. Chewed on it for 5 days! Maybe many new words?
Anyways, turns out Leo talks to Vicente in the same direct and at times blunt manner as Kaito sometimes talks to Jeoffrey - surprised me quite a bit. Vicente is invited to an audience with Santa Cruz, where he meets a funny old man in “old-fashioned” clothing (I almost laughed out loud when reading that! Everybody wore old-fashioned clothing back then ) whose name is Miguel de Cervantes. When reading that name, a thought flashed through my mind: “Why does everybody’s name sound as if they’re from a story like Don Quixote?” Then I read on, and the man mentioned that he was an author which made me go because that’s him: Miguel de Cervantes – Wikipedia . So close, brain, so close!

Otoh, I’m still not sure whether I should consider it cool or ridiculous that he appears in the book… curious to see what role he will play going further. Honestly I had expected Vicente to hire him straight away, but he probably needs to negotiate with his superiors about such things.

ekg · September 3, 2022, 5:54pm

Vocab sheet added.

ekg · September 4, 2022, 11:47am

Maybe my brain is just too mushy tonight, but were we told how Vincente evaded Drake coming to the rescue in the last volume? Now he’s clearly safe and sound and writing up an account of the events it seems.

Anyway, chapter 1 thoughts
This chapter is from Vincente’s POV. He’s clearly frustrated by his lack of success in abducting Kaito to Spain.

I’ve tried finding a Diego Pérez, mentioned on page 6, but no success so far. (well, no search hits that seemed to be it at least).

Grammar question from when Leon enters the room:

レオが遠慮がちな声と共に扉をあけた

遠慮がちな声 is what I’m wondering about. 遠慮 is restraint, often seen with 遠慮なく (without reservation). So, it’s used to change the meaning of voice 声. But I don’t know what がちな means.

Tbh, I keep mixing up the names of people on the spanish side and who’s which rank. I was confused about who Leon called the head of the Spanish naval headquarters and “the father of the naval army”, the marquis of Santa Cruz or the Diego Perez fellow? Apparently Santa Cruz if I read it right in the end. Edit: it’s made explicit in ch 2 who’s referred to with this phrase.

I find Vincente’s internal monologue and dialogue harder to follow than Jeoffrey and Kaito. He use more formal, old ways of phrasing I think. Not to mention the dialogue of others in this chapter as it has a lot of formal scenarios of conduct and convoluted ways of expression.

Also, who knew Vincente was a picky eater?! I would have thought seafood was popular in Spain. XD

I also assume 頬が瘦ける is a set phrase, as in having sunken cheeks, looking thin and underfed. A bit unusual choice of second kanji 瘦 compared to the more common 痩. I guess, it gives an older feeling.

In any case, it’s fun to read the banter between Leon and Vincente. ^>^ Vincente isn’t always the adult in their relationship.

This chapter also has a lot of name dropping. And they’re not all that simple to figure out at first!

wiki links 2 people on page 18 & 22

ディエゴデシルバ = Diego de Silva = Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez as is his full name
Diego Velázquez - Wikipedia

ドンファンデアウアストリ = Don Juan d’Austria = John of Austria

John of Austria - Wikipedia

NicoleIsEnough · September 4, 2022, 12:22pm

Didn’t he just retreat and run away? Like when we witnessed the story from Kaito and Nigel’s POV, Vicente was rummaging down in the ship’s bowels and was then called on deck by his mates? But I don’t remember exactly either…

I think that’s pretty futile As long as we don’t know more about him, I guess it’s like looking for Peter Miller or something

な is just the standard な-adjective connector thing. As for がち, it usually means “prone to/tend to” (see 【JLPT N３】文法・例文：〜がち | 日本語NET or https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=3474) which doesn’t seem to fit exactly in this context, so I’d rather go with がち　#suf - Jisho.org “having lots of” - i.e. ”a voice full of restraint" or something, I guess?

Glad to hear that it’s not only me

ekg · September 4, 2022, 12:25pm

That’s the thing isn’t it. It was a fade-away of sort. Like Natsuki-sensei took the easy route and just allowed Vincente to sail away.

Btw, I’ve been better at adding vocab to the vocab sheet this time round. Also, I added a proper column for % for you e-book readers.

ekg · September 4, 2022, 1:12pm

It’s a bit much I guess, but all in good fun as he has name recognition. As for him having name recognition back then, not so much. As far as I know, he wrote Don Quixote in a prison cell. He only managed one popular book, a bit of a one hit wonder. That’s all I can remember from literature classes (sorry can’t be bothered to read up on yet another Spaniard from the past right now. )

It does help highlight some of the views about admiration for the military around the time, so I guess, it’s a good vehicle for storytelling, giving us a fuller picture of what’s going on in Spain at the time. I think this chapter was much needed for that reason.

eefara · September 4, 2022, 3:10pm

I’m still neck-deep in catching up with/staying on top of my 十角館の殺人 reading, so I haven’t formally started vol 4 yet, but I did take a peek at the opening chapter. I’m glad it’s not just me who thought that there’s a bump in difficulty.

ekg · September 5, 2022, 2:04pm

Chapter 2 thoughts

Apparently, handkerchief is pañuelo in Spanish 手巾パニユエロ p 32 the mix of Japanese and Spanish is tricky at times!

New namedrop:

Poor guy.

In this chapter, we delve deeper into the murky depth of Spanish political issues affecting the war. Vincente is clearly someone who doesn’t move in those circles, so is quite chocked at the state of rot in his country.

The Marquis is clearly not someone to be trifled with either, immediately sensing something being off about Vincente’s objectives and his pursuit of Gloria. Very sus. [/spoiler] Vincente [spoiler]doesn’t spill the secret about Kaito, but the marquis sees enough of an answer in his indecisive silence. He already knows about the prophetic boy! Spain is clearly a nest of spying and conspiracies as Houses vie for an advantage over each other.

Both Vincente and de Cruz are clearly frustrated by the politics of war, and how aristocrats get put in charge of military campaigns, rather than men of proven merit. The musings about Drake is interesting

Also more katakana madness: レパントラゴレータサンミカエル p 45. Lepanto (as in the battle of lepanto?) ra greta san mikaeru so san miguel at the end. But the la greta? No idea.

The fate of Kaito, if Vincente manage to catch him a second time, seems more and more dire as de Cruz asks Vincente to kill Kaito. Vincente clearly isn’t happy about the request though. But, the talk about his ability to read the future going against scripture is also an indication that Kaito might not be very welcome in Spain.

NicoleIsEnough · September 5, 2022, 3:03pm

Hahaaa, that was a bit of an odyssee ラゴレータ refers to

dun dun dun

La Goulette - Wikipedia

(please note the Italian pronunciation)

How do I know? There is this article about Don Juan de Austria ドン・フアン・デ・アウストリア - Wikipedia who apparently fought both in レパント and in ラ・ゴレータ and from there it was kind of easy.

ekg · September 5, 2022, 3:08pm

Thanks! XD These books are great for kana-reading practice. lol

NicoleIsEnough · September 5, 2022, 5:59pm

Oh and by the way, is your book broken or something? For me the katakana madness looks like this:

screenshot

which makes a lot more sense than your single string of katakana tbh…

ekg · September 5, 2022, 6:02pm

More like, my eyes broke.

ekg · September 5, 2022, 6:42pm

Chapter 3 thoughts

I felt the need to look up

lizard point. I guess, you might see a lizard in this silluette.

Lol, Kaito mentioning King Arthur. He just knows way too much for it to seem normal. It’s quite difficult to think about how to hide knowledge you have.

More kana konfusion, p 59: エクセンター = ?

Also, Kaito shows no restraint when if comes to his demands of Jeoffrey, lol. he want’s real food and not ship grub, and he expect Jeoffrey to comply! As for what food they might actually get, is more katakana madness! XD

Stuff I recognize: p 60
black pudding. roast rump steak (maybe). But Kaito’s Kana-reply is eluding my attempts at a translation カンドウスルヨネ
ヨンヒャクネンイジョウ モタッテルノニ over 400 year old ???
something something.

In any case, in this chapter they reach Gloria’s home port of Plymouth. It’s a really happy and cheerful arrival. So, Thomas Ward, the Secretary of State, has to ruin everything for them by showing up. He has apparently been waiting for their return and there is no way for Jeoffrey to whisk Kaito away to his town home either.

He’s there to formally invite Jeoffrey and Drake to Whitehall Palace so Queen Elisabeth can hear in more detail about their expedition. Which means, there is no way out for Jeoffrey & Co to avoid going to London as it’s a direct order by the Queen. That means, they can’t avoid Kaito meeting Worshingham either. Things are getting more complicated…

ekg · September 10, 2022, 8:57am

Illustrations for the volume has been added to the OP post! ^>^ Enjoy everyone! <3

As always, beware of spoilers!

NicoleIsEnough · September 10, 2022, 6:43pm

Finished Chapter 2 some time ago but did not have anything interesting to add on top of what @ekg said.

Almost finished Chapter 3 so I can start to help wade through the katakana

That was really funny! I honestly wouldn’t know how to tell common knowledge from not-so-common knowledge - I mean, King Arthur probably was a well-known saga back then already?

You invented one kana, in reality it’s エクセター = Exeter, a town in Devon. I added a link to the main post.

ラムのロースト - lamb roast
ブラック・プディング - black pudding

Kaito's answer in Japanese

イッソ、- no idea…
カンドウスルヨネ。- 感動するよね。
ヨンヒャクネンイジョウモタッテルノニ、- 四百年も経ってるのに、
ゼンゼン、リョウリニシンポガナインダカラ - 全然、料理に進歩がないんだから

Will read your other comments when I finally finished this chapter!
EDIT: That went faster than I had expected Curious to see how much Walsingham knows by now, and whether Kaito can cover up in whichever direction that is needed…

ekg · September 11, 2022, 8:03am

Chapter 4 thoughts

Chapter starts of with a lesson an British geography, lol. XD

Well, they’ve arrived in London for their audience with Queen Elizabeth. Drake manages to give them another night in town, to create some sort of plan for the meeting, before having to set out first thing the following morning.

Once at the inn, a new character makes his appearance: Christopher “Kid” Marlowe. He’s clearly there for only one thing: Nigel!

Kid has a way with words, so lots of flowery language and lots of Ancient Greek name dropping! Alcibiades - Wikipedia After all, he’s a play-writer, which immediately sparks Kaito’s interest! he’s another historical figure: Christopher Marlowe - Wikipedia Reading the wiki article is quite something! Sounds like his possible homosexuality has been brought up in research as well. Along with plenty of other speculative facts. XD

Here, he’s presented as a Wolshingham spy. Excerpt from the Wiki page regarding this role :

In 1587, when the Privy Council ordered the University of Cambridge to award Marlowe his degree as Master of Arts, it denied rumours that he intended to go to the English Catholic college in Rheims, saying instead that he had been engaged in unspecified “affaires” on “matters touching the benefit of his country”.[24] Surviving college records from the period also indicate that, in the academic year 1584–1585, Marlowe had had a series of unusually lengthy absences from the university which violated university regulations. Surviving college buttery accounts, which record student purchases for personal provisions, show that Marlowe began spending lavishly on food and drink during the periods he was in attendance; the amount was more than he could have afforded on his known scholarship income.

Frankly, I’m amazed at how Matsuoka-sensei has managed to weave real historical facts into her story, giving Marlowe a strong character. For anyone that wonders, Shinichiro Miki does the role of Marlowe in the BLCD-adaption, and he’s perfect in this role. Marlowe is clearly a very complex character with this hand in various going-ons.

But, he’s also someone Jeoffrey and Nigel clearly know. And so, Jeoffrey try to use this connection to his benefit.

Question, p 84:
Corpus Christi, as in Corpus Christi College, Oxford - Wikipedia ? would fit the time-frame at least.

Also, how to translate “国家への多大なる貢献”

I’m not done with the chapter…but, might as well post this.

To be continued…

Edit: p 85
New expression learnt: 苦虫を噛み潰したようにがむしをかみつぶしたよう sour (expression); as if having swallowed a bitter bug

Chapter 4 continuation

More Japanese-kana and I’m as lost as always. Well, not the entire thing on p 91, but certainly the end of the sentence. I’m to impatient to try to figure it out completely right now. I guess, I’ll go back to it later. (in any case, he translates himself in the following dialogue, to some extent)

In any case, I would also wanna go see Tanburlaine ^>^ It’s Marlowe’s most famous play if I read the info right. “a new interest in fresh and vivid language” - well Matsuoka-sensei certainly gave Marlowe dialogue to match! XD

NicoleIsEnough · September 11, 2022, 12:13pm

Don‘t think so The book clearly mentions Marlowe is from Cambridge, and his wikipedia page links to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge - Wikipedia a number of times so it should be that one, is my take.

Many contributions for the nation? What part are you stuck on?

ekg · September 11, 2022, 12:17pm

I guess, how it all came together in the flow of the text, as it’s used to describe someone (I think?). I got confused grammarwise. ^^’

Thanks for the help as always!

NicoleIsEnough · September 11, 2022, 12:22pm

Oh I see, I haven‘t reached this part in the book yet (but I‘m close ^^). Will report back, also re the kana madness