Spy x Family Volume 2 Discussion

Yeah, I think this is the mark, they are high class so they speak formally but they are trying to sound tough and at the same time they fumble up they words because they are kids haha

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Next question (I’m beginning to feel like I’m using the club as a personal reading guide!).

P122. I’m finding the block of dialogue tricky but get the gist. 2 things in particular I’m unsure of.

First, I think 黄昏 mentions assassinating Desmond - I thought he was just supposed to get close to him and find out his plans? Or am I misreading it?

Second, and possibly linked if I’ve misunderstood the first bit, I’m unsure how to translate いくらでも手はある - I get the “いくらでも” bit but can’t fit it together.

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I didn’t translate exactly but, if assassinating Desmond alone can be done completely somehow, that won’t be a true solution. Not every problem can be gotten around well overnight.

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there’s quite a lot to unpack in this sentence…

Summary

first, you need the context of the conversation before - basically he’s realised during the conversation that he’s been rushing things and pressuring anya too much, leading to him thinking
そうだ。焦りうな黄昏。任務と同じだ。-> to paraphrase, “stop rushing”.

then we have the bit you struggled with:
デズモンド一人を暗殺して → する is in the て form, meaning it’s linked to the next bit.

それで済むようなら → notice this is using the なら conditional. he’s saying “if it (the mission) ended with that”

いくらでも手はあろうが → 手はあろう is a variation on 手が有る, meaning something like “to have a method”. put together with the stuff above, he’s saying there’s he has many ways he could end things quickly if the mission was assasination

それでは真の解決には至らない → this refers back to assasinating desmond, saying that it would be unsatisfactory given his actual mission.

and then the next sentence concludes the initial thought:
何事も一朝一夕では上手く回らないものだ → not sure how to translate this, but he’s basically saying there’s nothing that can be done skillfully if you try to do it too quickly.

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Thanks, that’s really helpful.

Due to minimal sleep (overnight international flight) and a couple of glasses of wine, I’ll re-read it in the morning, but I feel that’ll help a lot.

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Reading Mission 11 this week!

Will you be reading along with us this week?

  • I’m reading along
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
  • I’m no longer reading the book

0 voters

*If you’ve already read this book but are still going to join the discussion, please select “I have finished this part”.

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Reading the extra mission this week!

Will you be reading along with us this week?

  • I’m reading along
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished
  • I’m no longer reading the book

0 voters

*If you’ve already read this book but are still going to join the discussion, please select “I have finished this part”.

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A comment on the setting of the manga

It was only in the extra mission that I noticed the name of the town is “Berlint”! I think when I initially read it, it was translated as “Burlington” by Jisho, which I assume is a US town. The setting is obviously quite parallel to East and West Germany, but I hadn’t quite realised it was so overt - though there was also an SSS ID shown during the arrest at the town hall.

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