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

“Flesh&Blood” series home thread

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

Back to Vol. 15
Forward to Vol. 17

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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

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 :sweat_smile:) 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 | Royal Museums Greenwich
Medina Sidonia (Ch 1, p 20) Alonso de GuzmĂĄn 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) CĂĄdiz - 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

Star Chamber (Ch 6) Star Chamber - Wikipedia

Historical, geographical and other inaccuracies

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

1 Like

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.). :sweat_smile: 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. :eyes:

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

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). :sweat:

It seems Kaito has been telling Kazuya a bit about his time on Gloria. Though, he’s been leaving stuff out clearly. :eyes: 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. :partying_face: 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. :eyes:

Big plot spoilers
This chapter make F&B feel like a detective story! :male_detective: I don’t mind, as I love that stuff. XD It’s great to see Kaito learning about Nigel. :slight_smile: 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! :eyes: Turns out JP has quite a secret of his own here! O_O And the twist about his connection to Nigel is :exploding_head:

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. ^^’

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. :cry: 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. :eyes: 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. :thinking:

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! :astonished:

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! :sob::tada::sob: :sparkling_heart::sparkling_heart: :sparkling_heart:

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. :cry: 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. :eyes: Still, that chapter art is just heart wrenching! :sob:

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! :+1:

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. :astonished: 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)! :joy:

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. :joy: 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! :sob:

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? :thinking: I still wonder what he’s planning to do about Kazuya, having brought him along? :eyes: (though it’s more like Kazuya bringing Kaito along here. :sweat_smile: :motorcycle: )

They arrive in Plymouth and are greeted with the peppy granddaughter of JP, feel-good vibes all around! :relaxed: ジャージー種 - Wikipedia :cow: 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. :joy: Detective Conan :sparkling_heart: Also, the more we learn about JP and his fam, the more he seems like JR or some character in Dallas? :rofl: (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! :grin:

This chapter has so much foreboding and heavy feels. :sweat: 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! :astonished: 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? :sweat_smile:

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! :crying_cat_face: Still, JP choose a more pragmatic route for his ending for sure. :eyes:

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! :exploding_head: :rofl: 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! :thinking:
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? :sweat_smile: Or perhaps it IS common in the UK as well? :thinking:

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

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. :sweat: 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. :fearful: 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