Well, I’ve officially fallen off the reading horse. But it’s Golden Week!! I’ll be home a few days before we do a bit of traveling! I’ll get back on that horse!
I don’t think I’ll have much time to catch up this weekend either. I’m considering taking off a day of work next week just to catch up in book club. I might have a problem.
That’s the same number as usual, but the number of people reading along as been decreasing faster since we started chapter 4… so now both numbers are getting similar.
By the way, next week will be a bit tougher (20 pages left until the end of the chapter). If you have the opportunity, it might make sense to get a bit ahead.
With respect to this week’s reading:
Who wants to bet that the last guy is one of the long lost children of the current king? That being said, since the new system started 7 years ago, he must have been a teen at the time. It feels weird that no one would recognize him
I consider a lot of the gun-related vocabulary throwaway, but I think I’ll remember 雷管 easily because of the instant mnemonic for anyone who enjoyed “Army of Darkness”.
Finished. This time I checked the manga related parts (chapters 9,10,11) after I was done, and doing that is a treat after reading the novel! Loved the manga’s style. Shizu’s design in the manga is great, you can really see how “gentle” and cool he looks.
Some questions. Sorry for not being able to provide exact page numbers (ebook)!
First or second page, Kino is describing her opponent and what she is wearing:
腿の位置にもポーチが、深さのある、細長い物を並べて入れるための物が巻きついていた。
I mean, I get the meaning, but I’m really confused why there are two が in this sentence, and how they work together.
Are there two things that are tied to her leg? (one being the ポーチ, and one the 細長い物を入れるための物?) Or is the second part of the sentence describing the ポーチ further? Just really confused by sentence order here.
Probably next page, when Kino talks to her before the battle, just to clarify:
Woman asks
「女の性ってやつかしら。分かるでしょう？」
Kino: 「・・・いいえ」
Woman: 「あらそう？」
This is あら、そう and not 争う, right?
After the start of the battle
Where Kino hides behind parts of the castle walls, and the woman shoots at her several times:
ばごっ！ ばごっ！ ばごっ！
女は障害物ごとキノを撃ち抜こうと、続けて三発発砲した。そのたびに石の塊が揺れる。
Is this the ごとに (毎に) meaning “every …”?
So does that mean she shoots at several piles, trying to shoot Kino? That doesn’t make sense, because afterwards it says そのたびに石が揺れる. So every time she shoots the stone is shaking. So how does the ごと work here?
Now for the most confusing part, towards the middle of the battle
After the woman upgrades her weapon to a machine gun of sorts:
彼女が撃ったら、こちらが連射しながら近づいて、相手に装塡の暇を与えずに降参させる作戦は、
「無理だな」
キノはつぶやいた。
“While shooting, the woman comes closer, and the tactic to make your opponent surrender is not giving your opponent time to reload??”
And then Kino says “no chance”
But what is こちら referring to? Usually I’d think Kino uses it to refer to herself, but nothing on her part is 連射-ing, so what’s up with that?
And where is the 無理だな suddenly coming from? Does Kino mean that her own plan won’t work anymore? Or is it that she has to use her plan because the woman refuses to surrender?
I just had another idea: maybe the first part of the sentence means “Kino’s plan to close in on the woman while she is shooting, then giving her no time to reload and force her to surrender”, where 作戦 is referring to Kino’s 作戦 and everything before that is simply outlining that plan.
And with how the battle is going and the woman suddenly having a machine gun, Kino whispers 無理だな because her own plan just got foiled.
That might be right? So the 連射 did indeed refer to Kino’s gun?
I feel so unqualified. I do have some opinions, though, so I’ll share while waiting for someone who knows stuff
1. P 127
No clue. I took it to be a further description of the pouch. In the previous sentence there a description of the 小さなポーチ on her vest, so I figured it was to different these.
2. P 128
From where it is in the dialogue I did just read it as あら そう. But now that you mention it… Maybe the author is trying to be funny? Considering what comes after, with Kino asking her usual questions and the woman then answering, それは私のセリフよ- that’s my line. Like, reaching further, maybe, ‘that’s what I asked’. I tend to simply あら そうthough
3. P 130
I took it as 共, ‘including’. Since Kino is hiding behind them, shooting at her she is also shooting at the stones, thus causing them to shake.
4. P 132
Your last take on this is pretty much my thought, since other wise I couldn’t make sense of Kino’s 無理だな. So the こちら would refer to this person, Kino, since we only see her perspective and the reader is meant to identify with her.
