We’re already at volume 10, time really does fly when you’re having fun. I currently have access to 15 volumes in total, and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. I say 15, but this most recent one hasn’t arrived yet, so let’s hope it’s here by the time I’ve gotten through the volumes up to 14. Maybe it’s a good thing I took one too many breaks. I wonder what series I should go through next. I have some ideas, but suggestions are welcome. I’m open to a lot of things, so books, manga and light novels are all possibilities! With that out of the way, let’s get back into it.
This volume introduces a lot of new characters, so it was definitely a lot of paying close attention while reading. I have to admit I don’t remember any of the names yet, but then again I still struggled with how to spell Cartaphilus until he was no longer really in the story. On that note, he’s currently in a slumber while Josef seems to just be chilling around and sleeping most of the time. We’re introduced to the Vice-Chancellor of the college, who seems shady as hell. The whole college smells of something weird, but I think the author wanted to make that very clear to us early on. Ellias wears a new face here, based on another person. It’s just somebody that he used to know. Musical jokes aside, I feel like we’ve seen that character before, but I could be wrong. She’s shown later on in this volume as well, seemingly someone who goes to sleep and wakes up in a different time period. That’s a pretty cool, albeit inconvenient ability, assuming you can’t really control which time period you end up in.
Something else that’s really cool, is that the Will o’ wisp from the graveyard is now Alice’s familiar. This makes her stand out even more among the college students, as alchemists generally have animal corpses or something of the like as their familiars, and not living neighbours.
Ellias then goes on to teach a class on magic, which reveals that several of the alchemists have absolutely no talent for it. One even gets told he smells of rust. He seems like a nice kid though, so I wonder what’s up with that. Two of the other, seemingly arrogant, kids antagonize one of the neighbours and cause a fuss. Elias has to step in, and afterwards gets chewed out by Renfred. Not an experience he seems to enjoy.
Veronica has some mean girls energy, so I’m curious to see how that goes. Zoe Ivey looks like a main character, so I think she’ll become relevant to the story. That and she’s on the cover art, so that’s giving it away a bit. So is Alice, and I’m happy we’re seeing a little bit more of her. It’s the same with the girl we saw earlier, whose name apparently is Philomela. She’s part of the mean girls squad, but there seems to be more going on than meets the eyes. Is this going to be some classic high school drama in a more fantastical setting? I’m here for that. If it doesn’t drag on and has interesting enough characters, that is. At the very least a lot of their character designs are very nice. Not so much super strange or anything, they just seem to be well thought out. A little bit later we see that Zoe apparently sees something in Chise and Elias that the others don’t see. It makes me wonder if we’re going to see more mages, or even another Sleigh Beggy in this arc. There’s definitely some characters.
We snap back to a different place, now we’re in Simon Cullum’s home, who’s having a few visitors. The nun Gabriella seems to know quite a bit about what’s going on, but she also seems to be quite scheming. She tricks Ellias into visiting Simon while middle management is present and breathing down his neck. I can already see inadequacy in this kid. He seems like the type going exactly by the book and ignoring any subtlety a situation requires. He’s immediately going to talk to the manager, so that doesn’t bode well. And of course, as happens every other volume, Stella gets kidnapped again. I wonder what’s going to happen to her this time.
I really enjoyed this volume, although I feel like I might have to read it again just so I get a better idea of who all the new characters are. We also get some hints towards Ellias past, and the name Pilum Mirale. We also see who I presume is the time wizard and I have to say her character design is stunning. I can’t wait to see more of her. I love eccentric characters and I have a good feeling about this one. Tell me what you think of this volume in the comments, I really like the direction it’s taking and I’m very curious. I hope to see you all again next week for volume 11!
Opal Kaharis 