2 things about this chapter:
1. I always find it stupid how characters say you clearly don't love someone enough even though you are respecting their boundaries and space and not constantly harassing them especially after they have told you they aren't into you yet. I think Rei has been doing a good job with her approach to Claire
2. Yeah I don't like this new character but not because of her personality but morely because she feels like a plot device to me. Her place in the story feels unnatural to me as she just showed up and beat the main character in 2 chapters. Would have preferred to see her for more time earlier or even hear about her before by multiple characters to hype her up. She seems really overpowered as well. She can teleport, stop magic and seems to be able to force people to cough up blood and faint. Who needs the protagonist Rei? She's meant to be a saint right? What's that good for, this new character can beat any villain with her strength. I know she is probably like this because I say author isn't really interested in doing fights as this isn't a battle manga, but the one the chimera in the last arc was pretty cool and creative. Would have preferred if their fight lasted way longer, like if it was an entire chapter so the battle was bit more strategic and Rei actually showed off her magic better as early on she was hiding it but now I don't feel she is that good anymore and had no reason to hide it as it ain't that special. Hopefully this character isn't just here for the arc and actually does something interesting. I feel she is trying to setup Claire and Rei as I don't feel like she is meant to be villain with the looks she keeps giving Rei so I hope that isn't just what her character's purpose in the story is.

For the translator, thank you for doing this and take your time. Life is more important than translating manga lol. Also, I am glad you translated this and didn't skip this as I felt the other person's translations were close but in parts a bit off and I found yours a lot clearer (also helps not be missing a page lol).

Now I know why the recent chapters have rubbed me the wrong way. the new girl is the peri(fe fates) of the story. makes mc act way out of character, and is coming across as a mary sue.

I don´t really like manaria as a character but i can understand her inclusion and even if it´s a little force i can appreciate the fact she´s moving the story foward

agreed. Though I admit she’s not the most likeable character, I feel that she’s a much needed push for Rei and Claire.

I personally like manaria though i see why people don’t like her lol

I like Manaria but feel like she doesn't really make sense within the otome setting.

If this were just a story about a commoner in love with a noble, then it would make sense for a character introduced as the stock rival-from-the-love-interest's-past to be comically overpowered compared to Rei - she's supposed to seem insuperably better than the main character.

Rei's already the comically-overpowered protagonist of a completely different story, though, and in that story Manaria's just a minor supporting character, so it's kind of odd that she's also just coincidentally the Avatar.

That fight actually pissed me off. If this is what the story needed, then I'm fearful of the rest of the story.

last edited at Sep 14, 2022 12:22AM

I will always have that unfulfilled wish that someone could beat Manaria in a fight... Oh but of course she is just broken in magic and with that spell breaker sht the only way to beat her is to use the power of bare hands and insane speed...

Ah, the good ol' Worf Effect. It can happen to main characters too!

Is... is she an in-canon mary sue lmao

I'm enjoying quite a lot Manaria trolling Rei, is a nice change of pace from Rei's laser focus on Claire. I mean, she is still all about Claire but she's being more active about it, at least

I'd just like to say that I love Manaria and think she's cool
Also, I hope things go better for you Nyashi

I hope I see Rei in Claire’s arms next chapter lol

I don´t really like manaria as a character but i can understand her inclusion and even if it´s a little force i can appreciate the fact she´s moving the story foward

agreed. Though I admit she’s not the most likeable character, I feel that she’s a much needed push for Rei and Claire.

I personally like manaria though i see why people don’t like her lol

Exactly. If not with her provocations, Rei will just remain watching Claire on the sideline. Manaria is just too OP for my taste but I don't dislike her at all.

Manaria as a character feels really strange to me. On the one hand, I find her concept on its own really cool. On the other, the things she does and the way she does them feel completely disconnected both from her own established characterization and from the direction of the plot has been heading in so far. As many people have pointed out, she is currently used by the author as a blunt plot device to prod Rei and Clare along in their arcs, and I would have loved to see what she would actually do, you know, in-character, if the author had just let her.

The same conflicted feelings apply to the events of the newest chapter. Normally, lopsided confrontations that are provoked by the unfairly advantaged party and end with the underdog cruelly humiliated (boy, I remember how long it took me to get over Cypha beating up Signum in Nanoha Force) really rile me up. But in this case, the author is not even subtle about pushing those particular buttons, so instead of feeling angry with Manaria and sympathetic with Rei, I am just annoyed, like "okay, okay, I get it, let's just get this over with so we can go back to the actually well-written parts again".

last edited at Sep 14, 2022 7:37AM

I like Manaria but feel like she doesn't really make sense within the otome setting.

If this were just a story about a commoner in love with a noble, then it would make sense for a character introduced as the stock rival-from-the-love-interest's-past to be comically overpowered compared to Rei - she's supposed to seem insuperably better than the main character.

Rei's already the comically-overpowered protagonist of a completely different story, though, and in that story Manaria's just a minor supporting character, so it's kind of odd that she's also just coincidentally the Avatar.

See, I'm not surprised by this at all when I think of games like Persona 3 with the optional boss battles. With Rei being thrown into the story of a literal game, where the player does have these minigame battles with the various cast (the novel does a better job depicting that she has their movesets memorized from playing it so much). Anyways, back to Persona 3, the most powerful boss in the original game is Igor's assistant, (Charlotte, is her name, if I remember right?) and you have to completely go out of your way to battle her (dating her is way easier tbh) because 99% of the time, she's just there to help you and improve your Persona. and if you perform certain moves in the battle, it's an instant player-kill trigger on her part where she'll use a move that cannot be avoided. Rei clearly triggered Manaria's insta-kill move, as she immediately realized she was fucked.

Manaria's original purpose in the unaltered game is to keep a certain blonde at bay while Rei flirts with the princes. She's friendly and is an optional boss battle in the vein of Final Fantasy 8's Triple Triad, basically. She's just another character that has been pulled off script by Rei's choices, that's why she seems mismatched in this version of events.

See, I'm not surprised by this at all when I think of games like Persona 3 with the optional boss battles. With Rei being thrown into the story of a literal game, where the player does have these minigame battles with the various cast (the novel does a better job depicting that she has their movesets memorized from playing it so much). Anyways, back to Persona 3, the most powerful boss in the original game is Igor's assistant, (Charlotte, is her name, if I remember right?) and you have to completely go out of your way to battle her (dating her is way easier tbh) because 99% of the time, she's just there to help you and improve your Persona. and if you perform certain moves in the battle, it's an instant player-kill trigger on her part where she'll use a move that cannot be avoided. Rei clearly triggered Manaria's insta-kill move, as she immediately realized she was fucked.

Manaria's original purpose in the unaltered game is to keep a certain blonde at bay while Rei flirts with the princes. She's friendly and is an optional boss battle in the vein of Final Fantasy 8's Triple Triad, basically. She's just another character that has been pulled off script by Rei's choices, that's why she seems mismatched in this version of events.

hmm that's an interesting point, I think I'm less annoyed now tbh

Thane's hairdo. I thought they gonna have him reincarnated to a yugioh character. Glad they change it.

See, I'm not surprised by this at all when I think of games like Persona 3 with the optional boss battles. With Rei being thrown into the story of a literal game, where the player does have these minigame battles with the various cast (the novel does a better job depicting that she has their movesets memorized from playing it so much). Anyways, back to Persona 3, the most powerful boss in the original game is Igor's assistant, (Charlotte, is her name, if I remember right?) and you have to completely go out of your way to battle her (dating her is way easier tbh) because 99% of the time, she's just there to help you and improve your Persona. and if you perform certain moves in the battle, it's an instant player-kill trigger on her part where she'll use a move that cannot be avoided. Rei clearly triggered Manaria's insta-kill move, as she immediately realized she was fucked.

Manaria's original purpose in the unaltered game is to keep a certain blonde at bay while Rei flirts with the princes. She's friendly and is an optional boss battle in the vein of Final Fantasy 8's Triple Triad, basically. She's just another character that has been pulled off script by Rei's choices, that's why she seems mismatched in this version of events.

Just to nitpck, she is called Elizabeth. For what i remember from the game she reacts how you say here if you hit her with Armageddon and do not get killing blow with it, so the fight mostly revolves around surviving and getting her low enough to the point where you can beat her with one Armageddon cast. If memory serves, she follows a set attack pattern and at some point of it she WILL use a skill that will kill you, forcing you to use another specific skill in response that voids all damage for the turn. And she can full-heal herself because why not lol.

Just to nitpck, she is called Elizabeth. For what i remember from the game she reacts how you say here if you hit her with Armageddon and do not get killing blow with it, so the fight mostly revolves around surviving and getting her low enough to the point where you can beat her with one Armageddon cast. If memory serves, she follows a set attack pattern and at some point of it she WILL use a skill that will kill you, forcing you to use another specific skill in response that voids all damage for the turn. And she can full-heal herself because why not lol.

Are you sure she's not named Malenia? Because all that sounds like Malenia to me.

It's rare for Rae to get so flustered. Cute asf

Whoa... The writting quality took a hard nose dive.

Welp, I don't like this feeling, the first page is telling me shit is about to happen

I miss the playful shenanigans and the slime. I don't want to watch chapters of dbz build up.

Just to nitpck, she is called Elizabeth. For what i remember from the game she reacts how you say here if you hit her with Armageddon and do not get killing blow with it, so the fight mostly revolves around surviving and getting her low enough to the point where you can beat her with one Armageddon cast. If memory serves, she follows a set attack pattern and at some point of it she WILL use a skill that will kill you, forcing you to use another specific skill in response that voids all damage for the turn. And she can full-heal herself because why not lol.

ELIZABETH, YESSSSSSS. God, I was so tired this morning, I have no idea where Charlotte came from.

I have so many fond memories of that game, but I would never want to be truck-kun'ed into it.

Fuuka: "Death is approaching!!"
Me: as my siblings yell in increasing panic NO SHIT, FUUKA, I HEAR HIS DUSTY ASS CHAINS COMING FOR MY ASS.

Every player knows that the stairs are a safe spot from him. One time my dad came to visit us kids, so I ran Minato onto the stairs, turned off the tv, and came back when he left—the scene that greeted us was Junpei and Yukari smeared on the floor, and Death literally floating in Minato's face, just waiting for an mf'er to bump the joystick in the wrong direction. I about swallowed my tongue, we hadn't saved in three hours. My brother took the controller from me and slowly backed up the stairs. He didn't want a repeat of the time I rolled the main character of the gamecube Pitfall game off a cliff in a panic because monkeys were throwing shit at me five hours into a no-save challenge.

Just to nitpck, she is called Elizabeth. For what i remember from the game she reacts how you say here if you hit her with Armageddon and do not get killing blow with it, so the fight mostly revolves around surviving and getting her low enough to the point where you can beat her with one Armageddon cast. If memory serves, she follows a set attack pattern and at some point of it she WILL use a skill that will kill you, forcing you to use another specific skill in response that voids all damage for the turn. And she can full-heal herself because why not lol.

Are you sure she's not named Malenia? Because all that sounds like Malenia to me.

Elizabeth is the ultimate boss of Persona 3. Margaret is the ultimate boss of Persona 3 Portable. Unless it's a localization issue, I don't think Malenia was a name in those games.

I miss the playful shenanigans and the slime. I don't want to watch chapters of dbz build up.

It's just one of those tropes where the Heroine saves or fight for the princess so that the princess in question can affirm her affection towards the Heroine. Iirc from LN, this is the part where the yuri becomes Yuri so that's why I'm here. Also, my favorite character is about to appear. Probably after this arc.

Are you sure she's not named Malenia? Because all that sounds like Malenia to me.

Elizabeth is the ultimate boss of Persona 3. Margaret is the ultimate boss of Persona 3 Portable. Unless it's a localization issue, I don't think Malenia was a name in those games.

Malenia is an optional super-boss in Elden Ring, haha. The joke was how similar they sound in terms of crushing difficulty.