THAT IS SO RUDE TO END IT LIKE THAT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
It’s such a pleasure to see Noriko wasting no time to doing what she needs to do most: Learning the language. She’s very pragmatic to realize her energy is better spent picking up what she can than moping around wallowing in despair. She’s been very good about it too, paying close attention to the context the words and phrase that are being said, connecting the dots and then repeating it out loud to commit to memory. Her willingness to learn the language also helps since it makes her blend into the crowd a bit better. The less obvious she can make herself as someone from an entirely different dimension, the better. Izark has also been helping her out as soon as he had realized she’s been mimicking the words and phrases he’s been saying. It’s actually very endearing to watch!
But today it wasn’t just Izark who was helping her out with that. She gained some invaluable time to learn various words while they were escorting a merchant they had saved along the way from an bandit leader (who’s not done with them yet). Fortunately for them, he saved them the hassle of having to come up with a cover story on the spot by simply assuming she was an island girl. Because of that he didn’t think any further about why she doesn’t know the language, and ended up being quite helpful in teaching her new words due to how proactive she had been with attempting to learn how to speak it.
Also helps that he’s a clothes merchant, so Izark was able to purchase actual clothes that fit her to help blend in even further!
While Izark did a noble thing of protecting Noriko despite his wariness that she may in-fact be the prophesied Awakening, he hasn’t been able to catch much of a break. From having to break a terribly high fall off a precarious cliff they were walking along (can’t really blame Noriko for that one with the winds and all), dealing with an annoying bandit leader that had attacked and severely wounded a merchant along the way, then being on his toes around the Zago soldiers, and now his body is acting up and he’s afraid he might hurt Noriko because of his state. It goes without saying he very likely overexerted himself considering even Noriko has noticed Izark looked exhausted– but it may pose for a problem since the last thing they want to do is draw unwanted attention to themselves while they are resting in Zago territory, Claco city. The soldiers are already causing a headache by jumping on anyone who’s an outsider in search for Awakening.
Apart from that, we did learn a bit more about whom Izark and Noriko are up against. As noted last week, Free City of Rienka is described to be the most powerful country of the lot that came to find Awakening. Lord Rachef may seem cool and collected on the outside, but you can see the impatience within him with the way he had expressed his displeasure from the lack of results. He wasn’t shy to press a young girl (Geena Haas) who’s renowned for her fortune ability, but even she can’t see further than his closest advisor (Gorya) who can do the same. They know she’s out there, but they cannot identify who has Awakening in their possession. The only thing that that Geena can say with certainty, is that no country has possession of Awakening yet.
The only thing they do know, whoever Awakening is likely with right now, is powerful enough to have cleanly killed the Flower Insects in the Great Woods. And the show of it was what caused Keimos to go on a killing spree against the Zago army. (Though frankly speaking, he was already doing that from the get go by attacking the ones who were retreating– against orders at that.) Needless to say, the head of the mercenary group (Agol Dena Ofa) is understandably glad Keimos is no longer in his unit since he’s just too much to handle. Kind of concerning though that Keimos’ bloodbath had intrigued Rachef. Doesn’t help that Gorya claims the guy got some mysterious power going on too, so Rachef certainly wants to make use of the guy the best he can.
Notably Agol is also wary of Rachef, as he’s quite protective of his daughter Geena, who he’s working hard to raise money in hopes to cure her blindness. He’s also not really fond of the assignment he’s on, as he’s particularly concerned of the potential consequences should Awakening resurrect the Sky Demon. Something certainly to think about while those in powers are all racing to seek control for their own selfish gains.
And finally, although they have disposed Noriko’s bag last week, what they didn’t show us until this episode was that Izark had allowed her to choose something from her bag to keep with them. Of all things, Noriko decided to take a blank notebook and pens, a simple thing that will certainly go a long way in helping her cope and adapt to this new world. She had decided she’d make it a journal, in hopes for one day if she’s able to return home to her world, she’d have a chance to share her adventure in this world.
However while what she had chosen was indeed some simple and small for Izark to pack and carry, there comes a risk. The journal and its pens are undoubtedly ‘unworldly’ content in this world. And god forbid some peeks into her journal and seeing she’s writing in a language they themselves have never heard of, could tip them off she’s Awakening. But so as long as these things are kept guarded safely, they shouldn’t pose as a problem for the mean time– so as long as they don’t get into their bags!
Lastly, can I just say the OP Theme Touhikou is such a BOP! I love it! I’ll be watching it every week!
