#the cursed sword of bezeld

[alexeiadrae]

Thoughts on J-Novel Translation of The Cursed Sword of Bezeld, Ch 4

-As someone who has been too nice to creepy men, there’s something so fun about Mileena. Really, she needs to give lessons in this. Luke pulls the whole “I’ve changed for you baby!” thing and Mileena smacks it right down. You go girl! You keep those boundaries!

And then to summarize, Lina to Luke and Mileena: Stop the lover’s bickering.

Mileena: I assure you there’s no love involved here.

Lina then thinks that Luke doesn’t have a prayer. I am loving this so much. It’s therapeutic.

-Hm, wonder if there is any meaning in the fact that one of the few times Lina casts the Dragon Slave in the novels is in the novel where she first meets Luke.

-Mileena definitely functions as Luke’s keeper. When he’s panicky, she maintains an air of calm and finds something reassuring to say. As someone who studies communication, I am impressed that Mileena finds a kernel of truth (that the hyperdemon did experience damage) rather than an empty “we’ll take it down somehow” type thing to calm Luke. And then when Luke throws a dangerous spell that could kill Lina in the crossfire, Mileena throws a counterspell that protects her. I guess Mileena knows that Luke gets reckless and knows what spells to use to compensate? Whether or not Luke and Mileena set up this system beforehand is interesting to think of. Like one day Luke laments that he can’t cast a Fireball in a cave when they dissect the day’s battle, and Mileena thinks, “well, actually if I cast this spell in response you could…” Or if Mileena is just that on her toes with Luke.

-Mileena takes over when Lina and Gourry are stumped on what to do and comes up with a plan. I can’t recall any other character being so bold and effective here. Lina is usually the unapologetic leader and the one everyone looks to so it’s a big thing that Mileena steps up like that. I like Mileena’s strategy. If the big stuff doesn’t work, aim smaller and just focus on slowing it down. She’s definitely becoming one of my top 3 favorite characters.

-Huh. Sherra gives her place of birth as the Kataart Mountains.

-As for when Gourry realized about Sherra, it’s worth noting that Luke and Mileena cry out in shock when Sherra reveals her true nature but Gourry doesn’t join in.

-It is worth noting that Luke does not understand what Sherra means by being the General of the Dynast and Lina has to explain. This is interesting for many reasons, one being that Gourry did not ask the question.

-It’s worth noting that I don’t ever remember Sherra actually explaining the origin of her name in the later novels, so…

-OK, so Gourry panicking about Lina fighting the hyperdemon and chasing after her at the end is likely the closest thing we’re going to get to Gourry chasing after her at the end of NEXT in the novels. Loved it.

I’ve also got to say, from Gourry winking at Lina at the beginning of the novel to how concerned he is for her safety at the end, to floating the idea of traveling with each other because they enjoy it, he seems to be doing everything he can to let her know that he cares about her and plans to stick with her, without actually stating it.

-I was wondering if it was the fan translation, but Mileena is described as smiling somewhat often in the J-Novel version. She smiles again when she says goodbye to Lina and Gourry. This is interesting because I rarely recall her smiling in the later novels and I’d wondered if it was the translation. Perhaps Mileena was trying to communicate that despite Luke’s animosity she is friendly towards them?

-This is one of those novels where I really wanted a longer epilogue. I’d like to see Lina ask Luke if he’d meant to kill her with the Fireball in the cave. Or get into Gourry’s brain a bit to see when he figured out about Sherra. When Dulgoffa came up, for sure, I think he figured it out. But there’s also no indication that he found out earlier. So either Sherra’s Mazoku stench is not as strong or Gourry picked up on other things with Xellos. Also, a bit more resolution between Lina and Gourry. While she still seems exasperated with him she isn’t verbalizing it as much and things seem to have settled down a bit.

[lovingastory]

No, but listen to me, Gourry is such an adorable troll (and has better memory than he is given credit for).   

Slayers Novel 1, The Ruby-Eye

“Gourry—!” I broke into a run and headed toward him with all the speed my dainty legs could muster. I stopped and stood right in front of him, gazing up at his face.

“Gourry?”

“Lina?”

“Gimme that sword!” I screeched. “Gimme gimee gimee!” Gourry nearly fell over. Don’t fall on the sword!

“Hey now, just a minute…” Gourry acted as if he were stumbling out of bed. “How about jumping into my arms and telling me how happy you are to see me, huh?”

“That? Sure, okay. We can do that later. But now, gimme that sword! No, wait, that’s rude. I’m sorry. Don’t give me the sword— I’ll buy it from you. How could I have been so thoughtless? I’m sorry. Five hundred! I’ll buy it from you for five hundred!”

“Now you just wait a darn minute!” Gourry raised his voice. 

“Five hundred… that’s totally a fair price for that run-of-the-mill rapier of yours!” I was talking so fast, it was hard to catch my breath. “Oh, all right, five hundred and fifty! But that’s just because we’re friends. Now, c’mon! Fork it over! Gimme, gimme, gimme! Don’t be stingy.”

“Don’t be stingy? Do you seriously think I’m going to hand over the Sword of Light for five hundred?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“You’re nuts! And you’re cheap.“

Throw away enough pennies, and soon you’ll have wasted a fortune. I am a merchant’s daughter, after all.

(ca. 1 year and a half later) Slayers novel 9 - The Cursed Sword of Bezeld 

"In other words, legendary weapons are items which can't be reproduced with modern magecraft. If you discovered such an object and reverse engineered it to figure out the magic behind the enchantment, it'd be far more valuable than any old pile of gold. Remember how Amelia and Zelgadis used a spell called Astral Vine to temporarily imbue their weapons with magic?" "Who're Amelia and Zelgadis?" I actually tripped over my own feet in surprise, barely managing to catch myself before I fell over. "Y, you..." I stammered, shooting him a glare that could melt steel. "Gourry! You idiot!" 

 "I was joking, relax. How could I forget the people I journeyed with for so long?"

"It doesn't sound like a joke coming from you. Honestly!" I snapped. "Anyway, the spell they used was actually developed long ago by a sorcerer who managed to reverse engineer the spell out of a sword he found."

"Really?"

"Though on the other hand, there are many cases where the would-be researchers fail to find anything they can understand about the weapon's crafting. It's kind of a gamble, I guess, but worth it. Even if you can't get any knowledge from it, the weapon itself is still there. At the very least, you can use it as bragging rights." "But to kill people just for that..." "Come on, Gourry. A single weapon of old could bring in enough money for a whole family to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Of course there'd be people willing to kill for such a thing." "A whole family? They're that expensive?" "Of course. They're not called legendary for nothing, you know." Gourry thought about that for a minute before replying. "I was just asking, because I knew a girl once who asked me to sell the Sword of Light to her for five hundred and fifty copper pieces, you see." I stopped dead in my tracks, twitching. Why'd he have to remember that, of all things? "Anyway," I said, gritting my teeth, "that's why there's nothing strange about the men in black looking for a sword."                                                

[alexeiadrae]

Thoughts of J-Novel Club Translation of The Slayers: The Cursed Sword of Bezeld, Ch 1

-Ya’ll! We now have an official translation of the first chapter of the 9th novel!

-Dark Lord’s Hungry Bone Staff. I’m glad that Gourry eventually finds the Blast Sword and not that, because either my mind just goes to puerile places or...

-Y’know, Gourry is being terribly dense about the need for a legendary sword. The only explanation is that he likes to encourage Lina’s displays of concern for his safety. Perhaps after the Hellmaster ordeal he’s in need of assurance and having Lina butter him up about being worried about him is how he gets it.

-It’s rather open to interpretation, but it does seem to me as though Lina is struggling emotionally after the incident with Hellmaster. She is rather aggressive. Lina even implies, when she’s questioning Luke, that she’s having a hard time controlling her impulses and towards the end of the novel she controls her violent impulses when she gets frustrated with Gourry, implying this is something she’s aware of it a problem and that she’s working to manage, and sometimes she’s successful and other times she isn’t.

-This is a mix of Lina and Gourry having some nice scenes enjoying each other and Lina being incredibly immature and dismissive of his safety. Once again, I blame the Hellmaster ordeal for Lina’s immaturity. She’s definitely not her best self in this novel, granted given what she’s recovering from it makes sense.

-My honest and likely controversial take of Luke is that he is obviously one of those guys who would ditch Mileena should she ever return his advances. His attitude towards Sherra is a bit creepy, especially considering that Lina says she appears to be 14 or 15.

-As for Mileena, she is as ever baffling. She really seems to dislike Luke and doesn’t seem too interested in Sherra’s treasure. Why she’s even there will remain a mystery.

-Sherra is a good decoy. Frankly, she has good reasons to be distrustful and rude to all four of them.

[alexeiadrae]

Thoughts on the J-Novel Translation of The Cursed Sword of Bezeld, Ch 2

My thoughts in this installment can best be broken up by character.

Sherra

In this chapter, Lina confirms that Sherra has been getting by without working. So no waitress or factory job for her! Honestly, I think the whole reason Lina focuses so heavily on Sherra’s employment is to foreshadow the Mazoku thing. More foreshadowing is Lina’s observation that the men in black had been stationed on the road to Bezeld and never saw Sherra walk through. I also suspect the reason that Sherra is so difficult is strategic. If she was overeager to show Lina the sword she might be more cautious type thing, whereas is Lina thinks that Sherra means to fight her for it then Lina would be more likely to grab it unthinkingly.

Luke

Honestly, Luke just comes off as an asshole to me. While Lina does not dwell on the emotion of it, she does note that after the demon attack everything is not copacetic and that people are grieving the loss of loved ones and homes. Later Lina says that the group decides to stay with the devastated town that night to help them feel safer, indicating that Lina, Gourry and likely Mileena are affected by their plight. Meanwhile, Luke comes in and uses, as Lina calls it, an “inappropriately chipper voice” as they try to help the townspeople. She then refers to Luke as a jerk. Given Luke’s nature I have to wonder if he is feeding on the pain and suffering. He then blames Lina and Gourry for the demon slaughter for not being there earlier. Luke really does not come off too well in his introduction and seems rather callous to the suffering going on around them. It’s also worth noting that his motivation is to get the sword rather than get to the bottom of the demon attacks.

Mileena

I find it really interesting that Lina hadn’t realized Mileena was a spellcaster until seeing her in action. Did she think she was a swordswoman or just along for the ride? Considering none of the women in Slayers are known for their swordskills and all use magic of some sort it just seems interesting and unlikely that Lina would assume that her skill set was with the sword alone. It also indicates that Mileena might not dress as sorceresses typically do.

And as always, Mileena and her motivations are mysterious. I still get the feeling she was happy to run into Lina and Gourry. When Lina gets Luke to accidently confirm her hypothesis about there being a sword, she tells Lina “Well intuited” with a “calm smile.” She quickly sides with Lina and Gourry over Luke and stands up to him, and when she does, he starts to fall in line. Lina notes that Luke seems “whipped.”

Given that Luke is obviously motivated by the sword, at first you’re lead to believe Mileena must have the same motivation, but her actions indicate that getting the sword is not her primary motivation. I honestly suspect she’s less interested in the sword and more interested in the fact that there are bands of demons acting strangely and roaming the countryside and wants to stop them, and seeing Lina and Gourry in action convinces her that they can be allies in this. In other words, while Luke comes off as a jerk, Mileena comes off as a genuinely good person who is allied with a jerk for some unknown reason.

If this is the case, the question of why she travels with Luke and lets him think that her motives are more about greed are worthy of exploring. I suspect that she started out like Lina, curious about the sword, but once she learned about the demons attacks her motivations changed, and she never told Luke, for whatever reason.

Also, Lina does seem a bit in awe of her, which is a refreshing thing. She’s not jealous of Mileena but seems more inspired by her, and I think most women can relate to knowing an older woman they wish they were more like or try to emulate.

Gourry

I must say, unlike the anime where Gourry is rather useless without the SOL, Gourry is still very much a force to be reckoned with in this novel. It makes more sense why he wouldn’t feel a particular urgency to get a replacement sword, he likely feels confident enough in his skills to continue to work even without a legendary sword.

I also think it’s worth noting how, when Lina starts to explain to Gourry about the reason that legendary swords are so valuable, his argument is, “but to kill people for that...” I think this goes to explain a lot of his denseness in this novel. He’s not enthused at all about finding a new sword and killing for it and reliving stuff that happened with his family, but doesn’t want to say anything out loud, especially since the reason Lina is currently traveling with him is to find a new sword (and he also possibly does not want to explain about his family history).

I think it will be interesting to see how the dynamic between the two of them changes in the rest of the book now that their motivation has shifted from finding a sword to getting to the bottom of the demon attacks. As it is there is a nice moment between them when he helps her fight off the men in black at the end and winks at her.

Lina

Lina is starting to pick up on Gourry’s reticence about finding a replacement sword and has a “why am I even bothering” thing in response. As we’ve said before, they really need to be locked into a room together to talk it out, lol. Lina obviously finds his lack of enthusiasm to be a slap in the face.

You also get more of Lina not really processing her emotions in the situation with the townspeople. She’s affected by their pain, but doesn’t really articulate it, and instead gets into fights with Luke.

[alexeiadrae]

Thoughts on J-Novel Translation of The Cursed Sword of Bezeld, Ch 3

-We see more of Luke and Mileena on the battlefield and see that Lina admires their skills.

-We also learn that Sherra can somewhat hold her own, and there is more foreshadowing with Lina wondering about Sherra’s mother and other family. Lina is suspicious of her.

-We have a very clear instance of Gourry playing dense as a way to break the tension between Lina and Sherra when he asks Sherra what is going on and explains that Lina likely explained it to him but he forgot. I do have to wonder sometimes just how oblivious Lina is, because it’s very obvious he’s trying to break the tension in this scene (at least to me it is). It struck me that Gourry is trying to get Sherra to trust him by showing that he’s willing to antagonize Lina a bit.

That said, I’m not really sure what to make of Lina’s actions. They were successful in getting Sherra to eventually open up, but given that Sherra ultimately wants them to find the sword and that nothing about what Lina did inspires one to open up, I really can’t say that Sherra opened up because of Lina’s brilliant strategy. And I’m not sure it would have worked if Sherra hadn’t wanted Lina to find Dulgofa. If Lina is aware of what Gourry is doing then she could have decided to play bad cop with Sherra, followed by brutal honesty about wanting to get Sherra in their debt so she’ll give them the sword and drop the bomb about the sword and the demon uprisings being linked and hope that the led in with brutal honesty and Gourry playing off her would somehow get Sherra to spill.

Granted, I also keep thinking about how Lina is recovering from the manipulations of Hellmaster and Xellos. She is obviously suspicious of Sherra, but I feel more like she is reacting than thinking strategically. I do think she realizes at some level her strings about being pulled.

I must point out, that when Luke, Mileena and Sherra are gone and it’s just Lina and Gourry together it is more of the natural vibe between them. They are focused on the case and they work well together and their goals are once more aligned.

-OMG, Luke’s bravado. His machismo. I’m glad Mileena is around to smack him most of the time. In this case, though, Mileena’s reaction is interesting, but I think she’s admiring his can-do attitude. And the moment he takes a mile when she gives an inch she turns frosty again. Lina is very embarrassed for Luke and does not read this as a playful love chase at all, but Luke embarrassing himself by relentlessly pursuing someone uninterested in him.

-Lina’s morality does shine through when she asks Luke about being willing to break the sword if they have to. Luke, on the other hand… Too bad we don’t get Mileena’s thoughts.

-Sherra is a lot more comfortable with bold faced lies than Xellos.