Akuyaku Reijou no Oyome-sama - Vol. 2 Ch. 9

[NinjaGoemon]

That was a great chapter. Really enjoyed learning more about these two and the parallels between them and our main couple. Series continues to get better for me. I really appreciate the confidence it has to be patient and deliberate in its world building. Something about this one also reminds me of "The Flower Princess of Sylph," which is one of my favorite series.

I adore it as well. As much as I would like to rush back to wolf girl biting, it knows what it wants to do and does so very well. It's got a depth to it and the capacity to go in directions readers won't default to.

If they've got wanted posters up, does that mean they still assume Karina is alive, even after the avalanche?

Notice how there's no name there. She's just "Witch". Her name was erased by the royal family and Witch has become another "title" thrust upon her. Another role that she fills without a name.

A great last page, showing that we're very much back to the main pair.
But I quite liked this several-chapter interlude into setting up the second main couple of characters, portraying that the Wolf people are more than just a group of "illiterate nomads" of the bitter north, and do more than simply live in fur huts with no need for the trappings of human culture.

Excited that Evie is back in the capital at the same time Karina returns (I like the very indicative clothing upon the hand in the last panel - you know who it is, without it being spoonfed to you as the reader for a great bit of foreshadowing).
I admit I'm very worried for her safety, having to hide "in plain sight" among people who would likely murder her without a second thought if her hat ever fell off in view of someone else. But I have faith that this isn't "that" sort of title with mass character death for the sake of dramatic effect.

I agree with @SrNevik though. The author knows what they're about, and their being this patient in setting up the world and the scenario on the horizon tells me that the story, and we the readers, are in good hands. It might feel slow, but I'm of the opinion that this sort of title that doesn't rush exposition, or speed through "the backstory" in fear of losing the reader's attention, is something we need more of.
It's not meandering and it's not dragging its feet; but we're getting lots of information that needs to be said, and the narrative and emotional beats all along the way make each page worth the effort on the author's part and on ours.



Thank you for the continued TL work on this. Very much a standout series of the year, for me.

I totally get the fear of cancellation because it's sooooooooo rampant in yuri manga and in general but I want to believe that Seasons is trusting the series to lead us to where it's going.

So the whole village were sex traffickers?

More like a cult in the village. Insular and focused on "prosperity".

Yeah, the new characters are cute and all but, I'm not sure I understand the point in adding them at all so far. Both them and their backstory just feels very removed from the main plot other than to make sure that at least one relationship in the story isn't toxic. I like having fleshed out side characters but, this feels more like backup main characters the author made.

Eve and Juno are very specifically foils. Their narrative role is to highlight and contrast the differences between them and Karina/Reshutoka. A role they do very well. They highlight how dysfunctional the protagonists are as well as what they could be.

---

Something has I haven't seen pointed out yet is that there was a focus on Juno's eyes being blue. The same color that has importance in "the Monster Princess" and in Reshutoka's color scheme. So I'm curious what the meaning behind it is.

In other news, Seasons (the publisher) is celebrating its first year anniversary and you might be able to get a copy of Reshutoka.

Karina helped dress her wife :3

Post script: I really like the double page composition of 22-23 the way Eve and Juno get close ups against the gap to their expressions and also using the gap as a divider to show that they're meeting for the first time. I feel like it's a good use of the book format.

 

[Jayswing103]

Am I the only one who thinks that the wanted poster looks like the girl in this chapter, not the mc?

 

[UdenEmpati]

More like a cult in the village. Insular and focused on "prosperity".

Juno's father specifically mentioned that the combination of blue eyes & light hair would "sell for a lot" - meaning he meant for Juno to be raped by a different villager every year, and any child born with those traits would be sold off.

And, if the village is insular and isolated, that means the village itself is in on it, and I'm betting the "priest & god" concept is purely window dressing to sell the idea, rather than a cult of actual believers.
So "prosperity", maybe, but in the sense of trafficking infants based on preferred physical traits. And Juno would be a his slave to be used by...at least multiple men within the village, in pursuit of that.

So....sex trafficking actually seems pretty on brand, if that all is the case.

Something has I haven't seen pointed out yet is that there was a focus on Juno's eyes being blue. The same color that has importance in "the Monster Princess" and in Reshutoka's color scheme. So I'm curious what the meaning behind it is.

The "blue eyes" at least seem to paint her as an anomaly among the populace, given that her adoptive father talks about how children with blue eyes would fetch a high price.

But given that expressed rarity (and the fact she's part of the Second Pair), I wager there's something about her, whether it's blue eyes specifically or something that they represent on a larger scale, that will come into play in a greater capacity once she and Evie get involved with Karina. (I hope it's not something played-out like "god touched" or "she's a saintess reborn!" or something, but.)

 

[MsW0lf]

Am I the only one who thinks that the wanted poster looks like the girl in this chapter, not the mc?

I think so too. Seeing as the eye was the main focal point of the “witch” and it’s Juno’s eyes that were her main feature.

And at this stage I think it’s safe to say that these are our deuteragonists. We will be constantly switching between our two pairs of Karina and her wife, and Evie and hers. Whilst Karina pursues her revenge, Evie will investigate how she’s been wronged and the tension between the two: trying to clear Karina’s name whilst Karina does everything she can to fulfil all of the bad expectations of those she left behind. They’re all our MCs.

And now poor Juno is in danger!

 

[CrimsonSix]

That’s one morbid backstory.

 

[amc9988]

I forget but who is the new short haired girl and how she knows Karina?

 

[Ironclad]

...but if they were just going to turn her into a sex slave, why bother with the indoctrination and cloistering? Why wait until she was an adult? Did he think if she grew up better off that would make her children better slaves like giving a chicken egg-laying feed with extra calcium and protein? That's just dumb. You could easily fix this backstory. Say he really was going to make her a saintess to gain control of the church, but his original scheme fell through from losing the backing of some upstart noble or some such, and turning her out was a backup plan. It would be a lot more dramatic too.

 

[UdenEmpati]

I forget but who is the new short haired girl and how she knows Karina?

The dark-haired Wolf Girl?

That's Evie, and she's a scribe in the Capital who caught onto the fact that the Royal Family did the MC super dirty, and is off to uncover the truth behind Karina's "Villainess Moniker".

 

[kaptenkeren]

Come on... Say the word, prostitute. It's normal word. Lol.

Well, the religion is good. but some shitty people manipulate or brainwash the teaching. Saying doing something evil is god will or else. 1 easy example... Middle east tragedy.

 

[Trevoga]

oh, is the irrelevant boring stupid side story finally done?

 

[NinjaGoemon]

...but if they were just going to turn her into a sex slave, why bother with the indoctrination and cloistering?

Because it was grooming. He was grooming her.

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I'm not sure how much of the priest preventing her from touching other animals was part of the process or how much was him believing his own religious fanaticism. With the former, he built a structure of only touching "pure things" (men selected for sex). With the latter, I feel like it has somewhat racial isolation fervor behind it. Her current partner being wolfkin, a people that allegedly can become animals.

 

[InsaneAwesomeTony]

Thanks for the chapter 🙏🏼❤️‍🔥

 

[MsW0lf]

...but if they were just going to turn her into a sex slave, why bother with the indoctrination and cloistering? Why wait until she was an adult? Did he think if she grew up better off that would make her children better slaves like giving a chicken egg-laying feed with extra calcium and protein? That's just dumb. You could easily fix this backstory. Say he really was going to make her a saintess to gain control of the church, but his original scheme fell through from losing the backing of some upstart noble or some such, and turning her out was a backup plan. It would be a lot more dramatic too.

Because, if they made her docile and submissive there would be less risk in her trying to damage or kill herself and any possible children. They were literally talking about selling off her children and the possible “quality” of them. A dead or sickly child would be a waste of nine months of investment. 18 months, because you’d also have to wait for another kid to be born. The sex isn’t the point: the money her kids would provide is. There was no “religion” it was always a front to provide submissive, docile, and above all LUCRATIVE child slaves.

And it almost worked. Juno said that she didn’t really believe in her “father”, but her need for acceptance was such that she would have killed off any psychological resistance and commit to her life of being a breeding sow.

Ugh, talking about the economics of a human breeding farm makes me feel SO unclean. Thanks yuri! 😭

 

[karpad]

Thanks for the upload!

 

[UdenEmpati]

Come on... Say the word, prostitute. It's normal word. Lol.

Well, the religion is good. but some shitty people manipulate or brainwash the teaching. Saying doing something evil is god will or else. 1 easy example... Middle east tragedy.

Not even the correct term for what Juno was being put through here, so.

Second easy example - the ongoing Christian Nationalist movement in the United States.

 

[UdenEmpati]

oh, is the irrelevant boring stupid side story finally done?

Evie is actively involved in trying to clear Karina's name within the kingdom through the propaganda machine enacted by the Crown.

These two are very much relevant and their story & relationship is meant to contrast the Main Couple, as well as factor into the actual narrative with Karina's homecoming once the MC starts "putting truth to the rumors" and making all the bad things she was blamed for, a reality -- while Evie tries to prove that all of those crimes and accusations were lies from the crown.

 

[Tzeentch3]

Burn The Village to the ground

Sake to Tabako no Hiyatoi Dungeon

 

[KitsuKyouno]

Meanwhile the main married is hiding, a more calm couple is introduce

 

[Rafalga]

The yuri staple, comically evil man strikes again

 

[Redrot]

After a kiss with the side couple, it's time to go back to the main couple. Hoping to see more kisses and more yuri, and of course, Karina getting her revenge is also gonna be interesting.

Thanks for the translation!