Sousou no Frieren - Vol. 2 Ch. 14 - Articulate Monsters

[anifd]

@SunSun

You're assuming that humanity's collective knowledge of demons is intact and uncorrupted, as well as distributed to everyone. However look at the information the manga shows. Flamme, Frieren's master, was still physically in the world about a thousand years ago. And it was Flamme who classified monsters that spoke, as demons, going so far as to say that those monsters were the ancestors of demons, after the flashback.

----If im understanding you correctly, you’re saying that her information shouldn’t be believed with absolute certainty being that dated records would have a degree of unreliability? fair enough.

Which then makes the entire scene where the village chief says, "not necessarily eat humans to survive", just him talking out of his ass

----However, him trying to persuade frieren not to kill her doesn’t mean he was talking out of his ass. It would still be based on something, doesn’t have to specifically be flamme’s records.

Regarding demon ecology, it is safe to assume that A) there are multiple demon species and B) all have specialized to hunt humans to some degree. Now with multiple demon species, that's easy enough to figure out by looking at Qual and the Phantom demon, compared to the demon girl, the messengers, and Aura's appearance. The chapter with the Phantom demon even specifically emphasizes it's a unique species of demon.

----the raws actually classify the phantom as mamono 魔物 (monster) while qual is the one they specifically refer to as being 魔族 mazoku (demon). some translators like to translate mamono as demon and you can argue it's preference, but I don't agree because you can’t tell me a slime is a demon. cant deny that demons developed mimcry to better hunt tho

Finally, I can understand Kirei Cake making some few changes cause context changes things. Yeah the text may have said, "drunkard priest" but both Freiren and others reference the God/Goddess smiting or punishing him for drinking all the time...which would make him a corrupt priest that doesn't follow the teachings of his own deity.

----i know. I've had experience doing that in my translations, so I wasn't insulting them… if that's what you're implying? what I meant by bringing up translator preference for the predator-prey thing was that i found it a contradiction that the demon guy would say it was predator-prey relationship because (I was going by this definition of the word: an animal that naturally preys on others) while the chief was like they dont really need to eat humans. on one hand, the demons probably know more about themselves than humans would, however, as the demon girl said she intended to live peacefully, meaning she wasn’t going to eat humans anymore (it’s what I assume she meant because she was fine killing for other reasons that weren’t related to having humans as food while still thinking it wasn’t a broach of peace), which is why I assumed it wasn’t a problem for them to live without eating humans.

What isn't clear is whether demons need humans to survive, or humans ended up being preferred prey like how Orcas prefer eating other whales but can also eat fish, seals, sea lions, sharks, penguins, etc

one cannot assume that the demon girl was secretly feeding off humans, OR that she doesn't need to eat humans to survive because of her missing a few meals.

----So it goes back to both our comments being assumption/personal interpretation of the chapter which brings discussion to a halt until the next release. if you have more to say then send dm I guess bc this my last response since I don’t want to clog the comment section with how long this was. It isn’t a code for send me nudes btw (this is a joke).

 

[Ciello]

Sounds like a tribe I know of.
Also, rip and tear until its done?

 

[Kaiser92]

time for some smiting

 

[Eplayer]

thanks for the chapter
RIP AND TEAR soon

 

[MooseNucle]

I really like this manga

 

[Xevinaly]

@Leomonade exactly. Most people would at best feel that its a shame and some groups will honor the food they kill. Even vegans who specifically don't eat meat view animals at best with indifference or as something without autonomy that they want to protect like a forest or art piece.

 

[Saucy_one]

Someone here just commented: "What a sad portrayal of demons." Actually hilarious. Goes to show how thoroughly modern authors deconstructed the "Demon" trope now that readers are surprised when an ancient archetype symbolizing everything evil about Humans....is evil. WHOWOULDATHUNKIT

 

[katakatakara]

Wow, that's a really refreshing take on a "clinical evil" type demon. Understated but nonetheless terrifying.

 

[kp114330]

page 19 really hits home her loneliness

 

[Elhao]

Lord Lügner, lol, that's on the nose.
Reminds me of Dr. Betruger in Doom 3

 

[SteveJust]

"This town won't last long either, will it?"

I like that her escape plan relies on the demons destroying this town like they did to previous human settlements. Why fight the authorities? They're all going to be dead in a day or two so might as well read a book and wait. It's the natural order of things.

 

[RexNemorensis]

It's amusing that demons being evil is a novelty. I mean, demons are the embodiment of evil lol.
Deconstruction has finally gone full circle.

And it's not like they're cartoonishly evil either, they seem to be more like psychopaths, devoid of empathy or understanding of human morality. In a way, that makes them even more fearsome. I find it quite ingenious.

 

[Butz]

Fucked up how "demons are inherently evil" is suddenly so controversial since the concept of "good" or "misunderstood" demons is something that just gained popularity in the last few decades. Otherwise demons have been naturally evil for as long as they have appeared in literature.

 

[Redsaint]

@ welcome2atlantis
Her wisdom of age almost lead her to play tag with a dragon, not to mention all those mimics that got her in the past.

Personally I need to know more of the dietary requirements of these demons and there breeding ability.
If they required to feed of humans and they don’t breed that often Arrangements could be made to ensure peace.
Just sacrifice criminals/ pieces of corpses who passed of natural causes.
Heck with strong healing magic you could only require a handful of death row “volunteers” to sustain them indefinitely

 

[Grahav]

"Noooooo! Demons are misunderstood hot monsters that are persecuted by raycis elves and humans! We are the real monsters! I will save them and have a hot demon girl/boy for muh dick/vayjay! The author is a biiiiigot!"

 

[bleachar]

The little demon girl, I think she misunderstood the way to be grateful. She killed the chief of the village because those two was showing hostility (?) But she really wanted to live in peace.

 

[starlightcitypro]

Articulate monsters is a fitting title. I await the twist incoming next chapter

 

[GabrielH]

I approve this message, this deconstruction of evil is not evil at it seems is tiresome. Demon is called demon/devil for a reason.

 

[Plophop]

Didacticism is truly a heresy upon fiction.

 

[balanceXXV]

@blablablub She gets arrested because not only she bad mouth the "messengers of peace" in the public. she also points her staff to him which is equivalent to pointing a gun to a foreign diplomat. So of course any sensible guard/police will arrest her.