The Bugle Call: Song of War - Vol. 9 Ch. 28 - Happy
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Proxy Wars from the future has to be one of the craziest plots I've seen in a while. Love it.
Lucas has to be one of my favorite protagonists at the moment. Literally gets told this is going to be your destiny from the future and guys says nah f that I'll go as far as I can to defy it. Zoe being there to pick him put from his slump just like he's been there for her emotionally this whole time was sweet.
Also this pretty much confirms Akira is also from the future like the Pope is which means he's not actually the Garland's father and is just taking his form to mold her into what the Empire needs her to be. Wonder if that revelation will become relevant later on?
Looking forward to seeing where we go from here.
Lucas has to be one of my favorite protagonists at the moment. Literally gets told this is going to be your destiny from the future and guys says nah f that I'll go as far as I can to defy it. Zoe being there to pick him put from his slump just like he's been there for her emotionally this whole time was sweet.
Also this pretty much confirms Akira is also from the future like the Pope is which means he's not actually the Garland's father and is just taking his form to mold her into what the Empire needs her to be. Wonder if that revelation will become relevant later on?
Looking forward to seeing where we go from here.
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God, I love that last part so much. Lucas being so in his own head and getting depressed, and Zoe saying just the right thing to snap him out of it, it's so good 😌
I like how Lucas turns down wanting to a hero (a much more standard shonen MC dream), because his actual motivation is "please just let me GO, I don't want to BE HERE". I think the reason the Pope actually told him all this is exactly because he knows that knowing all this Lucas will be even less willing to run away.
BTW since the last chapter, I remembered someting I noticed when I first started reading the series. The Pope's body language always felt more "modern" than the rest of the cast, even going back to chapter 1. The way he leans on things, crosses him arms, and legs, etc. Look at the way he sites on p. 37-38, for example. At the time, I thought it was a deliberate choice to make him feel a bit more mysterious and out of place. Didn't really think much of it, but turns out that's actually because he's literally from modern times.
I like how Lucas turns down wanting to a hero (a much more standard shonen MC dream), because his actual motivation is "please just let me GO, I don't want to BE HERE". I think the reason the Pope actually told him all this is exactly because he knows that knowing all this Lucas will be even less willing to run away.
BTW since the last chapter, I remembered someting I noticed when I first started reading the series. The Pope's body language always felt more "modern" than the rest of the cast, even going back to chapter 1. The way he leans on things, crosses him arms, and legs, etc. Look at the way he sites on p. 37-38, for example. At the time, I thought it was a deliberate choice to make him feel a bit more mysterious and out of place. Didn't really think much of it, but turns out that's actually because he's literally from modern times.
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I think I actually gasped when I saw this page
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Hm, I find it interesting that the branch powers actually predate the towers. Somehow I assumed that the branches were just some arbitrary form the high-tech future tower science was taking to not freak out the medieval world too much, but it sounds like it is just as alien to the future as it is to the past.
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And it came to Earth on a meteorite. Is that what the Pope is retrieving from the Garland's meteorites? Is the Garland's power actually about calling meteors with ramus trees/seeds inside them?
Thanks for the TL, this is probably my favourite active manga and you guys translate it really well. It was always coming but I'm not super excited by the sci-fi turn when it comes to the wider plot, but I can trust the author considering how well they nail the action and emotion of it all.
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Bro, this dumbass proxy war have been going for thousands of years, it make me so fucking mad
"Don't be angry at me" HOW ABOUT YOU FUCKING KILL YOURSELF, YOU GODDAMN DOG!!!
WHO SHOULD HE BE ANGRY AT EXCEPT DOGS FROM THE TOWERS LIKE YOU, SHOULD HE BE MAD AT THE PEASANTS?!?? MAD AT THE NOBLES WHEN EVEN THEY DANCE UNDER YOUR WHIMS!!!!
The rich and powerful have sacrificed the common person for wars they don't fight in, now their lives never existed to begin with
I am seething, I'm so mad 🫥
"Don't be angry at me" HOW ABOUT YOU FUCKING KILL YOURSELF, YOU GODDAMN DOG!!!
WHO SHOULD HE BE ANGRY AT EXCEPT DOGS FROM THE TOWERS LIKE YOU, SHOULD HE BE MAD AT THE PEASANTS?!?? MAD AT THE NOBLES WHEN EVEN THEY DANCE UNDER YOUR WHIMS!!!!
The rich and powerful have sacrificed the common person for wars they don't fight in, now their lives never existed to begin with
I am seething, I'm so mad 🫥
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This is genuinely the ultimate form of the powerful destroying everything (history itself, everyone who ever lived, EVERYTHING) to be even more powerful. The cruelty of it is fucking staggering
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Zoe! Amazing! 
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter!
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ok yeah maybe I'd commit atrocities for them
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My prediction: future Earth is itself being used in an alien proxy war. The technology was sent to them (maybe back in time? Or who knows, forward?) To change thier development and alter thier future for their benefit.
It's suffering all the way up, baby. Nobody is getting out of this mess unscathed.
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Goosebumps on the last 2 spreads amazing. Kinda weird how Lucas is feeling like hes right back at chapter 1 but renewed at the same time, feels almost circular like a time travelling paradox.
Also was that the worst best confession/rejection ever in a manga? lmao
thanks for the TL
Also was that the worst best confession/rejection ever in a manga? lmao
thanks for the TL
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To those of you who waited for our chapter, thank you for your support!
Chapter 28 (written from a first read perspective)
As one who expected some level of modern twists with the Towers since the beginning, Chapter 27 had me curious and demanding clarification on how this proxy war even works. Like, whilst the Towers are one-way travel, is there still communication between eras? Are decisions made in the future? How would you trace and attribute the changes?
While the answer from this chapter may not be intuitive, it is what I wanted to receive: so it's not that the future was hungering for a proxy war, it's that the Towers were originally weapons of mass destruction meant for deterrence's sake. But because one nation used theirs, the rest decided to follow suit and not lose out, and now all nine are kind of winging this war where they try to out-predict the others.
This also answers my query about the Tower's fabrication capabilities, specifically why they've never been abused in masse. It's because most nations (excluding the Empire), in hoping to keep the timeline as intact as possible, would likewise wish to impact it as little as possible, hence minimal introductions of future inventions. It's why they have and will continue to primarily rely on medieval warfare to get anywhere, supplemented by Rami forces.
Funny the year 2063 got brought up. While Horizon was one of my influences for my assumption of this story being in a medieval future (and not past), another influence was Astra: Lost in Space. This one was why I never quite bought the alleged year of Arborean 1294 from chapter 1, and 2063 was a key year in that story.
Lucas, the Pope and Akira
As shocking as last chapter's revelation about the Towers were, I'm surprised no one's brought up this question: why did the Pope think bringing this up will help Lucas with his grief about not becoming a musician?
I guess the answer (at this stage) is so he can explain the Tower’s predictions to Lucas, thinking that being a hero makes up for the impossibility of his dream. Whatever the case, I personally don't believe the Pope did it to be mean to him.
I do like how this chapter reframes Lucas’ dilemma with his dream and gives him hope anew. Let’s surpass predictions.
---
I'd like to think the conversation between Lucas and the Pope is actually subtly revealing of the latter. Like, rather than mocking Lucas' musician dreams, he's actually showing that his own dream is to be a hero, genuinely believing it to be a worthwhile dream.
Who knows, perhaps he was originally a military official of sorts, who signed up for this mission and took up his current role because he wanted to be a hero, to defend and vie for the timeline and glory of his nation. Little did he know, this will be one arduous task that spans over 1000 years, playing the middleman between the will of the future and the less-civilised from 0 AD onwards. It must be maddening for him, but still he clings onto his dream as an anchor for his sanity, his duty to his homeland.
I guess it's why the King of Galia gave up, he couldn't take this neverending war in the everchanging foreign past anymore.
So then how much of this applies to Akira? Unlike the Pope, he's not running his nation and seems to be subordinate to the mysterious Emperor. In other words, he has less say in how his life runs. Based on Ch 17.5 and 25, specifically talk of how:
The Fine Print
It's very subtle, but I find the dialogue of this chapter to have many, many callbacks to previous parts of this arc. For example, both the Pope and Akira were in a position to remark on "this era", like they are outsiders, albeit the former has yet to show any contempt for it.
But what they both have in common is they see Lucas' dream as something unbefitting of these times. My personal interpretation of their "he's not fitting in" remarks is that they think Lucas would've been better off born in a time when music is better appreciated, rather than a medieval period when most men wants to play soldier and heroes. They assess that Lucas' stubbornness will lead to disappointment and unhappiness.
(In this sense, Lucas is like Chrome from Dr Stone, who was a boy with much scientific talent whose born in a stone age world, and the unanimous opinion in the fandom is that had he been born in the modern era he'd be even smarter than the genius main character Senku)
Speaking of Lucas, his soliloquy when he was biking actually had a reference back to Ch 19, to when Colin made his guess about how Gerhart felt back when he was young. Lucas didn't know it, but what he's feeling now must've been how Gerhart once felt.
Similarly, the words Lucas used in accepting having been born in this era... ironically reflects the words used in Akira's lecture. Lucas doesn't know it, but he actually winded up agreeing with Akira.
While such repetition techniques are found in other works too, nevertheless the way it's been utilised across this arc deserves praise.
Final Words
Does the answer about the Towers ruin the story? For me, what ruins a story is if they flip a story completely upside down, outside of expectations in such a way that things become nonsensical and the original premise is lost or meaningless. And that was has yet to happen.
As I recall, the premise of this story is Lucas' core goal: defeat the Garland and he'll be free to become a musician. He cared not for the world at large, or to accomplish any greater feat, or to attain the truth of this universe.
Although Lucas now has expanded goals like freedom for Zoe and Miura, he's received more answers about the world and he's predicted to never attain his dream, the fundamental bedrock of the premise has not changed: he still wants to slay the Garland and become a musician. He may now have to fight harder for his dream to come true, but it remains the same.
And just because of the sci-fi twist doesn't mean everything before is thrown out the window. Save such concerns for if we move away from medieval pitched battles and Lucas' beautiful tactical conduct over the skies of the battlefield. We will still have our share of duels between Rami aces, but they too should remain mostly the same.
So is the story ruined? It's far, far too early to say, so no. I can afford to wait to see how the next one or two arcs turn out before I start grumbling. I have faith these authors know what they're doing.
P.S. Who thinks the Towers are inspired by FF14: Shadowbringers?
Chapter 28 (written from a first read perspective)
As one who expected some level of modern twists with the Towers since the beginning, Chapter 27 had me curious and demanding clarification on how this proxy war even works. Like, whilst the Towers are one-way travel, is there still communication between eras? Are decisions made in the future? How would you trace and attribute the changes?
While the answer from this chapter may not be intuitive, it is what I wanted to receive: so it's not that the future was hungering for a proxy war, it's that the Towers were originally weapons of mass destruction meant for deterrence's sake. But because one nation used theirs, the rest decided to follow suit and not lose out, and now all nine are kind of winging this war where they try to out-predict the others.
This also answers my query about the Tower's fabrication capabilities, specifically why they've never been abused in masse. It's because most nations (excluding the Empire), in hoping to keep the timeline as intact as possible, would likewise wish to impact it as little as possible, hence minimal introductions of future inventions. It's why they have and will continue to primarily rely on medieval warfare to get anywhere, supplemented by Rami forces.
Funny the year 2063 got brought up. While Horizon was one of my influences for my assumption of this story being in a medieval future (and not past), another influence was Astra: Lost in Space. This one was why I never quite bought the alleged year of Arborean 1294 from chapter 1, and 2063 was a key year in that story.
Lucas, the Pope and Akira
As shocking as last chapter's revelation about the Towers were, I'm surprised no one's brought up this question: why did the Pope think bringing this up will help Lucas with his grief about not becoming a musician?
I guess the answer (at this stage) is so he can explain the Tower’s predictions to Lucas, thinking that being a hero makes up for the impossibility of his dream. Whatever the case, I personally don't believe the Pope did it to be mean to him.
I do like how this chapter reframes Lucas’ dilemma with his dream and gives him hope anew. Let’s surpass predictions.
---
I'd like to think the conversation between Lucas and the Pope is actually subtly revealing of the latter. Like, rather than mocking Lucas' musician dreams, he's actually showing that his own dream is to be a hero, genuinely believing it to be a worthwhile dream.
Who knows, perhaps he was originally a military official of sorts, who signed up for this mission and took up his current role because he wanted to be a hero, to defend and vie for the timeline and glory of his nation. Little did he know, this will be one arduous task that spans over 1000 years, playing the middleman between the will of the future and the less-civilised from 0 AD onwards. It must be maddening for him, but still he clings onto his dream as an anchor for his sanity, his duty to his homeland.
I guess it's why the King of Galia gave up, he couldn't take this neverending war in the everchanging foreign past anymore.
So then how much of this applies to Akira? Unlike the Pope, he's not running his nation and seems to be subordinate to the mysterious Emperor. In other words, he has less say in how his life runs. Based on Ch 17.5 and 25, specifically talk of how:
- being soldiers is their life-long career and cannot quit,
- learning to enjoy even things that aren't enjoyable and
- being able to live in these times because he's fitting in
The Fine Print
It's very subtle, but I find the dialogue of this chapter to have many, many callbacks to previous parts of this arc. For example, both the Pope and Akira were in a position to remark on "this era", like they are outsiders, albeit the former has yet to show any contempt for it.
But what they both have in common is they see Lucas' dream as something unbefitting of these times. My personal interpretation of their "he's not fitting in" remarks is that they think Lucas would've been better off born in a time when music is better appreciated, rather than a medieval period when most men wants to play soldier and heroes. They assess that Lucas' stubbornness will lead to disappointment and unhappiness.
(In this sense, Lucas is like Chrome from Dr Stone, who was a boy with much scientific talent whose born in a stone age world, and the unanimous opinion in the fandom is that had he been born in the modern era he'd be even smarter than the genius main character Senku)
Speaking of Lucas, his soliloquy when he was biking actually had a reference back to Ch 19, to when Colin made his guess about how Gerhart felt back when he was young. Lucas didn't know it, but what he's feeling now must've been how Gerhart once felt.
Similarly, the words Lucas used in accepting having been born in this era... ironically reflects the words used in Akira's lecture. Lucas doesn't know it, but he actually winded up agreeing with Akira.
While such repetition techniques are found in other works too, nevertheless the way it's been utilised across this arc deserves praise.
Final Words
Does the answer about the Towers ruin the story? For me, what ruins a story is if they flip a story completely upside down, outside of expectations in such a way that things become nonsensical and the original premise is lost or meaningless. And that was has yet to happen.
As I recall, the premise of this story is Lucas' core goal: defeat the Garland and he'll be free to become a musician. He cared not for the world at large, or to accomplish any greater feat, or to attain the truth of this universe.
Although Lucas now has expanded goals like freedom for Zoe and Miura, he's received more answers about the world and he's predicted to never attain his dream, the fundamental bedrock of the premise has not changed: he still wants to slay the Garland and become a musician. He may now have to fight harder for his dream to come true, but it remains the same.
And just because of the sci-fi twist doesn't mean everything before is thrown out the window. Save such concerns for if we move away from medieval pitched battles and Lucas' beautiful tactical conduct over the skies of the battlefield. We will still have our share of duels between Rami aces, but they too should remain mostly the same.
So is the story ruined? It's far, far too early to say, so no. I can afford to wait to see how the next one or two arcs turn out before I start grumbling. I have faith these authors know what they're doing.
P.S. Who thinks the Towers are inspired by FF14: Shadowbringers?
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bro is mad people are fighting back against time travelling super nazis
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