Roar! Eat your heart out.
*Not spell-checked so beware of typos*
*SPOILERS BELOW!*
Summary
As Cou stands in awe of the sight in front of him, the woman, Euschut, explains that the flying machine is built by the combine efforts of her husband and his father. She reveals to Cou that her husband, Bocca, was a passionate mechanic before the passing of the law that banned the use of all flying machines by commoners in the country. Hearing this, Cou expresses his concern regarding the plane since its discovery would lead to trouble with the government. Euschut explains that the machine was almost taken away by the authorities, but they were able to retain it. Unbeknownst to Cou, Euschut was only able to save the plane from the hands of the government officers by relinquishing her Elemental Glade, and thus her life as an Edel Raid, to them twenty years ago. She inquires Cou about his reasons for coming to Nad Lezen, to which Cou replies that he had made a promise to a very important person that he would take her to Edel Garden. Euschut finds it strange that while Cou may have made that important promise, he does not seems very willing to go himself.
Back at the gang’s lodging, they discover that, among other things, nobody is able to find any sort of transportation to Edel Garden. Cisqua is mortified by the findings, or rather the lack of. She freaks out after Ren has another one of those straightforward moments when she points out what no one else wants to say, that they were stuck. Cisqua begins to throw random ideas at the group out of frustration, and one of them catches Cou’s ear. Having decided what he wants to do, Cou wonders how he’ll have to convince Bocca for the plane the next day. As he lies in bed trying to think of something, Ren timidly peeks into his room. Cou feigns sleep and Ren exits the room, disappointed. Separated by Cou’s bedroom door, the couple laments the way things have turned out between them.
The next day, the gang arrives at Bocca’s house to voice their proposal. The mustached man refuses their offer even before the gang can ask. Cou “begs” a little, but Bocca is unperturbed. Euschut treats the group to a lavish feast while Bocca sits sourly on the staircase, still unwilling to let the guys get their hand on his machine. Cisqua suggest they use force. Rowen, of course, stops her from even considering it any further. After another failed attempt at “begging,” Cou provokes Bocca by saying he’s just all talk since he’s afraid of some silly rule imposed by the air force even after badmouthing the Red Lynx. Bocca finally loses his temper and lunges at Cou when he is called a coward by the latter. This time Euschut does not stop him, telling the worried Cisqua to let the two go at it all they want. As Cou stands up after being thrown to the ground by Bocca, he tells Bocca that even though the Lynx did get shot down during their skirmish with ARC Aile, they got up on their feet right away, and will continue to do so no matter how many times they’re shot down. He knocks the older man down on his back with a headbutt to the face. The boy says Bocca is misled in thinking that he was abandoned by the sky, and instead it was he that abandoned his own dream. Bocca throws another punch at Cou’s face and connects, but Cou stands his ground. He tells Bocca to listen to the voice of the flying machine. He does. He hears it. But he pushes Cou away, unwilling to admit what he just experienced and heads upstairs. Cisqua thinks perhaps they should find some other way seeing how Bocca is stubborn about his decision. Cou refuses, for he can sense the passion burning within Bocca and his desperate desire to fly again.
Later that night, Ren and Euschut enter the bath together. Ren is a little shy for obvious reasons, so Euschut shows her the scar on her chest to put the girl at ease. The older woman hears Ren’s troubles and teaches her how to deal with the situation, that a smile is better for resolving the tension than a sorrowful face.
On the balcony, Cou and Bocca are having a talk. Bocca admits his passion for flying, but tells Cou that even if he had wanted to fly, he can’t, since the flying machine has no flotation stone installed. Cou looks up at the night sky and sees the overshadowing structure of the refinery, and instantly has an idea of how to get their hands on some quality flotation stone.
As Cou scales the wall of the refinery trying to find a way in, Cisqua follows close behind. Apparently, she insisted on going with him out of “worry.” When the two get inside the compound they engage in a bizarre argument about proper burglar attire. While the two continue to argue, the gun-toting Pleasure spies on them with his Edel Raid partner. Cisqua surprises the living hell out of Cou when she throws him a question about his avoidance of Ren lately. This conversation is cut short when she notices guards up ahead. The guards leave shortly afterwards, and much to the surprise of Cisqua, Cou is able to break through the lock to the storage room in mere seconds. Inside the room is a large quantity of processed flotation stones. Their triumph is quickly interrupted when a group of Viro shows up just as they are about to leave with their bounty.
The scene shifts to a glamorously decorated room where the mysterious woman that approached Ren in the last volume sits and puts on makeup. It seems she has rather deep ties to Ren’s past.
Ren is trying to bake cookies for Cou, but so far her efforts prove fruitless. Rowen is puzzled by her sudden interest in baking and asks Ren about it, to which Ren shyly replies the biscuits are for Cou. Kuea scolds him for being slow and insensitive. She tells Rowen that she often wonders about what if Ren isn’t a Glittering Jewel, and if that would have been better for her and Cou’s relationship. After a brief chat, both Rowen and Kuea agree that they’ll help the couple to the best of their abilities.
Back at the refinery, Cisqua and Cou have gotten separated while fighting the Viro. Cisqua manages to dispatch the ones targeting her, but another batch shows up almost immediately. Cou is having troubles of his own. He’s backed into a dead end by the Viro with no ways to escape. The Viro knocks him to the ground and goes in for the kill. At that exact moment, the power goes out (thanks to the gun-toting Pleasure), and Cou is able to use the darkness to his advantage and slip away through a window. As Cou slowly levels himself to safety with his grappling hook, he wonders what’s become of Cisqua, who is apparently still on the run from her assailants.
Cou hands the flotation stone to Bocca and tries to persuade him to lend the gang the flying machine. Much to his disbelief Bocca refuses yet again. Exasperated, Cou begins to storm out of the room, but he stops when Bocca begins to speak. Turns out Bocca didn’t want to lend them the machine because he’s determined to be the one flying it. Bocca tells his wife to bring him a drink since he’s going to start work on the flying machine. Euschut thanks Cou for getting her husband back on his feet. Cou heads back to his room, and is deeply touched when he sees a pack of cookies along with a card from Ren by his door.
The next morning, Cisqua is displeased to find her photo over all of the wanted posters throughout the city. The gun-toting Pleasure and his Edel Raid partner approaches her from behind and wants to charge her money for the help they gave last night. Cisqua refuses to pay, and is suspicious of their motives. The Pleasure tells her instead of worrying about their identity, she should be more concerned about not letting Ren out of her sight. The duo leaves promptly after his words, leaving Cisqua to wonder if they’re friend or foe. Before she can think further into the matter, her hunger gets the better of her and she sits down to order some food. Just as she is about to make her order, she notices Parl walking in the crowd. She follows Parl to a grandiose mansion and decides to infiltrate it. Once inside, she eavesdrops on Parl’s conversation with a strange woman. The woman notices her presence and Parl hurls open the door, but Cisqua is able to hide in time and avoid detection.
At Bocca’s place, his old buddies have shown up to help him with rebuilding the flying machine. Cou wonders if they’ll be all right since they’re all middle-aged men. They assure him that they’ll be find, but Cou stays to help anyway. Ren wakes up and is told Cou’s in the basement helping with the flying machine. She heads downstairs and unfortunately hears Cou talking about how he loved his old days with the Lynx. Taking this the wrong way, thinking that it’s her fault that Cou is no longer able to live his life they way he wants, Ren runs away from the group without anybody noticing.
Impression
More misunderstanding and teenage ANGST! This volume is pretty serious compared to many of the previous ones. It concerns itself mostly with Bocca’s escapist attitudes and self-denial. Cou pulls a Naruto on us by getting Bocca to admit his true feelings. Truthfully, I really don’t give a shit about all that. On the whole, this volume is uninteresting with the exception of the deepening misunderstanding between the main leads. Ren’s probably going to get kidnapped by the mysterious woman and turns on Cou, then Cou of course will show her how much he care about her and they’ll get back together somehow. Blah, how boring. I suppose it’s the lack of comedy in this volume that made me a little sick. More humour, I say!
