Tearmoon Empire: Volume 14 (Light Novel) (Tearmoon Empire

ティアムーン帝国物語～断頭台から始まる、姫の転生逆転ストーリー～ [Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantoudai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story] (Novel) #14

by Nozomu Mochitsuki, Madeleine Willette (Translator), Gilse (Illustrator)

風にはためく赤い月と紫色の巨大な旗の下。遂にレッドムーン家私兵団と皇女専属近衛隊【プリンセスガード】が競う、乗馬大会【ミーアピック】が幕を開けた。両兵団の慰労に加えて、元わがまま姫ミーアの狙いはもう一つ──従兄弟・ヒルデブラントに慧馬【えま】の走りを見せて、彼の興味の矛先を「ルヴィとの縁談」から「騎馬王国」へと変えること！　皇帝らも観覧席に迎え、純粋なる速さを競う周回レースが始まるが、勝負は予期せぬ事態へと発展してゆき....!?　
「情熱こそ、新しい時代をきり拓く鍵ですわ！」
天馬姫【ペガプリ】・ミーアが未来を変えていく！ それぞれの想いが錯綜する、歴史改変ファンタジー第14巻！
書き下ろし番外編＆巻末おまけ「ミーアの料理研究日記」収録！

Genres: Light Novel

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2023

About the author

餅月望

Reviews

[Riri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similarly to several of the previous books, half of vol. 14 is spent wrapping up the Horsemanship Tournament before moving on to a new arc in the remaining half. The tournament’s purpose is to ensure Ruby’s romance with Vanos is making progress, and in that sense Mia accomplishes that goal successfully no matter how small that progress is. Not to mention it also showcases her horse-riding skill, as well as marking the start of an unexpected new relationship for Aima.

Once the tournament is over, the story shifts to a possible coup involving Sapphias. The issue with Patty and the serpents has been taking the backseat while everyone was dealing with horses, so this is where the plot gets back on track because of course the Chaos Serpents are involved. Since it’s a Sapphias-centric arc, we also finally get to meet his beloved fiancée, Letizia, who quickly bonds with Mia over disastrous cooking. Information on House Clausius and Hannes are still given out in literal crumbs, but Patty is cracking slowly and surely. Looks like Mia is finally heading to the Clausius domain in the next volume though.

Overall, this was as enjoyable as always. The mix of serious plot and comedy will never get old, and it’s so fun watching the characters grow with each installment. The series always takes the time to give each prominent character a highlight in the story, and it’s greatly appreciated. The bonus short story is really nice too. This time it’s featuring Sapphias and Ruby from a future that has vanished, showing the contrast to their friendship in the current timeline. It fits the book perfectly, I loved it.

However.

Did the translator, editor, and QCers realize that in this book, the word “smile” is used 58 times and “grin” NINETY SIX times?

Grin. Bitter grin. Proud grin. Troubled grin. Kind grin. Everyone is grinning instead of smiling. I know the writing in the original can be a bit repetitive, but this is probably not the synonym you’d want to use for smile. It can sound terribly off depending on context, like how 穏やかな笑み becomes a “calm grin” instead of the original “gentle smile”. What do noble ladies do when they greet each other? Right, they GRIN. Grin in all situations. Also, giggle. Everybody’s giggling as if the word chuckle doesn’t exist. The mental image is utterly ridiculous, so for the sake of this series I love please edit and QC better for future volumes.

[Gregory Moses · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the third(!) horse-racing story arc drawing quickly and mercifully to a close, we get a story arc about … Mia not being able to cook. Also, the Chaos Serpents are planning a kidnapping. Please man, I'm begging you, come up with some fresh material. Sapphiah is back for some belated time in the sun—he was the only one of the Etoiles to not have an arc in the early volumes, presumably because Nozomu Mochitsuki wasn't clear on how to write non-romantic male/female peer relationships.

There's not much to say about the plot, so let's talk about the translation. It's not riddled with obvious grammatical errors the way some volumes have been, although it has more than you'd expect from a professionally published work (“she has noticed that us Chaos Serpents have ...”), but it's bad in its own special way. Seven different people put on “bitter grins” over the course of this quite brief volume, and it's never in a situation where “bitterness” makes any sense (for example, when Sion mentions that Keithwood left to give him some time alone with his girlfriend). In fact, over the course of one page:

“Right, Keithwood.” He put on a bitter grin.

Sapphias greeted Keithwood with a calm grin.

His sudden apology earned a bitter smile from Keithwood.

And if you think this book is going to let you forget that the obviously evil maid's grin is “plastered on,” you have another thing coming—five times! I've never had a maid, but I'd think it would be quite disconcerting for her to constantly be “grinning” at me; is this supposed to convey a professional smile?

When I notice things like this, I always wonder if it's new, or if I just hadn't been paying attention; for reference, Volume 5 has thirty-eight grins, none of them bitter. Volume 10 has forty-one grins, and four “bitter smiles.” Volume 14 has a staggering ninety-six grins, seven of them bitter, with an additional three “bitter smiles.” Digging a little further, the critical volume is Volume 12, when the grin count abruptly jumped from 50 (Volume 11) into the 80's.

I don't know what this was like in the original Japanese, or really what to make of it--I'd initially pinned this on a new translator, but the current translator started on Volume 10, so I don't know why Volume 12 should be the tipping point. Is it too mean to guess that that was when the translator realized the editor didn't care about the quality of the translation, and started to half-ass it? This isn't a moral judgment against Madeleine Willette, they hide the translator's name on the copyright page at the back of the book, and I applaud her for not breaking her back for an employer that clearly doesn't respect her. A bit rough on the readers, though.

[Marlana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful as always.

[Katla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, amazing book.
Can't wait to read the next book, looking forward too see how Mia can change the future for her grandmother.