New chapter today. Chapter spoiler: Loid, who was brought to the SSS personnel's party as a "relative," was extremely worried that his spy identity would be exposed, especially with the appearance of the SSS Chief and Yor making him even more nervous. So, in order to leave as soon as possible, he decided to use a tranquilizer dart to put Yor to sleep as an excuse to escape, but...!
>>288582826 Only if you were expecting major changes to relationships. Yuri and Chloe, Yuri and Loid, Loid and Yor still all got a bit closer and more comfortable with each other.
Still no confirmation if Yor truly doesn't remember Chad either.
Good chapter to end off probably the funniest (mini)arc in the series. Of course I would have loved one more chapter of shenanigans but it was still great to see SSS liking Loid more than their little tard Yuri, lmao
>>288583133 You wouldn't have to burn the whole thing down. Just a small fire, to chase people out and well now I've got to call insurance, or whatever so everyone needs to go home. Especially the pizza guy.
>>288583165 This is Westalis' BEST spy? How pitiful. Seems like the family's life turn him soft, perhaps a colleague of him could set him straight and HARD again.
>>288583061 >Still no confirmation if Yor truly doesn't remember Chad either. Jury's also still out on if Wilker suspects anything. There was very little reason for him to be here if Axeman wasn't setting something up with that. It may be similar to the situation with Authen where we didn't find out until a while later.
>>288583154 I agree with this, though. I was hoping for a teensy bit more escalation. There was a lot of good little things in this mini arc, but with how high the stakes were, I was hoping for a bit more. I'm not unhappy. I just wish there was more.
>>288583219 End of the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. All chapters can be found here https://mega.nz/folder/xxMBgC6A#P2VM5Gfn-4wyyLmdR8k_Rw This one is already uploaded. Until next time and stay safe, buddies.
>>288583219 Literally all you had to do was to trust her, you learned this lesson already. Trust her, behave like a normal husband and get some intel on the side. Perfect operation with no (or minimal) risk. I think that this >>288582678 page is a little suspicious. Director is a legit threat and Twilight did his needle attack twice after all, with one needle probably left there. >>288583264 Thanks for the dump! I wonder if there's even a shred of stomach left after that party, lmao
>>288583247 I get that feeling, but I'm not sure what else I would want out of this. I guess seeing Yor and Loid have to be in public for longer, maybe more of Chloe interacting with them and Yuri? But it feels like that could be the set up for another short story where they aren't under so much pressure, so I'm not too put out.
>>288583219 >I can't tell anymore if Yor is an asset to Operation Strix or an obstacle Loid she has genuinely made more progress with Operation Strix than you have and she doesn't even know it exists
>>288583219 We get teased again about Yor carrying Loid (i.e. she did it off screen when he was unconscious). I hope we get an official depiction of it someday.
>>288583328 >I think that this >>288582678 page is a little suspicious. I agree. I think Wilker trying to keep them around longer is worth remembering.
>>288583219 >>288583264 Looks like he did the same thing he did back in the Wheeler arc. Recognized a problem but attributed it to the wrong thing. It even ends the same way.
Do you think next chapter will open with Loid on q hospital bed? Last time Loid passed out we got a full-on flashback, maybe it will set another one (perhaps centered on other characters)
>>288583643 I didn't take it that way, especially since the reason they were uneasy about him being there was because they were afraid he'd be recognized or leak something while drunk.
>>288583449 I appreciate that it's clearer here that that was what it was supposed to be. It looks like the way Axeman is doing Loid's arc is that he'll be undermined by his unconscious feelings little by little until the realization comes crashing down on him all at once.
>>288583500 I'm not sure what to expect next. This is the first time since the first ten chapters that arcs/mini-arcs have flowed directly into each other instead of jumping around. I'd like to believe Axeman will keep that up and whatever happens next will pick up from here, even if he uses that as a way to transition into something new. I just want the story to continue to feel connected.
>>288583165 Yor has come so far. She may be intoxicated and tranq'd, but it's great to see her be assertive when it comes to Loid. She's a stuttering maiden in love that is now conscious of how she dresses on dates, but damn if she isn't trying to calm those butterflies.
I want more of the Yor that teased her husband about his brow lines back during the seal chapter, and this current Yor is getting there.
>>288583165 It is actually noteworthy she is okay with doing something like this at all. She wouldn't be able to get close to him in any way in the past
>>288582678 I'm so lonely... All the other members of the SSS are scared of me. No one talks to me unless sneak by. No one wants to be my friend, they think I'm unstable. I send them from street to street arresting traitors in my name. And as I get them more assignments, they fear me more. Am I am victim of my own pizzas.
>>288584033 I like that this mini arc established that Yor is working on tolerating physical contact. There's a lot of places Axeman could take that ranging from that possible double date with Millie and Hemlock to the bed sharing scenario that was teased in literally the third chapter.
>>288583983 >even if small Yuri trying to separate himself from Yor is pretty big. He's never even considered that before. His efforts into self-improvement have always been to make her want him around more.
>>288582204 Everything wrapped up pretty nicely here so I don't mind. A break might also make it easier to adjust to whichever part of the story he plans to continue next. I've really liked the past nine chapters though, personally.
>>288584514 She was in 121 briefly, but I don't think she's had any significant presence since the Wheeler arc. It's not super unusual for secondary characters to disappear for a while, but it does sort of seem like Axeman doesn't know what to do with Fiona.
>>288584625 >Fiona finally returns to service after recuperating for a realistic human length of time >She shadows Twilight, sees him and Yor Briar cuddling and walking home >gets into a car crash
>>288583219 >that top panel Twilight's heart definitely went doki doki there and you can't tell me otherwise. He doesn't know why it did, but it definitely did.
>>288585032 >my stomach ache must be giving me heartburn, that is the only explanation for feeling how I felt when my wife asked me to rely on her some more again
>>288583120 Did he unconsciously chose the see her home, or was this just his Yor-induced retardation that he just chose a random direction to get away from LoiLoi being close with Yor?
>>288585283 Both, Yuri is falling into a relationship with Chloe without realising it, in a decade when theyre married with three kids it might dawn on him
>>288585032 I noticed. Axeman was being clever and obfuscating it with the position of the close-up and his normal hatching, but it's still clearly visible. It's fun how he makes it so that there is a right way to read Loid if you know what to look for.
>>288585465 >Maybe they live together now? Chloe wishes, kek >>288585335 Yeah, we need that "Yuri and Chloe take care of Dumb Peanut for a day" chapter. Anya reading their minds and trying to act like a cupid would be comedy gold. Especially if it ends with Yuri admitting that he had fun with Chloe there, even if it was >>288585353 hidden tier.
I was looking at the Garden emblems after someone brought them up last thread and noticed that Shopkeeper does actually wear the pruning shears emblem too. It's on the buttons of his cloak. It's strange that Yor has never used that, even when most of the others have. I wonder if for some reason they're divided by sex and Gympie has a rose emblem under that big coat of hers. The alternative is that Thorn Princess is both ace and outsider, which is even weirder.
>>288585975 Her mom also had rose emblems on her clothes if I remember correctly. So maybe she took over from her and that's why only Yor has them. But I might as well be reaching.
>>288586801 You wouldn’t be the first person to theorize that Yor and Yuri’s mom was an assassin who worked for Garden. It’s as valid a theory as any other, given how little we know.
>>288585975 >>288586801 I think the notable one for Garden is the symbol that Yor and Shopkeeper both wear that resembles her stilettos. It's in all of his appearances and Yor is the only other person who wears them, whether as her regular earrings or as accessories on her outfits like the dress on the cruise arc. Whether it's supposed to mean something about her rank in Garden, her relationship to Shopkeeper, or something else is unknown. But it stands out that the normal Garden emblem seems to be shears, yet Yor doesn't wear it even though she shares a unique symbol with Shopkeeper. Meanwhile her mother is the only one she shares her rose symbol with, so that one might be associated primarily with her family, which may or may not also be associated with Garden. Something fun to think about.
>>288586801 >>288586926 Yor's mother being part of Garden feels like an open secret imo. >plant-themed clothing and house >rose emblem >both her children display Garden-like attributes, even the one that's never been part of Garden >Yor found Garden rather than the other way, suggesting someone left her a way to them They even lived in the south, possibly on imperial land.
>>288587297 Yor actually does not share her stilettos with Shopkeeper. If you look closely, they share a superficial resemblance, but they aren't the same symbol. I used to also think this might be some ranking thing, but I'm no longer so sure.
>>288587297 Here's a pic comparing the two. Shopkeeper's has one ring and is symmetrical. Yor's has two rings and is longer on the bottom than on the top.
>>288587449 Okay, so Shopkeeper's aren't really symmetrical now that I'm looking closer, but there's still more space above the ring on his than there is on Yor's.
>>288587424 >>288587449 I almost wasn't sure, but when they were adapted for the anime, the animators made sure to make them resemble her stilettos/earrings more. There is an extra ring for Yor's still, but it resembles it very closely to the point that I think they're supposed to be similar even if not completely identical.
>>288587536 She was shown to be pretty average when she was a child. As an adult, most of her dumbfuckery comes from ignorance or social cluelessness rather than outright stupidity (though she does have her moments) so I'd assume it's more from isolation and getting pulled out of school.
After this fucker came out of the left field I keep getting the expectation that some innocuous arc will lead up to some big revelation or change at the end only for it to just be an innocuous arc
>>288587712 We had the same thing happen with Shopkeeper finding Loid's interest in Donovan being something worth his distaste and scrutiny, but it has never been referenced ever again in all of the chapters that have come out since.
>>288587498 To be fair, the animators also edited McMahon's gun, which made it look like the shears were getting retconned, only for them to show back up twice in the Garden arc. I wouldn't say Shopkeeper's tassels and Yor's earrings are definitely unrelated, because I agree that they're very similar, but it's hard to say much when it's just the two of them and the designs aren't the same.
>>288587712 I'm fully betting on the fabled Yuri and Chole babysit Anya chapter will end on one or both of them recognizing Authen as they're leaving and starting a collage flashback arc with some crumbs of what he was doing in Project Apple
>>288588112 They'll both come up again. Authen's dementia exists to keep that out of focus until Axeman is ready for it, probably near the end. Shopkeeper doesn't have the same excuse, though, and so his really should've come up by now. I'm not sure what Axeman is waiting for.
>>288588612 Surprisingly, Loid picks a fight with Hemlock because of his problem with Yor, but Yuri ends up ruining everything when he tries to mediate.
>>288588357 >"Shopkeeper, guess what! My husband is Melinda's therapist now! I only found out because she was the one who told me, but isn't that funny?"
>>288587869 I think the fact that they're so similar is what points to them being related after all. I don't think the differences between them mean they're exclusive to themselves, but that there is meant to be some kind of connection between them implied by them both wearing their own version of it, even if we can't say exactly what yet. Yor never wore the shears and no one else uses her rose symbol but her mother, but Shopkeeper's tassels resemble her weapons and earrings. And that seems to be used for her main symbol for her assassin job, not her rose. tl;dr I think we are meant to infer that emblem uniquely connects them, even with their differences.
>>288589262 She and Yuri seem to have been born with some level of superhuman ability, which is one of the reasons why it's theorized that their mother was also part of Garden. However, they only had one superhuman "stat" each. Yor got the other two after joining Garden while Yuri still only has durability because he never did. I think the important thing here is that Yor thinks that her strength still gives her away as part of Garden even though she was born with it, which lends credibility to the idea that it's inheritable. She and Loid will have superhuman supergenius babies.
>>288582740 It's amazing it hasn't occurred to him to play the peanut card. Having to go home and parent is a great way to get out of social obligations.
>>288589603 I think he mentioned it in the previous chapter, but he puts some overthinking into that and concludes that's a shaky reason to leave and it would make him suspicious
>>288589497 >And that seems to be used for her main symbol for her assassin job, not her rose. I disagree with this. Her rose is all over both of her Thorn Princess uniforms, to the point where it's even on the shoes of at least one of them. It's also worth noting that when she takes on her first mission as Thorn Princess, the emblem added to her outfit is the rose, not the spikes. >Shopkeeper's tassels resemble her weapons and earrings Her weapon actually looks completely different from both her earrings and Shopkeeper's tassels.
>>288589603 >>288589884 Yeah, he feared that one of the SSS agents would check if anything actually happened with Anya in that time frame, and decided he didn't want to risk being caught in a lie.
>>288589884 >>288590231 Couldn't he just say "I should get back to Anya" or something to that effect without needing to specify anything in particular? I do it all the time with my own children if I don't want to stick around at a social function, even if wife is with them or whatever so I technically could stay. It's a guaranteed escape hatch every parent has, and even if there's nothing wrong in theory in practice children will almost always have done SOMETHING while you're gone.
>>288590448 Tbf anon, you don't have to lie to a room full of seasoned interrogators which (for all you know) are there for the specific reason to poke holes in your stories. Or at the very least I hope you don't have to bare all of at, in which case please take care of your stomach
>>288583006 This is such a cute panel. Chloe wanting to spend time to get to know Yor one-on-one, and Yuri blowing off Loid's fake genial farewell, which is deserved given how much of an asshole Loid is towards him in secret. What an adorable family.
>>288583165 Her tolerance meter really did go up if she's able to hold him steady, lead him by the hand, and actually let him lean on her with his arm around her shoulders. I'm glad Axeman played it straight and kept this moment sweet between them.
>>288591224 She also wanted to stop relying on it altogether, so that's an especially good sign for future chapters. The more I look at it the more I really like that it feels like a long epilogue to the last arc that not only tied everything together but also put some of oldest gags that were holding the characters back to rest.
I was hoping for a stinger at the end of this chapter where Yor thinks to herself that she did in fact recognize Curtis but didn't want to make a scene.
But she was too busy flirting with her husband which is also fine.
>>288591092 >given how much of an asshole Loid is towards him in secret. he's really only an asshole to Yuri because of how much of an asshole Yuri has been for the entirety of time they've known each other
>>288591490 At this point, I assume she really didn't recognize him, which is hard to believe. The only thing that gives me any lingering doubt is that Loid won't stop talking about it and reassuring himself that she doesn't remember. Picrel almost seemed like reverse psychology on Axeman's part. "She doesn't remember! (She totally remembers.)" But at the same time, Yor is so utterly incapable of acting that it feels like, if she does remember him, she's having trouble placing where she saw him. Maybe she'll realize later and have a belated freak out. Or maybe Yor is just so used to high-stress situations that they don't imprint as strongly on her anymore.
>>288591490 >>288591778 I'm really unsure myself, given even in the end we only have Twilight's impressions. We never see Yor's thoughts regarding Chad, only her spoken words.
>>288591630 Sure, but they shared a fist bump and Yuri was noticeably less hostile to him since the hostage incident, so it's ironic that Yuri is actually becoming fond of Loid against his will while Loid remains petty towards him as always.
>>288591778 >>288591998 I do feel like that's deliberate on Axeman's part. Loid treated it like an earth-shattering secret, but Yor is never given any more space than this to confirm or deny it. We probably won't know for a long time if she does or not, and even if she didn't remember him here for some reason, it's not like it's off the table for her to recognize him in the future.
>>288592081 I mean you say that but Loid agreed to go to Yuri's party without suspecting it was an ambush, that is partly why his coworkers scolded him because who takes your trusting brother in law to a strangers party (let alone to interrogate them)
>>288591339 >it feels like a long epilogue to the last arc It does, though the ultimate takeaway wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would be that Loid unknowingly had very early romantic feelings for Yor and he was going to come to terms with the fact that he does value her in some capacity beyond the mission. He didn't come to terms with shit, but he's completely in love with her.
>>288583219 >the marks on his cheeks are vague enough that they could be shading hatching, "scuff" marks since he's been through a lot, or a blush Classic Axeman. I choose to believe he had a slight blush and didn't even notice it.
>>288592384 >he's completely in love with her. he is just Westalis' greatest spy so he was able to lie convincingly in front of thirty SSS agents when under pressure.
>>288592507 he was totally not blushing, it was just a reaction from the pizza is all.
>>288592316 >We probably won't know for a long time if she does or not I don't know about that. Lately, Axeman has been following through on plot points that aren't immediately plot-derailing within pretty reasonable time frames. If Yor did/later does recognize Curtis, what are the consequences now that they're away from the party? Increased paranoia? They already gave her the fishing buddies excuse so I don't see her suspecting Yuri of being with the SSS himself.
>>288592507 He's definitely blushing, and Axeman deliberately framed it so that it was barely visible in the frame. I really don't think it's vague at all given all the context surrounding it.