Tearmoon Empire: Volume 10

First off, J-Novel Club has been doing an amazing job with the English version of Tearmoon Empire, but for some reason this volume has a lot of typos. It didn't really take away the enjoyment of reading this book, it's just quite distracting at times.

After her visit to Sunkland, Mia continues her travels to the Equestrian Kingdom. As usual, she only has one objective in mind: food. The Equestrian Kingdom's butter that she had in Sunkland tasted SO good, and since Abel is meeting up with Malong there, she simply needs to tag along in order to get more of their butter. As it turns out, however, the situation in the Equestrian Kingdom is quite grave. Mia and Rafina get chased down by bandits as soon as they arrive, and the leader turns out to be the younger sister of the Fire Clan's chief.

Since vol. 10 is opening a new story arc, it introduces a lot of the Equestrian Kingdom's history as well as the Fire Clan's link to the Chaos Serpents. Not only it ties back to the bandit attack in Sunkland, but it also establishes connection to Abel and Remno. We haven't been in Remno since vol. 2, so it's nice to see more information about the kingdom. There's also a new development with Miabel, as well as Rafina. Previously in Sunkland, Rafina mentioned that she's into men who would carry her bridal-style. Well, she gets her wish granted here and thus a new ship was born.

As usual, the arc doesn't get resolved by the end of the book. This volume mainly focuses on the thirteen clans of the Equestrian Kingdom, as well as Mia and her friends trying their best to make them get along again. They ultimately agree to have a race for decision-making, and of course Mia herself volunteers to participate. This time not on a lightning bolt like Kuolan, but on a horse who is very much like herself.

Overall, this is a great installment that feels like it's building up to an exciting climax. It leaves me curious about so many things, so I'm going to start on vol. 11 right away.