Finished this week’s reading!
A couple of questions:
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What’s the difference between 台所, キッチン, and 炊事場?
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At the end of the chapter, Myne thinks:
……あ、もしかして、天才フラグが立ったんじゃない? 十で神童、十五で才子、二十過ぎればただの人って感じになりそうだけど。
I’m guessing this is a phrase in Japanese, but is she implying that she was only able to work out the number system due to her knowledge from her previous life, and so Myne isn’t a genius, because as an adult, Urano was unremarkable?
And just some general thoughts:
Although Urano was obviously obsessed with reading, it just occurred to me that now that she’s Myne, it might not just be that she’s seeking comfort in a familiar habit - perhaps she’s seeking out books for information that she wouldn’t be able to obtain any other way without arousing suspicion. After all, realising that she’s in a new world, with the limited knowledge and memories of a child, it’s no surprise she’d want to find out as much as possible about what her new life will be like.
She has attempted to glean information from observation and exploration (though thwarted at every turn!). Asking others is a bit more precarious - Tuuli wouldn’t know much more than Myne, and her parents might not be the best source for anything other than the simplest observations (points “What’s that?"); they could brush her off, oversimplify or gloss over things because she’s a child (assuming they know the answers to her questions - she can’t judge their level of education, after all), but her curiosity may also cause them concern if she seems (suddenly) wise beyond her years.
Considering the vaguely Mediaeval European setting, I could easily imagine suspicion turning into fear, and people accusing her of being “devil-possessed” or a witch, leading to her unfortunate demise… Not that I’m expecting such things from this story! But in a new world, you can’t be too careful - we see a little of this when Myne refrains from commenting on religion.
It’ll be interesting to see Myne’s journey considering where she’s starting from. From what we’ve learned so far, her family is ordinary, with no particular wealth or influence, and she herself is very young, with limited knowledge and resources. This world seems to have gender roles (Tuuli nursing Myne, the mother washing dishes and going to market, the father being a soldier), which may throw up more barriers if she wants to pursue an education. And then there’s the religion, which we haven’t learned anything about except for the fact it exists, but which could also introduce unexpected obstacles…