Discussion Akuyaku Tensei - History/Geography and Eliza's rise in influence (spoilers)

I wanted to analyze Eliza's current political standing, and somehow ended up compiling all sorts of map and historical elements (it's relevant…?)

So, this post is divided into 4 parts:

I. Geography and history of Arxia and surroundings
II. Geography and history of Kaldia domain
III. Battle at Fort Jugfena
IV. Overview of Eliza's current political standing

8/11/2016: updated thanks to translations of geographical elements by Imperfectluck here.

I. Geography and history of Arxia and surroundings

​

1. Geography of Arxia

Mountain ranges:

• The Amon Nor ('Black Mountains') are located at the Northeast of Kaldia. (ch.9)
• The Amon Karan ('White Mountains') at the Southwest. Together with the Amon Nor mountains, it forms natural barriers against other countries. (ch.9)
• The Amon Albus ('Red Mountains') are located Northwest of the Royal Capital, so they are probably the ones shown to the left of the map. (ch.16)

Regions:

• The Border domains are Fort Jugfena, Marquis Genas's domain, Earl Ruktoferd's domain and Earl Freche's domain. Before Kaldia Domain got permission, they were the only domains with small cavalries (ch.9).
• Northern region: originally considered the least important territory, it grew in importance thanks to the Nordsturm family's aptitude at making money, especially with its money-lending business. Pretty much the entire region is controlled by the Nordsturm family and branch families. (ch.74)
• Inland faction: a number of former priest nobles holding small domains surrounding the Royal Capital. They have very little army strength but plenty of money. (ch.20)
• Artsbelf Region: said to be Northwest of the royal capital. This region includes the domain of Senior Viscountess Daniela Felhi-Berendorf, who inherited the title but leaves management of the land to someone else. (ch.22)
• Greenfield Region: located to the South and Southwest of Arxia (ch. 4). Mrs. Galton comes from this region. In this region, an ideal woman stays at home and does not work. In the character descriptions, Viscount Rogshia is said to be a domain lord in this region. This region may be rich in agriculture, judging from its name and the fact that it was to provide supplies for the refugees (ch.20).
• Foshubari region: the most Northwestern region of the Kingdom (ch.16). Only people from this region have silver hair and deep blue eyes. Margrave Molton is from this region, and it takes almost a month by horse-drawn carriage to travel from here to Kaldia Domain.

Notes on possible domain placements:

• Viscount Galbaito's domain: this domain was located to the south of Kaldia domain and separated it from the Genas domains. After the death of Viscount Galbaitos, it was incorporated into Genas Domain, resulting in Kaldia bordering both Jugfena and Genas (ch.18). Note: even though the Galbaito and Genas domains fused, it seems the author drew them separately. I'm convinced it's the right area, because the Monster Forest would otherwise separate the Kaldia Domain from the Genas Domain. Then it'd not make sense for Kaldia to be supplying Genas (ch.18), nor for her troops to be chasing bandits near the border (ch.78) (and besides, at that time, the Monster Forest did not belong to Kaldia Domain – see II. Geography and History of Kaldia domain)
• Viscount Henznaut's domain: this domain is said to be one of Kaldia's main trading partners (ch.16) and borders it to the southwest. Claria Village supposedly bought chickens from here (ch.8). It was also called on to provide provisions to refugees, along with the domains of the Greenfield region (ch.20). Random note: Viscount Henznaut apparently only has one son (ch.16)
• Viscount Rogshia's domain: another domain that is supposedly a main trading partner of Kaldia domain (ch.16), so it is likely close to Kaldia domain. In the Characters section, the author describes Viscount Rogshia as being part of the Greenfield region (which is at the south / south-west of Arxia).
  
• Earl Freche's Domain: one of the border domains. This is the region west of Genas domain (World Glossary).
• Earl Ruktoferd's domain: this is one of the border domains, and provided Kaldia Domain with war horses, as well as a riding instructor. (ch.9, ch.32). This is the domain west of Freche Domain (World Glossary).
  
• Margrave Molton's domain: it's off-map, beyond the Albus mountain range you see at the left (ch.16).

Rindarl Union
This was originally a Kingdom in the Northeast part of the continent, which split into North, South, East and West. (ch.6)

• Densel: on the map, this is the Dukedom to the West. By the time Eliza is 6, the last battle to occur against Densel was held at Fort Jugfena 17 years ago (ch.43).
• Planates: see author map, it's the 'south' dukedom.
• Giograd: According to the author info post, it's the dukedom east of Densel, corresponding to the 'North'.
• Parmigram: At the East of Rindarl (off-map). it is said to trade with its southern neighbors for ships and is generally active at trading by sea (ch.19, 52).

Ex-Artolas Kingdom
This used to contain the eastern half of the Amon Nor Mountains, as well as the Bandishia Plateau. Its capital Remeshu had been located in the northern plateaus, but after it fell to Densel, it’s become part of Densel’s territory. Densel now controls the farmland to the east, the Shiru tribe has been gradually moving westward. By the time Eliza is 5, it had been erased for 5 years.(ch.6)

Southern countries
It is said that no up-to-date map of this region is available, as the borders keep being redefined by constant wars. Kamil's father is from a country very south here: Pactoshiki, which apparently has large bath houses. (ch.7)

Notes on distances (very, very approximative):*

• Distance between the Royal Capital and Kaldia Domain: it takes 2 days to travel by horse carriage from the Royal Capital to Kaldia Domain. Once, Eliza's group once hurried back in one day by riding on horseback and switching horses in-between (ch.24). It is said that horses can run 50-100km in a day, so I'll assume that with two horses, they covered a distance of 100km (mongol armies could apparently cover up to 160km in a day by changing horses).
• Distance between Kaldia and Jugfena: it takes 4 days to arrive on horseback, as it's not open ground and it's necessary to go around the Monster Forest to get there.(ch.6) Horses can travel around 30km in a day in mountainous terrain, so I'll assume a distance of 120 km?
• It takes almost a month to travel from Foshubari region at the Northwest to Kaldia domain using a horse-drawn carriage (ch.16). There's even an additional region （Ugaria) in-between. It's just far. Assuming so-so off-road conditions, let's assume 20-30 km / day, or 600-900 km in a month.

* Various travel assumptions from (and converted approximately into km):
https://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=19730

On my screen, the first distance is about 100px, the second 120px, and the third one over 400-600px, with travel road likely being the least linear for the last one. So, I'll assume very roughly 1px = 1km on my screen, which makes Arxia about 500km across and 400km in height. To compare, France is about 950km east to west and 960km north to south. Japan stretches for 3000km north to south.

2. History and politics of Arxia

Arxia is the largest country on the continent (ch.6) and specializes in defensive war, basically having an isolationist policy (ch.9).

Chronology (ch.14,19,20):

• ??: Xia Fema, a shrine maiden, founded the Xia Church, which worships the god Misorua. She left behind its holy scriptures, the 'Sacred Code' which contains an advanced law system used to this day.
• A millenium ago: St. Ahar, a descendent of Xia Fema, founded Ar Xia Holy Kingdom, a coalition of smaller countries united by the Xia sect.
• 600 years ago: the country became the Arxia Kingdom.
• Until 50 years ago: Arxia Kingdom incorporated independent noble lords into the territory.
• Present: As one of its precepts is to accept everyone from the Xia religion, it accepted the refugees from Ex-Artolas.

Governance:

• Royalty: Arxia has two royal families, both directly descended from St. Ahar: the Teal family that's on the throne, and the Melloart family. The current King has two wives: Queen Dionesia, a Princess from the Planates Dukedom, whose son is the first prince Prince Albert, and Princess Evaris from the Melloart family, whose son Prince Alfred was chosen as the Crown Prince. (ch.74,84)
• Upper house of lords: commonly referred to as the “Imperial Court,” it’s where representatives of the king and the House of Lords make various decisions, and consists of the king, prime minister (Marquis Ruttergau), commander-in-chief (Marquis Rolentsor), high priest, archpriest, three judges, and five representatives from the House of Lords. (ch.32)
• House of Lords: located at the Arktoria Castle, where nobles discuss politics. It only consists of domain lords with the rank of viscount or higher, and court aristocrats with the rank of earl or higher. (ch.74)
• Church: The church is in charge of the justice system as well as education (ch.71). There are distinctions between priests, monks, and other clergymen. Priests are given their positions by the king, and would carry out various rituals for both the royal palace and temples, they belong to both the royal palace and the church (ch.14). Although the Church rarely involves itself in politics, going against its decisions means risking being excommunicated and persecuted as a heretic (ch.56).

Note (ch.84):

• Diplomacy is the realm of the king, the archduke’s family, and the Upper House of Lords
  
• Matters about the royal family themselves are jointly decided by the royal family, the church, and the Upper House of Lords.
• The House of Lords have no say in the above, save indirectly via the Upper House of Lords.

 

II. Geography and history of Kaldia domain

1. Geography

First off, I'm going to point out something that's actually a huge spoiler, but needs to be told in order to understand the map: it is very likely that the author-drawn map shows the -future- Kaldia domain (in Act 3), not the one at the start of the series (the map seems to date from before that part was mentioned, but the author may have been planning for the long term).

A lot of things only make sense with this:

• Fort Jugfena is “the only domain between Kaldia domain and Densel.” (ch.6) Now look at the map again.
• It was said that Kaldia domain is 'small' (it Was small)(ch.3), plus it was not described initially as a border domain, despite the map showing shared borders with both Densel and Bandishia Plateau. (ch.9)
• In ch.28, Jugfena reported increased monster activity from the Monster Forest. This wouldn't make sense much if Monster Forest was in Kaldia domain instead of Jugfena domain. (and in fact, after finishing 90% of this post, I realized through MTL that the author post outright states that the Monster Forest is in Jugfena Royal domain >_>;; )
• The fighting that occurred at Jugfena didn't make sense to me at first because the geographical features would have put the fighting in the Kaldia domain, unless that region Wasn't part of the Kaldia domain then.
• The talk of bandits being pincered by troops from Fort Royal Domain and Genas Domain in Act 2 Part 1. It only makes sense if Kaldia wasn't between the two back then.

From henceforth, “Kaldia domain” will refer to the old Kaldia domain. To refer to the enlarged Kaldia domain, I will use “expanded Kaldia domain.”

Hence, you have the following map.


Notes:

• The Southwest section of Kaldia domain consisting of gently rolling hills. (ch.8) It's where the villages are concentrated.
• The Northeast is a flat region with many small lakes and rivers. It is mostly pristine land, as Eliza's father forced people to work in the fields. It is also closer to the mountains, where many beasts come down during the winter. (ch.8,77)
• The two regions appear to be separated by the Sera river, which run parallel to Kaldia domain's Western border. (ch.77)
• In the author post, it is said that the directly-controlled territory (which includes Eliza's mansion) is located at the most Eastern edge of the territory… except this is obviously a typo, and it should be 'West' (ch.25 states it's in the West, for example), so there we go, Mansion of Golden Hills at the Western tip.
• Claria village bought some chickens from the Henznaut domain (ch.8), it's probably close to the Henznaut border. Author post seems to say that it's right south of where the mansion is.
• Two villages, Nezu and Charon, are located near the Genas border. (ch.78) Author post states Nezu is located at the most southern point.
• Cyril village is the furthest village away, and the closest to the mountains. It's upstream of Sera river, and has forests just north of it. (ch.33,34,77)
• The new village for the refugees was originally supposed to be in the Northeast. However, because there were fewer refugees than expected, it was moved closer west. Perhaps close to the Sera river? (ch.72)
• A new domain lord's residence was built in the center portion of Kaldia, with the Sera river running east of it. (ch.77)

On Fort Jugfena's position, please refer to III. Fort Jugfena.

2. History

Eliza's father, Orville Kaldia, appears to have started making a mess of things about 14-15 years before Eliza poisoned her family. He supposedly died at age 29, so he started when he was about 15 (ouch). His policies included:

• Forcing the entirety of the domain to work in the fields (ch.8), putting a stop to livestock breeding (ch.8) and fishing (ch.77). As a result, by the start of the series, Kaldia domain only produced grain crops (ch.8). Commoners would grow rye for their own consumption (ch.3). There were wheat fields around the Mansion of the Golden Hill, but they were wiped out by a plague some time in the past, and was only restored around the time Eliza was 4.
• Human trafficking (19 years before Eliza turned 4)(ch.2): In order to fund their extravagant lifestyle, the Kaldia family started sending young boys and girls off to other lands as 'laborers'. Such laborers were sent back if they became pregnant, with male children being killed off as they are the children of nobles.
• Torture and executions (about 20 years before Eliza turned 6)(ch.13). For example, in the one year before Eliza poisoned her family, 72 people died. Eliza was forced to observe several such torture and execution sessions herself. In fact, the mansion remained small as they wished to avoid attract attention, but they resorted instead to building a large underground dungeon.
• Expelled the sacred shrines (15 years ago when Eliza turned 6)(ch.36), thus depriving the people of education.
• He also did his best to kill off all his relatives except his own family.

The result of these policies was that the region had the worst public order (ch.4), and experienced widespread famine that forced many farmers into becoming bandits. They were subsequently pardoned by Earl Terejia. Note: the suppression didn't affect Kaldia's family lifestyle, since they got most of what they needed from merchants.

Eliza accepted refugees when she was 6, who eventually started planting pumpkins and fishing (ch.24). Kaldia domain also started importing livestock for breeding again, such as Claria village buying chickens from Henznaut domain (ch.8). She also secured a deal by Margrave Molton to obtain daily necessities for the refugees at a cheap price (ch. 23).

III. Battle at Fort Jugfena

Fort Jugfena, the only populated area in Jugfena Royal Domain, is a major export location for the grain produced by Kaldia domain, and was the only domain between Kaldia domain and Densel (ch.6). It was located at the southern tip of the Bandishia Plateau, with the Great Plains to its East, with said plains bordered south by the Monster Forest (ch.45). For this reason, I think the Fort Jugfena is near the intersection of the Jugfena Royal Domain, the (expanded) Kaldia Domain and the Bandishia Plateau, but the position could vary.

During the battle at Fort Jugfena, the Arxia troops were deployed “straight eastwards” from the fort, but the Densel troops took a more southern path from the forest to the South. Hence:

​

(note: not up to scale)

Basically, this is what happened at the battle at Fort Jugfena:

• The Jugfena and Kaldia troops went straight east from Fort Jugfena. On the other side of the Great Plains, they could see the enemy camps.
• When Eliza reported that the camps may be decoys, Ergnade sent the Right wing southwest in case the enemies went through the South route, then led the Knights (only part of the Center formation by the way) to check out the camps, subsequently setting the camp on fire before rushing back.
• The enemies had long made preparations to go through the Monster Forest from the South (with said preparations briefly noticed by Eliza). Then, by taking advantage of lower elevation, they went behind the Jugfena troops unseen. Part went to attack Fort Jugfena itself, killing all the refugees and the archers in the fort, as well as destroying ramparts, while part started a fight in the Great Plains.
• The Shiru tribe protected by the 3rd Cavalry Platoon arrived from the Northeast. Because the fighting started in the Great Plains, Kaldia's troops accompanied them through the Bandishia Plateau instead. Franks' troops held back the pursuers.
• The Kaldia troops and Shiru tribe members safely reached Fort Jugfena through a secret passage. The enemies had already infiltrated however, and the Kaldia and Jugfena troops were attacked while investigating.

Finally, Ergnade led the rest of the troops back towards Fort Jugfena, killing the enemy troops now caught between them and Fort Jugfena, and eventually clearing out Fort Jugfena and rescuing Eliza.

Observation: Eliza and her troops would probably have remained safe if they stayed in the secret passage. However, there was also the risk of the enemy troops discovering the passage, and Earl Einsbark and his son would probably have died if they didn't show up.

 

IV. Overview of Eliza's current political standing

Great! We finally get to the part I originally wanted to write (...). Since I was interested in how much influence Eliza was gathering, let's start with what she's capable of, i.e. the education she's received and experiences she's gathered.

Education & training (gathered by person):

• Earl Terejia: He passed her educational materials on culture and moral sense from when she turned 5 (ch.4). After her time at the barracks, he also taught her about the situation of her domain (ch.6) and equestrianism (ch.9). He's since kept her up-to-date on matters of her domain.
• Mrs. Marshan: She worked before as a noble school teacher for the government, and taught Eliza information needed for a domain lord, including geography (ch.7), magical beasts (ch.28), reading and writing, polite speech and etiquette, nobility and law (ch.63), as well as languages (ch.47, 81).
• Mrs. Galton: mainly told her fairy tales… (ch.4)
• Some guy from the capital: … was sent there to teach her 'pretty swordsmanship‘ when she was 5 (ch.7).
• Some retired cavalry dude from Henznaut: taught her how to ride a war horse (ch.9).
• Kamil Novak: Likely trained by Earl Terejia to become Eliza's personal attendant, he kept her up-to-date about nobles and news from the royal capital and handled a lot of paperwork (ch.16-18). He has a lot of knowledge of foreign countries and speaks foreign languages due to his father being a merchant (ch.26).
• Gunther and the soldiers: He is a former bandit who was pardoned and recruited as a soldier. He became Eliza's 'sparring partner' when she was 5, during her time at the barracks (ch.5). His best weapon is the bow though. The soldiers taught her survival.
  
• Claudia Rolentsor: She is from the prestigious military family Rolentsor (ch.20), but not eligible to inherit. Her dream is to become a knight (ch.23). She started learning the sword at the age of 2 and the spear at the age of 7, and is better at the spear than Gunther (ch.20) and her supposedly talented brother (ch.38). During her time at the Kaldia domain, she also went hunting monsters, which supposedly honed her instincts. She started training Eliza in martial arts and weapons when Eliza was 6 (ch.30).
• Ergnade Einsbark: First came to her domain when she was 6 to pass along his father Earl Einsbark's request for her to send troops to assist in defending Fort Jugfena (ch.32). He teaches her the use of the spear and the halberd (ch.40), and trains her on how to command (ch.41).
• Her family: … taught her lots of torture methods. She seems to be a natural, too (ch.81).

Events:
5 years-old:

• She underwent a 3-month training in the barracks and learned the foundations of using the sword and spear. During this time, she also learned about gathering edible food from the other soldiers (ch.5).

6 years-old:

• During her 6th birthday, she was introduced for the first time to a number of nobles, including the prime minister and the Chief Priest, who met her separately.
• Earl Terejia had her start handling part of her domain's paperwork in response to developments that would force her domain to accept the refugees (ch.6).
• She was summoned to the House of Lords for a meeting for the first time. There, she spoke up to propose for her domain to accept the refugees from the ex-Artolas kingdom (ch.20-21). After this, Earl Terejia had her stay at the capital to form connections. She was able to obtain good bulk purchase terms with Margrave Molton (ch.23).
• She spent 4 days to cram in information on fire moths and after experimentations, proposed counter-measures (ch.29).
• She also made proposals for a vigilante corps. Earl Terejia already had a plan prepared, but was surprised at her proposal and passed her additional information on military regulations and military service records (ch.29).
• She accepts a request to send troops to defend Fort Jugfena (ch.33). Along the way, she and her troops defeat an ice lizard (ch.34). When confronting the enemy army, she realizes first that the enemy had used decoys (ch.44). She successfully leads the Shiru tribe back to the fort, went along with soldiers into the fort and successfully retrieved the heavily injured Earl Einsbark and his son Wiegraf, but they were subsequently attacked. She survives but is left temporarily traumatized by the whole ordeal (ch.45-56).

7 years-old:

• After recovering, she catches up on piled-up work, in particular in regards to modifying refugee plans. She has to travel frequently between her domain and the royal capital during this time, and made arrangements for carpenters to build houses for the Shiru tribe (ch.72).
• She captures and interrogates some 'bandits' who had come from Denzel (ch.81)

Most influential relation: Earl Terejia
It's obvious from a glance that Eliza owes much of her head start to Earl Terejia: apart from working himself to the bone for the sake of restoring her domain, he's the one who arranged all of her early education and training, either by teaching her personally or by surrounding her with talented people. It is also thanks to him that Eliza got in touch with most of her relations, including his brother, the Prime Minister Marquis Rittergau (ch.10), and Chief Priest Faris (ch.14), Margrave Molton (ch.16: Earl Terejia was the one who invited him to her 6th birthday) and the Einsbark family (ch.39: they took interest in her because of Earl Terejia). I rather like this, because it makes sense for such a young child to lack the connections, and it also made sense for Earl Terejia to be there (he likely went because of Kaldia's strategic location when considering the upcoming war).

Even so, Eliza developed her skills and relations with her own hard work.

Other major relations:

• Einsbark family (strong friendship and military ties): She first met Ergnade Einsbark (ch.32), the leader of the 1st Cavalry Platoon at Fort Jugfena, and the third son of Earl Einsbark. Then she met the rest of his Einsbarks (ch.39). It is implied that the Einsbarks view her kindly, and Eliza herself seems to often be reminded of family when around them. The geographical location and the tensions with Rindarl also mean that she'll continue her close ties with this family.
• Margrave Molton (he's quite fond of her): he first showed up at her 6th birthday, but only talked to her when they met again at the capital where he agreed to sell daily supplies to her domain in bulk at a cheap price. He's fond of children and wanted to talk to Eliza because she's the same age as his son (ch.23). Later, he provides her with intel on the North (ch.76).
• Marquis Rittergau, the Prime Minister of Arxia (weak ties but multiple interactions): he is the elder brother of Earl Terejia, and a member of the Upper House of Lords. He came to meet Eliza before her 6th birthday (ch.6). He seemed interested when she spoke up at her first meeting of the House of Lords, to accept the Shiru refugees (ch.20).
• Chief Priest Faris (weak ties but multiple interactions): she has a rank at least equal to senior earl. She came to meet Eliza before her 6th birthday (ch.14), saw her again at her 7th birthday (ch.72) and appears to know the truth about her.

Other ties (good or bad):

• Earl Rukterford: neutral, trading terms. He provides her domains with war horses.
• Margrave Genas: initially poor relations.
• Earl Freche: according to the character descriptions, Eliza later helps one of his sons in regards to some engagement matter.
• The Nordsturms: yo, they hate her. Well the feeling's mutual. XD (ch.74)
• Rindarl Union: as a minor spoiler, she gains a horrible reputation there. It almost feels like they're shooting themselves in the foot by making up horrible stories about her. xD

Major military/political trends:

• National attention has been increasingly focused on the Eastern domains because of rising tensions with the Rindarl union. This means extra financial support, plus the refugees Eliza accepted also mean more trade opportunities. Thus, more and more nobles want to get acquainted with Eliza for future trade opportunities (ch.75)
• Kaldia, Jugfena and Genas are also the recipients of half of the defense budget financed by the rich northern domains. This made Nordsturm family attack Eliza politically, but Earl Terejia implied that their time may be up(ch.74).
• She also has the Shiru tribe there serving as her extra cavalry (in parallel to the cavalry set up by Earl Terejia). Both her old troops and the Shiru tribe appear to heavily acknowledge her as their lord (with her original troops referring to her as Charlie, the name of an ancient King).

And now for some spoilers (the little I figured out from MTL):

Spoiler

Military:

• Eliza is later adopted into the Einsbark family (though without succession rights), cementing her position as belonging to a 'military family'. She starts taking part in wars at the age of 12, initially as just support.
• At 12 she leads her troops to disrupt the enemies' usage of a new weapon. In recognition of this, she was awarded additional land (formerly belonging to the Jugfena Royal Domain), and the title of Junior Earl. … she didn't want either though. xD
• After that, her next military accomplishment earned her a very high-ranking medal. She gains quite a bit of fame from this, including at school (though she unaware that her notoriety isn't the only thing rising)
• The Einsbark family seems to involve her in military strategy discussions. I think she even gets to see Marquis Rolentsor, Arxia's Commander-in-Chief?

Political ties:

• Earl Terejia eventually retires, though she still goes to visit him and consult him on matters.
• In Act II, she appears to help one of the sons of Earl Freche for some engagement matters, and in Act III it seems he discusses with her regarding matters of the Southern countries (in particular because of meddling by the Rindarl Union). At the end of Act II, Margrave Genas agrees to be on cooperative speaking terms with her (because Rindarl shenanigans?). Earl Ruktoferd also appears to suggest joint horse breeding programs because the Shiru tribe uses another breed. In other words, she comes to be on neutral/cooperative terms with all of the Eastern border domains.
• She meets the First Prince on two occasions, though as strangers who don't even reveal their names.
• By the time she starts school, the Crown Prince approaches her at school (probably because she's become famous for her military accomplishments -not that she noticed) and introduces her to his retinue: the two sons of the Archduke and the grandson of the Commander-in-Chief. This group forms the capture targets in the original game. Apart from the Rolentsor kid though, Eliza doesn't really want anything to do with them because of the difference in social status.
• She also befriends the son of Margrave Molton.

Conclusion
I've mentioned in a previous post that Eliza's position is interesting, because it shows both the decision-makers' side, and the side of the ones bearing the consequences (whereas typically, light novels will only focus on one side, as either 'fight-against-big-bad-corrupt-nobles' stories or top-down 'improve-the-lives-of-peasants' stories).

In fact, just like the summary, Eliza never benefits from magic or cheats. Instead her position is influenced by:

• 'Top-down' factors: the situation with Rindarl Union placed more focus on the domains to the East, including hers, which in turn is probably why Earl Terejia came to Kaldia domain, and why he's spent so much effort to train her into a proper domain lord: governance matters, military/training matters and noble relations matters included. Because Earl Terejia is quite influential himself, a whole bunch of high-ranking nobles take interest in his 'protege'. Eventually she finds herself forming closer ties with the Einsbark family as well, basically pushing her down the military path.
• 'Bottom-up' factors: Eliza herself never really cared that much about all those macro factors. Instead her personal history made her rather obsessed with restoring her domain (“carrot”), and both close-by factors (Earl Terejia is Old) and macro factors (border tensions)(i.e. “sticks”) basically served as personal motivation for her to learn/train/work her arse off, in the process gaining the recognition of other characters. Although she gains importance politically, because of her position at the front lines and how her psyche is tied to her territory, she is very much also on the 'bearing the consequences' end of any policies.

If you look at the map and compare the actual events in the story, you can see how she's gradually gaining influence with the territories not far from hers. I'm really curious to see how far the author takes this into the future.

 

Wild hardcore fan appeared!

 

There's even an introduction, table of contents, and conclusion... Wow...

edit: and very well-organized sections

 

Well well well..
That's some good work here, guess I'll take my time to read it properly when I wake up hu

 

wwaaah i fear reading it all!

 

I get the feeling that this guy knows much more than the author himself

 

Ohh, that Old Kaldia hypothesis makes sense,
I was also wondering about those points, and the fact that on the map Amon Nor Mountains is located North, even slightly North-Northwest, rather than Northeast of Kaldia,
I used to think that the map was not that accurate, but yours explains it more nicely

 

Good job and seriously yeah from the few last chapter Eliza very much talented at art of torture

 

I want to read this, but I really would like to avoid spoilers. Would you to be able to make a more simplified report that is more limited in its spoilers @Mizura ?

 

Wow, thanks. I will take my time reading this when i'm free (from other novels XD).

 

Dude.

what...the...fuck

 

...this here...this deserves an achievement...

 

Wow~
I was lost but now I can see clearly~!
But damned spoiler man! I will just peek a bit.....
Alright! The situation that I had most doubt was the current happenings and what you enlightened me was the map and this:

Planates is one of the countries that makes the Rindarl Union, which means that the ones at fault might very well be the queen Dionesia and her supporters. Maybe they aim to make a confusion and kill the second prince and thus make it easier for the take over/union with Rindarl?

 

haha, very nice, translator here again, you have Skype or some other method of contact? Let me know, we can always discuss Eliza xD

 

No tl;dr this time? I guess it was too long to even scroll down. Anyway, same answer as always: essays are fun, I have no regrets. (besides I was mad after reading this review where someone claimed that the author seemed to be making things up along the way. Oy, the author of Eliza does great worldbuilding, thanks!)

Well, I put most spoilers under spoiler tags. Some info was trivia from a separate author post, so it's not Really spoilers. You can read the first part quite safely.

However, the second part has a major geographical spoiler that I had no way around except to reveal it, but that's because the -author map- itself is the source of spoilers. I suggest you just accept it and read it, because otherwise, you'll get confused over just about all the geographical information provided in the first two acts.

Hoho, you've touched upon a major possible source of future conflict. I'm not sure if Queen Dionesia has anything to do with the war (since she's stuck in Arxia and likely kept under surveillance), but there will definitely be succession issues (which, ironically, it a common staple of otome games).

Haha, err, I actually don't. I avoid using chat softwares to avoid getting Too distracted. ^^;; We could PM though. Do you think it'd be useful to have part of this on your blog, as reference for readers? I wouldn't mind.

By the way, I noticed that I submitted a wrong correction for chapter 4. After I figured the map out, I realized that Jugfena Royal Domain really Was "east of Kaldia domain" (and west. and north). Whoops, sorry!

I mentioned in the discussions thread that Eliza would make one badass game, combining character schedule management, land management, tactical-rpg scenarios and otome elements. There'd really be so many options in a game: Eliza could choose whether or not to poison her family, whether to rule benevolently, negligently (let Earl Terejia do all the work xD ) or as a tyrant like her father, could choose the main paths to follow (military, aristocracy relations, trade), the regions she allies with (maybe even the dreaded Nordsturm factions), the factions she joins (including traitor or going independent), and finally there'd be the love interest components.

Oh by the way, notice that the nobility structure (in terms of territory) is quite clear from the map. Viscounts head all those territories inland, whereas Earls and Marquis lead the border domains. I think I've read in the series that Margraves head regions with important resources.

 

Very impressive and well-thought out. I enjoyed reading it and it helped to clarify some geographical details that I had been planning on rereading to solidify myself (I'm still doing the reread though).

 

Thanks!!!! I had read (the novel) aleast three times trying to put together all!! It happened me on Youko Senki too...
This make me thing easier....

 

this update is nice... though my head hurt from all the info here >o<