魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 25 Chapter 223 (manga)

Summary/Synopsis:

Negi catches the table he had previously launched skyward on his finger. He sets the table down as Fate states he wishes to finish their conversation.

Elsewhere, Paru and Nodoka come upon chibi-Chisame, who’s observing the meeting between Negi and Fate through her laptop. Paru and Nodoka have a plan for the situation which Chisame rejects, citing that Fate’s power is like a nuclear bomb, thus one does not play around with that. Nodoka feels things will be fine as she now has combat experience and is better than she was during their training at Eva’s resort. Their conversation is interrupted when one of Fate’s girls, Shirabe, arrives on scene with a promise to show them “reality.” She activates her pactio card and a violin appears, which she begins to play (Fidicula Lunatica). As such, the three girls activate their artifacts (Imperium Graphices for Paru, Sceptrum Virtuale for Chisame, and Diarium Ejus for Nodoka).

Back at their table, Negi rejects giving the “princess” (Asuna) to Fate, which has Setsuna wondering whom that could be. Fate has a “plan B” though. He will let Negi and his entire party return to Earth safely. In return, they cannot interfere in Fate’s plans to destroy the magic world. So Negi’s choice is saving his friends or saving the magic world. As Negi ponders this, Setsuna does as well. Her initial thought is to have Negi agree to the terms even if he doesn’t mean it, but then she wonders if Fate might have a means of enforcing such an agreement. She feels that something is definately wrong and that there is some strange connection between Fate and Negi through Fate’s actions. Meanwhile, Fate tells Negi that his hesitation is not needed as the choice should be an easy one.

Elsewhere, Chamo has found Jack, who’s with Konoka. He reports on the situation but Jack refuses to fight without getting paid. This sets Konoka off, and she verbally blasts Jack for his inaction, telling him that Negi and the others are being forced to wipe Jack’s butt since Fate is a carryover enemy from the war 20-years ago. Jack is surprised and amused by Konoka, but agrees to help some, saying he’ll put the bill on Konoka’s father’s tab.

At that moment, two more of Fate’s girls arrive — Koyomi (Kotomi?) and Tamaki. They’ve come to make a proposal to Jack, but he makes an instant move behind them, flipping their skirts up. He asks “cat ears” (Koyomi) if black is really her color and tells “horn girl” (Tamaki) that she really should wear underwear. Chamo is both shocked and impressed by Jack’s actions. Tamaki attacks Jack, stabbing him with her horn before going after Chamo. She misses him, so he clings to her horn instead. Jack reveals that he’s stolen Koyomi’s panties, which shocks her more and impresses Chamo more. Since their plan to negotiate and offer money to Jack has failed, the two girls plan to attack and summon their artifact cards. Jack sees their plan is to hold him off, and is amused by the notion but glad to get into a fight. With that, he activates his own card, causing a massive number of giant blades to appear.

Thoughts/Review:

Chamo and Jack have to become fast friends after the panty incident. Remember Chamo was all about stealing female underwear (and swimsuits) so Jack’s doing what he did combined with Chamo’s impressed, shocked reactions were amusing.

I can’t imagine that Jack’s fight with Koyomi and Tamaki will last that long. Interesting that the two girls were going to try to pay him off to stay out of the fight. Clearly, he has a long reputation of being a pure mercenary, but frankly, I wonder about that. That may be his reputation, but when push comes to shove, he’s there for Negi’s group. On a side note, Konoka’s ranting on Jack to get him to help was amusing.

As I think of what Fate is doing, I can’t help but think of Chao’s attempts to change the past. I think of how she had to use magic via technology. I wonder if what Fate does causes the end of magic on the magic world forcing them to find other means to carry on (technology). Just a thought.

Shirabe battling Nodoka, Chisame, and Paru. Her violin may be something that creates an illusion (or so it seems to me). Despite Nodoka’s having been in battles, I don’t really have confidence that the three of them could easily win but we’ll see what Akamatsu-sensei has in store.

Good stuff. Can’t wait for Negima chapter 224! ^_~