魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 30 Chapter 269 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 269

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

As Arika goes off the plank to the valley below, a senator remarks on how great a form of execution this is. Jack Rakan, disguised as a guard, inquires if they have everything on film before he and the rest of Ala Rubra reveal themselves. The senator is not happy with this betrayal and reminds them of the rather large army he has with him, including warships. Against Eishun, Rakan, Al, and Gateau, Jack wonders if the senator doesn’t need more forces.

Meanwhile, Arika is surprised to find herself alive and not in hell, not only that but she’s in Nagi’s arms. She demands to know why Nagi would risk his life when he has no magic in Cerberus Canyon. As he races down the valley floor with Arika in his arms, he explains that saving the world means nothing if he can’t save her. She still protests and as Nagi leaps over a cliff and summons his staff, he tells Arika he loves her and lands on the staff.

Nagi attempts to get Arika to say how he feels for her, but she immediately hides behind her former life as a member of royalty. Nagi reminds her that the Queen of Calamity has died back there and now Arika is just a person. To emphasize the point, Nagi calls her “Arika-san.” Arika finally says that she doesn’t dislike Nagi but after more prompting from Nagi, she confesses that she spent the last two years in prison thinking about him. Nagi apologizes that she had to wait so long, but this was the only way they could properly save her. He asks her to marry him and allow him to help shoulder the great burden she placed upon herself. She agrees.

Meanwhile, young Gödel is not happy with the solution Ala Rubra came up with to save Arika since it basically leaves Arika with a tarnished reputation. Takahata reminds Kurt that this was the only way they could do things, but Gödel feels the senate will go unpunished. Takahata feels that for now, they should just enjoy the happy ending.

Thoughts/Review: And so the story of Nagi and Arika’s romance comes to an end with Arika saved and agreeing to marry Nagi. The question still remains, “where the smeg did she go after this?” Granted, we haven’t seen but a mere fraction of the stuff Ala Rubra did after the war and that mainly through Asuna’s memories and possibly Eva’s memories (if the events with Eva took place after the war, which I believe they may have). However, as romantic settings go, this chapter is pretty much a classic “knight rescues the lady” tale and those never get old, especially when done properly. I believe it was done properly here.

I do have one question though — what happened to Arika’s wooden bonds?

This form of execution used by the Senate still makes little sense though, at least from a surface perspective. However, for the Senate to use it, one would presume that they’ve executed numerous others in this fashion before and in a valley where magic cannot be performed, who could rescue anyone from there?

Of course from a writer’s perspective, Akamatsu-sensei needed a way to execute Arika, yet have a means to save her too that would allow for an official, face-saving method for the Senate to claim to have rid the world of the Queen of Calamity while at the same time allowing Arika to unofficially escape. This was apparently the only way Akamatsu-sensei could do it, so I won’t quibble. It does also show how fast Nagi is on foot, something Negi has as well. Also, it allowed us to see how similar their methods are, as seen when Nagi summoned the staff.

The other aspect to this is that by openly saving Arika and defying the Senate, the members of Ala Rubra would seemingly all be marked men. We don’t know the circumstances behind Gateau’s death, but I’ve always thought that whomever killed him was ultimately behind the “death” of Nagi and the reason Al had to be hidden under the Mahora school library. Since the Senate targeted Negi’s village, it stands to reason that they might want to take revenge on other members of Ala Rubra.

I rather enjoyed the reference to the High Daylight Walker (which is the actual term used in the Japanese in case you didn’t know). The way Japanese is written, it could almost be an indirect reference to Eva (the only High Daylight Walker we know), or it could indicate that there are other vampires who are High Daylight Walkers moving about. Regardless, the implication for the audience is that were Eva to be tossed down there and bereft of magic, she likely would not survive either. Frankly, I think Eva wouldn’t have a ton of trouble down there since she’s also a Puppet Master on top of everything else she knows about fighting and surviving.