Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World Chapter 9
Nikora no Oyururi Makai Kikou chapter 9
ニコラのおゆるり魔界紀行 8

Spoiler Summary/Synopsis

Simon and Nicola are being chased by monstrous bandits. One shoots Simon in the shoulder, but the pair manage to get away. However, the cursed arrow causes Simon to collapse. They are found by a friendly dog-like creature who takes them in and treats Simon’s wounds. However, he needs decay grass to dispel the curse. Nicola goes to get some, but is warned of strong monster bandit guarding the bridge to where the plant is.

Nicola finds the bridge and a large, lizard-like creature standing guard with a giant sword. She’s amazed when a small popé creature with a sword easily defeats the large monster and takes its sword. The popé then adds the weapon to a large pile of loot he has gathered. He then turns his attention to Nicola, telling her he’s not a bandit, but is a swordsman charged with guarding the bridge.

The popé won’t be argued with, so since Nicola is unarmed, he attacks her without his sword. She dodges and dodges, impressing the popé. Nicola won’t give up since she has to save Simon. It occurs to her to feint an attack, but then jump off the bridge into the water. This takes the popé by surprise, though he’s stunned to discover she can’t swim. Reluctantly, he saves her and is again surprised when she thanks him. He introduces himself as Bruno, since she’s the only non-popé who ever asked for his name.He escorts Nicola to the plant she needs. After leaving, the bandits attack Bruno.

Meanwhile, Simon recovers, so he and Nicola hit the road. They encounter Bruno with a long line of prisoners. Nicola admires Bruno’s strength while Simon can’t believe a tiny popé could defeat that many opponents.

Thoughts/Review

More wholesome awesomeness is to be found in Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World chapter 9.

Simon and Nicola

One of the great things about this manga series is Simon and Nicola’s relationship. Here she is, a human (witch?) child in a “demon” world of youkai or whatever else. (I really wish I could see raw chapters to know the terminology used for whatever creatures live in Makai (Hell or Demon World). Simon is a resident of this world. Yet he took pity on a human child and became her guardian of sorts. As such, he took an arrow that would have hit and possibly killed her.

And for her part, Nicola greatly admires and respects Simon. As such, there’s nothing she won’t do for him. That includes facing scary, large monsters, or tiny, powerful ones. Nicola defies the typical, irritating shounen/seinen trope of the MC being able to win ’cause “reasons.” Nicola isn’t arrogant or smug when it comes to facing an opponent. She is very brave, but also once can tell she’s scared. In the case of Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World chapter 9, her fear is more for what will happen to Simon if she doesn’t get him the plant needed for his cure.

Its so lovely seeing Nicola being a more realistic character. Her motivations are pure, which makes those times she leaps before quite thinking things through not be irritating. I can’t wait to buy the manga when it comes out!

Big Things in Small Packages

I don’t know if Miyanaga-sensei intended this or not, but in addition to Bruno being a powerful warrior in a small package, Nicola is the bravest person ever in a small package. So it was amusing to me seeing how both Bruno and Nicola faced off against each other. Both had very important missions and both weren’t going to back down.

Granted, Bruno didn’t try to kill Nicola or even go after her with a weapon. So he wasn’t going all out. But still, he did misjudge Nicola for her small size just as many others misjudged Bruno due to his size and species.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World chapter 9 is another charming tale. As I’ve said before, I really do enjoy reading about Nicola’s and Simon’s travels.