Kaze no Stigma 19

Kabitzin on August 26, 2007 · in Kaze no Stigma

Kazuma remembers that the Tsuo Rin he saw in the street had purple eyes, but thanks to the power of flashback he also remembers that she originally had green eyes. At this point Kazuma hears the details of Ren’s disappearance, and goes on ahead while leaving Ayano and Kirika to clean up after him. However, Kazuma has to fight conservatively, because Ren is still in the building.

It seems that Vesalius absolutely loves dorama, and has a diabolical scheme to trap Kazuma in a maddening warp-maze. Vesalius hopes to befuddle Kazuma long enough that his servant Lapis (purple-eyed Tsuo Rin) can behead Ayano right as Kazuma enters the room. Unfortunately, Vesalius forgot to invest in the one-way mirror spell, and so Kazuma is able to locate Ren. Ayano is also able to blast Lapis into the room, and Kazuma is pretty shocked to see Lapis/Tsuo Rin.

Although this was more of a setup episode, the ending was confusing. It seems that Vesalius is actually named Vernhardt Rhodes, and his master is someone that Kazuma tore to pieces. Kazuma also mentions something about an Almagest being proof that Vernhardt is behind the appearance of Lapis. However, we still do not know who Vernhardt is working for, and what the point of the experiment was. I suspect that Vernhardt is part of the Stars of Sagacity, but we still do not know who their leader is, or who their major enemy is (since it is mentioned that Kazuma is merely icing on the revenge cake).

We also finally got to see Kirika and Lapis in action. Kirika’s omnyouji skills were somewhat useful, but it seems unlikely she can help out in battles (even in a support role). Lapis was supposedly well-trained in anti-mage fighting, but she is rather slow and clumsy looking. Meanwhile, Ayano has not powered up at all, and I was laughing at how she had to take the elevator up the tower and then use a fire extinguisher to break the window.