Where did you read the novel? If ya don’t mind sharing
I never mind sharing syosetu. Syosetu is the official site where aspiring Japanese authors write their stories. The majority of manga posted here are adaptions of novels originally posted on syosetu.
It's a Japanese site, but you can navigate it easy with Google translate, and it's completely free. I fully recommend checking syosetu the next time you find an intetesting manga you want spoilers for!
This novel, by the way, is here: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7909dl/
Thank you so much, I love reading novels, so thank you for sharing. I’ll be exploring the website from now on
At least... at least they're together... but I do have a question. You said Lila is "basically a skeleton" by the end, but does she ever get better? Or at least does it hint she will get better in the future?
Alchemists are terrible at self-care. ┗( T﹏T )┛
Lila recovers enough to be able to stand on her own again, but because alchemists are always in demand... Lila gets a job teaching future alchemists while she's still in recovery. It's a job for elderly/retired alchemists, but because of what's going on in the world (war, basically) the able-bodied are returning to the field while the infirm teach. So, as soon as Lila recovers, she's going back to the field, too. ╥﹏╥
And that's how it ends? Are we supposed to be just okay with that??? My poor baby girl deserves better than that Lil and Lila should just start growing vegetables and living off nature in the middle of the woods or smth. Anything's better than the treatment they're both getting in their current society...
Her country is the only real safe place for alchemists, because laws exist to protect them. But they still sometimes leave their country to aid other countries. They took oaths, and Lila is the most steadfast adherent of their beliefs. Seriously too selfless to live. There's a reason their service contract includes a will. Alchemists have been known to heal until they drop dead. ╥﹏╥
But yeah, it's hard. It's said that 500 students come to learn how to be an alchemist, but less than 100 actually graduate, because being an alchemist is so hard--not just the learning, but the treatment.
The alchemists are super loyal to each other, though. And they all adore Lila.
thanks for spoilers bc tragedies are not my cup of tea o7
The novel itself is only 22 chapters, and we are currently halfway through chapter 3 of the novel. But if you were expecting a lighter redemption story, where Lila teaches Ril how to forgive humans...the lightness never comes. ╥﹏╥
I'm warning you now, we have maybe one more chapter left in the manga of "okay"-ness, before we see how alchemists are treated by normal people. There's a reason they're a protected species in their country. Lila gets attacked by humans, rescued by Ril, and then gives herself up as a human sacrifice in an attempt to appease the demons, and she almost dies.
Seriously, the novel gets so dark, I'm still crying. No one dies, but Lila comes VERY CLOSE; she's basically a walking skeleton by the end, except without the walking (Ril has to carry her everywhere). ╥﹏╥
But they're together in the end, so that's nice, right? Shame on me for expecting a sweet love story from a novel calling itself a LOVE SONG. （/TДT)/