#kanzis

I was relieved we finally got to see Clayman again, and it's in the way I sort of expected, though I certainly did not expect him to go all the way out there. I mean, I know it's easy with Raine's magic, but isn't it a bit risky for him to physically go to the Eastern Empire? It feels like it should be, but maybe I'm underestimating the precautions Clayman would be able to take to mask his presence.

Direwolves

A lot of focus on Direwolves this chapter, and Clayman wondering if they're related to Ranga. Clearly this is a subject we're going to address more deeply at some point. It makes a lot of sense for Clayman to flash on Ranga since he's always flashing back to Rimuru, but then we spent way more time mulling on how possible it was and the conclusion was like, "probably not".

It feels like a lot of mental math for nothing to come of it. My current guess is Clayman will end up accidentally naming the leader or otherwise partnering with them, and end up with his own "Ranga". The Rimuru parallels continue.

I was also really surprised that Raine suggested that the Direwolves are cryptids?

That felt very random. Are non-humanoid monsters with intelligence that rare, that it's likely Direwolves simply came from somewhere else? I can't really think of any examples off the top of my head without digging in, so I don't really recall if we see other non-humanoid monsters with intelligence or if all the ones we see lack intelligence, but it's interesting.

Kanzis

Kanzis is, not to anyone's surprise, actually good at his job and strategizing. That was nice to see, and a great insight into how humans have to fight vs how majin fight.

It was nice to see that Clayman was (and still is) suspicious and wary of Kanzis. I think this has always been one of Clayman's strengths - he's very careful with his trust, and recognizes that deals can be struck with ulterior motives. While I suppose it's still possible that Kanzis has an ulterior motive or at least some deeper reason we don't understand, it's interesting that he seems genuinely interested in serving Clayman.

The first panel here was also nice, especially tied in with Clayman's remarks on how difficult it is to assess the strength of humans. It's a point that's probably come up before elsewhere, but it's easy for majin to underestimate humans because they can't be measured in the same way, and it's again great to see Clayman being cautious about this. All of this caution is super warranted, and all of this without Clayman even knowing about the war the Eastern Empire ends up waging! With our knowledge of the LNs and the future Clayman didn't see it's easy to be like, "yeah you should be wary", but Clayman doesn't know about any of that and he's still this cautious.

Misc

Quo our beloved!!!

I love that Clayman's idea of a reward is a tea party (and Raine of course LOVES that). That's so in line. In diaries there's a scene where Ramiris bitches about Clayman's tea parties (I think mostly because she doesn't like him more than anything else). I don't quite have that screenshot but:

He is very into his tea parties and I find that so endearing. I'm also so glad there are people who actually appreciate them fdashfksda I WOULD GO TO YOUR TEA PARTY, CLAYMAN!!!! /bricked

Chapter 48 - Watchful Eyes is live!

I assume Quo was still holding back since she didn't have any of her tails become separate entities to fight for her. Given this was the point where she was already supposed to have died, she must have those abilities since Kanzis in the main series was able to leverage them with Looter. But I could also see the concept that she, like Raine, shouldn't be displaying their full power brazenly.

Clayman's save was awesome though, I didn't expect that at all!!! It was really cool hehe

Very cool use of his abilities!!! And making sure to leave the final blow for Kanzis so Looter can activate - very smart. This all shows that he's been watching and tracking them this entire time, prepared to help out where necessary. Being able to take possession of a doppelganger is really useful too!

Quo's expression is so adorable! She's so happy to have his help :D

And to Kanzis, all I have to say is, of course. He'd rather not reveal any cards if at all possible, and would probably rather see you grow from these experiences, so certainly stepping in should only be done at the last second XD

why the fuck did the wolf get wings though like that's not normal for a dire wolf as far as I'm aware? so I guess that's the influence of the mysterious watcher.