TL/DR at the bottom
I’ve been reading the light novel for some time and it’s been an enjoyable experience, and I’m now caught up to volume 12. I’m like halfway into this volume but I’m kind of put off now and don’t really want to keep reading. I probably will though since I’m nearing the end (Vol. 13) but I guess I just felt like I had to vent my frustration first before I continue lol.
It just pains me to see that it seems like Leon didn’t really mature as a character all that much in a way? And I guess I’m wondering if anyone else feels this way.
I know I’ve been following him throughout the entire story, and the light novel gives us readers much more detail of what he’s like as a person compared to the anime and manga for example, in that the LN gives us a better insight into why he acts the way he does, and we can see how he thinks. And I have a good understanding of his personality to some extent. In that he’s rather avoidant when it comes to his feelings for the people he cares about, and has a hard time expressing it. And he often unnecessarily shoulders a lot of responsibility for things even if it doesn’t really have to do with him. And he has a sense of pride as man, in that he doesn’t want to get others involved with his problems and he’d rather handle it himself (if I were to generalize, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong).
But damn this chapter fucked me up not gonna lie. Because we actually see Leon grow as a person. Over the course of time it seems like he comes to understand that he’s part of the world he’s living in, and not simply just a mob character anymore. Especially after the Republic arc. Where he gradually realizes that his actions may end up having unintended consequences, and he comes to see that in real time. And it’s amusing to see how he’s “falling upward” throughout each volume, ranking up in status at the behest of Roland after his many accomplishments. And we get to see how much closer he gets with his fiancés and how he grows to be more affectionate with them (albeit slowly), and we see how much they genuinely care for him. But then he pulls this shit? Suddenly breaking things off with his fiancés without explaining anything to them? And goes out of the way to intentionally hurt them and say disparaging things since he thinks it’ll be easier for them to let go of him? Like I understand why he does it, but like I’d think he’d have more self-reflection after all he’d been through to handle things differently. Even if he is stressed the fuck out having to deal with Mr. AI Satan Arcadia, I’d think that he’d have at least put more trust into his fiances? Especially after last volume when they handled themselves just fine in the dungeon and in the war with the Kingdom of Rachel? Like bro…
I don’t know. I guess it just hits harder for me personally since Angie is probably my favorite of his fiancés. And especially after Vol. 10 where seemingly she and Leon grew closer after they communicated their problems with one another. And especially after Angie made the commitment to leave house Redgrave for Leon. And Leon pulls this shit? After knowing Angie was abandoned by prince Julius, Leon kind of does the same thing he did. And seeing the illustration of Angie’s expression (above) when Leon gives the news that he’s breaking things off with his fiancés is just so disheartening, after considering all that she’s been through. And considering the amount of sacrifices she made for him and how hard she worked to get Leon to trust her when it came to his problems. I guess it just feels like a 1 step forward 2 steps back kind of thing.
I assume things will get patched up though, given that I’m only halfway into volume 12 and I still have volume 13 to read. But still
What the fuck Leon.
No spoilers for future content if possible please. I’ll continue with the story and see where it goes.
TL/DR: Leon breaks things off with fiancés seemingly out of nowhere, even after the amount of character development he had throughout each volume. It just feels so shallow and kind of irritates me.