This is the sequel to Tasaki Rei s fantasy novel The story unfolds as Luciano a young boy from a prestigious family escapes an attack on his mansion and arrives in a village in eastern Leuende There he meets Tessa a girl with incredible strength and this is the turning point in the story. Luciano settles into his new life in the village but the peace does not last long In order to save the village from danger Tessa decides to go to war This brings the story to an epic scale. The highlight of this film is the depiction of conflicts between nations and peoples as the characters grow and change In particular Tessa s performance is overwhelming and the scene where she confronts the person she admires is gripping The depiction of the oppressed as they take up arms and their positions are reversed is so realistic that it takes your breath away. In addition Tasaki s penmanship is perfectly demonstrated in the detailed descriptions of scenes It vividly depicts a village with a thatched roof a vibrant coal mine and a colorful harvest festival making you feel as if you were there. But it doesn t end with a happy ending It depicts a changing world including the end of Tessa a sealed forest of ancient trees and a cloistered emperor living in an isolated island castle It also suggests that Luciano s and Tessa s decisions changed the fate of the country significantly raising expectations for the next book. When I read this book I felt like I was witnessing a turning point in history It was overwhelming to see how the world changed as the characters grew At the same time the tragedies caused by war and ethnic conflict were sharply depicted and the real world issues compounded the experience Japanese