Kieli Vol 2 - Kieli's past is revealed. Can they actually do that?
Volume 2 of Kieli continues from where we left off, with Kieli, Harvey, and the Corporal on the run from the Church, which wants to eliminate all the Undying. To escape their reach, they plan to take a ship and travel through the mysterious Sand Ocean. You can think of the Sand Ocean as a desert that can only be navigated by specialized ships, and it is a remnant of the war that took place more than eighty years ago.
In this area, there are local populations that follow beliefs much different from those seen in the major cities. Kieli mentions several times that there is only one religion in this world, unlike where the settlers originally came from. This alludes to the fact that this is a world colonized by people from Earth, though minor religions still exist and are usually suppressed by the Church.
Kieli and Harvey board a ship called The Mole's Birthplace, where they meet a wealthy and somewhat arrogant young boy named Julius. Kieli manages to befriend him, and things seem to be going smoothly as the two play together. However, Kieli begins to feel physically ill due to what she thinks is seasickness. Harvey and the Corporal both realize this is no normal illness but rather a reflection of Kieli's supernatural powers. They begin investigating the ship for more details and discover that the vessel is actually a front for a human slave trade. The crew kills or sells the less fortunate passengers and hides the bodies in hidden compartments.
Kieli is absorbing the negative emotions from the hundreds of ghosts of the dead, which is causing her sickness. Before Harvey can act, the crew realizes he is a threat and attempts to neutralize him with special copper-based weapons designed to counter his Undying nature. They also prepare to sell Kieli once they reach the next port. During the chaos of the fight, Kieli becomes possessed by the spirits around her, causing enough havoc to damage the ship. She is thrown overboard along with Harvey and the damaged Corporal.
This would normally be the end of the story because falling into the Sand Ocean means certain death. However, Harvey uses his immortal body to keep Kieli above the sand long enough to be spotted by another smaller vessel named The Sand Walker. There, Kieli and Harvey meet Ol-Han, a former war comrade of Harvey from eighty years ago. Since Ol-Han is not an Undying, he has aged naturally and is an old man at this point.
The two share their memories and seem to connect again, but the reunion is short-lived. Ol-Han decides to betray the group by turning Harvey over to the Church in exchange for money. Although Ol-Han belongs to a religion that was suppressed by the Church, his people chose to renounce their beliefs to work with the Church to survive. Kieli, whom Ol-Han promised would not be harmed, remains steadfast in protecting Harvey. Thanks to the commotion caused by a Sand Whale attack, she manages to break free and reach the terminal on the other side of the Sand Ocean.
While Kieli is under the influence of the ghosts, she experiences a series of flashbacks and realizes her life may be more connected to the Undying than she thought. As mentioned in the previous volume, Kieli has no memories from before the age of eight. It appears her mother, Setsuri, was on the run from the Church with an Undying named Jude and a young Kieli. They were discovered before reaching safety, and the adults stayed behind to buy Kieli time, dying in the process. Kieli was then taken by the forces that assaulted the ship and brought to the mainland. It remains unknown if Jude was her father, as it is unclear if the Undying can actually have children, and Harvey has not yet answered that question.
Honestly, this was an exciting volume with many unexpected revelations regarding Kieli's past and her connection to the Undying. The style was similar to the first volume, featuring self-contained episodes that focus on specific moments of their travel while moving the overall narrative forward. Julius seems to be an important character, and I do not think we have seen the last of him. He seems to like Kieli a lot, and I can see him becoming more intertwined in the story as we explore this world's society.
Kieli has been growing on me as a protagonist, and I quite like the tomboyish look the author gave her. She is still a bit childish at times, but she is able to express her opinions more often and is slowly becoming a true partner for Harvey. I am really curious to learn the source of her power because this volume raised many questions about her identity.
According to the information I have seen about the third volume, the group will be traveling through a village that is not hostile toward the Undying. I am curious to see why this is the case, especially since the Church's power seems to extend everywhere. I will be reading it over the next few weeks and will post an update here as usual.