I want to write down the timeline to help myself understand:

Kokuyou and his brother were living with his mentor who experimented small pox on these two and many other kids/his disciples. Mentor inoculated Kokuyou with a human strain and his brother from a livestock strain. Kokuyou's face was disfigured with poke marks and he almsot dies. His brother is fine. Mentor wants to then inoculate himself against small pox. Kokuyou switches his livestock strain with a human strain and he dies. Kokuyou's brother kills himself out of guilt. Kokuyou flees that place, is attacked by a bandit. Kokuyou does first aid on himself and seeks asylum in a village where Yo and her family too live. Yo and her family are kind to him. So he incoluates them with small pox to build immunity and teach them medical stuff. The bandit lives in the same village and is trying to turn the village incl. village chief agaist him. Kokuyou infects bandit with small pox to make him a "seed bed" to take samples to inoculate others (??) Small pox spreads in the village. Since the village was hostile to him and he was almost driven out he justs ups and leaves when small pox pandemic starts and does nothing as "revenge". Village chief somehow survives, has half baked idea of how the small pox "vaccination" works and infects a small child starting a new pandemic. village chief is in search of Kokuyou for revenge because he couldnt "cure" small pox with his shamanic techniques and was jealous of kokuyou's reputation and "good life". village chief is arrested for attack on the imperial family member and for starting the pandemic and dies.

corrections, additions welcome. Thanks.

With a resolution to #6, I can now score all of my predictions.

@Libri-Liberorum said in Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey Vol. 1 Discussion!:

Predictions:

Rhuys is a demifiend. She has faced lots of discrimination because of this, which is why she is so self-effacing. Rhuys is the one who has precognition. Araignee is also a demifiend. Demifiends have some distinctive mark on the back of their hand. This is why both Rhuys and Araignee have weird hand coverings. The inn keeper is the Sword Emperor. Whatever the truth is behind the stories of the Sword Emperor abandoning the previous hero, rescuing Araignee played a major role in the events.

1 false
2 true
3 true
4 false
5 true
6 true

@DrakeTheAngel It definitely sets the tone for the volume (and makes both of them look like adults unlike the previous covers).

Notes I'll need later for the omnibus:

Chapter Previous Appearance Noble Gacha Princess Mia... Sows the Seeds (Literally) Volume 1 bonus story The Holy Eve Festival ~Words of Gratitude on a Holy Night~ Mia's Delicious Visitation Volume 2 bonus story What Seeds Are These? Mia and the Mysterious Traveling Theater Troupe Mia and the Terrifying, Bone-Chilling Superstition The Head Chef and the Vegetable Cake Volume 4 bonus story (though v4 got the name wrong) Emotions Weaved Like Embroidery Some Post-Theater Afternoon Tea The Chronicles of Saint Princess Mia ~An Excerpt from the Chapter “The Mystery of the Island and the Sage of the Moon”~ Volume 6 bonus story The Chronicles of Saint Princess Mia ~An Excerpt from the chapter “A Moonlit Battle“~ The Great Sage of the Empire's False Image...Grows! O Friend From a Faraway Land Volume 7 bonus story New Testament of the Ten-Day Late Birthday Celebration ~ The Poor Prince and the Golden Dragon (W.I.P)~ New Testament of the Ten-Day Late Birthday Celebration ~ Ascetic Chancellor Ludwig Has a Secret~ Princess Mia’s Project X ~The Quest for the Infinity Cake~ Volume 8 bonus chapter The Chronicles of Saint Princess Mia Continued: Anecdotes (Empress Cut) Ludwig and Empress Mia’s Maxims Volume 9 bonus story Thus, History Was Written

Yes Aoi, it is that weird that you want to pet their ears and tail. If they win, can they pet your chest?

More skip content today but yay we made it to the end of volume.

@LightningLeaf said in Repeated Vice: I Refuse to Be Important Enough to Die Vol. 3 Discussion!:

Aw, it's so difficult to let a loved one go even when it's time. Poor Warm.

So Carlos approves of Fol. I do wonder if Ludens will acknowledge her?

I feel like from what we've seen that's just going to require her to demonstrate her value to him. Ludens is ruthlessly pragmatic. Fortunately for Fol, that more or less overlaps with bringing value to the kingdom if it's within the Lightless family's lands.

That said, he might also have higher standards for his approval, and just this first suggestion may not be enough (especially as he's clearly planning on it anyways. But it'd be a start for sure)

Nice volume. It would be great if at the end Rouga could end together with his ex party member, maybe after they save her sister.
Speaking of sisters, curious to see the last one and how the story will proceed when all of them will be "defeated ".

So, J-Novel Heart series has first hint of romantic feelings of the heroine at the end of volume 5. (This is entirely reasonable in-world, as she is 11. It is just odd that a "J-Novel Heart" would have five volumes to get her to age 11.)

that was a nice send off for Jean. He did terrible things and all, but he really got the short end of the succession stick.

What an excellent illustration of Helen and Diana preparing to fight Cromwell and his flunkies. The expression of glee on Helen's face is priceless. Kudos to the illustrator.

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@zwabbit

It's a good list.

I'd add

1b) Udajima's connections
Udajima talked to someone in Zegelt city. Udajima has a lot to gain from getting rid of Akira. Maybe his allies do too.

5b) Tiol
Tiol was the one making Akira fakes before. Though this seems a bit sophisticated for him.

7a) Nationalists
Akira has thwarted them a few times.

7b) One of the Big Five
Whichever competitor was messing with the Sakashita transport may want to get rid of Akira too.

7c) Carol's enemies
She hired a bodyguard because she was scared. We may not have met the scariest people after her yet.

7d) Alpha's enemies
Most people have not figured out the connection between Alpha and Akira, but if someone did, they might want to thwart her. The method seems indirect but maybe it's less traceable that way.

I have a feeling it will turn out to be a combination of interest. Like Udajima plus one of the Big Five, or Mizuha plus Nationalists, or an AI and one of the hunter groups. For the plan to go smoothly it helps to have both city connections and people who can take shady action.

I wonder who cares about the Kuzusuhara depths. There must be vested interests for and against exploring them. As readers we don't have a lot of information about the politics of that. It seems like it is a big deal if the Big Five are fighting each other over it.

Argh. Too bad I can't read Japanese... Book 8 came out in Japan back in October, and it hasn't started here yet.

They're probably waiting for me to spend the last of my credits, then post the start 3 days later, like last time.

I'm Surprised to see another volume of this and ya I don't remember any of this stuff past the web novel version ending. I was a big fan of the web novel but not so much the LN with all the stuff they adding. It also seems to be getting really convoluted.

@Kurzaa My take on that epilogue was to bring us up to speed up with the other six people summoned with Sora, set up the confrontation between the Demon King and the Hero, and set up something the Demon King wants that I'm assuming involves Sora.

Other than that, it's wait two weeks for the next volume to drop.

I'm happy that Seika was able to meet his mother and form a good relationship with her. She might not appear again in the story, but that gave me some closure, even if I feel a bit bad for her not k owing her son actually has a reincarnated soul.
The origin of the hero was interesting, although as people mentioned it left us with other questions that hopefully will be answered in the next volumes. There is also the matter with the emperor, that might turn out to be the final boss depending on what he's planning.

I'm enjoying more than I expected this stint with Anriette as the main heroine. Of course I don't believe they're going to stay in this world, and regardless there is no way Allen will be able to live doing anything so it I'll inevitably end as the previous one. The question is how much of an antagonist Riese is going to be and if the other characters will oppose Allen too.

@zeji13 To be more precise, my guess is they had school lessons on programming, not college or university modules on programming.

The trend seems to be that the more advanced the topic, the less accurate/detailed its coverage - e.g. the programming basics lesson in the middle of the book was decent (even if I still think it was pitched too basic for someone actively jobhunting in the field), but the smart frames were almost pure jargon and the All-RaWi system is kept very vague.

In all, it makes me think the author has had education only to around the level they themselves can fully describe - that is, the basics you'd teach a schoolkid in their IT class.

And no, I don't get where the idea that programmers think/say "hello world" came from, either.

Nice volume, and with the protagonist already having sex with three girls it's kinda hard to believe this is the same author of Zero believers.
After this big battle against a giant monster, I'm a bit worried that a school festival arc will feel a bit brand in comparison.

When you fast-forward through the sex and through the fights, the book really zips along. It’s not one of the better titles here, but it goes quickly.