Pandemonium: Chapter 7

## Chapter 7

Wizard Village elders discussing the aftermath of the fire.

*"Well... My arms are like this, so... I'm not good at fine work! I can't even sew properly..."*

— Domika, lamenting her sewing skills.
Chapter 7 is the first chapter of the second volume of the Pandemonium: Wizard Village manga and the seventh chapter of the series overall, as written and illustrated by Shibamoto Sho. It was released on July 12th 2013.

## Overview

Chapter 7 deals with the aftermath of the housing complex fire. The friction between Zipher and villagers rises to the boiling point. Meanwhile, Zipher finally learns the truth about the Wizard Village.

The first part of the chapter puts emphasis on the interaction between Zipher and Domika during his recovery period. In the second half, Zipher comes in conflict with villagers who consider him a threat.

It is revealed that Brow was the real culprit behind the recent events, stealing Zipher's fireworks and accidentally starting the fire. While the villagers debate who to punish and on what charge, Domika takes Zipher deep into the caves under the Wizard Village. Zipher is shocked to see the corpses of Sky Golems. He learns that the villagers scavenge the ruins around dead Sky Golems for magical artifacts to use in daily life. Disheartened, Zipher realizes that villagers have no way to heal his ruined left eye.

Village Chief Ainu proclaims the fire an accident and grants Zipher a chance to stay with Domika for a little while longer. Still, Ainu is suspicious of Zipher's motives and sends Kayoh on an intelligence gathering mission.

## Summary

The chapter starts with the village leaders inspecting the burned ruins of the housing complex. Meanwhile, Domika is spending time by Zipher's side. He suffered heavy burns and has been hospitalized. Domika tries touching his face, but realizes her variant hands are rough and unfit for close personal contact.

Zipher wakes, screaming about the child he saved from the building. Domika assures him that Brow has been fully healed by medicine water. Zipher feels like a heavy burden has been lifted from his soul. Looking on the side of his bed, he notices that Domika mended his burned clothes. She starts apologizing over the quality of her work, claiming that her enlarged variant hands are unfit for sewing. Zipher trips, falling on Domika. As they get up, he reassures her that he appreciates all that she's done for him.

Due to the pressure from many villagers, once Zipher is able to walk, Domika takes him to the village meeting hall. Most of the adult village population is present and hostile towards Zipher. They accuse him of being responsible for the fire. Before he can defend himself, Kobolgarde brings Brow into the hall. She reveals that Brow stole Zipher's fireworks and accidentally started the fire. Furthermore, she's blames herself for not paying more attention to what her child was doing.

Frustrated, Marco starts assigning blame to everyone responsible for bringing Zipher into the village or helping him in any way. Zipher decides that he's had enough and announces his intention to leave the village right away.

Accepting that the village may not have the power of resurrecting the dead, or at the very least that they'll never share it with him, Zipher makes one last plea to be fully healed by the Wizard Village's magic. Malsus reveals that all the magic they have has already been used to heal him, meaning that his left eye will never recover.

Before saying goodbye, Domika takes Zipher to the mines under the village. Many villagers present in the meeting hall follow them. After entering the caves, Zipher is shocked by the decaying corpses of Sky Golems embedded into the bedrock of the caverns. Domika explains that all the magic in the village comes from the items found within these mines and that the poison ruining the Land of the Variants seeps from these ruins, as well. People who live in the village have found a refuge here because the rest of the world wouldn't accept them. Thus, the ruins slowly became a meeting place for variant individuals, injured and rejected.

With the villagers finally mellowing out, Ainu takes a stand and points out that Zipher saved Brow when no one else would even attempt to. He goes against the majority opinion and allows Zipher to stay a few more days until he feels better.

As everyone disperses, Ainu remarks that he believes Zipher's story. However, he wonders why were the fireworks so important to Zipher, enough to drop all food and water in their stead during his journey to the village. He orders Kayoh to go on a thorough patrol of the area surrounding the village in the unlikely case that Zipher was signaling its location to someone.

## Characters in order of appearance

### Main characters

Ainu

Kayoh

Malsus

Cosith

Zipher

Domika

Marco

Brow

Kobolgarde

### Villagers

* Grif, Gulon, Brepa, Leto
* Balam, Agare, Rono, Sius, Purso, Shushu, Baal, Haggis, Kerone, Makara, Peryu, Andras, Ipiria, Irv, Ruvatos, Wonk
* Eva, Neil, Bothy, Aimu
* Pendra, Shiroyabu

## Trivia

* Instead of staying with Domika while injured, Zipher has been moved to a more serious hospital-looking environment due to his heavy burns.
* Zipher's coat had been sewn by Anna and has now been patched up by Domika.
* Chapter 7 marks the first time Zipher and Domika hold hands.
* Even though Brow has been consistently appearing in the manga so far, Brow's mother is introduced for the first time in Chapter 7. She confirms that Brow indeed started the fire, something that was alluded to in Chapter 5 and had been implied in Chapter 6.
* When Domika promises to show Zipher "The true nature of the village" in Chapter 5, she is talking about the caverns and ruins underneath the village, as depicted in Chapter 7.
* Domika names multiple magical items that had been seen throughout the series. Those are "Heatless Light Bulbs", "The Medicine Water" and "Food Containers".
* The villagers don't know how to use 90% of the excavated relics.
* Domika implies that the decaying corpses of Sky Golems poison the land.
* During the explanation of how variant people find their way to the village, three panels featuring exaggerated drawings of various villagers are shown. The villagers featured are Brepa, Balam, Wonk and Kobolgarde. In addition, two as of yet unseen villagers are present. They are Pendra and Shiroyabu.

## Gallery

In the aftermath of the fire.Zipher's coat - sewn by Anna, mended by Domika.A close encounter.Holding hands.Villagers debating over what to do with Zipher.Graveyard of the Sky Golems.The origin of the village's magical tools.The variant, the mutilated and the scorned.Ainu is suspicious of Zipher.

## References

1. ↑ http://hiyokonikki.blog.shinobi.jp/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%97%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B/pandemonium%20-%E9%AD%94%E8%A1%93%E5%B8%AB%E3%81%AE%E6%9D%91-%20%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%83%E8%A9%B1%E6%9B%B4%E6%96%B0%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B