Manga: The Heroic Legend of Arslan 10

The Heroic Legend of Arslan Vol 10 
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Eastern Pars is shaken by a great earthquake, and as Arslan and his retainers take stock of the aftermath, rumblings of another kind make their way throughout the kingdom. A set of bold proclamations have been made under Arslan's name: The Decree to Pursue and Destroy Lusitania, and The Decree to Abolish Slavery. These decrees have made waves among the noble class of Pars, and it is now Arslan's job to host the Parsian lords and demonstrate his value as their future leader. But before Arslan can finish his duties and move on to recapturing Ecbatana, Narsus holds a meeting to reveal the earth-shattering details of Silver Mask's identity, and the truth will stun Arslan to his very core. 

It's all a little bit tense as the new additions to Arslan's group aren't really getting on with his core group and so concessions have to be made to make sure everyone gets along, so there's a lot of role shifting in this volume. Meanwhile good old Hilmes is taking further action against the Templars holed up in the fortress, meaning we get some action on that front. I'm not going to lie, it irks me to no end that Bodin is still at large, although he is bringing us to a new place apparently. 

There's a lot of new things to get excited about in this volume, we get to explore Narsus's old stomping grounds, Daylam, which he used to be in charge of. Presumably we'll get to see Maryam at some point, but for now we get to see some of Maryam's soldiers as they've fled to Dayman and it's not long before Kubard shows up. I was excited to get to see some more of him, he makes me chukle, but we also get a brand new character! Merlain who looks....pretty familiar. 

This volume has more of a focus on Kubard and his new pal, but we do stop in with Arslan and get a long look at what Hilmes is up to. We get an idea of the political climate in Maryam as the Luisitanians have invaded it and pretty much killed all the royal family, except for the princess that we also get to meet in this volume...Irina. But most of this volume features Kubard and Merlain dealing with the Luisitanians that are chasing the princess. 

Alongside introducing some new places and people, there's a nice amount of action from two different situations. I'm curious as to what Kubard is up to, and it looks like Hilmes is going to get a new ally. We'll definitely be seeing more of the new characters, but I'm curious about Merlain to be honest. Of course things were going too well over with Arslan so Gieve has to pop up at the end of the volume, open his mouth, stir things up and leave us on a cliffhanger!