Beat by beat from last time, it’s pretty clear that this is the start of Meriela’ & Friends’ arc, as well as a sort of soft recap on all the central character relationships that we left behind at the capital. A potential rivalry (which I look forward to seeing) between Riede and Meriela is implied, and some loose ends are tied up on their end from the last arc. Contrary to what I thought on my chapter 40 review, the pacing doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon; a new character is introduced despite my prediction that we’d be spending more time between Lectival and Meriela before moving on with the plot. We still are, but it’s moving along a lot faster.