stronghold; inner citadel; base; headquarters
important; momentous; essential; principal; major
before one's eyes; in front of one; under one's nose; immediate; imminent; around the corner
plentiful; lot of; much; pile of
to stand in the way (esp. with legs spread out); to block the way; to stand in the way (e.g. of progress); to obstruct
first of all; to begin with; probably; most likely; more or less (satisfactory); on the whole
before very long; soon; someday; of the previously mentioned; of that number; among them
outsider; someone outside of a group
infiltration; sneaking in; going undercover
record; minutes; record (e.g. in sports); results; to record; to document
only; merely; but; no more than
oh, OK; oh, I see; oh, yeah?; hmm
being apt to; being liable to; being inclined to
threat; bird-scaring device (scarecrow, gun, etc.)
suddenly; casually; accidentally; incidentally; unexpectedly; unintentionally
person; character; one's character; one's personality; able person; talented person
to come along; to come around; to turn up; to arrive at the present; to get where one is; to have been doing something (for a period of time)
ago; since; before; previous
possession (by a spirit, etc.); dependence; depending on
to have a relationship; to have relations
vigilance; caution; alertness; precaution; being on guard
to make absolutely sure; to make doubly sure
equal; identical; the same; no different (to); just like; equivalent
present day; modern times; recent times; early modern period (in Japan, usu. from the Meiji Restoration until the end of World War II)
particularly; especially; in particular; expressly
unconnected; weakly related; alien; having little prospect of marriage
striking; remarkable; considerable
in short; in a word; to sum up; to put it simply; to make a long story short; after all
plan; scheme; plot; design; project; intention
descent; fall; drop; passing down (of an order, decree, etc.)
site; point on a map; spot