By MOJIKAKIYA and toi8. Released in Japan as “Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S-Rank ni Natteta” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.
Easily the best in the series to date, despite the fact that we’re now at the second round of “I have gotten everything planned out to see my dad again but something comes along to screw it up at the last minute”. Angeline is still a big-time Daddy’s Girl, but she’s put into a situation where that’s mostly irrelevant, and when it is relevant she actually manages to use it as a force for good. Belgrieve is finally forced to admit to himself that he may actually be as good at fighting as Angeline says he is, after going toe-to-toe with a top-ranked adventurer and … not winning, but lasting far longer than a 40-year-old with one leg should really be lasting. And the overall plot is finally coming into focus, giving us more ongoing bad guys, as well as an idea of what they’re going to do. Which I suspect is “kill Belgrieve and then watch Angeline destroy the world”. Best to stop that.
Angeline and company are ready to take Charlotte and Byaku back to her hometown. Unfortunately, the nobles have finally gotten around to noticing her, and have called her to the capital to come get an award… which means she’ll get back too late to make the trip before winter sets in. She is… unhappy. Meanwhile, Belgrieve has settled in with his new mini-family back in Turnera, but some of them are leaving as well, mostly as they have the adventure lust in their blood. It’s also reminding him of his past, which we get brief glimpses of here, and we see how even as a younger man he was cautious and careful. As for Angeline, when she arrives at the capital she not only finds a pile of nobles but also a mysterious guy in a dungeon… who may be more connected to her than she thinks.
This is not really a big fighting volume. Belgrieve gets into a couple of spars, but that’s not the same thing. As for Angeline, as I noted above, the best part of the book is the fight she doesn’t get into, especially as it’s supposed to be used as the excuse for a coup. It’s actually the second time she avoids this, the first being in the middle of her awards ceremony, where a noble attempts to taunt her into fighting and she responds by pointing out exactly what battling monsters and demons should be for, and it’s not “to show off my strength against some noble jackasses”. That said, they aren’t all bad here, and I really liked the young spunky noble girl, who I hope we see again. Plus Angeline gets her reward at the end – her dad came to see her rather than the other way around, and he’ll be there all winter.
Despite once again keeping its two leads separated most of the book, this time it did it in exactly the right way. This is a solid fantasy series.
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