By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.
This may be my favorite volume of Villainess Level 99 since the first one. Which makes sense, given that it ties back to the plot of the first quite a bit, but that’s not why I love it. I love it because the basic idea that kicks off this volume is completely, totally bananas in every way. I have no idea how the author came up with it. I do know exactly why Yumiella came up with it, it’s because she’s Yumiella, and everything is about being the strongest. But I mean, if I told you “Yumiella imagines her left side and right side fighting each other, and wonders who would win, and the idea causes her to think *so* hard that her left side *dies* and goes to purgatory, where she is literally shown as only her left half in the illustration”, you might think that this is either a dream sequence or a minor subplot. Nope. this is what kicks off the majority of the book.
While listening to Eleanora tell her about a legendary perfume maker, Yumiella, as I noted above, thinks about her separate halves fighting. Her left side wakes up the next “morning” in the “Kingdom of Twilight”, a place for souls of the dead who still have unfinished business. Meanwhile, Yumiella *also* wakes up back in her own bed, but her left side has no feeling whatsoever… in fact, as a particularly obnoxious Lemn points out, her left side is literally dead. Now Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora have to research the Kingdom of Twilight and that means going back to the very origins of the kingdom… which is appropriate, as the left side of Yumiella discovers that among those with regrets in the Kingdom of Twilight are the Hero, aka the first king of Valschein, and the Demon Lord… who definitely remembers Yumiella.
This book, like the last, continues the trend of “Yumiella is slightly more sensible except when the author needs her to be over the top”, and unlike the last, it succeeds. Leaving aside the actual premise, the way that they resolve the Kingdom of Twilight thing is so funny I laughed for a good 30 seconds, and also definitely falls into the category of “Only Yumiella could do this”. As for Yumiella’s relationship with Patrick, well, they’re still not quite married, but this is the strongest I’ve felt about the two of them as a loving couple. Well, OK, a loving couple and Eleanora. The three of them have fallen into being a throuple without really realizing it, and while the attraction is more friendly/familial on Yumiella and Patrick’s part, I think they both realize that they can’t really be together without her there. Eleanora, by the way, also shows off her more mature side we saw in the 5th book. (Patrick has always been mature.)
We’re caught up with Japan, so that wedding may be a while off. Till then, I was pleased to see this book give me exactly the sort of Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora that I want.
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