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 by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.
I admit that I got really happy when I saw the 30-page section at the end of this book. No, not the color art gallery, though that was fine if you like that sort of thing. But the definition of a short story collection like this, one that is almost entirely made up of stories that were “bookstore exclusives” from various stores, is that they do not give anything for a reviewer to grab hold of. They can’t affect the main plot, they can’t really change anyone, they’re only there to be spice. The short stories in this book take place over the entire timeline, though Bel as a youth gets the least time, as those flashbacks were in the main story. Lots of Ange as a kid. Some good ones of Ange as a newbie adventurer, which I enjoyed. A lot of “boy, found family sure is great” stuff. Fortunately, there’s also the author discussing the creation of the work.
OK, there is a little more to talk about with the short stories. I did enjoy the one or two we got for Charlotte, who started off as an antagonist but very quickly stepped into the big sister for Bel’s new child role. Here we see that she’s constantly thinking of what she did and the people whose deaths she’s responsible for, and asks herself if she deserves to be happy. In addition to Ange’s early adventuring, I also enjoyed seeing the early life of Anessa and Miriam a bit more, and Miriam’s story where we see how her apprenticeship started with Maria is great. Maria is the sort who can’t show affection normally, so would only open up to someone not willing to put up with all her bullshit anymore. I also liked seeing a lonely and sullen Marguerite, who misses everyone and is depressed in Orphen but can’t stop telling herself “this is fine:.
But the final textual part of the book is a long section where the author talks about the creation of the work and what went into it, and I wish more authors did this sort of thing (or at least had it translated over here). Unsurprisingly, this was meant to be a one-volume series, and Angeline’s backstory was not meant to be anything other than “child found in the woods”, but when you’re trying to expand a plot you need to think of things to expand. I also really appreciated that the author’s first and most important rule was “no incest”, especially after seeing so many “dad raises an adopted daughter” series fail to clear that low bar. The author also discusses having to write things in later books to help explain the plot holes from previous books readers on the webnovel site pointed out – the obvious one being the state of the guilds, and how to fix it.
So obviously, for fans only, but fans should enjoy it. Just be ready for a lot of stories that are “Bel and young Ange fish” or “Bel gets a cold” and other store exclusive type things.
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