By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Julie Goniwich.

One of the things that is difficult to admit for your average everyday light novel reader or reviewer is that we are unlikely to every be the savior of an entire world. The Saint, as seen here, has to deal with a bunch of difficult challenges to try not to advertise too much exactly who she is (especially now that the existence of the Saint, if not her identity, has been confirmed) while also trying to help as many people as possible by making many, many powerful potions, and also find the time to try to figure out how her powers actually work and why they only appear at unusual times. That said, sometimes even an omnipotent saint can end up being very relatable, as when Sei suddenly realizes what it is that triggers her superpowers, and… yup, so embarrassing it’s the power of love. This has been pretty obvious to the reader from Book one, but the author admits that the romance is going to be slow going, so…

The majority of this volume is spent away from Sei’s beloved potion research, but it’s for a good cause: the domain where they get their best ingredients is suffering from an attack of monsters and miasma, and therefore her powers are particularly needed. Upon arrival, after dealing with pomp and ceremony, and the fact that her cooking methods have become widespread… but only if you like meat… Sei gets down to the nitty gritty of her visit: quizzing the old potion expert they have there about ways to make a superior grade potion. As it turns out, they have the long-lost documentation that might be able to help her. That said, in order to succeed she’s going to not only have to come to terms with the fact that Albert is hot and she likes that, but also deal with a new guy interested in her… one who’s a bit more down to earth.

To be fair, I’m not sure that you can call Leo a love interest per se – he’s not interested in Sei as a person but rather in her abilities. He’s probably the funniest part of the book, being a well-meaning but tactless musclehead, apparently included by the author because muscle fetishes are in these days. The most interesting part of the book, though, shows us the diaries and research books of the Great Alchemist, which was thought to have been destroyed and lost forever. To no one’s surprise, she seems to be a lot like Sei, particularly in her attention to detail in regards to research. Given that we now have Sei’s ridiculous magic power combined with actual knowledge, I suspect big things are going to be happening in the next book. That said, I doubt one of those big things will be confessing to Albert.

This is getting an anime soon, so certainly has caught the eye of folks. It’s not the most exciting or original thing in the world, but it makes me smile, and I always enjoy reading it. It’s also a very good recommendation for folks who would normally be turned off light novels due to excess fanservice – only Leo’s muscles qualify here.