By Kosuzu Kobato and Yuichi Murakami. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hotori de Jam wo Niru: Isekai de Hajimeru Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jade Willis.

The author says in the afterword that the webnovel version of this series ended with the second book, and that this third volume was an “after story” written for the published books. That might be a bit of a surprise given that this book ends with Margaret and Mark’s wedding, which you would have expected to end the series proper, and also that it manages to (mostly) resolve the other open-ended romance in the series. But it also does explain some things, like the total lack of conflict in this volume. If this is a final volume, there’s no real resolution of the “Spirit Caller” plotline. Sure, Margaret does meet with the Spirit herself, and we learn a little bit about her that may have odd implications, but in the end if that scene wasn’t in this book nothing would change. This volume is pleasant little scenes that chug along until we get to the end. And honestly, that’s fine.

Margaret and Mark are together, and she’s living a happy life with Adelaide and Daniel, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more things to do. First of all, there’s jam making, as Rachel (who is very carriage sick, as Walter is too busy and couldn’t come) returns so they can hang out and talk about romance together. Then Margaret finally goes to the capital,,, not to meet the royal family, but so that she can sign off on the illustrations for her children’s book, which have an incognito artist. After this, Walter, who has been doing nothing but work for the past x months, finally collapses, and is forced to both take time off and have to face up to the fact that Rachel is in love with him… and also getting proposals from other men. And Margaret also finds that her total lack of mana makes her ideal in dealing with the children at the magic academy, all of whom suffer from too much of it.

I will admit by the end of the volume I was wondering if this series started off as one of those recipes you see online, the kind that can’t give you directions without a long story first. The jam making is detailed for pages on end, and I’d be interested in seeing if anyone tries it out using this volume. I will admit I was briefly worried when Rachel met the Spirit and got her voice back, but it turned out that this was something that could only happen when she was in Spirit Land, so when she returns she is still mute and her leg is still not quite healed. I appreciated this, as it underlines the actual plot revelation from Book 2: Margaret’s summoning was entirely by accident. In the last scene in this book, Margaret wonders to Mark if her life will continue to be troublesome due to her calling. I’m not sure, I suspect as her life goes on the crisis moments will continue to be small in number, and the jam making, trying on dresses, and being good with kids will take up far more.

In the end, this series is just NICE. I’m glad I read it.

By Kosuzu Kobato and Yuichi Murakami. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hotori de Jam wo Niru: Isekai de Hajimeru Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jade Willis.

(Slight spoilers for the last part of this book are in the third paragraph, FYI.)

I have some good news for those who were concerned about the content of the first volume: there is a lot more actual making of jam in this book. Mostly that’s because everyone in the local town has embraced Margaret as one of the best things that’s ever happened to them, so she keeps getting presents of fruit that will go bad unless she does something about it. Or when she’s picking berries with Rachel, who of course comes back to visit as soon as humanly possible, and said berries also have to be eaten fairly quickly. The lack of really long-term fridges and freezers in this world means you can’t dilly dally about these things. That said, for those who require a bit more plot than just cooking and preserving, there’s some of that as well, including some sweet romance and a very surprising revelation about Margaret’s being called to this world.

Margaret is still living with Adelaide, making delicious food, helping out in town with the kids, and trying to heal up from her injuries… though her leg unfortunately seems to have plateaued. There are important new discoveries, though: when she bonks heads with a small toddler, the toddler can hear her thoughts! It turns out that she can also do this with others, though with adults it has to be people she’s very close to. Meanwhile, she’s still not really well enough to go to the Royal Capital and visit the Spirit, but Walter is being called to the Spirit instead, and while there he ends up learning something that will possibly stun Margaret and her friends. Oh yes, and, most importantly, Mark basically proposes to Margaret… though there’s a bit of “huh, I was unaware this custom of receiving an expensive hairpins from the man I want to spend my life with is a thing” to it.

So yes, the big news here is that Margaret’s calling was premature and also not intended, which is one big reason why her leg isn’t going to heal and she’s still mute. I’ve seen the “we didn’t mean to isekai you to our world” plotline before, but it’s honestly usually pretty malevolent, involving “so therefore we will either try to kill you or toss you out with nothing but your clothing”, so seeing something like this where everyone is desperately worried about Margaret is nice. Fortunately for all involved, Margaret is a big sweetie, and is even more grateful she’s hear at all and living with such wonderful people. She’s making jam, she has a fiancee (possibly… she really isn’t quite comfortable with saying that out loud just yet), and she’s even writing children’s books based on old fairy tales from back in her previous life. The fact that she’s not the Chosen One is honestly a relief.

I think the next volume may be the last one, but am not sure. In any case, this remains a very fun, if not terribly action-packed, slow life romance series.

By Kosuzu Kobato and Yuichi Murakami. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hotori de Jam wo Niru: Isekai de Hajimeru Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jade Willis.

If this author sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. We’ve already seen The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent, as well as I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem, and True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends will be out next year. So it makes sense to circle round and pick up one of the author’s earlier works. This one is definitely on the “slow life” end of the scale, as the author freely admits in the afterword. Not a heck of a lot happens here. Hell, we don’t even get to see all that much jam making. But this book basically fulfills everything you want from a a slow life title: pleasant, likeable protagonist, friends around her who help and care for her, and the daily reward of basic tasks. Our heroine is living in the woods, and her host prefers to live fairly low-tech, so it’s all just very… relaxing. That’s the vibe here. Dull? A bit. But not much.

Our heroine (who doesn’t even get a Japanese name) works at a department store, and has come in on one of her few days off, despite exhaustion from overwork, to help out in an emergency… which makes it unfortunately when a runaway truck in a parking garage kills her. Yes, that’s right, we get both “death by working too hard” *and* “truck sends me to another world”. She’s found on the side of a riverbank by a dog, but sadly being sent to another world did not heal any of her injuries. Fortunately, there’s a doctor nearby, and this world has healing magic. As she recovers at the home of the dog’s owner, a former Countess, she’s informed that she’s a Spirit Caller, meaning she can interact with fairies. Unfortunately, this also means she can’t do any magic. And also, for some mysterious reason, she can’t speak. Still, she makes do.

Our heroine being mute is an interesting idea, though I honestly feel that the conversation flows a little too well despite this, even before she gets her magical writing pad. But essentially, this falls into the standard isekai plot for women readers. For male readers, it’s all about accumulating cool powers and multiple wives, while for women it tends more towards “now I can finally relax and not be working myself to death”. Like Sei from The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent, Margaret is said to look a lot younger after she’s recovered, and the running gag in the book is everyone giving her headpats, as she thinks they’re treating her like a child. As for her love interest, well, he’s a sullen young man with a tough upbringing who has become stoic and taciturn, but warms up to Margaret and falls in love with her pretty quickly. These are still romances.

This is apparently three volumes total, and I imagine the next one will have her actually visit the royal capital and finding out more about what Spirit Calling entails. Till then, let’s watch her make jam and get headpatted.