By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.
I’ve talked before about how at times I am unhappy with the story the author is telling, preferring that he tell the story of Allen and Lydia’s awesome life in the past, which we have been getting dribbled onto us in bits and babs, making us confused but also making us long to have been there. There’s more of that here, including Lily talking about her own past with Allen (and the implications of why she is super duper uber powerful and talented and yet is so determined to be a maid). But of course, the protagonist of this series is not merely Allen, though he’s certainly the primary one. The secondary protagonist is Tina Howard. And we’re seeing events as Tina would see them. She’s just as frustrated and annoyed that she isn’t able to know Allen as well as Lydia does, simply because she didn’t meet him till the first book, which Lydia has known him for years. Sadly, more bad news for Tina: Lydia starts her comeback here.
Well, OK, she doesn’t get the cover – she’ll have to wait till next time. The majority of this book is the epilogue to the arc we’ve been having for some time now, which means there’s less fighting (though we do get some awesome fights) and a lot more political finagling and wrangling. Allen is clearly the hero of the hour, and this time everyone is finally determined to give him the recognition – and title – and wife – he so richly deserves. This can be rather difficult, given that Allen seriously regards himself as powerless compared to everyone around him and deeply unworthy of most of his love interests. He even blows off a major meeting to go and stop Gil from trying to commit suicide by “it’s all my fault, please execute me but spare the others”. That said, the royal family also has its reasons they do not want Allen to get honored – and once they fail at preventing it, they try for the next best thing.
Lydia, theoretically, should be at a low ebb here. She hasn’t killed anyone, but she’s committed massive amounts of property damage, went mad when she thought for a moment that Allen might have been dead, and ended up becoming so overpowered that she has less mana than even Allen, at least temporarily. But none of that actually matters, because it’s clear that when Lydia and Allen are in the same room, she has such self-confidence and swagger that no one else matters at all. Don’t get me wrong, everyone else gets their chance to show off in front of Allen and also try to get him to pet them/snuggle them/other safe kinds of affection. But all Lydia really does is grumble mildly at these, she doesn’t regard any of them as real threats. Because she’s Allen’s partner. Even if that means helping him in the duel to prove he deserves the glory he’s being given. And even if it means fleeing the country with him. In fact, she packed in advance.
So yes, we now get what is jokingly referred to as the “honeymoon” arc, though there’s still no “he chose this girl” romance yet, and honestly the ongoing war would likely get in the way anyway. This remains one of my favorite light novel series.
