By Punichan and Canarinu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō wa Camping Car de Tabi ni Deru: Aibyō to Mankitsu Suru Self Kokugai Tsuihō ” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by sachi salehi.
When this series is playing to its strengths, it really works. Mizarie has a camper van, and it is basically her OP Sword or her “my magic defeats everything” item. We may one day find a monster that her camper van cannot defeat by simply running it over, but that moment dies not occur in this book. And that’s not really a spoiler, because this sort of series has no plot you have to care about. The only real dramatic thing from the last book, which is Raoul’s injured arm, is basically the “what drives me” plot here, but otherwise there’s no real danger or worry here. The camping is great. The cooking and eating is also great. The bits that are not camper van or cooking are not as great, but that’s the trouble with writing a series which revolves around one gimmick. Fortunately, there aren’t many points where that’s the case.
Mizarie wants to find an elixir that can heal Raoul’s damaged left arm, and for that they’ll have to go into a dungeon. So they head towards Labyrinth City, which is exactly what you’d expect, and we get the usual guild stuff. Mizarie also learns how to fight monsters, which worries her at first. But in this book, slimes really are ludicrously weak, so she’s fine with them. As for anything else… well, turns out the main dungeon they end up going to is, especially as they get lower down, wide enough for her camper van to pass through. So, good news: monsters are not an issue. (Admittedly, going back for drop items can be a pain.) When they finally reach the bottom of this dungeon, they’re met with a great spirit, who is pretty ticked off that they’re invading her home.
Again, the camper van remains the reason to read this, though there are many things here that will appeal to foodie isekai readers, such as Mizarie and Raoul selling filet-o-fish burgers to hungry adventurers for marked up “I’m at the airport” prices”. She levels up quite a bit in this book, mostly as, well, she runs all the monsters over. As a result, she gets things like an extra bedroom, a bathtub, a microwave and a dishwasher put into this magic storage space. Honestly, though, the best part of the van, aside from its sturdiness against orcs and goblins, its its GPS, which allows them to map the entire dungeon, locate monsters and other adventurers, and also solve the final puzzle that the Great Spirit has for them. No wonder the elf they’re traveling with decides to stay behind – she’s too jealous.
The third book is coming out in Japan in a month or so, and shows them going to the fantasy equivalent of Japan (boy, remember the villainess part of this book? The author doesn’t). To my surprise, it does not say it’s the final volume from the “three is enough” company Drecom. I’ll be reading it regardless. This remains the fluffiest sort of fun.
