By Kuji Furumiya and Haruyuki Morisawa. Released in Japan as “Babel II: Mahou Taikoku Kara no Danzai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Amelia Imogen Mason.
Being transported to another world is, in many ways, far more difficult than being reincarnated. For one thing, if you’re reincarnated you at least grew up learning basic things like how to walk, talk, etc. in the same way as everyone else in your fantasy world. Whereas the average isekai’d Japanese person is thrown into a town and expected to immediately be able to cope with the Adventurer’s Guild and what exactly mana is. Usually the book simply decides not to bother to deal with it at all, but occasionally you get a handwave that this is a different language, and the handwave usually involves asking whoever is responsible for transporting them to this world (god, usually) to give them the ability to understand everyone. And thank goodness for that, right? As such, it’s only right at the end of this volume, almost halfway through the series itself, that Shizuka realizes, to her horror, what that actually means. And that the title of this series may have more actual impact than expected.
The book is largely divided into two stories, one small and one large. In the first story, Erik and Shizuku, after briefly helping a girl with tremendous magical power who’s spent her life at the top of a tower and her new fiancee, who is named Oscar, find themselves caught up in a revenge wedding ceremony from hell… one where Shizuku is being forced to play the bride. After this, they finally arrive at the Kingdom of Farsas and meet its royal family. (Who are NOT the aforementioned Oscar and young girl, lest readers of Unnamed Memory who haven’t read this get confused.) Unfortunately, the king takes one look at Shizuku and immediately tries to murder her. Apparently there are outsiders who are trying to infiltrate the country, and he decides the best way to make sure Shizuku isn’t one is to kill her and see if she shows her true colors. This test may sound familiar to those who know the history of witches…
Despite the fact that “Shizuku is kidnapped/brainwashed/etc.” being the plot of almost this entire book in one way or another, I greatly enjoyed this volume. Shizuku has the usual self-hatred that so many other light novel protagonists have, but we’re given reasons for it as we go along, and she also doesn’t let it turn her mopey. Some of the best scenes in the book are of her and the king, who reluctantly decides not to kill her right now, snarking back and forth at each other. As with the first book (and let’s face it, it’s the theme of the series), the inability to communicate and get concepts across is what drives this. Shizuku is not able to prove a negative, so everyone views her with suspicion. Erik insists on being guilty, and his own confession means that’s going to happen even when it’s not the entire truth. This all leads up to the revelation at the end, which rocks Shizuku’s world, and possibly makes her return to Japan father away than ever before.
All this and a nasty cliffhanger. Definitely recommended for fans of isekais that don’t use the usual “RPG” tropes, and essential reading for Unnamed Memory fans.
