By Toyozo Okamura and Parum. Released in Japan as “Renai Mahou Gakuin: Heroine mo Akuyaku Reijou mo Kankeinai. Ore wa Otome Game Sekai de Saikyou wo Mezasu” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

I appreciate how the dungeon diving is so irrelevant to this series that by now we just never see it. Arius, in his spare time, goes into the dungeon constantly, but to the reader it’s simply “I went to the dungeon and leveled up 50 more times, then I came back.” This series does not actually care about the fighting all that much. You can definitely see this is the case in how it resolves the battle between Arius and the hero, which I won’t spoil, but wow, I was not expecting that resolution. I was, however, completely expecting another girl to throw on to the Arius harem pile, and she fits in perfectly. Not that this matters to Arius, who tells every woman in his life he has no interest in dating. Unless it’s dating a dungeon. He is here to get stronger, which means battle battle battle forever.

After the events of the second book, which was over seven months ago so I had forgotten what they were, Arius has ended up in the middle of the demon’s country talking with the Demon King Alanis, who is, amazingly, someone that he cannot in fact easily defeat – or defeat at all. Nevertheless, he almost gets in a few shots, so she intrigues him. He admits the issue is the hero, and says he’s going to do something about it. Meanwhile, back at the academy, Eric’s sister, Princess Ellyse, has shown up. This is a bit of a surprise, as she’s engaged to marry Crown Prince Dominic in the neighboring country. Unfortunately, Dominic is a louse and a rapist, so she’s escaped for the moment. Eric and Arius convince her that she should screw the politics and have them destroy that guy, and she eventually decides to agree once she realizes she’s fallen deeply in love with Arius – like the rest of the female cast except for Sasha. You go, Sasha, stay with your man.

For the most part, Arius remains exactly what he’s been in the first two books – a blank wall of a man whose lack of a personality allows everyone to read good intentions into him. The trouble is that, by being around all his friends and wannabe lovers, that is starting to actually be the case. He resolves the hero conflict the way he does because it’s what leads to the least casualties, and he wants Ellyse to choose what she wants as a person, not as a princess or as a lover. He’s gradually actually becoming a nice guy, though he’ll insist otherwise. Certainly he’s nicer than Eric, who now seems to be engaged to Princess “I Swear I’m Not the Evil Boss”, though at least he allows Sophia to be treated as well as he possibly can – so that she can pursue Arius as well, of course. I am fairly positive that the winning girl in a series like this will be “none of them”, but hope springs eternal, I guess.

There’s lots more webnovel to go, but in terms of the GC Novels version we’re caught up with Japan. This remains a decent “stoic guy and his harem” series.