By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

For the first few books of the series, each one focused on one of the women that Bel used to teach who has now fallen in love with him, as well as dealing with Bel’s phenomenally low self-regard. Now that we’ve cycled through everyone, and Bel has… started to deal with getting more self-confident (he still backslides a lot), we get to cycle through the heroines again, and the theme seem to be each of them dealing with a personal issue. For Allucia it was her sword breaking and her attachment to it, and now we have Surena, who has a much more serious issue (the monster that killed her parents has lodged itself on a mountain and is going after passersby) but who also suffers from being the heroine we care about least. Sorry, but since she’s always off being an adventurer, she’s way behind in the Bel sweepstakes. Still, she tries.

As Bel goes about his day, taking the time to look over Ficelle’s class and see that she’s actually teaching them magic swordplay properly now… not that that makes it any easier to get, as Mewi is finding out… he finds Surena coming to his house. She explains that she’s taking on what is likely to be a very dangerous mission, and she wanted to touch base with him just in case she doesn’t return. A while later, Bel is rather upset to hear she has not in fact returned. and Allucia, who may hate her romantic rival but doesn’t hate Surena the adventurer, swings it so that Bel can “take a vacation” and find out what’s happened to her. And it turns out what’s happened is a tough invisible named monster who’s almost entirely impervious to blades… and who both Bel and Surena recognize.

Speaking of characters we don’t usually see in the narrative, this book actually gets Lucy to leave her office and do something for a change, mostly as it turns out sending non-magical sword users to take on a monster who uses mana to kill its opponents is not the brightest idea. The book also shows off why we usually don’t have Lucy along, though – leaving aside that she’s not attracted to Bell and therefore can’t push the wife question at all (speaking of which, Surena gets little sisterzoned, alas), but it becomes very clear that she’s holding back, partly so as not to cause an international incident, but mostly as she’s too OP for this book. We already have Belgrieve as the very, very powerful swordsman who refuses to admit it, we don’t need a very, very powerful mage who revels in it.

The 10th volume only came out in Japan last month, so it will be a while before we see it here. In the meantime, rest assured, everything is exactly the same with these folks, for better or worse.

By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

The author, in the afterword to this volume, discusses the anime, and says that they asked for the long subtitle to be removed to make it easier to take. Which I agree worked very well for the anime, which was more concerned with Beryl’s sword feats than about which girl will win. The novels, though, are definitely concerned with which girl will win, so the subtitle seems appropriate. Previously, Beryl had stated that he could never take a wife that was one of his former students, but also, when offered what amounts to a perfect marriage to a woman who really likes him, he backs off like she’s on fire. Beryl simply cannot accept that people find him attractive and a good partner. He knows Allucia is in love with him, but his immediate thought is “she can do better”. Something’s got to give here, and since Beryl isn’t doing it, stronger measures are needed.

This volume is essentially three short stories. In the first part, Beryl and Allucia try to find her the perfect sword, and Beryl is dissatisfied till he remembers he still has that monster core from four books ago. He then goes off with Mewi to have dinner at a nice seafood restaurant, courtesy Surena, who promised him she’d find a place for him. In the second part, he watches the new hopefuls try out for the knights, including the twins we saw when he returned home to his dojo, who seem to have lots of flaws (particularly the hotheaded Adel), but are also still good enough to make the cut in the end. (This is not a spoiler, come on, everyone he teaches turns to gold.) Lastly, he and the new recruits head north to a town by the mountains, where he meets a friend he hadn’t seen since they were kids, who now heads the knight order there.

Kennith is the old childhood friend, and he’s also on the cover art. He’s the one who can try to kick Beryl’s ass about picking a wife. Mostly as it is blindingly obvious to everyone on the planet that Allucia is in love with him, but is basically quietly waiting. Beryl’s “but they’re my students” protest gets a reminder that a) he’s not the one pursuing them as a teacher, and b) they’re all in their twenties by now, and no longer his students – there’s not the power imbalance that comes with such a relationship normally (indeed, Allucia is in a higher position than Beryl), and relationships between mid-forties guys and early twenties girls in a fantasy setting might raise an eyebrow, but that’s about it. Most importantly, though, a trip to a hot spring prods Allucia to take the initiative and force Beryl to confront her feelings and the fact that he thinks she’s gorgeous. His response is “give me time” – no surprise there – but she’s content, especially as it seems that her only rival right now is Shueste.

That may change with Book 9, which seems to star Surena, and I do wonder if we’ll get another go round of “different girl in love with him each book” before he makes a decision. Till then, this remains solid and unassuming, much like its lead.

By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

Last time I wrote a review of this, the anime was just starting, and as I write this one, the anime has just ended. Most people agree that it was stolid, unremarkable, did not really do anything wrong but was nothing to write home about except the fight scenes were very well done. Folks also agree that the Japanese voice of Beryl really nailed the part, that sort of world-weary “I am forty years old, sigh” quality that he has a lot of the time. I thought the voice was excellent, and it also helps as I read this seventh volume in the series, where Beryl’s soul-searching monologues are at an all-time high. And while it’s just a coincidence, the fact that folks who finished the anime and decided to buy this new book get a volume that is almost a direct sequel to the end of the anime is very nice.

Beryl has been asked to help provide security for the wedding of Princess Salacia to Prince Glenn of Sphenedyardvania, a wedding that, of course, takes place in that country, which also recently resurrected the dead, including Mewi’s sister, and is in the middle of a holy war. So, extra protection is recommended. After stopping off in Flumvelk to rest and so that Beryl can get seduced (spoiler: he does not get seduced), they arrive there to find everything seemingly going well… until the wedding is invaded by undead, and the city outside is invaded by horrible chimera. Fortunately, Beryl and Allucia have help, including a mysterious masked woman, as well as… the enemies from the last book?

As always, it can be very hard to take Beryl’s aw shucks attitude in large doses, and there’s an extra helping of that in this book. I am hoping that it’s because he’s actually trying to figure out how to live going forward beyond “be best at sword”. He loves being a dad, and I think would be happy for Mewi to have a mother, he has no real concept of what a wife would be like. This is most obvious in the scenes with Shueste, who does everything short of lying naked on his bed and saying “take me now, big boy”. He clearly GETS it, but the idea of another woman liking him, be it student, noble, or anyone, makes him deeply uncomfortable. Which is a decent ongoing dilemma for a harem series to have, but dragging it out too long loses readers, who won’t always be happy with 100 pages of cool fights. I’m honestly rooting for Shueste, but I suspect first girl Allucia still has the advantage right now. We’ll see how shopping for swords goes next time.

If you enjoyed the anime, you know what you’re getting with Beryl. So as long as you’re not the sort who asks if there is snu-snu, this should make you perfectly happy.