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.

This is getting an anime pretty soon (in two days, in fact), so it’s interesting to see this volume coming out right before it, as it’s essentially starting a new arc for the series. The last volume brought to a close a lot of Beryl’s issues with his dad, and he’s now come to the conclusion that hey, maybe he *is* pretty strong after all. That said, baby steps. He still struggles with his self-deprecation coming to him automatically through this book. And in regards to his quest for a wife, he’s going to have to get past the “no one could possibly find an old geezer like me attractive” stage to get anywhere. He also straight up says that he’s not going to have any of his former students as bridal candidates, which is essentially EVERYONE to date. So it’s unsurprising that we get a new girl introduced here to offer an alternative.

After dropping by the magical academy to see how the sword magic classes are going, Beryl is called into Allucia’s office. They have to go to the estate of Margrave Flumvelk, who is holding a gathering to celebrate Beryl’s accomplishments to date. Beryl is understandably his usual self about this, but he also knows he can’t refuse a request for a noble, so he, Allucia, and a bunch of knights spend a couple weeks traveling out there. When he arrives, he finds that the margrave is one of his old students, and Allucia’s classmate. He also has a younger sister, Shueste, who he wants to have at Beryl’s side in order to fend off nobility who have designs on Beryl, is gorgeous and clever, and pairs really nicely with Beryl… much to the annoyance of Allucia.

This book is OK, but I have some issues. All the action and drama is backloaded into the last 4th, making it feel like the author had a different ending and was told to change it. We’re introduced to two knights to guard Beryl and Allucia, and one is almost killed, but they both have zero personality between the two of them. They cried out for a side story. More to the point, they do address the elephant in the room here, which is Beryl marrying someone. Warren, the margrave, admits to Allucia that he’d be happy with Beryl marrying his sister… but would also be fine with Beryl marrying Allucia. The key is that Beryl is getting older, and they want someone to carry on the line. I’m not fond of “my awesome sword abilities are genetic” stories, even though, in a world with magic like this, it may be entirely possible. Then again, merely getting Beryl to have sexual desires may be too big a hurdle.

So now we have a whole new subplot with new villains to dig into. The next book promises to finally bring back the adventurer who was one of the harem in Book 1 and then vanished. We’ll see if the anime can bump it up a bit as well.

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.

It’s always difficult to figure out how far you can take your self-effacing hero, and how long you can drag things out before readers start to get annoyed. J-Novel Club seems to specialize in these sorts of guys, actually, and Beryl is the newest of them. Veight from Der Werwolf may claim that he’s just a simple vice-commander, but by the end of the series he’s so OP that he can’t even pass the torch to his daughter properly, the narrative weight is too big. Allen from Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter certainly has the most actual reasons for his attitude, but he also has the most number of people aggressively trying to change it. Our hero here is not nearly as advanced as those two, content with taking out the occasional ludicrously dangerous monster and stopping the odd conspiracy to overthrow the government. But he’s still just a drab, boring old man. Anyone could do what he does… right?

Beryl gets a letter from home. His parents are asking him to come home for a few weeks, as it’s time for the annual “let’s go into the mountains and cull the dangerous fantasy boars that inhabit it so they don’t overrun the village”. They also want him to take Mewi, so they can meet their new daughter. Beryl isn’t sure Mewi would want to go to a backwater village with a boring old man like him, but she seems to accept immediately. Funny, that. Also coming along are second-in-command of the knights Henblitz, who states that he wants to see the sort of place that can easily cull dangerous beasts every year without asking for help. And somehow Beryl’s old student Yotsuba invites herself along, as when she was at the dojo she never did this, having run off to join the knights before she had the opportunity. That said, the lingering question is… will his parents harass him again about getting married?

The answer to that is no, mostly. They don’t confront Beryl directly, but instead buttonhole Henblitz, asking him if there are any women in Beryl’s orbit. Possibly missing the really obvious reaction Yotsuba had when asked if she’s Beryl’s new wife. And also missing that Henblitz is also a clueless guy married to his job. The fight against the saberboars is pretty much what you’d expect – there’s a really big one that Beryl has to defeat, and he does so. We’re not here for that (though we do get to see more of Yotsuba’s ludicrous strength again, which is really, really ludicrous – she also provides the only fanservice in the book when she dives in a river and her clothes get sheer for the illustration). But we’re here for what happens at the very end of the book – Beryl fights his dad, and wins, and his dad forces him to admit that he’s now stronger than him. I could have some words with dad about his bringing up Beryl leading to this, but I am hoping that Beryl can now move forward and perhaps accept the fact that he’s hot stuff. And perhaps notice the hot girls throwing themselves at him.

So this was a pretty good volume in a decent series… hrm? Oh, I’m being told that Yotsuba’s name is actually Curuni? And not Yotsuba. Not sure why I keep making that mistake. Anyway, next time we’re back in the city, and judging by the cover, back to Girl #1 getting the focus.

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.

What is the audience for this series? Honestly, it’s primarily “people who just like to read light novels”, followed by “people who are curious if the series will ever end with him choosing a girl or will it go poly’. That said, I wonder if there are actually any kendo practitioners who might be reading this, because a lot of this 4th volume seems to be written to those students, telling them not to forget the basics. Well, and also reminding muscleheads trying to teach newcomers that “do everything I did without knowing the reason behind it” is a great way to be a terrible teacher. But just maybe the audience for this series is guys who are Beryl’s age who just like to fantasize about still being able to do all the cool athletic things they could do when they were young. Because once again, Beryl is awesome.

After the events of the last book, Beryl is once again left with some free time, and so Lucy asks him to drop by the magic academy to look at the sword magic course taught by his old student Ficelle. Unfortunately, she’s apparently not the best teacher, so Beryl is asked to come by to see if he can help. Since Mewi is also in this class, Beryl agrees, and finds that Ficelle’s teaching is far to spartan and hardcore. Trying to teach the five kids in the class a little less evilly, while offering advice and words of praise, Beryl not only earns the love of the students but also reminds Ficelle of what she was like when she was a student herself. Unfortunately, not all the faculty is happy to see Beryl, and he’s warned to NEVER GO IN THE BASEMENT. Take a wild guess what the climax of the book is.

I have to admit, this is a lot more meandering than the previous books. You get the sense the author realized that Ficelle is the only former student who they never really circled round and gave more depth, so they wrote a book to fix that. Unfortunately, Ficelle is not only a meathead but a stoic meathead, so it can sometimes be hard to get the character development she desperately needs. The best moment was probably the pat on the head. There’s also a group of students who have “spinoff volume” written all over them, especially the ludicrously genki Cindy, who reeks of the protagonist of some other series. The big dramatic climax of the book is not that great, as it barely gets any setup besides that one annoying teacher. I was, I admit, amused by Beryl achieving the impossible without actually knowing it. Someone needs to get him together with the star of Der Werwolf and have them self-deprecate rap battle.

The next volume’s cover suggests it will be for Yotsuba fans… erm, Curuni, I guess that’s her name. And not Yotsuba from Quintuplets. (looks at Vol. 5 cover art) Christ, even the ribbon is the same, only blue. In any case, if you like swordfighting, old men, and no romantic resolution, you’d like this.