By Touko Amekawa and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Shiitagerareta Tsuihou Oujo wa, Tenseishita Densetsu no Majo deshita: Mukae ni Koraretemo Komarumasu. Juuboku to no Ohirune wo Jamashinaide Kudasai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Jeremy Browning.

I admit to being quite surprised that this volume wasn’t the final one. Frankly, all the plot guns and secrets have now been well and truly revealed (and yes, I will have to spoil a lot of them further down this review), and yet there is a 6th and final book that is going to wrap things up. I am worried that the final book will just be a big fight, but that’s future Sean’s problem. As for what IS in this book, well, as you’d expect, Claudia wakes up three years later, but it’s everything else that manages to be the surprise. We’ve got multiple master plans being carried out at the same time. We’ve got alternate universes. We’ve got even more reincarnations. We’ve got concealed backstories. And yes, we do have a bit of cool fighting, though even that is made up of “you fell for it!” gambits.

Three years after the fourth book, Claudia remains in a state of suspended animation, basically dead but her body remains as it is and doesn’t decay. Meanwhile, Noah has risen to become Commander of the knights, and spends his spare time meeting with all the other allies and friends Claudia has made in the previous four books to find out how to revive her, as it’s taking a long time. They’re a bit hurried as Lemilsia’s “mourning period” is almost up, and everyone knows the moment it is Sieghart is going to invade. And sure enough, he does, muttering constantly about making Adelheid his and being controlled by a mysterious person. As for Claudia, she has in fact woken up… in an alternate universe where her magic is still suppressed and everyone knows who she is. And in this world, Leonhard is her enemy.

If I had a nickel every time that a reincarnated noble who was formerly one of the most powerful witches in the country ends up fighting against what turns out to be one of her former minions who was deeply in love with her and that love has turned to possessive need and a complete disrespect for what she actually wants, I’d have two nickels. In fact, call it three, as this is also very similar to one of the previous books in this series. But yeah, if you’ve read The Countess Is a Coward No More, this might seem a bit familiar. That said, this series is better written than that one, and there are a lot more surprise twists, mostly involving Claudia’s mother, who we get to know here, and who turns out to be trying to look out from her daughter beyond the grave, which involves a complex memory spell that only lets people remember things when it’s needed. Handy, that. As for the identity of the person behind all this… well, yes, it’s her obsessive minion, but it’s who they’re possessing that’s the other big reveal. We’re getting the family back together for a reunion.

As of this writing, the 6th and final book is not out in Japan yet, so it will be a long wait. Ah well, there’s a new 7th Time Loop by the same author that just came out in Japan. That’s something, right?

By Touko Amekawa and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Shiitagerareta Tsuihou Oujo wa, Tenseishita Densetsu no Majo deshita: Mukae ni Koraretemo Komarumasu. Juuboku to no Ohirune wo Jamashinaide Kudasai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Jeremy Browning.

This series has pretty much shown itself to be “mystery of the day”, with the main plot usually only cropping up near the end. We see Claudia and Noah go to a country that is having a problem, they investigate the problem, they solve the problem more or less, and they return to home base. That’s also what happens here, with some nice little twists to keep the reader guessing. And, unlike a lot of other light novels where the twists are obvious and meant to be so, these are actually hard to guess till almost the reveal. That said, we can’t quite get away from the main plot, and the fact that it’s been seven years since the start of the series, and Claudia is seven years older, and yet she still can’t use magic for extended periods without having to nap for days. Stronger steps are needed.

This book is essentially “Claudia and Noah do Arabian Nights”, though thankfully the problematic aspects that could arise from that are kept to a minimum. After being knighted by Claudia on his 16th birthday, there is an attack on the castle’s barrier by a raging griffin, who is taken down when it tries to attack Claudia… and promptly turns to solid gold. This prompts the two of them to head to the kingdom of Sharavia, a desert oasis which also has a legendary Golden Falcon that is apparently the savior of their kingdom… and might also turn things to gold. Unfortunately, on arriving there, they find the king has gone undercover to look for the treasure, which has been stolen… and he needs Noah to take his place as King. As for Claudia, she’s headed to the harem…

I did say “kept to a minimum”, not eliminated. There is a harem here, though, because this is still a romantic story for women to a degree, the king only has one true love that he visits – whether that’s the current king or Noah, of course. There’s also a grand vizier type, though the series cleverly tries to dance around how trustworthy he’s actually meant to be. He’s very good at chipping away at Noah’s stoic “I am merely my lady’s servant, there is nothing between us” exterior, pointing out (as so many light novel readers are quick to point out to supposedly asexual protagonists who say they’re not in love LOOKING AT YOU ROZEMYNE) that everything he describes about how he feels about Claudia is love. As for her, she’s far more explicit in saying she loves him, but that’s possibly as she’s still under the impression that eventually she will die and she wants him to live on without her. And honestly, given the cliffhanger ending of this book, that day may come sooner rather than later.

Now that we’re caught up on 7th Time Loop, the author’s other series, I’m pleased we still have a bit to go with this one. That is assuming the author does not kill of Claudia and just have 200 blank pages next time. Unlikely.

By Touko Amekawa and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Shiitagerareta Tsuihou Oujo wa, Tenseishita Densetsu no Majo deshita: Mukae ni Koraretemo Komarumasu. Juuboku to no Ohirune wo Jamashinaide Kudasai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Jeremy Browning.

I always enjoy mysteries with multiple twists, even if I figure out some of them. This series has been very good about giving us those twists, which is good, as despite the final scene this series is a lot less action packed than the author’s other book, 7th Time Loop. Claudia is ten now, and even more than the other two books she mostly acts like a ten-year-old… well, OK, a 6-year-old. Claudia likes to weaponize being an adorable child, and I think she overdoes it a bit. She’s a magical powerhouse, but that is, again, used mostly subtly till the very end. Mostly, Claudia enjoys being doted upon as a new girl at the academy, does quiet investigations, and tries to get Noah to meet his half-brother, which Noah, frankly, has no desire to do. And honestly, given events in this book, I can’t blame him. Claudia and Noah may be codependent, but they’re also what’s best for each other.

Claudia and Noah have entered an academy for nobles to learn magic, mostly as there’s another curse going on there. Ships have been disappearing, and since this school is under the sea, and exactly where the ships vanish, it’s a good guess that’s where the cause is. As it turns out, this school was created by Adelheid, 500 years ago, to promote equality. Which it, well, isn’t really pulling off. We meet a gorgeous 18-year-old who is the belle of the school, beloved by all. We also meet her 11-year-old sister, whose lack of control over her magic terrified everyone, and who now mostly holes up in her room. They both sing, and the thought is that it’s a song that’s the cause of the missing ships. Also, how does Sieghart, Noah’s brother, figure into this? And are all these curse cases tying together?

It’s hard to talk about the climax of the book without spoiling it, and I already discussed Claudia’s childishness, but it’s interesting to see that she still appears to be pushing Noah to try to understand the greater world around him, presumably so that one day, when she is gone, he can go on to greater things. This is despite the fact that, multiple times a day, he tells her how devoted to her he is and that leaving her side even for a moment makes him upset. The adult Adelheid wants to push Noah away, but the child Claudia, I think, wants him to be there and dote on her – or have her dote on him. It ties in nicely to the story of this volume, which features a curse set off by people desperately reaching out to family because, in the end, they’re not as mature and put together as they might actually pretend. Even the villain of this book is also pretending to be mature and in control but, well, isn’t.

Claudia looks grown up on the cover of the 4th book, but I don’t think we’ll jump that many years. In any case, this remains a fun and intriguing mystery with age-up and age-down shenanigans galore.