By Yanagi and Yoh Hihara. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hashikko no Chibi Majo-san” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Nathan Macklem.
Last time I was wondering if this would turn out to be a disgraced noble book in disguise, or a slow life book, or a mystery, and it leaned more on the mystery at the end. This second volume is, till the nasty cliffhanger, a far more relaxed affair. Misha has moved to another kingdom, and for the most part, gets treated like a savior. She responds to this well, by… well, if there is a problem with this kingdom, she is going to solve it, as she takes on princesses with poor health, herb gardens with weak effects, and secret royalty who are kind of tsundere. (She may have more difficulty in the third book – see aforementioned nasty cliffhanger.) But after the trauma of the first book, and while she’s still dealing with her mother’s death, with affects her throughout, this book is all about making Misha happy and content. Everyone loves her.
Misha and her entourage finally arrive at the Kingdom of Redford’s palace, where she greets its king, who was not expected to be king but became one after a combination of a plague – which no one ever really figured out – and various countries trying to take advantage of all the death. He’s a young man who affects a sunny, pleasant personality but is not above using people for his own ends – though he knows before he even meets her that Misha needs to be handled with kid gloves. She makes a great first impression, as it turns out that medicine in this kingdom is not all that great – the idea of a stethoscope astonishes them. That said, can she win over tougher customers, like the King’s sister, who has been ill for most of her life – wait, is she still ill? Are we sure she’s not just spoiled?
I will note that folks who are somewhat tired of the sunshine girl arriving in a new community and magically healing everyone through a combination of niceness and gumption may find this book hard going, as it leans into that cliche pretty hard. Misha does arrive with her elf – sorry, person of the forest – mentor, but she quickly goes away to do other stuff, mostly leaving Misha on her own. The kingdom does its level best to make her happy – sure, you can stay in the gardener’s shed out back instead of our lovely palace, just try not to pay attention to how expensive your “simple” furniture is. I also enjoyed the scenes with Caro, who is suffering from a classic case of child with too many expectations, and finds Misha treating him like the kid he is – complete with the standard “let’s play around with the poor commoner children” scene – a breath of fresh air.
So the first book was somewhat fraught and tragic, and this book was mostly relaxing and happy. There is that cliffhanger, though, and I’m pretty sure the third volume will swing things the other way. For fans of cute girls doing cute medical things.
