From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 5

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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.

Earl and Fairy: Requiem for a Goddess

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By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

After the short story volume form last time, this book storms back with a vengeance, as if it’s determined to start actually resolving things. Are we getting near the end of Earl and Fairy? Hardly – we’re just over a quarter of the way – but we are at last allowed to actually resolve a few plot points and move forward others that have been simmering in the background since the first book. If you’ve been waiting for Raven to do more than be Edgar’s sounding board and occasionally attack random minor villains, I have some good news for you, as Raven and Ermine’s past is explored a lot more thoroughly here. The bad news is that this means that Raven spends a lot of the book as the damsel in distress, with a healthy dash of mind control as well. Now, you might think that it’s better that this happen to the relatively strong Raven rather than Lydia again. That’s the bad news. She’s damseled again, and it’s mostly her own fault.

There’s a serial killer murdering people around London Bridge, and Edgar is investigating, especially after a piece of green stone is found in the mouth of one of the victims. Meanwhile, I’m sorry to tell you, but everyone’s favorite revolving door traitor, Ermine, has run off again, after Raven confronts her about a green diopside stone that she seems determined to keep away from him, and which is tied to their past. Meanwhile, a student of Lydia’s father, Ulya, has appeared, telling her that her father is ill. Lydia accepts this and runs off to see him… and is captured, leading to her needing to be rescued, which leads to Raven being captured. Oh, and she’s abducted by Kelpie. Again. Twice. She’s really having a bad day.

This is a book with very little humor in it. Ulysses appears briefly, but we also see The Prince (or one of his body doubles), and if he’s meant to be a sort of evil Bertie (later Edward VII), it works pretty well. We get a fuller description of Raven and Ermine’s past with Edgar, which also means we hear about her being raped in front of Edgar just to upset him. As for Lydia and Edgar’s romance, things get off to a rocky start, but for once the “being an idiot about things” is tilted more towards the Lydia end of the scales, as Edgar is on good behavior here, having realized that he genuinely does have to treat Lydia differently if he wants to marry her. As for Lydia, she admits that she’s in love with Edgar, and while she won’t say this out loud to him yet, she at least agrees to marry him. Sort of. It’s a cliffhanger ending of sorts, after she’s abducted for the THIRD time in the book. Those kooky kids…

By now I hope everyone knows this is a series with a small but dedicated fanbase, and this volume hits all the right notes if you are in that fanbase.

True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends: Music of the Flower Gardens and Heaven

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By Kosuzu Kobato and Fumi Takamura. Released in Japan as “Unmei no Koibito wa Kigen Tsuki” by Maple Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Sarah Moon. Adapted by Max Machiavelli.

Last time I wondered if this (at the time) standalone book would be getting any more volumes. With this second one it’s very clear that the series is in it for the long haul, or at least the relatively long haul of a shoujo webnovel (the online version is about five volumes total). One way you can tell this is the case is that the ending of this volume is very unsatisfactory as a standalone. There is a conspiracy to replace the heir to the throne with a more amenable person, and that fails, with the politician behind it punished appropriately. But honestly, the reader has not cared much about that, and it always feels remote and irrelevant. What we care about is Fiona and Giles. And it has to be said, at the end of this volume they’re acting like Fiona is no longer under threat of being murdered if she goes out in the streets anymore, and I’m wondering… why? Because our bad guy is still the big bad guy.

Fiona has caught a rapscallion trying to steal her purse!… who turns out to actually be the one responsible for all the forgeries that have been floating around. He’s mad at Fiona because her catching the fact that that painting was a fake means he was summarily dismissed by Gordon, and is essentially now a street rat. That also means he’s a valuable witness, though, especially because, while identifying another fake, Fiona and Giles discover the fakes have planted evidence urging a rebellion against the crown… and they’re all being bought by the crown prince’s allies. Someone is trying to upend this country and foment rebellion. Is it the stuffy politician who is the leader of the opposition? Or is it the guy that Fiona shamed in the first book, who seems to be trying to ruin her in a much more dramatic way?

Fear not, the romance between Fiona and Giles is still very much at the forefront… well, as much as it can be at this point. Fiona is falling for Giles but doesn’t realize it, and keeps reminding herself that this is fake. Giles has fallen for Fiona and admitted it, but she’s still just a baron’s daughter, so he has a long way to go before he can make it reality. And he also has to get her to realize his feelings, which would involve… telling her. Can’t have that. The really surprising scene in this volume is meeting Giles’ father, who has always been cold and aloof with him, and finding, like a lot of dads in these shoujo romance novels, that he’s cold and aloof mostly as he’s bad at feelings, and that he actually is looking out for Giles in his own way. As for Fiona, well, she still loves art first, her uncle second, and Giles a distant third.

Still, a side story suggests her own engagement, which is currently “on hold”, might be falling apart naturally. At least I can be more confident there’s a third volume coming, if only as the bad guy got away. A solid volume.