By Dojyomaru and Fuyuyuki. Released in Japan as “Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

Yes, I know, I jinxed it. I was looking forward to this being the final Realist Hero volume, and lo and behold, there’s a short story collection still to go. Still, for the most part, this does serve as the “epilogue” to the series the author wanted, for better or worse. For worse is laid out right there on the cover, which might be the most bizarre choice of cover art for a final volume ever. (The short story volume, realizing this, will have Souma and his wives instead.) Of all the plot points I wanted this series to resolve, “who does Souma’s son marry?” was pretty low on the list, and the fact that the answer is Carla does not fill me with glee. To her credit, Carla brings up all the reasons I hate this pairing, but Souma essentially shoots them all down by telling her “Face it, Carla, it’s Chinatown”, and she ends up going through with it anyway. Sigh. What else do we have here?

In addition to the Carla subplot, we see the rumor that Souma has a secret love child (who turns out to be Souma’s actual child and not secret at all); Souma and the other nations open an airline service using dragon knights; Lombard struggles with ruling the new Kingdom of Remus, broken apart from Fuuga Haan’s old empire; Lucy runs a wedding planner service, and brings the reader up to date with more couples getting married; Merula goes back to the spirit kingdom, no longer exiled, but finds herself homesick fairly quickly; Julius and Tia deal with their carved-out bit of the former empire; Jeanne and Lumiere try to discuss politics, but their old friendship and Lumiere’s lingering guilt gets in the way; the rumors that Souma has a secret eighth wife turn out… wait, they’re true?; the former king and queen pay a visit to Georg’s widow and greet her “new” mysterious masked husband; and Anne, the former Saint and Fuuga’s abandoned ally, imprisoned for her own safety, is having post-war trauma and nightmares, and needs therapy.

As you can imagine for an epilogue that’s essentially a short story collection of its own, the contents are highly variable; made more difficult that I didn’t keep a spreadsheet when I read this series, so once again tend to forget anyone who isn’t Souma or his wives. I did enjoy the resolution of Juno’s plotline. The last of the women in love with Souma, marrying her off to someone else would have felt cheap. At the same time, it makes sense that she’d want to be a “secret” wife out of the royal limelight. Plus it allows Souma to use the mascot costume on a regular basis. I also liked how Anne’s story was handled. Her plotline is frankly horrific, and we’re reminded that she was 12 years old, manipulated by everyone around her, and forced to watch all her allies executed or slaughtered. Moreover, the fact that she’s never seen herself as anything but a tool now means she sees herself as nothing. The idea of animal therapy as a start is a great one.

We even get a “lady or the tiger” ending, where we’re told Souma eventually died of old age surrounded by his family… OR DID HE? This final volume of Realist Hero tried to dot i’s and cross t’s, and succeeds about half the time.