A Tale of the Secret Saint, Vol. 9

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By Touya and chibi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Sita Daiseijyo ha, Seijyo Dearuko Towohitakakusu” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Kevin Ishizaka. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

There are many examples in the light novel genre of “slow life” books, where the main character seemingly spends the entire book farming, or running a store, or petting fluffy animals, and not much of substance happens. After reading nine volumes of Secret Saint, I’m starting to wonder if the writer of this series is actually from another world, and was reincarnated in this one to live the slow life putting out the plot one drip at a time. The author actually anticipates this, writing defensively in the afterword about how we all have to be patient. But come on. It helps even less that, as usual, this book is 60% main plot and 40% side stories. We get one major plot beat here, which actually functions as a cliffhanger into the next book. Little sister is still in a coma. Fia’s cover is still not quite blown. Everything is moving forward very, very, very slowly. Fortunately, Fia is an airheaded savant, so it’s all very readable.

After the events of the last book, Fia is spending part of her days in the royal garden, trying to get the roses to have the magical power to wake Colette from her coma. She’s also meeting the other saints, who are… well, in a power struggle with each other, as the position of saint these days is very political and those whose powers don’t measure up find themselves sent to the remote countryside very quickly. Meanwhile, the Queen Dowager is returning to the capital. She’s the head saint, and she has chosen a woman who is sure to be the next head saint. This comes as a surprise to Fia, who was expecting the grumpy but good deep down Priscilla to get the job. That said, Fia is even more surprised by who the king reveals will be his candidate. (Fia is the only one surprised by this.)

The side stories in this book are based on the 2nd character poll, with the top 6 getting a story of their own. It includes the ZERO spinoff, so no surprises, Sirius is in first place. It actually feels a bit odd to see the younger, Serafina-focused stories in the main series now that she has her own spinoff to play around in. As for the book itself, it’s mostly fun, aside from the Queen Dowager, who has “end of level Boss” vibes to her, does not seem to like either of her sons, and I suspect will really not like Fia once she sees what Fia can do. There’s a ton of humor here, especially when Fia decides, for no good reason, that walking around with her pet dragon on her shoulder will be fine after all. Fia is all heart and no head, and that can be a bit frustrating, both for the reader (if she figured things out this series would be over by now) and for the romantic leads (she doesn’t recognize a date even when told “this is a date” and she’s given presents).

If you’ve been following this series, well, don’t expect huge plot and character development. But it’s fun.

The Dorky NPC Mercenary Knows His Place, Vol. 4

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By Toryuu and hamm. Released in Japan as “Kimo Ota Mob Yōhei wa, Mi no Hodo o Wakimaeru” by Overlap Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Josh DM.

This was a stronger volume of Dorky NPC Merc than the third one, despite the fact that John is generally in far less danger throughout. I don’t really need him in peril here, though it is nice to occasionally see him struggle. But for the most part we read this to see him do a lot of cool space battle things, and then react to most of the aftermath with a sort of flat stare. It’s just the sort of guy he is. Aside from that, this series has one agenda, and it’s “rich arrogant nobles suck”, and it gives you a lot more of that here. That said, like most of these series which do not want to bite the hand that feeds them, it’s only the BAD nobles that are terrible and deserve death. The good nobles, like, say, the Empress who rules, are absolutely fine. THEY don’t treat people horribly. But fear not, that still leaves lots of terrible failnobles to go around.

After then events of the last book, John spends the start of this volume getting himself a new ship, which basically seems to be “my old ship only newer and with better radar and a better ability to store my doujinshi”. Unfortunately, the noble rebellion that’s been hinted at for a while finally starts, and martial law is declared as the mercenaries are all called in to fight for Empress and country. This goes better than you’d expect – the Empress is acting a bit less competent than she actually is to lure out bad nobles (I’m not sure if her “tits out” royal outfit is also meant to obfuscate, but I suspect it’s just part of the artist’s vibe), and the rebels think they have a mole when in fact he’s being a double agent and has betrayed them all. After this, a lot of now disgraced nobles turn to piracy, so John spends a lot of time tracking them down and basically doing his job for money.

As with Book 3, there’s less overt romance here. First Girl Fialka still seems to be the only one who has extended interaction with him, though her default tsundere state makes things difficult. And Second Girl (and default “childhood friend”) Scuna sees him carrying out an investigation by borrowing a prostitute’s bedroom and gets the wrong idea. The most interesting part of the book is the rebellion – we get the POV of a few noble families who are essentially being blackmailed into doing this, and there’s mention of a horrible financial penalty to all who participated but were coerced in the rebellion – though this too turns out to be a ploy by the Empress. I have a sneaking suspicion, especially after she and Fialka have a relatively friendly meetup at a noble reception, that the Empress is going to meet John pretty soon, and may end up dragging romance back into things. Over his dead body, of course.

This is never going to be required reading, but if you’re bored with fantasy isekais, and would like a bit of space opera that manages to avoid being a misogynistic hellhole, this is a good choice.

Restaurant to Another World, Vol. 6

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By Junpei Inuzuka and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan as “Isekai Shokudou” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Elliot Ryouga. Adapted by Rebecca Schneidereit.

It has been over five years since the last time I reviewed this series, so pardon me for forgetting literally everything about it. Which is a shame, as this is a series that very much rewards the sort of reader who keeps a spreadsheet showing the main characters and when they first arrive and what their favorite meals are. There was a two and a half year gap between the 5th and 6th books in Japan, but the likely reason this one took so long is a) renegotiating the contract with a publisher that is famously cool towards translating its stuff, and b) the fact that we still don’t have a Book 7. Nothing since 2021. Well, the manga is still running. That is to say, the second manga, which is digital-only and chapter-only, apparently. Basically, this is a somewhat cursed series, but at least there’s delicious food throughout. It still makes you hungry as you read it.

As with previous volumes, this consists of 20 chapters, each titled with a food dish of some sort, and gives us a little story about who is ordering it. That said, there are a few other plot-related things going on here. There’s an infestation of moth monsters that’s going to go out of control unless something is done, and this will involve getting the hiding Princess Victoria involved – under her code name Pudding, which makes it especially amusing when she runs into fellow diner Heinrich, aka “Fried Shrimp”. We also meet a new waitress from our own world, who is the niece of the Master and is trying to learn so that she can be a chef and start a restaurant of her own. Fortunately, she has her uncle’s temperament as well, so takes the otherworld stuff in full stride. Though Aletta might be a bit jealous of Saki’s reading and writing skills…

The fact that this takes place across a long period of time, and you never know when each new chapter will be, keeps the mind alive in among the long, lingering descriptions of people eating food. One chapter shows us a woodcutter and his wife, along with their two kids, showing a noble who has gotten lost the restaurant. Two chapters later, we see a younger woodcutter proposing in the same restaurant. And in another we see the late owner of the restaurant running the show, with the current Master just a newbie who’s still learning the ropes. A large chunk of this seems to take place before Kuro arrives at the restaurant, as there’s very little of her here, but we do get a lot of Aletta, who constantly worries she’s not being useful enough (hence why Saki’s arrival sent her into a panic.) Unlike the anime, there’s little to no romance – while the restaurant is encroaching on the fantasy world more and more, it’s in terms of establishing bonds of friendship that will allow them to reach out in times of need.

This was really good. I hope it’s not the last one.