I’m in Love with the Villainess, Vol. 5

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By Inori and Hanagata. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou” by GL Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Kevin Ishizaka. Adapted by Nibedita Sen.

As the author notes in the afterword to this volume, this series has come a long way from its first volume, which was mostly dedicated to the relationship between Rae and Claire. That’s still the case in this final volume, but it ends up being the first volume writ large; where the first volume focused on the school they were enrolled in, and the second their kingdom, this final volume sets their romance against the end of everything. I am going to try not to spoil too much in this review, but there’s a big swerve about 1/4 of the way into this volume that makes sense on a plot level, and also helps to explain a few things that have been bubbling under since the third book began and we started to get the continuation plotline. Unfortunately, it appears that once again events may conspire to force Claire to make the difficult decision that will save the most people, leaving Rae to scream about it.

So it turns out that the ones who’ve been going after Claire so much are servants of the Demon Queen, who is here to destroy the Empire in order to get her way. Dorothea, realizing a bit too late that being the sort of person that she is means that calling for aid is going to get her nowhere, decides to abdicate in favor of Philine, who is not going to be winning any sword battles but is certainly far better at actual negotiation. And then there’s the Apostle, who bounces between bodies in order to tell Rae and Claire that she’s on their side… despite the fact that she honestly feels extremely untrustworthy. In any case, at least our heroes finally get the Demon Queen herself to make an appearance. And… oh no, that face seems really familiar somehow…

I’m not spoiling you on the main surprises, but finding out the Demon Queen has a Rae face should not be too much of a surprise after meeting the Pope in previous books. We know this series stacks up Raes the way that the Fate franchise stacks up Sabers, so the reader’s reaction is more “ah, knew it” than anything else. Also without spoiling anything, Rae reacting to things, both for good and ill, is one of the highlights of this volume. Her lack of confidence in herself deep down comes up here again, even to the point where she’s surprised that her children show her as much affection as they do Claire. It helps to make the climax of the book have even greater impact. The fight scenes are also nifty, with lots of cool battles that would look great animated, hint hint. And let’s also pour one out for poor Lilly, who is fantastic here and absolutely gets shafted by the narrative, because that’s what the narrative has to do. Ah well.

If it sounds like I’m not saying much, that’s because I really want the impact of the reveals here to surprise the reader. Trust me when I say you won’t regret it. This was an excellent finale to the series… but I’m also very happy we’re getting She’s So Cheeky for a Commoner in the next few months.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!: Royal Academy Stories – First Year

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

While we have gotten short stories at the end of each volume of Bookworm from the perspectives of the people in the cast who are not Myne/Rozemyne, it’s nice to have an entire volume that does not feature her at the center – in fact, a lot of these stories revolve around her absence. Instead we get a sense of what the Academy is supposed to be like for people who are not Rozemyne, and how she really is just tearing through everything like a bull in a china shop. There is political wrangling about tea parties, political wrangling about sports, and literal assault as a romantic overture. One thing I will note: everyone who said “I still hate Wilfried” as we went into the 4th arc should read this, as you really do feel bad for him. That said, anyone who hated Traugott will find only things that make you hate him more. I can’t believe he was once engaged to Best Girl.

Many of these stories are from Hannelore’s POV, and indeed the collection itself came about as the author wanted to find a place for the web-only Hannelore stories that didn’t fit into the main books. I can sum most of them up as “Being Hannelore Is Suffering” and leave it at that. There’s also a long story from the POV of Rauffen, the ditter-obsessed housemaster of Dunkenfelger, and how he proves to be much more on the ball than I had anticipated. And we get a wonderful story with Angelica, showing how even if she wants to serve Rozemyne for the rest of her life, she still has to realize what that actually means (though she also proves more emotionally adept than I had anticipated at handling the temple servants). And there’s Hartmut, as we see the short story that had been referenced before in the 7th book of Arc 4 (this volume came out in Japan before that one), and it’s a lot of fun.

I’d argue this is pretty essential reading even if it’s just short stories without Rozemyne in them. The discussion of ditter and what it was originally meant to do, as well as the changed made to it, forecast an ominous fate for the knights if there is, say, a civil war. The most ominous short story is the one with Ortwin and his sister Adolphine, who had been expecting a relatively easy and happy engagement, but thanks to Rozemyne’s intervention and the power of True Love, is going to get one that’s far less easy and far less happy. The words “I’m screwed” do not pass her lips, but they drench the text, and I think this is also going to play out in future volumes of the main series. And we also learn that even if she may only be 11 years old and look like she’s 7, Rozemyne is still a hot item, which helps explain why she got a rushed engagement. Powerful people want her in their duchy.

As with most short story collections of large series these days, this came out awkwardly after the books that refer to it. I assume that’s the usual rights issues and contract stuff. Still better than Re: Zero, which relies on “no, we’re not doing these volumes, just read the wiki to figure out who this is”. Thankfully, we have it now, and it’s a great read for Bookworm fans.

Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, Vol. 2

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By You Fuguruma and Nama. Released in Japan as “Kasei Madoushi no Isekai Seikatsu: Boukenchuu no Kasei Fugyou Uketamawarimasu!” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim.

I remember thinking after finishing the first volume of Housekeeping Mage that it was a lot darker than I had really expected. But I noted in my review that the story did its level best to try to have the trauma and abuse of our heroine be in the past so that it could be a cute romantic novel. That said… there is still the past trauma and abuse, and that comes to the fore here in the second volume, where we go into more detail about Shiori’s struggles after being isekai’d to this world (we still don’t know the reason) and we go into much greater detail about her time with her previous party, who were all such good kids… AT FIRST. And, well, bad things happen to her here as well. It’s just volume 2, so I’m OK with this, and it’s quite well written. I do hope we’ve sort of turned a corner, though. It can be cathartic but also exhausting to read.

As Alec and Shiori return from visiting Rurii’s family, they are beset upon by a snow wolf. And then, later on, three snow wolves. This is very unusual, they tend not to attack humans without a reason. They then arrive at a nearby village and find the reason, which leads to a huge battle between 60-70 wolves and only a few knights and adventurers. Unfortunately, during this, Shiori is badly injured, and this triggers memories of her past adventure party, to the point where she’s almost delirious with fear that Alec will abandon her. From this we also learn about how her party self-destructed so badly, and who was the mastermind behind it. Oh yes, there’s also a torture brothel involved. That said, this *is* still a romance, and by the end of the book Alec and Shiori are essentially a couple, and resolving to reveal to each other their secret backstories.

I am slightly optimistic that the worst of this is behind us, mostly because the narrative makes it textually clear. By the end of the main story, Shiori’s old diary detailing her travails since arriving in this world up to her abandonment has been burned, and the records showing exactly who was behind everything and why have also been burned, thus literally allowing her to start over fresh. Not admittedly there’s still Alec’s past, which is also touched upon here, and we also don’t know the reason she’s even here at all. But the summary of the next volume, while it implies bad things will be happening, at least says they’ll be fresh new bad things. And the romance between Alec and Shiori really is sweet. I could have done without the brothel subplot entirely, though, to be fair, which mostly seems to be there to show off what a bad guy the bad guy was.

So yes, I’m going to be reading more. I like the leads, I like Shiori’s slime, I like the supporting cast who aren’t evil, and honestly the ones who were evil are all dead now. Let’s hopefully move on.