Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 4: Founder of the Royal Academy’s So-Called Library Committee, Vol. 8

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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.

This is the penultimate book in the fourth arc, and each of the arcs has featured a game-changing plot twist, so what we see happening in this book should not be a surprise, and yet it still feels a bit unreal. Ever since the 4th volume in the series, Ferdinand has been the second most important character after Rozemyne, and his presence… and ability to rescue her in case she got herself in a jam… were always there. Now he’s going to be leaving, and not in a happy way, either. As a reader, I know that something is going to happen to stop this, but I’m not sure when it will happen, meaning we may have to wait for Rozemyne to graduate before we get any results. And, um, I highly suspect that the civil war that keeps bubbling under will be underway well before then. Times are dangerous.

The first half of the book is pretty normal. Rozemyne finally meets her younger brother, Melchior, who is shorter than her! – just. She’s doing temple stuff, pushing publishing, and working on the finances of the duchy. Then we get the Archduke’s conference, and everything goes to hell, as Ferdinand is asked to marry Detlinde, an Ahrensbach noble. We know from the Royal Academy sections of the story that she’s the girl who wants to bully Rozemyne, so we already hate her. Needless to say, Ferdinand says no. Then the King tells him he has to do it. You cannot really say no to the King. We gradually over the course of the rest of the book hear the official reasons why this is happening, as well as the unofficial reasons, but hovering over all these is a secret reasons: Georgine is plotting bad, bad things.

One thing that this series has hammered home time and again is that very few marriages in this world are based on love, or even have any romantic feelings at all. Political and practical marriages are the watchword. Rozemyne is engaged to Wilfried, but neither of them really care about it. Angelica’s engagement is broken in this volume, and she literally has to practice being devastated by it, as in reality she just doesn’t care. So it’s not surprising that Ferdinand’s own feelings are being ignored here. (Indeed, a side story tells us that other duchies think he’s being abused by Sylvester and company!) But I mention this because the scenes with Ferdinand and Rozemyne here, while not romantic, are intense. She literally says that all he has to do is give the word and she will raise hell and go rescue him. Even if you are still wary of them as a match, it’s heartwarming in a familial sense.

The next volume, as noted, is the last one in this arc, and should feature Rozemyne and Ferdinand permanently “breaking up” – not that I expect that to actually happen. Will she be able to help? Will the country explode in war? And will Rozemyne ever stop looking like a 7-year-old so that all of this can get slightly less creepy? Can’t wait to find out.

An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Vol. 14

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By Fuminori Teshima and COMTA. Released in Japan as “Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

Last time I asked where the story could go after the previous volume really seemed to wrap up most of the plots and put a bow on them. I really should have been able to guess, as the answer is: a short story volume. This one has a wraparound of the cast all having a post-saving the world party at Zagan’s castle, and Gremory (who is in a wheelchair, and also looks 16 years old becauze of, I assume, nearly dying) is trying to get everyone to tell her love stories, which ties in to Foll going around asking about love a couple of volumes ago. There’s a bit of ongoing romance stuff – Selphy has clearly very much come to terms with her love of Lilith, and is going to try harder to make sure she does not take the het route. (She probably will, be warned.) But really this volume is about the four stories, which range from good but slight to excellent.

In the first story, Zagan, Nephy and Foll go to visit a haunted house… one that looks very familiar. Chastille is there as well, separately, and runs into a boy who seems to have gotten lost. In the second, shortest story, Shax and Kuroka eat cute. In the third and longest story, we learn the story of how Raphael met Kuroka’s mother, and the love affair that sadly never was. And in the final story, Zagan and Nephy go on the most adorable date you ever did see, buying cute outfits eating parfaits, and making everyone else around them ill. It’s basically everything that readers of this series have dreamed of, except it doesn’t end with them banging each other like drums at the end of the date.

The reason to get this book is the third story, where Raphael comes to a merchant town to try to track down a serial killer who has been murdering people with swords. Also there is Heidi, who by day is a waitress at an inn and also helps out the local church, and by night goes around masked and attacks people with swords. Is she the person with swords who’s been killing everyone? This one was very compelling, and I sort of hoped that they’d get together, even though I know based on what we know about Raphael and Kuroka that wasn’t happening. It does, however, really require the reader to know what the significance of “the moon is beautiful” is. The first story (and the wraparound) give us the return of crybaby Chastille, who I’ve never really been too fond of, but oh well. The last story is absolute 100% pure sugar, and will be perfect for those who love that sort of thing. Also, Zagan and Nephy’s outfits are pretty cute.

I assume next time we will kick off whatever the next plotline is – Alshiera, I assume – but till then, this was a pretty solid short story collection.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 1

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By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

As I think I’ve said before, I’m not the biggest fan of bodyswap stories. It’s just a personal squick, and always makes for uncomfortable reading, particularly when one of the people swapped is responsible for it. And also a terrible person. So, as you can imagine, the premise of Though I Am an Inept Villainess did not fill me with glee. That said: villainess book, one of my big genres. Also recommended by the authors of Bookworm AND Apothecary Diaries AND Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent. This book had a huge amount of expectations for me. As always with my reading, it would probably depend on the lead character. How does she react to this? How does she fight back? Also, unique to bodyswap stories: how does the rest of the cast not immediately sense something is off? Especially in a world where bodyswapping IS possible? Well, good news all round: the book passes both tests with flying colors. In fact, the book is amazing.

Reirin is a beautiful court lady beloved and doted on by everyone, though also suffering from illness frequently. A butterfly. Keigetsu is a gangly, freckled, bitchy court lady that everyone hates, mostly as she’s terrible to anyone she doesn’t have to suck up to. A sewer rat. Then one day Keigetsu pushes Reirin over a balustrade… and Reirin wakes up in Keigetsu’s body. Which is now in prison, awaiting execution. She’s been bodyswapped! Worse, thanks to the nature of the swap, she’s physically and mentally unable to explain this to anyone. So, now she’s got to somehow avoid execution – which involves being eaten by a starving lion – and then somehow make a life where everyone hates her and she’s in this… wonderful, healthy, robust body? Meanwhile, Keigetsu discovers that Reirin isn’t just sick a lot, she’s at death’s door most of the time. Whoops.

Reirin is astonishingly good. Her combination of joy and guilt over being able to suddenly do ordinary things like eat fried potatoes all the time is hilarious, of course, but she also gets to unleash the tempered blade that is her personality, honed under years of training to not die from fever at any given moment, and use it to do things like show righteous fury, or spend an entire night sewing a new robe for her attendant (the old robe was damaged when the attendant tried to murder her). We also get the sense that she’s not fully formed yet – there’s a realization towards the end of the book that she always tried to keep everyone at arm’s length and made every conversation as if it would be her last, and she’s just realizing now how sad that is. As for the swap itself, I appreciate how everyone IMMEDIATELY realizes that there’s something up, as Keigetsu’s personality has done a complete 180, but it takes till the end of the book to actually figure out HOW. This means there’s less annoying bodyswap humor, which I always dislike. I will admit I wasn’t as fond of Keigetsu in Reirin’s body, but that’s because her character journey is “oh fuck (slowly begins to die)”.

There is a particularly vicious cliffhanger at the end of this volume, not helped by the extended short story that follows (though the short story is excellent, giving much needed backstory to several characters.) It is going to make waiting rfor the next volume a chore, though, especially as I’m not sure how they’ll keep the bodyswap up. Regardless, I found this book a wonderful read.