Zero Damage Sword Saint: I Enrolled in a Magic School and Wound Up in a Contract with the Demon Queen, Vol. 1

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By Isle Osaki and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Kougekiryoku Zero kara Hajimeru Kenseitan: Osananajimi no Oujo ni Suterare Mahou Gakuen ni Nyuugakushitara, Maou to Keiyakusuru Koto ni Natta ” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

Yeah, this was another “take a flyer” title, and this one did not go quite as well as the Gyaru Vampire Hunter book. That said, I’ve learned with light novels that start off with everything I hate to give them till the end of the volume and inevitably the quality will slide back towards ‘generic light novel that exists’. So it is with this title, which began with someone getting a bad magic gatcha pull and so his life is ruined, everyone now jeers and mocks him, and his childhood friend and girlfriend dumps him. Now, in the present day, all he has to look forward to is that his supposed loser magic is so incredibly powerful that he can visit the sealed demon queen every week and have sex with her. Fortunately, things pick up, and I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, when a young girl is isekai’d into this world.

So yes, Eugene was the son of a famous swordsman, he was tops at sword mastery in school, engaged to the princess, whole world in his hands. Then he got white magic, which can only be used for healing and barriers. And not with swords, which this world’s mechanics require some sort of attack magic to go with it. Flash forward a year, and he’s in the general course at the magic academy, where everyone regards him as a failure pile in a sadness bowl, except any character whose name we have to remember. They all like him. Unfortunately, he hates himself, so that doesn’t help. Then one day a disaster appears at the 5th level of their giant tower dungeon – a cute girl is there, and has set the entire floor on fire. It turns out she’s from Japan, she’s now an Ifrit, and Eugene, because he has barrier magic out the wazoo, has to be her guardian.

You’ll notice I didn’t bring up the demon queen in that summary, mostly as she barely appears, beyond the start and the final battle. She’s there to take his virginity and be a deus ex machina. The other big downside to this book is Eugene himself, a sad sack who we’re supposed to feel bad for but we can’t break in as he’s too busy feeling bad for himself. Or at least that’s what the writing is trying to convey, because he tends to lack any real emotional heft at all. At one point he’s drawn by the illustrator to look exactly like Daichi in the fake magical idol anime Hoshiiro Girldrop. Please don’t have the same personality as a parody the Pop Team Epic guy thought up. The bright spot in the book is Sumire, who is likeable, empathetic, and does all the right things. I hope for her sake this world has polyamory, though, as she has “losing heroine” written all over her thanks to our demon queen. Mind you, she does better than the Student Council President *or* Eugene’s ex.

This apparently takes place in the same world as Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers, but I haven’t read that, so have no idea. For fans of light novels where the hero is betrayed by his high school classmates, but instead of seeking revenge he just goes to community college instead.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 11

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By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

Those who have read my reviews of this series know who my favorite character is, and I am delighted to see that this final volume gives her some wonderful things to do. After ten volumes where she has been a giant chaos gremlin, Lilia is now a mother, and has to face a situation where she will be deciding her own daughter’s fate for her. And there is a brief moment – it only lasts a page – where Lilia shows fear and regret over it. Now, Lilia being Lilia, she vows that she will raise her daughter to be the sort who can laugh at this sort of responsibility. She even manages to have praise for her husband and his actions in this book. that said, at the end of the day it’s the relationship between her and Aileen that’s more important. To both her and the narrative – this has always been a story that empowers women, and it does so right to the end, where the final fight literally takes all the men and puts them in a viewing room to watch the women fight.

Seven months after the events of the tenth volume, Aileen and Claude are headed off to a conference to decide the new ruler of Hausel, who needs to be able to predict the future, and also be a woman. She’s not concerned, as she is pretty sure that there aren’t any more otome game plots that can possibly kill her, off, right? Unfortunately, the antagonists of the tenth book are back, and Diana and Cattleya are determined to make Cattleya the new ruler by force, blackmail, and various other blunt object tactics… which of course include Cattleya marrying Claude and raising his new daughter, leaving Aileen to abdicate. This should be easy because, once she realizes what’s going on, Aileen goes back to the persona she put on for Book 10, which is an Empress with a button for a brain.

Honestly, it’s amusing how easy this is for Aileen and company to take care of. The antagonists are not only in the “this is a game” mindset that even Lilia has finally abandoned, but they also think that if things go badly they can destroy the world and get a reset, not understanding this is reality and it doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t help that they’re literally the only people not to immediately see through Aileen’s facade of stupidity, as all the other princesses and queen consorts are savvy enough to see what she’s doing. The ending shows all the women in the book working together to save everyone in the country, take out Diana and Cattleya, and also save Diana and Cattleya, because this is a book that has both its heroines and villainesses live happily ever after. Well, eventually. After some prison time, perhaps.

By the end of the book, we flash forward to the future, where Aileen and Lilia’s daughters are thick as thieves, and headed off on new adventures now that it’s time to go rule a country. Will we get more of the series set in the future? Probably not, this was a pretty excellent finale. One of my favorite villainess series. I’ll miss it.

I Shall Survive Using Potions!, Vol. 11

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By FUNA and Sukima. Released in Japan as “Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hiroya Watanabe.

My long-running thesis about the FUNA books is that Kaoru, the protagonist of this series, is the “advanced” version, the one you read after you’ve already dipped your toe into the water with Mile and Mitsuha. Naturally, this means that she is much more difficult to get into and accept. She’s a pain in the ass, to be frank, too smug for her own good, and let’s not forget the occasional atrocities. She’s also unthinking about important things, though that’s something she shares with her fellow FUNA compatriots. But this book reminds me that we are not, of course, supposed to be rooting for her, really. Oh, sure, we’ll root for Kaoru when she’s going after people who are pure evil. For the most part, though, she’s going after shysters, scammers, and lowlifes, and taking them for all they’ve got. It’s kind of … petty? As such, when we see her screw up, which she does a lot in this particular volume, it’s just fun. Seeing Kaoru suffer is fun. There, I said it.

Kaoru is continuing to try to spread the word of Edith, but has suddenly found herself surrounded by those who know her older self. Francette’s descendant Falsetto has been sent there to protect Kaoru. The Eyes of the Goddess are being sent to protect Kaoru. Birds and dogs directed by Mariel are being sent to protect Kaoru. And the King and his Chancellor are panicking whenever anyone comes near Kaoru who they have not already thoroughly vetted. Still, they go ahead with the plan, which also involves Reiko making a name for herself as a hunter by capturing a rare, highly prized ingredient, and Kyoko opening another store in the capital, which gets a grand opening by showing off how to butcher and auction off a wyvern. With all this going on, it’s perhaps no great surprise that Kaoru occasionally forgets to pay attention to “daughter dying” rumors.

I will admit it was morbidly funny seeing the subplot with the Earl’s daughter. I was pretty sure the author was not mean enough to have her actually die, but it’s signposted relatively early in the book that an Earl has a very sick daughter and is paying a lot to get cures that might help her, and Kaoru does not make the logical leap and think “maybe I should, y’know, go there as Edith”. And to top it off, when she does figure it out, we get an almost Looney-Tunes run where she storms the mansion, administers the cure, and takes off… forgetting to disguise ANYONE in her party. But the capper is seeing her rationalize this and think “it’s OK, this will be fine” and then be called out on it by everyone. Even Kyoko, who is the biggest ditz in a party of three ditzes. As for the rest of the book? Same old same old. They’re at least concerned that the orphans have work PTSD, but haven’t worked out a solution yet.

This series is not for anyone but FUNA obsessives, but if you are, it’s still fun.