By Yu Sakurai and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Tenseisaki de Suterareta no de, Mofumofu-tachi to Oryouri Shimasu: Okazari Ouhi wa My Pace ni Saikyou desu” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.
Generally with any slow life series you have to find the right about of balance between “nothing is happening because this is meant to be a slow life series” and “there are things happening because this is a narrative people will want to actually read”. It can be tricky, as many authors find. A lot of slow life books tend to lean towards the second of those two, where life is not really all that slow at all. This one doesn’t do that, but it needs to find the right time to dole out its plot. As an example, one of the main mysteries of the book is “when will Laetitia realize that her king and her wolf are in fact the same?”. Wait too little and there’s no tension, wait too long and you risk making Laetitia look dim. This book waits just the right amount, though what happens next is left open.
We get a couple of new additions to the cast here. Lelena is the daughter of former maid Krona, who is a bit busy being in jail to attend to her sibling, so goes to live with Laetitia, bringing along a cat and a guilt complex a mile wide. Also introduced is Liddeus, who is an incredibly stereotyped science nerd, only this is an otome game-style romance, so he’s a very handsome stereotypical MAGIC nerd. You get the sense he might actually be a love rival if he could for one moment get his mind off of spells, which he cannot. And there is, of course, all the politics – Laetitia arranges a tea party between the two queen candidates she’s already won over, and the other two who clearly scream “I am fodder for a later book’s plot”. This is pissing off the anti-beast person faction in the country, of course, and so they decide to take stronger measures to express their displeasure. Can Laetitia negotiate all this and still make delicious treats?
Well, I mean, of course. Have you seen the title? Laetitia has two main weapons, her food and her animals, and she uses them both here. Indeed, she gains another furry friend, named Tweety, though if you’re expecting the Looney Tunes bird you may be disappointed – possibly the Hyde and Go Tweet version. Admittedly yes, she is also monstrously overpowered in her magic, which literally breaks the device they use to measure it. This is clearly more due to her reincarnation than to her innate powers (though we do get more “amusing” stories of her and her butler being abused as children by her siblings in the name of magic training. They look back on those days and laugh, so I suppose we must as well). And yes, by the end of the book Laetitia finally realizes – after the king gives it away – that King Glenreed and Lord Aroo are one and the same. She seems devastated this means no more fluffy petting. I am 100% positive she is mistaken.
I do wonder if we’re heading towards a war, and if so how this book would handle it. Bit hard to cook for your fluffy friends in a trench. Still, so far the book does quite a good job of walking the tightrope. I look forward to the next volume.
