국가 전복을 노린 쿠데타──여왕 암살 미수 사건의 혼란이 확산되는 가운데 서둘러 네뷸리스 왕궁으로 향하는 이스카 일행. 조아 가문과 손잡았다는 의심을 받는 황청의 제1왕녀 일리티아는 ‘제3왕녀 시스벨의 호위병은 제국군이다’라는 비밀을 이용해서 “여러분, 루 가문의 별장에서 바캉스를 즐겨주세요”──하고 이스카와 동료들을 별장이란 이름의 새장 속에 가둬버리려고 한다. 한편 여동생을 걱정한 앨리스도 일리티아를 막아보려고 별장으로 향한다. 그리하여 세 자매가 한 지붕 아래에 모이게 되는데……. 의혹의 마녀의 책략에 의해 시계탑의 종소리는 높이 울려 퍼지고, 마녀들의 낙원은 전장으로 뒤바뀐다──!
Overall I did enjoy it. I thought the sleepover was cute and funny between the sisters especially with Alice's antics. I still like the moments of Iska and Alice together the most and their love hate friendship and rivaly and enemy status.
That said, I have cooled on the series a lot since getting into it. There are some issues: Iska is a pretty bland lead who doesn't do a ton of proactive stuff, mainly reacting or fighting. A lot of the inner family politics of the three Lou houses I don't care for either, and some decisions are pretty dumb like Sisbell staying at the villa when she knows Elletear is a traitor planning something.
The battle royale at the end was fine ish. I guess I like Iska losing ish mainly for the first time against Talisman the head of Hydra and the multiple simultaneous battles of purebred vs saint disciple is interesting, especially Joheim the first seat versus the queen.
I don't love the series for it's action or combat though and do actually think it's most fun when it's focusing on the not as serious romance and comedy aspects. When it's serious, it's honestly not quite as engaging and much of the cast is meh too like Mismis and Nene etc. I liked the romance most and I suppose stuff like Mirabella and Salinger mirroring Iska and Alice's relationship; that was neat to learn.
We still aren't really clear Iska and his goal. Capturing a purebred for hostage negotiating won't work as Alice explained so he doesn't have a plan. And the empire is racist and evil so why work for them still? Just move with your unit, family and friends. Btw I do like Elletear being super weak and jealous and hurt by her lack of power but also genuinely loving her family. I find that very interesting and am curious of her more. That said, her using her powers to frame Lord Mask was obvious once her powers were revealed.
I'm also curious how Jhin and co does against Grugell the snow witch. Same with Risya vs Lord Mask, Growler the head if Zoa vs Nameless, etc.
Anyway there's little nitpicks like these, but I do look forward to the next novel. I finished this one in a day and did it enjoy it overall, even if I'd prefer them to go back to volume 1's slice of life coincidences in the neutral city.
But still enjoyable even if I don't love it (and prefer school romcoms more nowadays honestly), and I plan to continue when the next is released still.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
So when Sisbell started fawning over Iska so we had the two sisters vying for the attentions of the same guy, who just happens to be an incredibly strong enemy, Sazane-sensei was pushing the boundaries of ridiculousness for me. So when Elletear gets involved in the same nonsense in this book I was... less than pleased and honestly it took me a couple days to read 25% of the book.
The reason it still gets 3 stars is because the ACTUAL storyline of the book is decent, finally comes out and saves this one from getting a 2-star. Alas, it was not enough to bring it back to more than that.
For me Our Last Crusade is what a I call a pop-corn series. I don't take it too seriously, I just want light fun, but even that has its limits -- and this book stretched those limits. I hope book 7 it better.
The first half of the book was not my favorite. The scenes with the three sisters and Iska were just a bit much for me. I'd prefer the focus to stay on Iska and Alice on the "cutesy" side of the novel. Iska was a little flat in this novel, I hope his character shows more growth or at least interest in the next novel.
The last half of the novel is where it picks up for me. The coup against the royal family is coming to fruition, and we end on a decent cliff hanger that leads me to want the next novel to figure out how this will all play out. The plot and political intrigue was definitely the highlight of the novel this go around.