Still present is the ever long-winded excessively redundant over explaining. This makes dialogue incredibly painful because there may be pages of this excess between lines of dialogue. There was actually one in this book that by the time I got back to the dialogue I had forgotten what the conversation was about. So I definitely recommend having some skills with skimming if you're going to read the series. All that said I almost gave five stars to this volume because it was really interesting action-packed and fun to read despite the overexplaining redundant excess.
There is one thing I do think I need to say, the side story / bonus story at the end of this volume apparently takes place some miscellaneous time after the events at the end of this volume cliffhanger at are resolved. I found that a little strange, it almost made it feel like this bonus chapter should have been in the next book not this one but it was also one of the most interesting reads in the book. But it's definitely based after the resolution climax in this volume which doesn't resolve till next volume presumably.
Spoilers ahead: this volume does have the fight that the manga volume 11 cliffhangered with. I think the mangas doing the fight before doing all the ancient city exploration. So it's slightly out of order in the manga but that doesn't hurt the story as far as I can tell. I think that the ordering of it in the manga makes more sense, since just diving right into the dangerous nature of the secret and passing it along like it's no big deal to pass it along it feels a little weird when they haven't had a chance to prove themselves to the teachers. Having the teachers offer some boot camp after the secret's been passed on is fine but I think the challenge fight before him makes more sense. So as usual, I feel like the manga does a reasonable abridgement and editing of the light novels. So if you find the light novels frustrating to read, the manga is definitely a reasonable alternative. The downside is they're slow to release so you might want to check how far along they are at a time. As I'm writing this review there's only 11 volumes out and this volume completely passes where I was in volume 11 and maybe passes what might be in 12.
One unexpected trip to the capital later, Rentt and Lorraine are exploring this new-to-him location. True to form, though, Rentt can't go anywhere without finding trouble. And just when all that resolves, he's dragged back into the vampire issues in Maalt.
I was somewhat disappointed by the trip to the capital. Rentt spends the entire time on an un-asked-for request from an old friend of his, runs into a random princess, then basically goes home. Nothing much gets shown of the capital itself, and the adventure is the sort of thing they could easily have done back home. And the princess scene felt so useless---they made a big deal about how they couldn't tell her "No, we don't have time for a thank-you banquet" and then ran out on it anyway.
I also wanted to see more of him interacting with the people of his hometown, especially now that he's in on some of their secrets and they're willing to teach him the rest. There's no clear indication if Lorraine managed to learn how to break teleportation circles either.
Overall I can tell this was trying to ramp up, but I felt like the previous volume was better. I rate this book Neutral.
Rennt and Lorraine intent to play the typical tourist while in the capital. Despite their plans though, they take up a simple job at the Adventurer's Guild for an old friend's sake, and in the process draw a bit more attention than intended.
I like the series for its characters and world building, and this volume is no different in that regard than earlier ones. The fact that deities themselves have a personal interest in Rennt is also intriguing. Of course, it is also relatively short (although at least here it felt like setting up things for future plots as opposed to be random slice-of-life stuff as in some earlier volumes) and the writing style at times a bit rambling. I also feel they are a bit too paranoid about their travel time, although in way that is a change of pace from similar stories were the characters are a tad too flippant about their supposed secrets.
Still, it was a fun short read. Curious where things are going to.
OMG! This story had so much promise until they started adding crap that makes no sense or has any value. The whole contract part was such a waste. Probably it will have value in the future, but goodness, you are killing me! Also, they got to the city and went to the adventurers' guild instead of enjoying the visit??!?! WTH?!?!?! I'm also getting tired of the author complaining about being a Bronze rank, but he continues to waste his time on useless crap! All the temple crap and the princess thing is just a waste. I'm also tired of the sexual innuendos. I'm not here for romance, I came for the adventure. I'm wondering if the author remembers what this story was originally about. I've noticed that many of these series are extended for no valuable reason other than to make easy money; the content and plot are completely lost. On to my next adventure, Happy Readings!