What? Action? Adventure? Who let all this exciting lizard fighting into the manga of diplomacy and manners?
The manga adapter feels obliged to note the change of pace in an afterword and assures us, "Next volume, we'll return to foreign and domestic political affairs again. . . "
Nooo!!! Keep killing lizards!!!
At least spin off Skaji the lizard slayer into her own title!
Zenjiro becomes the man of the hour, yet again, only now he's the shot-caller, as Queen Auru is far away back in the capital! When the wyvern horde attack outlying villages near the port city of Valencia, it falls on Zenjiro to take command & stop the menace, once and for all! Then there's the matter of Princess(?) Freya, captain of the flagship of her country, who just happened across Valencia whilst looking for a friendly harbour to make repairs & restock supplies. So, even amongst all the wyvern chaos, Zenjiro must also carry out negotiations, alone, with a foreign princess (but is she REALLY? And is it just me, or does anyone else pick up a Yuri vibe going on between Freya & her Norse female warrior bodyguard?) Princess Freya made it clear she is unwed, yet seems completely oblivious to Zenjiro as a man. The first noble woman he's encountered that's NOT trying to get in his trousers! At least not yet. But what are Princess Freya & her crew REALLY up to? We see some hints. They make it clear amongst themselves that getting Princess Freya and her bodyguard to the capital is of the utmost importance. Why? Then, with her already having knowledge of the child sired by Zenjiro & Queen Aura, as well as her knowledge of & offer to help war refugees in this southern kingdom implies their landing in Valencia might not have been the "happy accident" they all claim it to be. Princess Freya is doing a lot of things to appease Zenjiro, even gifting him goats, which are unheard of in the southern lands, AND giving full access to her ships superior technologies to the shipbuilders & craftsman of the port city. It's clear Princess Freya wants to get on Zenjiro's good side, no matter what it takes. I'd be suspicious of letting her or her female warrior bodyguard into the capital's royal palace. I suspect there is trouble afoot. It just may not come from the quarters expected. There are certainly exciting events afoot, to be sure. I eagerly await the next volume.
Zenjiro is suddenly thrust into his very first battle at his command. With the wyverns attacking, visiting political leaders present and orders coming from the Queen....Zenjiro has his every moment and movement filled with decisions. Another fun volume of the Ideal Sponger Life...which is anything but easy....but fun for the readers.
I like that Zenjiro is acting more on his intuition and the closing of the Wild Wyvern arc and the opening of the new one with the north. Looking forward to more political drama and social drama.