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The Strongest Knight is Actually a Cross-Dressing Noblewoman?!
She Slays Monsters and Hearts Alike!
Bernstein, the daughter of a marquess but christened as a boy, attends an all-boys military academy. A knight of idol status, she must hide her gender from everyone—even her friends—to graduate. But she dreams of establishing an order of female knights in a kingdom where knights are exclusively male, hoping that one day she’ll be able to openly serve her nation with honor. When a monster appears, taking down knight after knight, Bernstein sets out to accomplish what no man has done before: vanquish a beast of legend and earn her place in history!
What will become of Bernstein as she prepares to fight this legendary monster that slays every knight that faces it? What will her friends and colleagues think when they discover that the strongest knight is actually a woman?!
Bernstein, the daughter of a marquess but christened as a boy, attends an all-boys military academy. A knight of idol status, she must hide her gender from everyone—even her friends—to graduate. But she dreams of establishing an order of female knights in a kingdom where knights are exclusively male, hoping that one day she’ll be able to openly serve her nation with honor. When a monster appears, taking down knight after knight, Bernstein sets out to accomplish what no man has done before: vanquish a beast of legend and earn her place in history!
What will become of Bernstein as she prepares to fight this legendary monster that slays every knight that faces it? What will her friends and colleagues think when they discover that the strongest knight is actually a woman?!
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 19, 2021
33 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 25, 2023
Was going to go three stars, but it’s a standalone (always a plus!) and the gender discussions are really quite thoughtful, so plus there as well. I would love to see spin-offs where the men who didn’t get picked find a HEA of their own as well.
4 solid stars.
4 solid stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2023
Tired of villainesses, isekai or otherwise? Then how about a nice, old-fashioned cross-dressing reverse harem? Bonus star for a surprisingly thoughtful throughline about gender and gendered expectations.
January 30, 2023
Honestly it lost a star cuz I was hoping for more action/adventure situations. And the whole thing with that weird pervy Sage just grossed me out. And the fact that EVERYONE gave him a pass!? No thanks. Lost another star for that. Glad it was one and done tho
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2022
it's like Walking My Second Path In Life except good
The ability of Iota Aiue to distill an entire series worth of story into a single volume continues to impress. This is well worth reading.
The ability of Iota Aiue to distill an entire series worth of story into a single volume continues to impress. This is well worth reading.
November 21, 2023
I really tried, but the last 80 or so pages was a slog 😖
The blurb is absolutely misleading - the supposed monster that is killing all the knights is mentioned very briefly (I guess this was an attempt at foreshadowing) early on, then appears about 2/3 through, is defeated in a few pages and that’s pretty much it. She didn’t go on any quest, there weren’t tons of knights dying…it was a monster brought in by an infatuated girl to make a guy like her. Seriously. It basically babbled on for 3/4 of the book and then crammed a sloppy ending into a few pages.
I was not at all happy with the various relationships. Everyone was in love with Bern, whether they thought they were gay or not. Why? She’s just that cool…? She can randomly use magic in a way no one else can. No explanation, just does. Ends up with Stern for no reason, even though I think Felzen was a better match (though neither has a relationship that feels romantic). Bern is more or less an idiot about romance.
It made zero sense when she was outed. How could anyone believe that Felzen’s family had no idea she was a girl, when the dad visits them every single year for a season, the kids have known each other since age 5, and they dormed together for years?? There is no plausible deniability there. And what does it matter if she’s a girl? They mention that because her family has a military of their own, meddling in the nation’s military matters could be treasonous. But their older son is already a knight. How is that any different, having another kid be a knight? How is it meddling?? It said that in remorse her family wouldn’t send any more horses until they were pardoned. Isn’t that a threat??? This is all just bad writing.
The blurb is absolutely misleading - the supposed monster that is killing all the knights is mentioned very briefly (I guess this was an attempt at foreshadowing) early on, then appears about 2/3 through, is defeated in a few pages and that’s pretty much it. She didn’t go on any quest, there weren’t tons of knights dying…it was a monster brought in by an infatuated girl to make a guy like her. Seriously. It basically babbled on for 3/4 of the book and then crammed a sloppy ending into a few pages.
I was not at all happy with the various relationships. Everyone was in love with Bern, whether they thought they were gay or not. Why? She’s just that cool…? She can randomly use magic in a way no one else can. No explanation, just does. Ends up with Stern for no reason, even though I think Felzen was a better match (though neither has a relationship that feels romantic). Bern is more or less an idiot about romance.
It made zero sense when she was outed. How could anyone believe that Felzen’s family had no idea she was a girl, when the dad visits them every single year for a season, the kids have known each other since age 5, and they dormed together for years?? There is no plausible deniability there. And what does it matter if she’s a girl? They mention that because her family has a military of their own, meddling in the nation’s military matters could be treasonous. But their older son is already a knight. How is that any different, having another kid be a knight? How is it meddling?? It said that in remorse her family wouldn’t send any more horses until they were pardoned. Isn’t that a threat??? This is all just bad writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2023
One word: Typical.
The writing wasn't too bad generally but personally grating to get through. The premise is sth that would have ticked all my boxes (thus why I picked it up despite JPN novels always making me wary), but I cannot say I was able to enjoy this much.
*From other reviewers giving points for gender discussion; don't bother. It really wasn't anything to note and was merely surface-level thought, and boring. It was too much of a perfect world for most of the thoughtline to be logical too.
I found the MC a Mary Sue, and the events surrounding her catering to make her the oh so special snowflake she is. Half of the storyline seemed to be her insisting that everything was inconvenient due to her official status as a guy, yet she stands and allows herself to be blown by the wind instead of.. you know, doing sth?
The story would have been better as an anime (as is for most JPN novels I've read) though, I can say that much. It's not easy to write first POV stories and make it /good/. I've tried.
2 stars in total because I need sth as compensation for my sanity having to read through this. Technically 3 stars on a good day. If you're the type that doesn't think too deeply as you read and enjoy gender-benders, this might be one of the novels for you.
The writing wasn't too bad generally but personally grating to get through. The premise is sth that would have ticked all my boxes (thus why I picked it up despite JPN novels always making me wary), but I cannot say I was able to enjoy this much.
*From other reviewers giving points for gender discussion; don't bother. It really wasn't anything to note and was merely surface-level thought, and boring. It was too much of a perfect world for most of the thoughtline to be logical too.
I found the MC a Mary Sue, and the events surrounding her catering to make her the oh so special snowflake she is. Half of the storyline seemed to be her insisting that everything was inconvenient due to her official status as a guy, yet she stands and allows herself to be blown by the wind instead of.. you know, doing sth?
The story would have been better as an anime (as is for most JPN novels I've read) though, I can say that much. It's not easy to write first POV stories and make it /good/. I've tried.
2 stars in total because I need sth as compensation for my sanity having to read through this. Technically 3 stars on a good day. If you're the type that doesn't think too deeply as you read and enjoy gender-benders, this might be one of the novels for you.
November 26, 2022
This is the second book I've read by Iota AIUE. I wanted to enjoy this story, but I couldn't. It checked a lot of boxes for things I would enjoy, but it was a slog to finish, unlike AIUE's other title, Bad-Ends. I will say this will not dissuade me from reading anything AIUE writes. Bad-Ends and this book are both easily capable of being milked for several volumes — like most light novel series.
However, they end their novels in 1 book! For that, I bumped this book up a star. I really appreciate their ability to tell a complete story, even if I didn't enjoy it myself.
Despite its flaws, I think there are a decent amount of people who would enjoy reading this, so I give it 3 stars.
However, they end their novels in 1 book! For that, I bumped this book up a star. I really appreciate their ability to tell a complete story, even if I didn't enjoy it myself.
Despite its flaws, I think there are a decent amount of people who would enjoy reading this, so I give it 3 stars.
February 20, 2023
Something I'm trying to be better at these days is carving out the time in my days to read. This one, I finished while waiting for a grab booking to push through 🤣 Sometimes you just want a hanakimi moment.
Personally not a fan of the LI myself but I do appreciate that he (1) accepted that since MC is a "boy" then he would be gay for "him" and (2) left his position so nothing would get in the way of their romance. It's ok, past me didn't want the hanakimi ending either (oops) but in this case it makes sense why they're together and they did so well to stay together!
Originally posted on Instagram.
Personally not a fan of the LI myself but I do appreciate that he (1) accepted that since MC is a "boy" then he would be gay for "him" and (2) left his position so nothing would get in the way of their romance. It's ok, past me didn't want the hanakimi ending either (oops) but in this case it makes sense why they're together and they did so well to stay together!
Originally posted on Instagram.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2023
It was a little improbable at times and the ending was rather cheesy, but it was enjoyable. However there are several homosexual themes running through it. Nothing lewd, and you kind of have to suspend belief at times, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as her other book, As The Villainess, I Reject These Happy-Bad Endings!.
April 6, 2025
it was ok. some parts where just weird and i don't think im a fan of this kind of book where multiple people say the MC is there one or how much they love her, its just sad. :|
November 18, 2022
not great but not bad either. i'm glad it's a oneshot; can't see myself jazzed enough to read more of this
3 stars
3 stars
April 13, 2023
I smiled a lot while reading it!
October 18, 2025
I was ragebaited into finishing the book only to suffer more disappointment. 😐
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews