Rentt wasn't expecting much from his visit home. Say hi to the people he knows, give thanks at the shrine that granted him divinity (and maybe figure out just who gifted him), and enjoy a few days out from under the eye of a very determined vampire hunter. He has no idea that his hometown has secrets of its own.
I'm starting to appreciate Lorraine a lot more as the series goes on. Yes, the series keeps teasing a harem, with most of the girls Rentt helps showing some kind of interest, but Lorraine is the only one the story has consistently put at his side, and she's also the one that matches him the best.
More than that, though, she's intelligent, capable, and respectful. When Rentt's past comes up, she refuses to let other people tell her what's going on, since she'd rather respect his privacy until he can be the one to tell her himself. She rarely coddles him, and although she's suspecting her feelings are turning romantic, she's okay with not pushing things.
Anyway, this was probably the best volume so far. The story of Rentt's past wasn't too much of a surprise, but some of the other things definitely are. Still, it's enough of a slog to get this far into the series that I hesitate to wholly recommend it. If you have been following it, though, I rate this book Recommended.
At first I thought this was going to be another volume that didn't really accomplish anything. As far as matching it up to the manga it's simultaneously past volume 11 will not hitting the things from volume 11. I think maybe the order got shifted around? It's still very long-winded, over explaining repetitively and such but there's some interesting story development actually happening in this one. So while I could see skipping the previous 3ish books this is a good one to pick up again.
Spoilers ahead: if you're familiar with the manga, volume 11 has the climatic cliffhanger ending with Rente sparring with his teacher. In this volume, they make the challenge with a rain check for later. So that battle hasn't happened yet, but it has past that point in the manga. As I'm writing this 11 is the most recent manga to come out, and it as I said ended with the sparring combat. All of the secret reveals that were being led up to actually happened first via the novels... Well that being said, I'm even more curious how they're going to pull things together in the manga. Maybe they felt changing the order made more sense? It's kind of hard to say, since they haven't had the fight yet in the novel. I am eager to read the next one though, and very curious where it's going to go.
Rennt returns to his birth village together with Lorraine. The goal was to investigate the shrine that formed the basis for his divine blessing. In the process we learn more about Rennt's background and the secret history of Hathara.
Much like previous volumes, it shined in particular in regards to Lorraine, and while Rennt's past was not entirely unexpected it was still well told. I got the impression there was less meandering, but that might also be because the story was a lot more focussed. Still, if I have one complaint, it is that it was really short. You could combine it with V5 and still end up with a page count that while a tad high would still fit some light novels.
This novel is a slice of life in the world of Rentt Faina. In it you discover parts of the past as well as mysteries for the future. Books don't have to be about fighting and they don't have to have an elaborate expression for times long past. That said, it did feel rushed and I feel a want to know more about the new characters. For that I can only wait and see what is in store in the future.
This is more of a back story for the MC and tells you about his true nature. That said there was too much filler. On to my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!