Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Isekai, Villainess

(This review will contain spoilers for the upcoming volume)

The Villainess’ Growing Troubles

The titular adventuring villainess, Serephione, returns for a second action-packed volume filled with drama, suspense and cute animals. After the events of the first volume, Sere might have been hoping for a period of calm, however, things never quite go to plan as she is faced with not one but three life changing events in succession.

With the amount and the speed of the massive events that take place at the beginning of the novel, it’s enough to make you think that the author is attempting to give the reader whiplash. These setups for the main plot of the volume are weighty enough to warrant their own volumes and it would likely better flesh out some of the newly introduced characters’ motivations. The first event comes at the request of the Trundle Guild, where Sere is asked to accompany visiting royals from the kingdom of Marsche to Judore’s capital. What makes the mission so dangerous is the possible encounters with assassins who are working alongside the revolutionaries trying to overthrow the royal family. As it turns out, Sere’s mission isn’t simply to protect the royal family but to assess which side is more just in their actions, an assessment that ends in favour of the revolutionaries given the horrible treatment the royal family shows towards its people.

The second massive event revolves around the original game that the world is based on. Having seemingly managed to escape having to deal with the main heroine of the game, the world throws up an unexpected yet equally dangerous foe for Sere and Lou to deal with, Schneider, the first prince. He, like Serephione, is a reincarnated person from Japan and in order to survive in this world he has decided to start a battle for the throne and wants a Trundle on his side. This is not something Sere can agree to, which for Schneider means that he’d rather have her dead than see her become an enemy. Unfortunately, Prince Schneider and his sacred beast prove to be too much for Sere, Lou and Asu to handle forcing her to flee the country without Lou by her side. Now on the run, she has no other choice than to start her adventuring life.

Sere, Snakes and the Problems in Marsche

This adventuring section slows down the very quick pace of the novel so far, giving the reader a bit of time to enjoy the new characters and their interactions. It begins on Reagan Island where she’ll be accompanied by a stand in for Lou, Miyu, daughter of the snake she saved. Whilst Miyu may not be as cuddly as Lou, she certainly makes a good replacement as a friend for Sere. She may be tough on Sere, forcing her to do some horrible adventurer training but she really does care for her making sure that anyone who crosses Sere lives to regret it. On the island, Sere (now known as Fio) and Miyu complete a number of quests to build her reputation ensuring a safe passage to Marsche. These quests include helping a cursed wife and searching for a priest to ensure the correct procedure of passing for the sacred beast of the east.

After helping the people on the island, she then decides to continue her new life in hiding by travelling to Marsche. Her thinking behind the move is rather clever, seeing as though Marsche has just recently suffered a revolution the public will be too busy with their own problems and would be unlikely to notice or care about a new face about town. During her stay, just like on Reagan Island, she completes numerous quests as an adventurer slowly endearing herself with the locals. Furthermore, Sere is able to meet up with some of her friends who were a part of the revolution (Sakaki, Yamada and Tabuchi) as well as an unexpected visitor to the region , Elise, her friend from the academy and now anointed Saint. It’s wonderful to read the reunion between these two friends especially given the tough time they’ve both had since they last saw each other. Elise’s return to the scene allows Sere to solve another problem she’s been having, finding a priest to perform the last rites for the sacred beast of the east. The ceremony sees Sere having to say goodbye to Miyu as she’s anointed the new sacred beast, however, all is much better once the ceremony reunites Sere with Lou and Asu who have dealt with the Sacred beast of the West problem.

Galé’s New Empress and the Final Plot Threads

To solve Sere’s fugitive problem, Gillian comes to the rescue with the plan that he’s been putting into effect ever since Sere was forced to leave Judore. Galé signs a pact with the nation of Marsche solidifying its future, which had been extremely uncertain ever since the royal family were overthrown. Gillian, for his part ensures that Sere no longer needs to stay in hiding by announcing his engagement to her in public, meaning anyone who tries to attack Sere will incite the wrath of Galé, a powerful military empire. Aside from a few higher ups within the government that she has to convince, this all goes quite smoothly ending the volume on a more peaceful note.

My only problem with this ending stems from the supposed love that’s meant to be between Gillian and Serephione. Putting aside the pretty problematic age difference between the two, a gap of ten years, the two characters have barely spoken two words to each other throughout the two novels so far. There really hasn’t been any opportunity for the two to develop feelings for each other given what we, as readers, have seen so far. It falls upon Sere seeing the emperor as an actual person rather than a monster and his not abandoning Sere with her memories of the entire game. Each of these excuses I feel to be rather flimsy.

With the second volume finished and but one more to go, there are two rather large plot threads still yet to be resolved. With Prince Schneider still engaged with the battle for the throne and wanting Sere’s head and the main heroine of the original story still very much alive and well, it’ll be interesting to see how the author will be able to tie both of these plot threads in a satisfying way before the end of the series.

Overall, volume 2 of adventuring villainess is a fast paced action-packed adventure that still retains all the nice cute animal stuff from the previous volume. This doesn’t that the volume is flawless however, the main events at the beginning of the novel feel rushed needing more time to flesh out and be more believable and the same goes to the relationship between Sere and Gillian which seems to have developed out of nothing.