Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life

Upon finishing the sixth volume of Banished from the Hero’s Party, I’m glad to say that this volume is a big step up from the previous one. As the new arc starts to pick up, the good balancing between the action and slice-of-life segments has been found again as Zoltan comes under a Veronian threat.

As the sixth volume starts, Red’s quiet life comes under threat again as a Prince, pirates and assassins descend on Zoltan in search of the first queen of Veronia. With Ruti left to deal with the diplomatic endeavours in the face of the prince, Red, Rit and Tisse go in search of Yarandrala who is hiding the queen – also known to be famed retired adventurer, Mistorm.

Ruti and Tisse get the bulk of the development in the story. Ruti is developing her skills beyond the Hero blessing getting to grips with using diplomacy as a weapon rather than her sword. As a result, she’s becoming a lot more trusted by the higher-ups in Zoltan.

Tisse meanwhile, comes face to face with her past at the assassins guild. The assassins hired to find Mistorm were also students of her former master and true to the assassins guild code, she must kill them to uphold the guild’s balance within society as taking jobs, not from the guild is seen as a major offence. Tisse’s worldview is explored as a result, adding some much-needed depth to her character and giving some insight as to where her development will take her next.

The world-building is also particularly strong in this volume given that it’s central to the latest arc. Moving away from Zoltan, we’re provided information on the neutral nation of Veronia. An interesting kingdom, to say the least, its history revolves around pirates and freed slaves that in recent years seem to be under the new queen, Leonor’s influence. Hopefully, with the way this arc is progressing, we might get a closer look at the kingdom as their troubles increase.

Leonor is likely to be a big problem for the cast going forward, her temper is second to none, she’s conniving and has links towards demons. She’s the reason why Mistorm had to disappear after finding out the eldest prince was adopted and solving the current situation might end up involving her in some way.

Finally, the slice-of-life aspects are some of the best in the series so far. We get the gang going fishing and Rit’s wolf aspect comes into play for some lovey-dovey fun time. Moreover, this volume does a lot to show how Ruti and Tisse are adapting to a quiet life, striking a balance between their medicinal herb farm and adventuring. Now that most of the cast has settled down, I suspect that something will end up shaking this status quo up in the not-to-distant future.

Overall, the sixth volume in the series is bringing the story back to top form. With an intriguing mystery taking place as well as some well-timed slice-of-life elements, the author has seemingly found a new direction for the plot going forward leaving the conclusion to Veronia’s threat till volume 7.