Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Harem, Slice-of-Life, Isekai
Synopsis:
With the successful conclusion of the monster subjugation campaign, Eizo returns home with a new addition to the family—Lidy! However, his days of battling beasts aren’t quite over. During a chance encounter with Samya’s childhood friend, Jolanda, the family learns of another corrupted bear that’s stalking around the Black Forest. Jolanda also mentions a tantalizing rumour about a magical knife, which Rike and Eizo are eager to investigate. Could this be a new product to add to Forge Eizo’s lineup? Eizo also receives a new large-scale commission that will test his skills, along with some troublesome news—there are signs of a revolution brewing in the neighbouring empire. Things go from bad to worse when Eizo finds out that the legendary mercenary Lightning Blade Helen has been taken prisoner by the empire! Can a humble blacksmith come to her rescue? And with so many irons in the fire, can Eizo still forge a quiet life? (Source: J-Novel Club)
A Blacksmith Stars in a Revolution!
Eizo, the quiet-life-seeking blacksmith returns for a fourth outing. This time he’ll be putting more than just his blacksmithing skills to work as trouble brews in the neighbouring empire.
The fourth volume follows on from welcoming Lidy into their growing family with several more slice-of-life and more action-centric storylines. The first of which sees another unexpected visitor at the smithy, Samya’s childhood friend, Jolanda, has arrived.
Jolanda’s appearance on the scene brings with her one of the better slice-of-life plots of the series so far. Being Samya’s childhood friend, we get a good amount of information about Samya’s past and the lives of beastfolk in general. Not only do these reveals send Samya squirming with embarrassment but we as readers finally get to delve a little deeper into her character, something this series tends to forget when it comes to Eizo’s female family members.
Furthermore, this plot also includes the return of Samya’s trauma. Another bear is wandering the forest causing trouble. Allowing Samya to help bring it down in this volume goes some way toward relieving her trauma.
Moving away from slice-of-life, the second half of the volume becomes more action-focused. Eizo once again becomes embroiled in trouble as he and Camilo travel to the empire on the cusp of a revolution to save Helen who’s been held captive.
As per usual, the mission is successful. It’s on their journey home, however, where we get some truly golden moments between Eizo and Helen. To get back to the kingdom undetected, Helen must don a wig and pretend to be married to Eizo, which leads to some more comical situations.
After this dangerous mission, Helen returns to Eizo’s forge and much to the rest of his family’s anticipation becomes the newest member.
Overall, Blacksmith’s fourth volume keeps the series on the straight and narrow, managing some good action plots alongside better, more character-driven slice-of-life narratives. The one thing I’d like to see as the series moves into its fifth volume is a good bit more development for Lidy as she’s been seriously lacking in screen time throughout this volume.
My Quiet Blacksmith Life Vol. 4
My Rating: 8/10
I hope you enjoyed my review and would love to see what you thought of the volume in the comments!
You can read the fourth volume of this series in pre-pub format on the J-Novel Club website.
Faceless One Blog 
Leave a comment