Synopsis

When Shiro was invited to the village of the cat-sìths, he expected to enter some sort of fluffy paradise, but reality had other ideas. In the seven years since Kilpha’s departure, life in the tiny village she called home changed drastically. After ascending to the throne of Orvil—the city-state with dominion over the forest surrounding the cat-sìths’ village—the new king introduced changes that negatively affected the beastfolk in the region, including imposing heavy taxes on them, banning them from holding certain jobs, and allowing the city’s merchants to exploit them. Because of this, the various beastfolk tribes have found themselves with no money for food or medicine, and disease runs rife through their communities. To make matters worse, a pack of ogres has moved into the forest, and the beastfolk are too weak to repel their raids. When Kilpha decides to stay behind to protect her own village, Shiro needs to find a solution to these issues if he ever wants to see his friend again. (Source: J-Novel Club)

Kilpha’s Choice and Shiro’s decision!

Following on from the eighth volume’s shocking cliffhanger, the ninth instalment of Peddler in Another World tests every facet of Shiro’s determination.

Picking up after Kilpha’s devastating announcement that she wishes to marry Sajiri for the sake of her clan’s survival, the series’ latest adventure focuses on Shiro’s attempts to win her back and save her clan from a future filled with misery. To find a solution, Shiro turns his attention to the trading city-state of Orvil, whose recent turn against the beastfolk may hold the key he seeks.

Hoping to do business there and build connections, Shiro and his crew quickly discover that Orvil hides horrifying secrets. Once said to have amicable relations between humans and beastfolk, these relations have turned sour. Now treated as a slave class, the beastfolk are forced into heavy labour or to fight in the city’s Colosseum, and those who can no longer work or fight are doomed to live in the city’s slums. What’s more, as Shiro’s group explores deeper, they discover that the state’s young king is no more than a puppet strung along by his advisor, the prime minister, and a shadowy cabal of merchants.

The author paints a wonderfully nasty picture of the goings on in Orvil, and everyone in Shiro’s party is upset at the state of affairs, but none more so than Shess. As a royal-to-be and a lover of beastfolk, she’s beyond angry at the cruel actions that someone in power can make and almost forces through royal decrees to get them to stop. This offers a teachable lesson for the young royal, as her ill-thought-out declarations could’ve caused a war between their two nations. Thankfully, this is stopped by Shiro acting as the adult in the room, coming up with a plan to help everyone.

This eventually leads the group to sign up to battle in a Colosseum tournament between the city’s business moguls. Putting his best fighters forward, Shiro predictably wins the tournament and, ultimately, the trust of the beastfolk, whom he subsequently hires. Armed with a literal army of beastfolk willing to do anything to save their homeland, the climax features a large-scale battle to secure Kilpha’s rescue.

The highlights of the novel’s latter half come from the moments shared between Shiro and Kilpha. By volume’s end, the two have become noticeably closer as friends, having shared secrets beneath the stars. The only problem is that these moments are few and far between and could’ve done with being longer in length.

Overall, the ninth instalment of Peddler in Another World redeems itself from its previous volume’s blunder. A focused ordeal over Shiro’s attempts to rescue Kilpha brings with it an interestingly layered city-state as well as some nice character development for Shess, Shiro, and Kilpha.

I Give Peddler in Another World Volume 9: 8/10