By Mashimesa Emoto and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Slime Taikō to Botsuraku Reijō no Angai Shiawase na Konyaku” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Minna Lin.
Oh dear, Slime Duke is going through that Difficult Second Album. I get the sense the author was unaware of exactly why we liked the first volume so much. First of all, there is far, far less attack duck, with Alexandrine only getting to appear at the very beginning and the very end. Unfortunately, the lack of a duck around her also makes Francette far more conventional in this book, which feels at times like the writer bought a connect the dots with a light novel as the picture. There’s “communication is important if you’re going to be in a relationship!”, complete with a side of “I misheard a conversation and now believe my loving fiancee is still in love with someone else”. We get an adorable crown princess who likes to run away from her minders and get into less adorable danger. And when Francette returns to noble society, there are Evil Noble Girl 1, 2, and 3, all lined up to ojou at her in unison. It’s… predictable.
Francette and Gabriel are visited one day by one of the other Dukes, this one the Siren Duke. Who, much to the surprise of everyone, has the kingdom’s princess with her. It turns out this is all related to Francette’s duck bakery sweets-making enterprise, which has everyone demanding more of these delicious treats. The Slime Duke and the Siren Duke seem to get on well. A bit too well, maybe. But there’s no time to dwell, as they need to go to the capitol for the meeting of the seven dukes, and Francette wants to make sure that they have a unique gift for everyone. This ends up involving trying to un-grump the grumpy local porcelain maker, and take out the slime that’s been stopping him mining for the exact stuff with which to make it. With all this going on before they even get to the capital, will Francette and Gabriel ever get a chance to really talk to each other?
The best part of the book was probably the porcelain stuff. I do appreciate a grumpy old widower whose heart can be melted by nostalgic sweets (honestly, sweets in this book seem to solve almost every problem that does not require extreme violence). And I really enjoyed Gabriel taking Francette with her as he goes to fight this dangerous slime ina cave, mostly as it gives her a chance to think outside the box, which everyone admits in this book is her best feature. Given the genre of this series, it’s no surprise that a great deal of time is spent telling the self-deprecating Francette that she needs to have more confidence in herself. I would also like to see more of Constance, the steward who dresses in butler clothes but, as we see here, can wear a nice dress if the situation requires it. I need her tragic backstory, dangit.
I had thought this was the final volume, but apparently not. The third has a wedding picture on the cover, though, so that should be it. More duck, please.
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