By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.
This fourteenth book dropped in English at the same time as the second anime season is reaching the climax of the fourth book, and it felt like a bit of a wrench to try to get my mind back into this point in the series, as we have moved far beyond the events of that (admittedly fantastic) book. After the short story volume we had last time, this one is mostly setup, though some of the setup comes directly from those short stories, so of course you cannot skip them. The ominous foreshadowing that we had in Book Four with Shisui’s warning made me worry as we seem to be getting some ominous foreshadowing in this book as well, this time of a possible smallpox outbreak. But really, a lot of this book is meant to convey how time is passing – Chou-u has now grown taller than Maomao, to her dismay. And what’s more, Verdigris House may finally have a successor. Mostly as staying in her current position is too dangerous.
As with many Apothecary Diaries books, this is divided into several interconnected story arcs. In the first, a meeting of the named clans is an excuse for Lahan to get Maomao to solve an old mystery, and for Maamei to try to get Basen engaged to Lishu. Then there’s a theft at Verdigris House, and Joka’s room has been ransacked. No prizes for guessing what they were after, and she makes a decision to step back as a courtesan and train to become the new Madam… which, as Pairin might soon be bought out by Lihaku, leaves Maomao with mixed feelings as all her big sisters are leaving her. Then we see two new medical students join the backroom staff, one of whom turns out to have a connection to the smallpox-scarred doctor who works in the pleasure district. And finally, a hunting trip which includes Maomao and Jinshi (yes, the parallels are deliberate) goes awry when it turns into an attempted revenge murder… and Tianyu, Maomao’s male counterpart, is heavily involved.
I know that the author gets comments on their webnovel site about things, but I’m not sure how closely they follow the fandom arguments and shipping. It would not surprise me if it’s pretty close. Leaving aside the slow burn Jinshi and Maomao (no, they still haven’t done it), this volume is a shipper’s paradise… and also a ship sinker’s paradise. For pro shipping, we get Basen’s family doing their level best to try to get their shy boy engaged to the girl he loves (who does not appear in this book, but I’m sure she’ll pop up again soon). We see Lihaku and Pairin are still going at it hammer and tongs, and Maomao helps us understand he not only has to save money to buy her out, he ALSO has to use money to be a regular customer of hers. We’re talking a LOT of money. And then there’s the teased Lahan’s Brother/Yao pairing we saw hinted last time, which would solve so many problems… so it’s a shame that he’s fallen head over heels for the lesbian. Just because she remembered his name. Ah well, I’m the only Yao and En’en fan out there, it seems, so no one else will care.
As always, I skipped some stuff, most notably Chue finding someone so twisted she decides to train him as her successor. Basically, this is a great volume of the series, and fans will be quite happy, unless they want Jinshi to man up, because we’re still working on that.
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