The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 3 (light novel) by Yatsuki Wakatsu: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter vol. 3 by Yatsuki Wakatsu

First up, beware: this is the last volume. I didn’t know it going in and wasn’t adequately prepared emotionally for it to end. It left me slightly upset despite the ending being good. But now you know and can read it accordingly.

Volume 3 of the light novel has a subtitle Magic Research Exchange Plan and that’s what the story is about with no side plots. An envoy arrives from a distant country to study Romany’s summoning magic. Seiichirou is roped in to guide the visitors, as the whole project is his idea. It’s about sending him and Yua, the Holy Maiden, back to their own world.

Leading the visitors is the country’s third prince, Lars, who shows great interest in Seiichirou. Not romantically though; he’s impressed by his efficiency and considers recruiting him to work for his country. Despite Seiichirou’s skills, the visit is a bit chaotic, as the group includes mages who are very excitable and have no patience for anything but magic. Seiichirou is kept busy and he doesn’t have enough time for his partner, Aresh.

Aresh has anticipated this though. For the welcoming party, he arranges a suitable attire for Seiichirou, complete with a brooch that declares he and Seiichirou are engaged. He just doesn’t think to inform Seiichirou about it. Seiichirou doesn’t take it well that Aresh does such a huge thing behind his back, as if he isn’t part of the relationship. A fight ensues and the pair doesn’t speak in days.

It doesn’t help that Aresh is summoned home by his parents. Lars is trying to arrange a marriage between his youngest sister and the youngest son of Idolark family. That’s Aresh. Seiichirou learns about this from other people and it adds to his upset. When he finally has a chance to ask Aresh about it, the other man goes into another huff. And then leaves to escort the envoy back to their country.

A weaker man might despair. Seiichirou isn’t one of those. He goes after his man. Matters are cleared between the two, including the biggest cause of upset for Aresh: Seiichirou returning to his own world.

This was a good book, but it read like another middle book and it came as a surprise that it ended. After all the hardships, the series deserved a stronger ending. The great magical feat of sending Seiichirou and Yua back was solved rather fast with a time jump. It left the reader to wish that at least some of it had been made into another volume, maybe about the days leading up to the reverse summoning. There could’ve been lot of drama about it, and we could’ve finally witnessed Seiichirou and Aresh settle into a happy life together. Seiichirou opened about his feelings only in the last chapter and I would’ve loved to read more about that. Even the epilogue was more about general story than the two of them.

After the epilogue there were two extras, one from Norbert’s point of view as he reports to the king, and another from Aresh’s, which explains his point of view about the spat. In the afterword, the author admits that some storylines were left open, but didn’t promise more stories. I don’t really need those; only the bit that was missing from this one. But it was a sweet story as it was, with some spice, and I’m happy with where the men ended up.

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 2 by Yatsuki Wakatsu: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Other World's Books Depend on Bean Counter vol 2 by Yatsuki Wakatsu

Volume 2 of the light novel has a subtitle Church Management Support Plan. Kondou Seiichiro, the Japanese accountant who was accidentally transported to another world with the young girl who was their Holy Maiden, has his hands full of work that’s mostly his own doing. But he doesn’t know how to rest.

In this book, Seiichiro is sent to audit the church. It’s a dangerous place for him as it’s full of magic that he’s deadly allergic to, and Aresh Indolark, the young commander who has made it his business to keep Seiichiro alive, isn’t happy. The two are now living together, thanks to Aresh’s high-handed manners, but while the commander has feelings for Seiichiro, the older man’s feelings aren’t clear even to himself.

Aresh is right to be worried. Things don’t go smoothly and Seiichiro uncovers an embezzlement plot that leads to a magical attack on him. But Aresh, the only person who can heal him, isn’t home. It may be that a young, handsome priest who resembles Aresh will have to step up for the healing. And, as those who have read the books know, that involves sex.

This was a fun volume. Seiichiro is much like he’s been, fully focused on his work and ignoring his health. He’s growing accustomed to Aresh’s healing methods, but as he intends to return to his own world, he’s not willing to start a relationship. But feelings get in the way, and even Seiichiro is unable to ignore them. There were some sweet and heated moments between the men, and the end left them in a new place in their relationship. Will that lead to Seiichiro deciding to stay, or will he want to leave home anyway?

There were some new side characters that were interesting, and the old ones, especially Norbert, featured too. There’s a chapter at the end of the book from his point of view as he continues to report to the king. The ending wasn’t a cliffhanger, but it left things in an interesting place and I’m eager to read more.

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter Vol. 1 by Yatsuki Wakatsu: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter by yatsuki Wakatsu

Volume one of the original light novel has finally been translated, a year after the first manga came out. I’ve read the first three volumes of the manga adaptation, and they cover most of the novel, so the story was familiar to me.

Seiichirou Kondou, 29, is an overworked accountant in Japan who on a rare day off comes to the rescue of a school girl who is being sucked into ground by a white light, and he’s sucked in too. They find themselves in an alternate world, where the girl, Yua, has been summoned as a Holy Maiden, whose job it is to save the world from a deadly miasma.

Kondou is a tag-along, who the kingdom feels honour-bound to protect, but nothing more. He could spend his days being idle, but he doesn’t know how, so he asks for a job and is pointed at the royal accounting department. He’s horrified by the lazy work-culture there, and in no time reorganises the whole place. But he doesn’t stop there: he needs to salvage the kingdom’s finances too.

There’s one problem: his body is unable to handle the magic the world is permeated with, and everything from food to air is slowly killing him. In an acute health crisis, he’s rescued by dashing Commander Aresh Indolark, who heals him with magic, which only makes things worse. Out of options, he needs to acclimatise Kondou’s body fast to magic. And that means having sex with him.

Aresh appoints himself as Kondou’s protector, making sure he takes care of his health. And every now and then, a healing is needed, which requires more sex. Their odd relationship is a matter of necessity for Kondou, but for Aresh, it gradually becomes more.

I read the light novel in order to get a deeper view of the story. In places, that happened too, but the manga adaptation is fairly faithful to the story. Kondou seems more driven and single-minded here. There wasn’t much from Aresh’s point of view, but he emerges as a slightly different figure than in the manga in the end. The side characters also have a more meaningful role. The world itself remains a bit vague, so the manga does a better job depicting that.

This was originally a serialised web novel, so every chapter repeats much of what has been told many times already. Apart from that, it’s well-written and easy to read. Translation works too. The story ends without a cliffhanger, but in such a point in the men’s lives that I absolutely have to read more.