my magical career at court

By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

It’s been more than a year since the last volume of this, the dangers of catching up. I was looking forward to more romcom shenanigans, but unfortunately, this is the serious, peril volume, and the romcom is saved for the very end. I also noticed that my last review talked about the villains all being cartoonishly evil and trying to destroy the Crown, which is true, but I’m starting to think that maybe it would be for the best if the Crown were destroyed. Michael has always been a bit of a dick, trying his damndest to get Noelle working at the palace even though that’s not what she wants. Here he seemingly tries to have her love interest killed (I don’t know if he was behind the kidnapping, but he was definitely behind the “he’s a traitor” rumors), and the 7th book promises a big confrontation, and hopefully the prince gets kicked in the nuts.

We pick up with the cliffhanger from the last volume: Luke has been kidnapped, and it turns out that he’s in the Holy Nation of Clares, which is run by the Church. Noelle and the others not only find that their rescue attempts are cut off, but also find he’s being slandered, so they are to assume he is Evil Presumed Dead. This does not sit well with Noelle, who ends up resigning fro her post and going to the Holy Nation to track him down. Fortunately, she has allies. Her old friend Nina is adventuring in the area, and there’s always the all-powerful Elf Princess Evangeline, and even her wyvern friend. Plus, y’know, she’s brilliant at nearly everything, be it cleaning a horribly polluted creek in one day or befriending the hidden savior of the nation. Unfortunately, Luke may really *be* Evil Presumed Dead…

We’ve been waiting for six volumes, so it’s nice that we finally get a mutual confession (yes, yes, OK, Luke is not really evil or dead, though his presence in this book is confined to the last part). Unfortunately, the series is not yet over, which means that we’ve got to put off them actually becoming a couple for even longer – especially since Michael is trying to make her his bodyguard/personal mage. But yeah, right now Noelle has a goal, and that goal is not “marry Luke”, it’s “become the greatest mage in the world”. I mean, the title of the series is My Magical Career. As for the rest of the book, it’s decent considering it’s a rescue book. We meet a drunk nun and a gambling-addicted nun, who provide most of the humor. And the savior of the Holy Nation is, frankly, adorbs, and I hope we see more of her.

What’s that, Lassie? Series? Caught up again? No new volume in sight? Ah well, back to waiting. Still, glad we got this.

By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

I swear that the main villains of this series are not dedicating themselves to evil in order to destroy the royal family and ensure that the nobles have the power to crush commoners whenever they want. The villains are evil for the sole purpose of getting in the way of love confessions. We were so goddamned close! We finally resolved all the things that could possibly stand in the way, Noelle is finally in the frame of mind where she might possibly get it if given a direct confession at point blank range (which is more than I can say for Letitia), and Luke has invited her out to finally pop the question. So you know what happens? Yup, cliffhanger ending, love interest in peril, film at 11. Fortunately, it’s Luke in peril, so maybe Noelle can really kick ass and take names. But gosh darn it, I want my resolved love!

Luke is now the captain of a new Magicians’ Division, and Noelle is his lieutenant! She might even get an office! Well, no, she does not, because Luke is still a little too obsessed with being around her all the time. She does, however, get a bunch of new recruits, which are, surprisingly, not ALL eccentric misfits – just two of them. Fortunately, neither difficult recruit is able to hold up in the face of Noelle’s aggressive goodness and niceness. Unfortunately, the nobility is very angry at this new division. They think it’s a waste of money. They think Luke doesn’t deserve it. And boy, do they hate Noelle. Honestly, the nobility is acting a little TOO aggressively awful. Maybe they’re getting too close to finding out who’s been behind every bad thing that’s happened in the last five books? Time for a stakeout… OK,, that went badly. Time for another stakeout… OK, that went even more badly.

The subtitle of this series hasn’t been relevant since the start of the first book, but I do like how it manages to tie into one of the new recruits, somewhat, who also loves magic but was railroaded into an awful job and abused. Unlike Noelle’s Pollyanna personality, he gets broken down, and is now deliberately half-assing everything as a sort of petty whining. As for the other recruit, she’s the standard genius who’s never been beaten by anyone at anything, and her specialty is… magic! Yeah, you can see where this is going. Getting Noelle to mop the floor with her cures most of this. I also enjoyed how the first half, which was basically “train the new guys”, paid off near the end, which was basically a Police Academy ending only serious, as the new recruits fight for their lives and show they really can protect each other and fight back if they try.

Unfortunately, the author is still writing Volume 6 on the webnovel version, so expect a wait. Still, we get very close to a resolution here… but alas, no.

By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

So, good news and bad news with this volume. The good news is that, mostly due to Luke being recovering in bed till the climax, there’s very little of the annoying pining going on. We get Noelle resolving the “he told me he loves me” cliffhanger at the start of this book, and she does it in the most Noelle way possible: “Oh, he totally means as a friend”. Unfortunately, in place of the tortured romance we get another one of THOSE nobles. You know, the ones that aren’t just evil but super duper evil with bells on. They murder, they blackmail, they poison, they rape, they’re pedophiles. I bet they also signed up for the Columbia House CD program without paying too. They’re so ludicrously bad it was almost distracting. But that’s the nature of these series, and no worries, once Noelle and Luke reunite, they’re basically unstoppable.

Despite what the cover shows, the subplot with Evangeline becoming Noelle’s bestest friend is only at the start of the book. It’s actually rather sweet, showing Evangeline as sort of a Yunyun type, who has no idea what friends actually do, so Noelle basically takes her out on a typical commoner day, eating, drinking, and having sleepovers. After this we get the more serious plot: the 3rd prince, who is 8 years old and has always been sickly, has been poisoned and is slowly dying. This is because the king is trying to have the nobles pay tax again, and the rich corrupt nobles object. Now Noelle, seconded to yet ANOTHER unit, must not only find a way to save the prince but also has to figure out the mole in their department who has been gathering evidence on the corrupt nobles and is trying to take matters into their own hands. Could it be the most obvious suspect?

Well, yes, it is the most obvious suspect. This is not a mystery, it’s a romantic suspense novel with comedic undertones. As such, Letitia is clearly going to get her tragic backstory now, though that’s less interesting than the fact that the relationship between Letitia and Gawain in school mirrors almost exactly the relationship between Luke and Noelle, and it’s also pretty clear there’s a romantic thing going on as well, which both are avoiding and which likely won’t happen as long as there’s “I need to lie in order to protect them” going on on both sides. Luke and Noelle don’t have that issue, but they may have a new issue carrying into Book 6: Luke’s attempts at getting Noelle by his side for good are upset by the Prince coming in and demanding that she move to HIS side. Everyone Wants Noelle. What can she do? Honestly, possibly continue to study as hard as possible to defeat her rival!

This remains great fun, and had some nice dramatic tension near the end. Just remember the Evil Noble Who Is Really Really Evil lurks within.

By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

It’s always tricky for romance writers when they introduce other potential partners who might get in the way of the destined couple, because you always worry that the reader will actually like them better than your end pairing and just get annoyed. And while I haven’t really minded Luke in the previous two books, I must admit the longer he’s gone without saying anything, the further down he’s fallen (even his “confession” here is a classic “I’m talking in my sleep” variety). We get a cool new partner for Noelle and Luke, and he bonds immediately with her, also being someone who was hated by everyone but got where he was through hard work and gumption. He’s not the problem – I’m not even sure he was meant to be a rival. No, the problem is the incredibly powerful elf queen who has just discovered Noelle and has decided that they are going to be BEST FRIENDS! Yuri? (no. But I can dream.)

Noelle is now a gold ranked magician, and she’s not going to let any wacky clumsy girl anime fall ruin her moment. Well, she is a bit. Now she and Luke are off to the World Magic Championships, where their country has always struggled. She ends up being paired against powerhouses who will destroy her right from the start. And yet… she keeps winning. She wins by casting faster. She wins by coming up with new magic theory on the fly. And she also wins by punching and headbutting her opponent when all else fails. (We don’t actually see this in detail, which is my biggest complaint with the book.) But it’s when she’s attacked by a group of skilled assassins that she starts to realize: someone wants to stop her getting far in the tournament… even if they have to kill her.

After two books of Noelle having low self-esteem because of her old job from hell and having to get used to everyone thinking she’s the bee’s knees, here we see that there are still plenty of people who hate her. Or rather, they hate that she’s a filthy commoner. Yes, evil nobles are still evil nobles no matter what the light novel is, and these are the usual. How dare they not know their place, if things are decided by merit we’ll lose power and privilege, etc. Fortunately, there are some mages who do still love Noelle, including the most powerful mage in the world, who has spent the past twelve years studying time magic (which Noelle almost duplicates in about two DAYS), and also the aforementioned elf, who has spent a thousand years being raised to lead the elves and never have any fun, and is now rebelling. She thinks Noelle is AMAZING. She’s the best part of the book, and I’m very happy she’s on the cover of the next one.

That said, the love interest is still Luke. Will Noelle finally figure out that he loves her from his saying “I love you, Noelle” in his sleep? Signs point to no. Good stuff regardless.

By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

As with the previous volume, how much you enjoy this will depend on two things. The first is how much you care about people who are ridiculously the best at everything they do. Noelle especially, but also Luke, are both prodigies, and show it off throughout the story. This means there are multiple scenes of them being praised to the skies. I know this can annoy some readers. The bigger issue may be the romantic tension, which is using a combination of two devastating “put this off as long as possible” moves – she’s oblivious, he’s a coward. These are both also really, really emphasized throughout, and in my opinion grate far more than the OP stuff. If you can get past both of these, this remains a fun series about a woman in her dream job not realizing how incredible and loved she really is.

After the events of the last book, and after reassuring the now recovered wyvern that she doesn’t really need anything right now from him, Noelle returns to the Magical Court, where she remains busy. She gets a new teacher who everyone calls the hardest teacher they’ve ever had, and while she initially struggles, she ends up being fantastic. She is invited to the Royal Invitational Tournament to fight the World’s Greatest Swordsman, a match everyone expects her to lose instantly. And she and Luke are headed off to the worst dungeon in the world, which just had a new level open after 20 years, and they must face off against a last boss. Still, can’t be worse than Noelle’s last boss, amirite?

The romance here is frustrating but understandable. Noelle is firmly in “I am a commoner” mode, helped along at times by various jerkass nobles, and never even considers a romance with Luke as she knows it’s impossible. Luke has been in love with her almost since they met, but a) has the same problem in reverse, and b) worries that he will ruin their friendship forever if he confesses and it goes wrong. and, to be fair to Luke, we even see that a bit here – after being forced by his superiors to take Noelle on a date to the theater, it turns out it’s a theater where an underground drug ring is operating, and he and Noelle are forced to step in and stop the bad guys. As a result, the present he got her joins the dozens of other presents he’s bought her over the years in a room that is basically a shrine to his failure. The only way he can really make this work is for Noelle to get so insanely powerful so fast she gets a title… but before that, she may end up being poached by the Royal Family for their guard. So yes, Luke’s a coward, but I get it.

This has 5 volumes in Japan, so don’t expect it to end soon. Next time we’ll get a tournament arc and an elf queen, so also don’t expect it to be original. But it’s fun, provided you remember my caveats.

By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

As we have seen a large increase in the number of light novels written for women over the last few years, we have also seen that a great deal of them tend to involve an overworked, exhausted office lady escaping the terrible job she has by getting summoned to another world, or rescued by an improbable coincidence, or even simply dying and being reborn elsewhere. The original Japanese title of this book references “black companies”, the workplaces that violate labor standards but are nevertheless there for people who desperately need jobs. That said, I’m not sure we’ve seen a power fantasy quite as blatant as the one in My Magical Career at Court, whose entire plot revolves around our underappreciated heroine getting fired by her mean bosses and then ending up with the perfect job, where she impresses literally everyone around her by being outstanding. It is a cry of freedom from the heart. Or rather, from the page.

The book starts in the first paragraph with the words “you’re fired”. Noelle lives in a backwater town, trying to live her life as a mage, even in a job she’s not really suited for, because she loves magic. Sadly, her boss doesn’t really care – and is, in fact, so sadistic that he makes sure she can never get a job in the town that uses magic. Fortunately for her, she runs into Luke, her old friend and hated rival from magical school, where the two of them were constantly competing for the top spot. He’s now working for the royal court, and is delighted that he can offer her a job. As she moves to the capital and starts her new job, she is stunned at every turn by now nice everyone is, how she gets real time off and normal work hours, and how expectations for her are not ludicrous. That said… what she gives them *is* ludicrous. She’s a bit OP.

Other folks have compared this to The Sorcerer’s Receptionist a bit, and I get it, but Noelle doesn’t seem to be all that similar to Nanalie except in the fact that they both have a boyfriend/rival figure. Indeed, how much you like this book may depend on how much you can tolerate Noelle being another one of THOSE heroines, so beaten down by life that any sign of obvious affection is completely missed, and folks trying to praise her gets constantly brushed off. It’s Japanese modesty taken to an aggravating degree. That said, overall I found her a lot of fun. I was surprised at the subplot, where we see what happens to the “bad guild” after she leaves. I’m so used to the sorts of stories where everyone is so evil they’re disgraced and end up dying a coward’s death, but no… the end goal of this story is that the old bosses see what Noelle is really like and regret that they let her go so easily. That’s it. In the end, this really is an office lady revenge story, it’s just the revenge is “I am happy now, ha ha ha”.

This has a second volume, which I will check out, but also feels pretty complete in one book, despite the romantic subplot slamming against Noelle’s heroic self-deprecation. Recommended for those in a bad job who like to fantasize.