One journey comes to an end in the eleventh volume of FUNA’s Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! light novel series, and another is just getting started.
This volume contains chapters eighty-one through to eighty-four.
Front cover of the eleventh volume of Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, featuring Pauline
Time to Shine
The Wonder Trio debut their adventuring careers with a splash, while the Crimson Vow rescue a mother and child from peril on their journey. When this brings the wrath of a corrupt band of merchants down on the Crimson Vow’s heads, it’s time the most business-savvy of the girls to take the stage and strut her stuff!
The Crimson Vow have been on a training journey in the events leading up to this volume, and that reaches its conclusion here – but not without the girls dealing with a little trouble first. This time around it is Pauline’s turn to shine, as she has the best business sense and is more than capable of handling a few corrupt merchants.
It’s a lot of fun whenever Pauline gets to do her thing – though perhaps not so much for whoever she is going up against. Whilst direct combat does allow the girls to demonstrate their strengths, there’s something to be said for playing mind games. Also, very meticulous wording helps a lot in that corrupt merchant situation, and Pauline is well aware of that.
The final stop on Crimson Vow’s training journey, before they turn around and head home, has them investigating some rather interesting ruins – and Mile apparently setting off a chain of events that will impact the world in the some way. That’s what the text seemed to be implying, at least – which has got me curious about how long we’ll need to wait to see that get followed up on.
And whilst the Crimson Vow’s training journey comes to an end, the Wonder Trio set out on a journey of their own. Having spent much more time reading about the Crimson Vow’s exploits, I don’t feel particularly invested in whatever the Wonder Trio are up to. Even less so when they’re just effectively becoming Crimson Vow 2.0. Maybe the Wonder Trio will be able to do something to make them stand out, but for now I think they’ve still got a bit of work cut out for themselves.
Back to the Crimson Vow, they’re also bumping into plenty of familiar faces in this volume. They’re not happy about every one they run into, but it is nice to see the return of characters from earlier chapters. One particular group even goes so far as to help the Crimson Vow refine their teamwork. Reina’s particularly thrilled about that.
So, yeah, the Wonder Trio are officially adventuring now. Good for them. I’m far more interested in the continuing adventures of the Crimson Vow, which is what makes up most of this volume. We get some intrigue related to the state of the world. Very curious to see where that particular thread goes.
Fairly decent volume of Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! overall. Really enjoyed the Crimson Vow stuff, indifferent to the Wonder Trio chapter.
Rory Muses 