- #1
This is a pretty decent and well-rounded novel.The world-building is alright, the structure is decent, the pacing is good, and the plot is a little boring.My main complaint against this novel is its characters.The author seemed to be trying to make the novel a lighthearted one with a some comedy as side dishes. But the way he tried to do it is a little scuffed.The author tried to make his characters into quirky ones following the gap moe culture for comedy purposes. Yes, that is fine if it's just one or two, but he decides to make all the characters like that. As a result, all the relevant characters in the story seem to be incompetent at their job and there is no one normal. Another complaint is that the comedy achieved through this sacrifice is meager. It isn't worth making all the characters look incompetent for the sake of comedy.The MC is irritating. He is originally you're generic beta cowardly MC, but after he goes through the training arc near the beginning of the novel, he changed. But, how much did he really change? All that has changed in him is that he became a non-beta towards females. He's still a peace loving pacifist who thought killing enemies in a war is immoral and even heals the war prisoners because he doesn't want them to die. The relationships between the characters felt a bit rushed and forced. The MC seemed to be the center of the characters' thoughts for some reason even though they haven't interacted that much.Also about the higher ups of the country: the author tried to make the higher ups and king look gentle and kind, and he managed to do it, but he sacrificed their assertiveness and made them look incredibly incompetent.There is also not enough build-up to fights and climaxes. In the climax that is the battle between the demon army and human army, I can't feel anything. The only build-up towards the demon army is that monster boar rampage and that questionable scene of the future. But the way the author wrote it just failed to convey the excitement of the situation.During the battle between the demon army and human army, the characters obviously described the war as being incredibly deadly and dangerous, but the author failed to convey how dangerous it actually this. All that really happened in the war that is described to us is the MC healing some injured people and the fight between the heroes and MC vs the Black Knight. In other words, there is not enough background description to set up the atmosphere.Another point I find weird is: (spoiler alert) Spoiler
that moment when the beast girl showed the MC the future of the war where both of his classmates died. After being shown that, the MC decided to run away. This scene felt questionable and forced. The MC can fight in a life and death battle but will cry and run away from a scene where his friends died that has not happened yet? I find this part forced because it seems like the author wants the MC to run away so that the beast girl can disappear and the MC won't find out anymore about this scene. And even after that, this scene is never brought up again until the middle of the battle.
[collapse]All in all, this is a pretty decent chilling novel if you have nothing else to read. If you enjoy pacifist MC or healing magic then you can give this novel a try. This novel isn't bad, but it also isn't very good either.