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Lout of Count’s Family Vol 2 by Yu Ryeo-Han, Cover by LOKOnity. Translation by Henry Shin, NoeKun, and Amy Cho. Published by Seven Seas.

This isn’t a mystery series, so sometimes it’s a little frustrating to read the book, knowing that Cale is making important decisions based on information that readers don’t get to know about until after it’s already happened.

There’s a war coming, and he’s doing everything in his power to prepare. In this book, he spends the majority of the time gathering allies and laying groundwork for his future plans. 

One of the major premises of this series is that we see Cale/Roksu foiling the plot of the original “The Birth of a Hero” novel with his previous knowledge. It’s pretty integral to the setup, so I’m surprised that by the end of the book, Cale has run out of his “future knowledge”. I honestly thought it would take longer to get to this point. 

Minor frustrations aside, I do enjoy reading about the prep work. Of course, Cale also ends up charming a bunch more side characters, who are convinced of his goodness. Although Kim Roksu maintains his “selfish” self-image, it’s clear from his actions that he clearly cares about his family, his new found friends, and his children (all of the young strays he’s picked up here and there). Everybody is actively working to get stronger so they can protect each other.

In other series, the “war arc” usually happens towards the end, and it’s a massive spectacle with multiple moving characters with differing motives. It’s also a chance for the heroes to show off their new abilities that they’ve trained. In this series, the war arc seems to be coming up fast, and Cale absolutely is not the type to fight. While both he and his found family are definitely becoming stronger, I’m curious about how he’ll end up “winning” the war and coming out on top.

Also: I realized that the series name is actually “Lout of Count’s Family” instead of “Lout of the Count’s Family”, which honestly is probably grammatically incorrect? It sounds weird and doesn’t flow as well. Anyways, I fixed the tag, but left the 1st post as is since I think it’s funny.

Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights Volume 6 by Mashimesa Emoto, Illustrations by Tera Akai. Translated by Emma Schumacker, Published by Cross Infinite World.

First of all, if you are curious about the series this far in, but haven't been spoiled for anything, I strongly encourage everyone to NOT READ the official synopsis for this one, as it contains huge spoilers.

After the introduction of the "Legendary Hero" character (forgot his name, sorry), I wondered if they would manage to introduce someone to the cast in this volume as well. Luckily, that wasn't the case. This volume spent some much needed time with the cast, not only out doing expeditions, but developing their personal lives as well. We got to see more of Vice Captain Velrey, and even the wedding ceremonies for Captain Ludtink and Marina as well as Garr (and his fiancee). 

Mell really had some introspection in this one regarding her self-deprecation, and I feel like we learned new things about Zara as well (such as his views on himself and "gender"). Although this series has been cheesy, it's been such a cozy comfort read, with heartwarming characters. The next book is the last one, and I'm dying to read it!

The rest of my impressions are spoilery, so beware!

Now, if you happened to avoid the synopsis spoilers, please avoid this section as well until you've read this volume.

Just an archive of any thoughts I had while watching Lord of Mysteries

Episode 1-2

 

#	Date	Post
1	6/28/2025, 12:34:12 AM	I was super excited for Lord of Mysteries since I've heard such good things about the series, and it definitely delivered! I could tell that they were speeding through a LOT of lore and worldbuilding, but as an anime(donghua?)-only, I was able to at least get the gist of the story. The production values on this show are insane. #LordOfMysteries #LordOfTheMysteries #LOTM

 

After Episode 4 (not really about the show but whatever)

 

 

#	Date	Post
1	7/15/2025, 8:53:04 AM	For anyone who is interested in reading Lord of Mysteries, Webnovel is running a promotion on the app right now where you get a 24hr pass that unlocks ALL the chapters! It's an easy way to get a start on reading the series! The first 40 chapters are also always free. #LordOfMysteries
2	7/15/2025, 9:06:26 AM	Also, if you're a little more technically able, you can use WebtoEpub and download all the chapters for later! Note: I'm only doing this because I already have the physical novels pre-ordered, please support the author.

Episode 6

 

#	Date	Post
1	7/26/2025, 12:23:47 AM	I haven't been liveblogging thoughts or anything for this show, but honestly each episode has been gripping (even if I don't know all the details yet). This episode focused on Azik Eggers and Klein, and I thought the focus on Azik's backstory gave the series some needed grounding. It doesn't matter what crazy powers are at play here, poor Azik keeps living eternally, doomed to forget his family(ies). Could Klein be (biologically) related to him somehow? It's certainly possible since Azik has lived for so long. Even if not, I think Azik thinks of Klein like a son. Even though Klein was isekai'd/transmigrated, I appreciate that he really wants to go home; it's actually reminiscent of more classic isekai series, like Twelve Kingdoms. #LordOfMysteries

 

The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life Volume 5 by Usata Nonohara, Illustrations by OX. Published by Yen On (Yen Press).

This is pretty much the penultimate book in the series. Which was somewhat surprising for me because there’s still Volume 6!

The entirety of Volume 5 covers the Labyrinth Corps expedition into the Labyrinth, as well as their preparations for the final push to defeating the monster who’s attacking Endalsia and saving their city. This volume is one LONG war arc basically. It’s tense, and I wasn’t sure who would end up making it out alive (other than the main characters, but that’s somewhat of a given). 

The series has been pretty consistent in showing that Mariela is not a fighter in any capacity, but it had some interesting world-building regarding putting alchemists on the front lines (it makes sense, it’s like having doctors on the front lines too, it’s useful for recovery). Mariela worked her butt off making high-grade potions to use in the final battle, and the utility of that is clearly shown here. 

Everyone that Mariela has met pitches in for the final battle, and it’s awesome to see. There are numerous fight scenes that show how far everyone has come, and I was totally hooked once the war started.

It’s the culmination of everyone’s efforts that bring about a satisfying conclusion to the series.  The main plot is tied up nicely, and Mariela finally achieves the Quiet City Life that she’s dreamt of, no longer having to fear being the only alchemist in the city. 

I was happy with the series ending here as it’s a satisfying conclusion, but there’s actually one remaining plot point at the end of the book that’s left distinctly unaddressed regarding Mariela’s master, Freyja, and her true goals. It seems like the next volume is an expansion of a short story that addresses that plot point, so I guess I’ll have to see what that’s all about. 

Either way, I’m glad I stuck with this series. It was a fun ride, and an entertaining read. 

Ishura Volume 3 by Keiso, Illustrations by Kureta. Translated by David Musto. Published by Yen On (Yen Press).

With this volume, we’ve finally surpassed the anime!

I didn’t realize just how far the anime covered Volume 3. Luckily, there’s a very conspicuous stopping point in the book. It’s almost as if the author planned it that way.

Anyways, we get into the politics of actually running the tournament, as well as the fights that we’ve been waiting for. There are 16 competitors in total, so presumably there will be 15 matches. 

In this book, there were two matches, which started around the half-way point of the book. I’m somehow impressed and also concerned that they blew through that many. At this pace, we will roughly cover 3-4 matches each book, assuming they all play out “fairly”. 

And as we know from this series, that’s not necessarily the case. Even with the sabotage, the fights were truly nail-biting, and I had no idea who would come out on top in the end. The author does a great job with the fight scenes, and since no character is truly the “main” character, there isn’t any obvious plot armor to give away who is about to win. It’s great stuff, I hope there’s a continuation for the anime.

I’m curious to see how the existence and death of The True Demon King will play into finding the “True Hero”, and whether it really means anything. Honestly, I find the concept of the world to be the biggest mystery of all. Why do Visitors keep getting sent here from the “Beyond”? Why does this world exist at all? 

This truly is a unique series, and I’ve got the next book lined up. 

Lord of Mysteries: The Clown Part 1, Volume 1 by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving. Cover by OSSS, Illustration by an uncredited artist at Guangzhou Tianwen Kadokawa. Translation by Webnovel. Edited by amixy and Ivan Liang. Published by Yen On (Yen Press). 

I feel like before I even get into my thoughts about this book, there’s a ton of preamble that I need to start with.

First of all, I initially discovered this series through the donghua (Chinese anime) that is airing currently. At the time of this post, 8 episodes have released. The first season aims to adapt all of “The Clown”, the 1st arc of the series, which has been released in 3 books. In total, the “Lord of Mysteries” is a completed series with a total of 18 books. 

I greatly enjoyed the donghua, which is what inspired me to start reading the series to begin with. I also knew that this was a highly recommended series among Chinese webnovel enthusiasts. I might have even seen a comment somewhere cheekily comparing it to One Piece in terms of world-building prowess.

Therefore, I certainly wasn’t coming into this book blind, with zero expectations. I was already spoiled for some of the events of the book, and I was already interested in the series as a whole. This is all important to know, so you at least know what frame of mind I’m coming at this from. 

I think this is a situation where having all of this knowledge ahead of time is extremely helpful. While I am familiar with some slower paced light novels series (early Ascendance of a Bookworm being one of them), this is by far the slowest and most methodical series I’ve ever read in this sphere. 

The series is about a man named Zhou Mingrui. He’s a developer(?) who runs into a spat of bad luck, which prompts him to try a ritual he discovered in an old Chinese ritual book. While the ritual seems unsuccessful, it transmigrates him in the middle of the night into the body of one dead Klein Moretti, who just recently committed suicide for unknown reasons. Trapped in this new world with only basic fragments of Klein’s memories, Mingrui must navigate occult incidents and encounters with mysterious power-wielders called Beyonders in a steampunk Victorian-England inspired world. 

The first book is almost 600 pages, and the entirety of the novel is spent building up various aspects of the world. The currency system, the history, the magic ‘system’, how various organizations are founded and continue to run to this day, and even taxes are brought up. If this was your first exposure to this series, I would hardly blame anyone for thinking that this was a dry and boring introduction. 

However, all of it was extremely compelling. One of my favorite aspects of One Piece is how mysteries about the world are slowly revealed over time. This series is almost like that on steroids. It’s entirely about the mysteries. The mystery of why the main character got isekai’d/transmigrated to this new world, the mystery of how the powers and magic system works, the mystery of why previous eras of history are completely unknown! There’s so much to learn, and even the main character is yearning for this knowledge, in order to find a way back home. It’s a simple premise with brilliant execution.

Another thing to note, is that the translation quality is much better in the physical release by Yen Press, than the digital version on Webnovel.com. Unfortunately, Webnovel is holding onto the digital publication rights, so there is not an ebook version. The physical book seems to have had an editing pass to ensure readability in English, as well as more “British” word usage. I did a comparison of the two, and found the Yen Press edition to be a much more comfortable and fluid reading experience. The prose is not amazing, but wasn’t objectionable either. 

Since the Webnovel.com version does not currently use the updated text (that might change in the future), I definitely think the Yen Press physical is the way to go to consume this series. 

Although it was a long book, I was hooked from the beginning, and am dying for the next book in the series. The 2nd book is out in December, so it’s going to be an eternity until I can find out what happens next!