Spoiler Alert!
It is now the middle of July, on a particularly hot summer day at Mitsuyama Village, Japan. Thinking back, your life has become a rather monotonous routine of growing vegetables and coming back home to wash up and relax after the day’s work. In fact, it almost feels like timed clockwork. Every now and then, the routine is broken whenever you deliver your vegetables to Yao the wholesaler or receive a visit from your neighbor, the elderly farmer Tsugio Itou. The rainfall during this year’s summer has been scarce and the vegetables have been growing quickly, so there have been more hardships to deal with than usual.
After coming home, you heat up the bath and wash off the day’s sweat. As you clean yourself up, you suddenly hear a banging noise. Hmm? Is it coming from the front door? Who would come here at this hour? As you approach the front door, it slides open and in staggers an unexpected sight: a beautiful, young girl with blond hair and blue eyes wearing ornate metal armor, like that worn by knights in Europe during the Middle Ages, complete with a sheathed sword at her left hip! Panting, the girl asks you if she could stay in your house for the night. Somehow, you feel as if the clockwork of your monotonous life has just lost a gear, which makes a loud noise as it falls…
A Case of Living in the Countryside with a Female Knight Who Came to Me (俺んちに来た女騎士と田舎暮らしすることになった件 Orenchi ni kita Onna-kishi to Inakagurashi suru koto ni natta ken) is a light novel series and manga written by Sakuta (裂田). After realizing that she was now trapped on a completely unfamiliar world, the knight Christina von Melvis decided to make the best of her situation and stay with Kanji Saeki, the first person she met in the new world. After listening to Chris’ claims of having just escaped from a brutal battle at somewhere called Mozengate Fort, Kanji contacts his friend Honami Izawa, a civil servant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for help. Kanji shows Chris the way of life in Mitsuyama, including showing her how to care for vegetable crops, cooking meals and introducing her to modern-day technology. After recovering from her wounds and the initial shock, Chris slowly opens up to Kanji and talks about her home country, the Euride Kingdom, and the existence of magic there. She can even use some magic, such as language translation magic (which enables her to communicate in Japanese) and fire magic, despite not being a mage herself. Meanwhile, the Ministry was unable to confirm Chris’ story since she was physically human in every way, but the fact that she could perform magic that defies the laws of science couldn’t be denied.
Later, a medical team arrives to take Kanji, Chris and a number of Mitsuyama residents to a hospital in Tokyo for quarantine. Honami explains that since Chris could be from another world, she could be carrying viruses or parasites that humans from Earth have no immunity to and vice versa. For the next three weeks, Chris and the others endure days of countless check-ups and blood tests. In the end, everyone is released from the hospital, but Chris had to stay in Tokyo for questioning. Upon his return to Mitsuyama, Kanji finds his fields choked with weeds due to three weeks of neglect, but he is soon able to replant them with new seeds. A month later, Chris returns to Mitsuyama, explaining to Kanji that she’d rather stay with him despite being offered a chance to stay in Tokyo by the government.
Elsewhere, the hero Bartholomeus von Melvis and reinforcements from the capital city were able to defeat the 5,000-strong barbarian horde at Mozengate Fort. A month later, Bart’s sister Christina, who had not been seen since the battle’s end, was declared a deserter by the Euride Kingdom. Refusing to believe that his sister would abandon her duty as a knight, the depressed Bartholomeus spent his nights drinking at a bar until the archmage Louise von Strauss told him that Chris was alive. Far away, but alive! Having examined the site of Chris’ last known location, Louise deduced that Chris must have used the magical teleportation scroll given to her by Louise herself. Also, the magical spirit light connected to Chris’ life is still burning, which meant that she is still alive somewhere. By using the spirit light and the lingering traces of teleportation magic, it might be possible to determine where Chris is now!
Characters
Kanji Saeki (佐伯莞爾 Saeki Kanji), a 32-year old farmer. Honest and kind, Kanji dislikes loud people, including high school girls who have a tendency to cry out “KYAAH!” or “KAWAII…!” all of a sudden. After graduating from university, he worked as a salaryman for a leading company in Tokyo. When his parents died four years ago, Kanji returned to his hometown Mitsuyama Village (三山村). Living alone at his old family home, Kanji now grows vegetables such as eggplants and tomatoes and sells them to a wholesaler. He is also a good cook, often using his own vegetables when making meals.
Christina “Chris” Brünhilde von Melvis, the 18-year old daughter of House Melvis, a noble family of the Euride Kingdom, and the vice-commander of the second company of the Euride Kingdom’s Western Knights. Much like Kanji, Chris is a kind, honest person, but she is also a bad liar and gets flustered easily when embarrassed. In addition to being a skilled fighter, she can use a few basic magic spells such as fire conjuration, healing and language translation. Idolizing her older brother Bartholomeus, Chris began training as a knight at age 12. During a vicious assault on the Mozangate Fort by a barbarian horde, Chris was sent as a messenger to the capital city to request reinforcements but she eventually found herself cornered by orcs at a cliff. Throwing herself off the cliff to avoid capture, she inadvertently activated a powerful teleportation magic scroll that she kept on her person. As a result, she was transported to a strange, new land, specifically Japan on the planet Earth.
Honami Izawa (伊沢穂奈美 Izawa Honami), a civil servant at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a child, she became interested in fantasy and magic after reading her first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Honami and Kanji attended the same university and they dated for a while, but they grew apart not long after graduation. Secretly an otaku, she could barely contain her excitement when Chris demonstrated actual fantasy-style magic to her. Although privately worried about getting married, Honami sometimes tries to push Kanji and Chris into a romantic relationship.
Bartholomeus Franz von Melvis, the 23-year old son of House Melvis, Chris’ brother and the legendary hero of the Euride Kingdom. Brave and honorable, he secretly nurses a sister complex for Chris, of whom he is extremely protective. Despite winning the battle at Mozengate Fort, Bartholomeus becomes depressed after his sister went missing. He later joins the archmage Louise in her attempts to find and rescue Chris.
Louise Cara von Strauss, a young first-rank royal archmage of the Euride Kingdom. In the past, she was constantly bullied for her short stature and child-like appearance. Even now, Louise gets easily irritated whenever others treat her like a child. Years ago, she was befriended by Chris when she was a student at a local magic school. A powerful, talented mage, Louise was the one who crafted the magical teleportation scroll that sent Chris to Earth.
Personal Thoughts
In a reversal of a traditional isekai situation, someone from a fantasy world gets transported to Japan and experiences the wonders it has to offer. It’s mostly a slice-of-life story, with Kanji’s daily life as a bachelor farmer and Chris coming to terms with being trapped on an unfamiliar world. Along the way, they learn about each other and slowly make new friends as they appear, gradually building an irreplaceable experience for themselves. It’s a reflection of how someone has to live overseas with a foreign culture and lifestyle, adapting quietly and making friends to establish a new home. The story also goes into some detail about how farmers make a living, including constant supervision, use of equipment such as mosquito nets, crop disease and selling produce to a wholesaler. This can be interesting for those who have already experienced the beaten path of Japanese modern culture, such as the hectic city life in Tokyo.
Not much else happens in this story so far unless you consider the possible ramifications of the world learning about the existence of fantasy magic and parallel worlds. There are also hints of something big happening with in-story news reporting unusual events such as gravity well phenomena resulting in electromagnetic pulses, leaving cities without electricity for hours. Only time will tell if Chris has anything to do with this. My guess is that the story will eventually come to the question of whether she will choose to stay on Earth or return to her native world.
Moral
The relationships that you build are often the things most precious to you in life, even if you are far from home.
Isekai Eye 