Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside Volume 2 Review

Last year Yen Press started publishing Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside and since then an anime adaptation for the series has been announced! Now I’m back to take a look at Volume 2 and see how the story is progressing. 

In the remote town of Zoltan, Red runs his apothecary with his girlfriend Rit. This is a town where time passes by peacefully, at least most of the time. Since Rit’s arrival, things have become a little more chaotic in Red’s life and that’s certainly true in this instalment of the series! 

A new drug called False Prophet has begun spreading in the town, which leads to people losing themselves and killing those around them. Once such instance even leads to half-elf Al’s family almost being murdered! 

Red and Rit aren’t about to sit back and let the drug run rampant, so together they begin investigating the issue to find out who’s behind it. Along the way, Rit uses this as the perfect excuse to give Al some training in how best to make use of his blessing so he can protect himself and those around him. 

Elsewhere in this volume, we reunite with Red’s sister Ruti the hero and her party. They’re continuing their adventures to defeat the Demon Lord, but unbeknownst to the majority of her group, Ruti is also looking for her brother. When the team find an abandoned airship, this gives the hero a perfect excuse to expand her search… 

Like the first book, the majority of our time is spent with Red, with the occasional switch to Ruti. Since this instalment isn’t having to introduce a bunch of characters and get the plot started, the switching back and forth flows more naturally. I found it much easier to keep track of who was doing what this time since I was more familiar with the cast and that certainly works in the favour of the book.

The other nice thing is the fact Red is caught up in an interesting storyline in Zoltan, compared to the first volume where things were a bit more episodic. Everything is nicely contained here and author Zappon manages to wrap the False Prophet arc up well while setting up for what is sure to be a bombastic Volume 3 judging by the conclusion here. 

Alongside the drug plot, Zappon also finds time to offer some character development for Rit and Red. Rit knows that the hero wants to be reunited with her brother and may come searching for Red, which she worries would bring an end to their peaceful lifestyle (and potentially their romance). 

Instead of worrying about these things in secret, Rit opens up to Red about it and he does his best to lay her fears to rest, which I appreciate since so many other series would have left this as an underlying drama waiting to explode. I also just prefer having these two be happy with one another because they deserve to live peacefully, no matter what kind of chaos they find themselves wrapped up in during their day to day lives. 

As previously mentioned, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside Volume 2 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and has been translated by Dale DeLucia. The translation reads well with no issues to note. 

Overall, Volume 2 of Banished from the Hero’s Party proves an entertaining and more focused read than its initial volume. With plenty of character development and a cliffhanger that’s sure to keep you reading, this series continues to be a worthwhile investment if you’re a fan of the slice-of-life fantasy genre.