[KLN Review] Queen's Knight Kael

I shall raise you into a man befitting of me!

Basic Information

Korean title:  퀀즈 나이트 카엘

English title:  Queen’s Knight Kael

Author: Todol (토돌)

Illustrator: fratolm

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: D&C Media

Publication date: August 1, 2012

Pages: 524pp

ISBN: 978-89-267-8153-1

Translation difficulty:  I dare you! I double dare you!

Gist: A loli queen summons a low-ranking demon to save her country in a hi-tech future.

(Pre)Ramble

Straight from the get-go, we know that we have ourselves a winning character— a precocious Loli Queen. I’ve seen many come and go over the ages, but this lass is the best one in existence so far. Before you get the wrong idea, let’s be clear about this: I’m not a pervert. I just happen to have a predilection for cute 2-D girls, that’s all. But enough meandering and creepiness, let’s move on to the introduction and get this review started.

Introduction

The first thing to note about the novel is that it’s written by no other than Todol, the author of The Cursed, Daemon Kaiser, Boy Alchemist and Monster Princess. Renowned for his fantasy titles as well as his prominent education and flowing text, he is (in)famously known as the Todol of Annihilation for his artistic style of killing off everyone in his works— a spiritual kin to Kill ‘em All Tomino, where everyone must go for the final episode. However, the main issue here is not really his killer flair but the plethora of fantasy-themed light novels in the Korean publication market. It’s a similar situation to Dawnbringer. As a late contender in a battle royale of light novels, does this series have what it takes to endure and survive? Luckily for the author, having a name for oneself helps out a lot with the sales.

Background

Ever since the dawn of time until A.A. 1728 [Revolution of Science], humankind completely depended on the gods of heaven and demons of hell, borrowing their great arcane powers through faith and sacrifice in order to survive the trials of nature. With the wheel of science taking its first revolution in the history of civilization, it didn’t take too long for the human race to become self-reliant through rapid advancements in various fields of science and technology. And just like that, the gods and demons were forgotten from the hearts and minds of people across the world after few centuries, turning them into nothing but mere myths of an ancient time.

Story

The novel starts inside a royal castle of Nessland, deep within a secret chamber. There, our heroine Yulia and her artifact mentor Pristine are in a dire situation— hundreds of unidentified insectoid monsters have emerged out of nowhere, slaughtering every royal subject. As a last resort to save her life in this grave danger despite Pristine’s advice and opposition, Yulia draws a magic circle in the hopes of summoning a high-ranking demon as her servant. Instead, she summons Kael, a rookie demon knight whose appearance is way too innocent and naïve for an evil entity.

From there, the main cast ventures through subterfuge and collusion of the political world while fighting against various monsters and opponents that comes about their way on their journey.

Characters

Kael | Yulia (with Pristine on) | Sestina | Dewy

Kael:
A 500-year-old, low-ranking demon knight who excels in swordsmanship, betraying his youthful appearance. He had a dream of becoming the hero of an epic with a happy ending, but it fell to pieces when he unintentionally killed a saintess he was serving as his contractor and master. Scarred from this traumatic experience, he vows to never form a contract again. Not really a top-class demon material, given how kind and caring he is for others. But don't think that he'll go easy on you!

Yulia:
The young queen of Kingdom of Nessland. Although she only turned eight recently, she has a dignified stature exuding an air of elegance that is distant from the world…from time to time and when she is in the eyes of her subjects. Everything about her is youthful and adorable. However, she is precocious and sharp when it comes to the sinister world of politics. Forms a contract with Kael to escape from death.

Sestina:
A beautiful, buxom lady who took care of Kael from birth in the demon world. She poured all of her affection into Kael in the hopes of him becoming a great demon, teaching him every day to take, destroy, and conquer as he desires. After following Kael to the human world where he formed a contract with Yulia, she advises him that it is a demon’s duty to disregard age and gender. Whatever that means. A motherly type character with an ulterior ambition.. and lust for her ideal version of Kael.

Dewy:
A demon that is a rank higher than Kael, who decided to serve him after owing him her life. She is cool-headed and poised, but she also wishes for Kael to become a great demon, making it troublesome for Kael to deal with her sometimes. A devout servant of Kael who yearns for him in her own way.

Art

Shin Loli Queen: Devil Summoner.

Sestina fantasizing about Kael as her ideal demon.

Grand Delusion! Ranger Dewy!

The artist in charge for the series is fratolm. The art style is clean and neat with nothing to really complain about. As seen above, the backgrounds are fairly plain but there is a decent amount of details on the characters to offset the simplicity. Quite an excellent start for a newcomer.

 Our loli queen can be a real handful sometimes.

Conclusion

Politics and fantasy is always an interesting mix, even with the embedded elements of moe and harem. What I found was that the novel had a fine balance between sinister political drama and fantastical action adventure, while not forgetting about its target audience with hilarious and adorable moments through character interactions to lighten up the mood and lessen the serious tone overall. I hope a brave soul would emerge and translate this majestic series, because it is truly an epic novel.