Louis spent his childhood doing whatever he could to get by in the little village he calls home. He must leave the orphanage now that he's come of age, and there's one thing he wants above all else: freedom from poverty. His best shot at making a stable life for himself lies in graduating from Arneval Academy. If only the tuition weren't so expensive. In need of work, Louis registers with the Adventurer's Guild where he meets Bolt, a seasoned adventurer who insists they form a party together and even helps Louis save up for his school fees. But life at the academy still comes at a price, and Louis finds staying in the party with Bolt might not be so bad, especially as feelings begin to bloom with every new adventure. However, all is not as it seems. Bolt may not be who he claims, and the mysteries of Louis's own past might very well upend everything he thought he knew about himself. Will the truth break their bond, or will it draw them closer than ever?

So Dearly Reckless has story by Tenma Asahi and art by Tsutsuji Takahashi. English translation is done by Raenoir. Published by J-Novel Club (January 20, 2026).

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

I'm always pleased when an imprint allows itself some room for diversity of narrative, and J-Novel Club's Knight line is doing just that. While two of their five current offerings are by the same author, they all have some range. One, found elsewhere in this guide, is a tragic romance, another is a fantasy romance, and So Dearly Reckless is LitRPG, an offshoot of both role-playing games and sword and sorcery fantasy. Despite having a few of the game aspects that can make the genre feel stale, such as adventurers' guilds and level ranks, this leans more into the romantic fantasy angle, complete with an orphan's hidden identity and spicy scenes.

And also furries. I wasn't expecting them, but I can't fault the author for making beastfolk more like humanoid animals than people with ears and tails.

In any event, the story follows Louis, a young orphan from an impoverished country town. Louis has dreams of getting an education and making something of his life, and his first step is to register with the Adventurers' Guild. Because orphans are looked down upon, he's at real risk of being attacked by other adventurers (his pretty face doesn't help) when an older man named Bolt swoops in and forms a party with him. Bolt and Louis are devoted to each other despite their ten-year age gap, and it's Bolt who figures out Louis' true identity. But that's much less important to Louis than his relationship with the other man, and Bolt feels much the same. There's so weirdness because Bolt could be framed as Louis' teacher rather than his partner for most of their relationship, but the story more or less acknowledges that and moves on, being more concerned with their happiness.

And despite the three explicit sex scenes, the romance plot takes a bit of a back burner to Louis' education. (Although I suppose you could say they're part of it…) Louis is in the very pat role of being a commoner at a school primarily attended by nobility, but that doesn't really have much of an effect on him. His school buddy Alford is shocked by his lifestyle, but it doesn't have much bearing on their friendship or on any of Louis' interactions with other students. He more than proves his own worth through hard work and intellectual prowess without coming across as a Gary Stu to the readers, although some of his schoolmates might think differently. There's a political plotline waiting in the wings as relates to Louis' heritage and the general corruption of governments, and that's set up to take on more of a central role in the next volume.

The worldbuilding is interesting and has a few unique features that set it apart from other similar works, with the most unusual being the way sex education and maturation is handled. The translation is excellent and the writing feels like care went into crafting a good story. There aren't many illustrations, but those there are are nice to look at. All in all this is a pleasant book, and I'll happily pick up volume two.