Mona the Baking Mage Saves the City: Even the most trivial magic can become a great power with a little ingenuity!

This story, which begins with a girl's corpse appearing in the bakery where the protagonist Mona works, was a much more profound fantasy than its cute title and cover would suggest.

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In the world where Mona and her friends live, mages are not all that rare.

On the other hand, mages are not all-powerful beings either.

Magic for baking bread well, magic for controlling dead horses, magic for controlling water, magic for growing roses well, magic for controlling sand... basically, each mage can only use one type of magic.

Meanwhile, a series of incidents occurs where the city's mages are killed one after another.

As the incidents became more extreme, the mages left the city, and their numbers dwindled one by one.

After being attacked by a mysterious man herself, Mona realizes that the series of incidents is the work of the city's influential figures.

Mona began taking action to save the city from the villain's conspiracy, but there was not much a 14-year-old girl who could only bake bread could do.

However, by encountering the knowledge of previous mages and racking her own brains, Mona invents new ways to use her magical power.

I was moved by the way magic is depicted, where instead of gaining powerful magic through training, one blossoms the small talent they were given through effort.

The magic that appears in "Mona the Baking Mage Saves the City" is nothing special in itself.

But the way it is used is amazing.

How to use that magic, how to best draw out its ability, what procedures would make it more effective... It is wonderful to see Mona grow through trial and error.

While reading, I started to feel like maybe I have a hidden talent like Mona, too? Maybe I'm just not using it well?

I am very happy that such a story is being released as a children's book.

There is another part I like, where there is a scene where Mona gets very angry that she, at 14 years old, had to be at the center of the battle to protect the city.

I nodded strongly at Mona, who was indignant that the adults should have noticed and done something about it much sooner.

There are many stories where boys and girls are the protagonists facing off against great evil, but I feel there are few that depict the anger of "What are the adults doing during all this!"

The fact that Mona is properly angry about that point made me feel that it contains a message that adults should be people that children can fully rely on.

And I really think that's true.

You could just say it's fiction, but I think it's great that a book intended for children doesn't gloss over that.

When you think of a witch's familiar, owls, frogs, cats, bats, newts, and mice come to mind, but Mona's familiar is none other than Bob the sourdough starter.

He's just an ingredient for bread, but this little guy is incredibly reliable.

I'm not sure if "strong" is the right word to use for a sourdough starter, but Bob is incredibly strong!

If you're curious about how a sourdough starter fights, please read "Mona the Baking Witch Saves the City."

This story doesn't gloss over the bad or dark parts of the world.

A duchess who isn't a bad person but is somewhat unreliable, a rebel who justifies themselves and tries to make others the villain without a second thought, an army that tries to use and discard witches for their own convenience...

There are many episodes that are sadly realistic and could actually happen.

But I think that's exactly why the world-building has such depth.

Don't underestimate it just because it's a children's book.

It's a very heavy fantasy that will leave you with a lot to think about.

I think it's a story that both children and adults can enjoy, so please pick it up and give it a read!