Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights - LN 7 [end]

Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights Volume 7 by Mashimesa Emoto, Illustrations by Tera Akai. Translated by Emma Schumacker, Published by Cross Infinite World.

In the world of light novels, it's not often that a series ends on it's own terms, with a concrete ending. In that way, this series managed to do something great, while not overly changing its focus. Despite being a slice-of-life fantasy series with no big overarching story-lines, it managed to end with a great finale that resolves most of the character stories and leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

There's also the question of the shitty ex-fiance that showed up at the end of the last book. I definitely still don't like him, but the story at least tied up that loose end. We find out why Lance initially cut off the engagement with Mell, as well as why the Fore Elves have the tradition of arranged marriages in the first place. 

Luckily, (and more importantly), we see Mell introduce Zara to her parents.As you can probably guess from the cover of this volume, Zara and Mell end up getting married. And in true Expedition Cooking fashion, they do it on their own terms. 

This was a cozy series that took the premise of food and family seriously. I even teared up towards the end, where Mell expressed her love for the people around her with one big feast. The 2nd Expedition Unit is a true family, and I'll be sad to see these characters go. 

I hope Mashimesa Emoto-sensei's other works end up getting licensed too. I'd be particularly interested in Hokuou Kizoku to Moukinzuma no Yukiguni Karigurashi for which I've already read the manga, and Taiga no Mori no Karigurashi. Both of these also have themes of food/family, and I'd be highly interested in reading them.