Himekishi-sama no Himo
The Kept Man of the Princess Knight

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“Chekov's gun - If your story includes an element there must be a reason for it.”
“Kept Man - A man who does not work but is given money and a home by somebody who he is in a sexual relationship with.”

Often novels introduce unnecessary elements or plot points that don't contribute anything to the main story and
simply end up bloating the overall plot narrative. HimeHimo does the opposite, everything is relevant to the plot,
every little thing that gets mentioned is relevant in some way later down the line.

HimeHimo is more mature than many other novels I've read, and certainly a lot more mature than ... almost any light novel I've read.
The world of HimeHimo is dark, bleak and the overall situation of the Dungeon City is hopeless.
The city is overrun with gangs, drugs, prostitution, gambling, murder, and child trafficking to name a few.

The protagonist of the story Matthew is a real scumbag that engages in numerous unsavory things; and doesn't shy away from things like
thievery, murder or even adultery even though he is currently a kept man for Arwin the crimson princess knight.

Arwin the princess knight is trying to conquer the dungeon with her party to rebuild her fallen kingdom.
Matthew while being weak with no combat abilities to speak of secretly helps out Arwin and the town in her absence, while she's out trying to conquer the dungeon.

The plot of HimeHimo follows Matthew and the numerous interactions he has with various people to indirectly assist the princess and the people he meets. To make up for his lack of strength he is not afraid to use various dirty tricks nor to get his hands dirty. Despite not being a mystery novel, the story contains various small mysteries that pop up throughout the novel with various clues spread out throughout the novel to clue you in about a situation before a big reveal happens.

The worldbuilding is fleshed out, deep and shows you what is going on rather than telling you.
The novel treats its readers like adults, and it succeeds at it with flying colors without coming across as edgy.

Without going into story spoilers if you are looking for a dark fantasy plot with deep, fleshed out but flawed characters and a slight bit of mystery sprinkled in, HimeHimo is an excellent read that is well worth your time.