Manga / The Strongest Wizard Who Makes Full Use Of The Strategy Book

Knowledge is Power

The Strongest Wizard Who Makes Full Use of the Strategy Book (Kouryakuhon wo Kushi Suru Saikyou no Mahoutsukai ~＜Meirei Sasero＞ to wa Iwasenai Ore Ryuu Maou Tobatsu Saizen Route~) is a manga written by Matsue Fukuyama and illustrated by Hiro Maijima, which began serialization in Manga UP! in 2019.

It isn't easy being a wizard for the hero's party. Just ask Magnus the mage who's been belittled and mistreated by the so-called, muscle-headed hero Eugene and his members every step of the way. He finally had enough and left the party once it was clear they biasedly valued physical strength over magic and skill, deeming him "worthless" as a result.

Lost on what to do now, a merchant catches up to him to sell a mysterious book written in the god's language which turns out to be the ultimate encyclopedia guidebook in vanquishing the demon lord. Thanks to the guide, Magnus becomes knowledgeable about monster bosses' weaknesses, raising his levels efficiently, details on important people and even the top gourmet spots in the city! Moreover, he's able to outclass the hero's party using his wits and scheming mind and is en route to defeating the Demon Lord.

Magnus may not be the chosen hero through destiny but he chooses to be the hero the world deserves through his own power.

Contains the following tropes:

• 0% Approval Rating: While Magnus has been performing good deeds since he departed from the party, Eugene builds up his infamous reputation with the populace due to his barbaric actions, thinking he can do whatever he wants due to his Hero title. His betrayal and subsequent banishment turn him into a wanted criminal, and his crimes are known throughout the world.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Hilde comes from a fanatic church of Taigon where they will sweet talk and grovel at one's feet to milk as much money as they can from the poor.
  Magnus: For a favor, they'd bow their head to someone they openly ridiculed...though I bet they feel utterly humiliated and furious on the inside.
• Anachronism Stew: Things like modern Japanese foods (The fluffy pancakes and parfaits eaten at Aria and Magnus' dates), advanced robotics (Gladius and the Massacre Maids^note Which are wearing 19th-century French maid outfits) and the discovery of medicine (18th century) are very out of place in this generic 14th-century Medieval European Fantasy.
• Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Missha wears a crop top with a Cleavage Window that exposes her stomach as much as her boobs. The Massacre Maids, including Chocolate whose mind was transferred into one, also have this which makes their french maid dresses less historically accurate than it already is.
• Battle Harem:
  • Eugene aims to have one as his party consists entirely of women except for Magnus (the only other guy) who was swiftly replaced by a scantily-clad Cat Girl after he left. However, this doesn't stop Eugene from abandoning them when the stakes become way too high.
  • Averted with our actual protagonist Magnus who is in a loving committed relationship with Aria and is incredibly faithful to her such that he rejects the advances of other women altogether, no matter how attractive. His rotating party consists of people of all genders and ages that he encountered on his quests.
• Bears Are Bad News: Bazerf the Blacksmith built a bear-shaped, mecha Golem called Gladius I for Magnus to use in combat. As the trope entails, Gladius I makes quick work of mooks by aggressively mauling them with his sharp claws while Magnus deals with the boss.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: When Magnus rescues Aria and two others from captivity, their cute looks and hair are in immaculate condition despite their tattered clothing, looking scuffed up and being sold into slavery for an undisclosed amount of time.
• Berserk Button: Harm Aria in any way and you'll be lucky to have a quick death from Magnus.
• Bodyguard Babes: Twins Nadia and Salima are highly attractive, dressed in Badlah outfits, and the personal bodyguards of their childhood friend Heidal, the Prince of Alabarna.
• Bridal Carry: Missha carries the king this way to safety when the castle's courtyard is under siege by a demonized Imperial Knight Captain Tenzen.
• Butter Face: Sister Cream may have the faded looks and wrinkles of an elderly grandma but she's still rocking a slim, curve-accentuating body of a teenager.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Magnus avoids alcohol due to his low tolerance and turns down such offers because of it. He can't handle more than one glass and is immediately flushed when forced to drink.
• Cat Girl: The one who replaced Magnus in Eugene's party was an unnamed cheongsam-wearing, feline demihuman fighter.
• Character Catchphrase: Magnus defiantly states "I refuse!" when opposing forces try to make him join their side or follow orders.
• Chekhov's Skill: Hilde cites Magnus' worthlessness by stating his only contribution to the party is being the only person in the world able to read "holy sigils", the dead language of the gods. Magnus later receives the encyclopedia written in holy sigils and uses the information only he himself can access to become the strongest mage there is.
• Cleavage Window: Hilde, Missha, and the unnamed Cat Girl all have these which are diamond-shaped and show a substantial amount of boob. Given that they are all part of Eugene's party, there's a good chance he has a preference and made it an obligation for the women to wear outfits with one.
• Cool Old Lady: Sister Cream is an elderly nun but that doesn't stop her from being a hard-drinking ladette and badass healer.
• Damsel in Distress: Aria who was first introduced kidnapped and enslaved by slave traders until Magnus freed her. She would later be held hostage by Eugene and Hilde in an attempt to make Magnus submit to them but that only infuriates him even more, blowing them across the court field and rescuing Aria once more.
• Delicate and Sickly: One of the side quests involves a bedridden village fourteen-year-old girl named Mel who is stricken with a strange disease that can only be cured by killing the creature who cursed her.
• Endearingly Dorky: For the all-powerful mage he is, Magnus loses his calm, pragmatic composure around Aria, who is likewise the same, whenever they do lovey-dovey stuff.
• Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: Someone as egotistical and temperamental as Eugene would naturally feel threatened by Magnus gaining more popularity than him.
• Floating Limbs: Derbenvot's hands are detachable from his body and mainly used for combat and deflecting attacks. He also uses it for... recreational purposes with eyes on the palms and tongues protruding from the fingertips which act as Naughty Tentacles when sexually assaulting the Cat Girl.
• Formula with a Twist: Besides the gimmick of basically having a cheat guidebook to defeat the demon lord, the protagonist doesn't seek a Battle Harem at all and gets a supportive, non-action girlfriend he's incredibly faithful to by the third chapter which is very atypical for the genre. What's more atypical is that he adventures either alone or with a rotating party made up of various people he met along the way before parting.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: Magnus' original party had two males (Himself and Eugene) and two females (Hilde and Missha) but that didn't last long after Magnus left in the first chapter and was swiftly replaced by a Cat Girl.
• The Ghost: The Demon King Morrfai is the biggest driving force in Magnus' motivation of ending his reign of terror by killing him but has not appeared even once in the manga's run.
• Great Big Book of Everything: The titular Strategy Book which acts as an all-knowing encyclopedia for absolutely anything but most importantly on defeating the demon lord. Somehow, the information that is contained in the book is from the past, the present, and the future, meaning its unknown author might be The Omniscient.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: The Strategy Book and the author don't mind the book being used for either good or evil. In fact, they encourage whoever gets their hands on it to do whatever they want with the info no matter the consequence.
  Strategy Book's First Paragraph: Use this information to save or to kill, everything depends on you! Wishing you good luck!!
• Hate Sink: Eugene is a textbook Evil Hero. He's impulsive, ill-tempered, and abuses his status as the Hero to rack up debts, steal from shops, and harm innocent people, including children. He's a poor fighter and leader since he only cares about himself, willingly ditching his own party members to save himself. Eugene also bears a grudge against Magnus for being more successful than him, despite it being his decision to kick Magnus out of his party. And because he's the Hero, he absolutely refuses to admit any of his wrongdoing.
• Holier Than Thou: Hilde justifies and makes excuses for all her heinous crimes in the Gods' names when that's clearly not the case.
• HP to One: Eugene has this as a hidden skill called "Destiny Unaccomplished" so he cannot die no matter how much he turns into mincemeat unless the Demon Lord is finally slain.
• Hypocrite: Down in the Grand Megoras Mines, Bazerf, a dwarf with a mild distaste for humankind, finds it pathetic how human greed got the best of those who give into it as they are cursed to roam the mines for all eternity. However, when Magnus points out there are also dwarves amongst the undead, he shrugs and replies "Meh, probably just some losers".
• Humble Hero: Despite receiving genuine praise and adoration for his good deeds, even from the king himself, Magnus never indulges in it. In fact, he would rather avoid anything celebrating his achievements because he's a Socially Awkward Hero.
• Identical Twin ID Tag:
  • Same-Sex Triplets Mad, Rad, and Ted can be distinguished by their hairstyles. Mad has side-swept bangs shifting to the right and a side-braid on the left, Rad has the reverse of Mad's plus his hair is tied in a short ponytail and Ted has "M-shaped" bangs with his braid dangling down. Additionally, Mad has a tiny fang that neither of his brothers has. Weirdly enough, their girlfriends who are also same-sex triplets don the same respective hairstyles.
  • Twin bodyguards, Nadia and Salima, like the triplets, are identical apart from their bangs going the opposite direction of one another and one having longer hair.
• Jerk Jock: The chosen "hero" Eugene behaves like one, having the physique of a body-builder, the brain of a rock and the arrogance of a hyper-aggressive Manchild peacock. He completely and foolishly disregards magic and skill over unadulterated strength and surrounds himself with beautiful women to be his harem over actually talented and experienced people which is why Magnus was kicked out of the party in the first place.
• Kill It with Fire: Subverted with the Treants they fight in the first chapter. While Magnus wants to try other elements, Eugene insists he continues to try to burn it, since "plants are weak against fire", even though it has no apparent effect. Magnus was able to solo it the next day with Shock and Awe.
• Logical Weakness: The Strategy Book does have a limit to its vast, unparallel knowledge. Since the encyclopedia is related to the gods, it puts a strong emphasis on information essential to defeating the demon lord which means it's not as well-detailed for less important information. Thus, it updates accordingly to the criteria and leaves the blind spots out such as the whereabouts of legendary adventurer Ramsey.
• Lost Language: The Holy Sigils is a dead language of the gods comprising diamonds, dots, and stars as the characters. It can only be read by the gods and their apostles in which Magnus is apparently one of them. This allows him to access the Strategy Book written in the same language as no one else can.
• Magic Carpet: Scholar Narses lends Magnus one which the former christened "The Nalsai". Its speed turns weeks-long journeys into a matter of hours which comes in handy when traversing back and forth the vast deserts of Alabarna for important business to his hometown for dates with Aria.
• Magic Staff: Now a good sorcerer wouldn't complete without one which is why it's Magnus' weapon. Magnus had a Rank D "Old Staff" at first before it was replaced with a Rank S "Staff of the Supreme" to cast spells for the rest of the series.
• Masculine, Feminine, Androgyne Trio: Magnus, a resourceful male wizard, teams up with Aria, a female merchant and his girlfriend, and Chocolate, his robotic pet and transferred into the body of a massacre maid who doesn't identify as either gender, to form a party.
• Muggle–Mage Romance: Magnus, one of the most powerful magic users, dates Aria, the daughter of an important and influential merchant, and they could never be happier.
• Mundane Utility: Magnus uses his all-knowing encyclopedia to have a wonderful first date with Aria from the info detailing dating tips and popular restaurant spots.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Hilde is the only member of Eugene's party to stay loyal to him after he's banished from the kingdom and branded a criminal for his actions against Magnus and the king.
• Naughty Tentacles: Tired of masturbating all the time, Derbenvot takes pleasure in thoroughly groping the Cat Girl with the slimy, overly-long tongues protruding from his fingertips and was about to do the same with Missha before Magnus came busting in.
• Naughty Nun: Hilde with her cleavage window of her enormous breasts and her fanaticism for both her church's god and Eugene is so strong that she will do immoral things under their names.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Lady Anemone, the leader of the Tonehni company, wears a blouse unbuttoned all the way except the top button that's barely managing not to pop out under the pressure of her massive breasts.
• Ninja Maid: The Massacre Maids, like their name suggests, are Flesh Golems dressed in French maid outfits (Even though the dress was invented in the early 19th century) who specialized in arm-to-arm combat and are brutally efficient at it. Chocolate the robotic ant has their consciousness transferred into one after their original body was destroyed and gained its fighting prowess and strength to do some serious damage.
• Non-Action Guy: Gender-inverted. Aria is Magnus' girlfriend but weirdly enough for an Isekai, she doesn't join him in battle due to not having the skills and combat capability to defeat the demon lord. Instead, she stays behind the sidelines and manages important trades, waiting for her beloved to return.
• No Name Given: The Cat Girl who replaced Magnus was never given a name during the short time she was onscreen.
• The Nudifier: Titin took the pleasure of striping the triplets of all clothing by her blade before attempting to finish them off in their birthday suits if it weren't for Magnus intervening.
• Odango Hair: The hairstyle Aria sports are two round buns to go with her long hair.
• Odd Name Out: Out of the Same-Sex Triplets, "Mad" and "Rad" rhyme but not "Ted" despite all having three-letter names ending with 'd' (Tad is just right there, people!).
• Official Couple: Magnus and Aria which is pretty weird considering the isekai setting and the couple are not only together by chapter three but also monogamous. Nevertheless, the two could never be any happier and fully support one another's ambitions.
• Only One Name: All the characters are called by only their first name and even those who introduced themselves don't give out their last name.
• The Poorly Chosen One: What were the gods thinking in picking Eugene as the destined hero who would defeat the Demon King if he's neither heroic nor strong enough to even defeat one of his lowly-ranked generals?
• Power-Up Food: Death Treants, the first monsters of the series, drop patterned, multicolored apples upon death which, depending on the apple, give various permanent stat boosts when consumed.
• Put on the Bus: Eugene and Hilde are out of the narrative for the time being after their latest stunt caused them to be wanted fugitives on the run from the law and the angry mobs.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Magnus's first party has a heavy-drinking Cool Old Lady priestess, a retired seasoned adventurer, and newcomer, Same Sex Triplet hunters.
• Rescue Romance: In chapter 2, Magnus unknowingly saves Aria from slave traders along his way to find loot. They meet again next chapter at the Malm Merchant Association where Aria can't help but confess her feelings to him. Magnus agrees to a date and both have been a lovey-dovey couple ever since.
• Same-Sex Triplets: Mad, Rad and Ted are a trio of male adventurers called "Ruins Explorers" who can be only tell apart by their hairstyle. They're engaged to another set of triplets, all-female, back at home.
• Second Episode Introduction: After Magus, Eugene and his party were introduced in the manga's first chapter, Aria formally made her appearance in the second chapter when Magnus freed her from captivity. She became the Deuteragonist and an integral part of Magnus's life onwards as his girlfriend and savvy travel merchant.
• Shock and Awe: The <Thunder> series, Magnus' go-to offensive spell which doubles as a scare tactic from the sheer amount of blinding bolts it emits. By the time of the Nerufu arc, he had upgraded it to <Thunder IV> which causes so much mass destruction and devastation, that enemies fear him as the God of the Storm who they had just invoked his wrath.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Magnus is completely devoted to Aria only who in turn feels the same way. This is evidenced by Magnus' lack of desire to acquire a Battle Harem like most Isekai protagonists do and constantly turns down Second Princess Faala's advances during the Alabarna Empire arc.
• Super Zeroes: Eugene and Co. are the prophesied "saviors" destined to defeat the demon lord. However, once Magnus leaves the party, it becomes increasingly apparent they are not living up to their titles. Examples include racking up massive debts at restaurants, robbing shops blind and beating up children. In spite of basically treating everyone like crap, they are massively under-leveled and ill-prepared when dealing with actual threats which left them as pariahs when their stunt of attacking the royal court to fight Magnus earns them the scorn of the entire kingdom.
• Thinking Up Portals: There's a spell called "Town Gate" which can allow the caster to travel between two places no matter the distance once a day so long as the places are recognized as towns.
• Token Good Teammate: Missha who turns out to be not as malicious as Eugene's party is to Magnus and felt incredibly guilty for not standing up for her former teammate. They did reconcile and parted on good terms with a fist bump.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The Cat Girl who replaced Magnus's spot in Eugene's party was thrown in prison for her violent behavior and dropped out of the narration entirely.
• Younger Than They Look: Glanz doesn't look like he's 18 years old physically since his muscular and intimidating appearance was a result of training hard to become the village guard and a man strong enough to protect Mel.