Afterword
THANK YOU for buying this book! We’ve made it to Volume 9. Incredible stuff. I appreciate you for sticking with me this far.
In this volume, we’ve begun getting closer to the heart of the conflict between the head saint and the royal family. I’m a bit emotionally invested in this part, so I’ve taken my time to carefully write things out. I know some of you are out there shouting, “Hurry up!” but please trust in the process. You’ll find there were things unexpectedly foreshadowed here and there if you just wait.
Once again, chibi provided the wonderful illustrations for this volume. This was our first all-girl cover, and it turned out great! I regret not doing one sooner. As always, thank you very much, chibi!
Anyway, there’s this one scene in the volume where Saviz asks Fia what she wants to drink without offering a list or any choices, basically saying, “Name whatever you want and you’ll get it.” It really shows how incredibly resourceful the royal castle is. Now, I’ve never been offered drinks at a castle before, but I have flown business class on trips (that’s close enough, right?).
As my scheduled airplane failed to arrive, I was given a free upgrade on another flight. I had only ever flown economy class up until then and only knew the drinks offered on that menu, so I was really surprised when the flight attendant came over to ask what I’d like to drink without offering a menu. I looked around and saw other folks ordering stuff stylishly like “Get me a gin with a slice of lime,” so after a bit of thinking I used them as an example and said, “I’ll take a cola with a slice of lemon.” It tasted great, of course. I was really happy with myself afterward as I felt like I had experienced business class fully, something I knew I’d probably never fly again.
Different people value different things, though. There was this vice-president of a big company who was going to be late to a meeting who asked to swap plane tickets with a close friend of mine, but my friend flatly refused even though their ticket was economy class and the vice-president’s was first class. Why? In their own words, it was because “the flight attendants on my flight are all pretty!” See? People really do value different things.
There’s this other scene in the volume where a drunken Fia encounters Saviz as he gets off work and expresses surprise over how he looks so “energetic and fresh” despite having worked late. I have a similar experience I can share.
After the bell rang at our office to signal the end of standard working hours, I plodded down the corridor to get a snack for overtime hours and ran into my boss, completely full of energy. “Touya-kun!” they exclaimed.
I was beside myself with surprise, wondering how they could have such morning energy this late in the day. I thought maybe they would be able to go a full eight hours from here, even? We chatted for a bit, but everything they said was super positive and about starting new tasks. It was definitely not the kind of conversation one has when it’s already pitch black outside. I guess people who could work endlessly like them really do exist in the world. Oh, and they were almost sixty then too.
I should also mention they were the picture of success, having surpassed many others who graduated from higher-level universities to become fourth in the company, something generally unheard of. I remember feeling such admiration in the moment, thinking it must take someone with vitality on their level to rise up so high. I certainly would never be able to have such energy and willingness to start new tasks while already working overtime, not even in my next life.
Anyway, we held that character popularity poll I mentioned in the prior volume. The characters from the main series and the spin-off (A Tale of the Secret Saint ZERO) were both eligible for voting, but eight characters from the main series placed in the top ten! The main series is still popular, huh?
The poll was open for only half a month, but we received a whopping 4,633 votes. I’d like to say thank you to everyone who participated. Also, thank you for your comments and all your requests on what kind of stuff you’d like to read! I really enjoyed reading them and took what everybody wrote to make some short stories for the top six characters of the main series. I hope you liked reading them!
That brings us to the end. Thank you to everyone who worked hard to make this book a reality and to all my dear readers. This volume was made possible by all of you. I hope you enjoyed reading.