Chapter 113

AFTERWORD Hello everyone. This is Hasekura. I forgot to submit this afterword, so I’m writing this in a panic. We’ve reached the eighth volume of Col’s and Myuri’s adventure. This episode was the kind of story I’ve been waiting to tell for a while now, so I’m quite satisfied. And I’m very happy with the resolution! I’m especially very, very happy with how I handled the globe in Nordstone’s hut, which had to come up because of the new continent. I was thinking to myself, I have the Moon-Hunting Bear and the new continent and the conflict with the Church—if I add this question into the mix, then how am I supposed to wrap it all up neatly?! That’s a load off my shoulders. But nothing like that even existed in the original plot outline, so I am a bit unsatisfied because I spent so long working on the plot, and suddenly it’s like: Why?! It’s a bit like making elaborate travel plans, and after spending days preparing, only to forget something vital the day you set out. Also, I like this volume because there are many scenes where Myuri is pouting. I feel like she’s at her cutest when Col is scolding her. That, and how she never learns. It was also a lot of fun to write, because we had Col scolding her not as the Twilight Cardinal, but as her big brother. The scope of stories tend to get pretty big, and very serious in longer narratives, so I personally think this added a nice flavor. I used a book called The Autobiography of Thomas Platter, a schoolmaster of the sixteenth century for reference on traveling students and academic cities. It’s very old, so you may have to go to the library to find it. But it’s very interesting, and I highly recommend it. If you have already picked up this volume, I believe you may already know this, but just in case—Spice and Wolf is going to have another anime adaptation! For those who did not know, please search for “Spice and Wolf anime” immediately! I’m working hard to write more Wolf and Parchment, too, so I hope you stick with me on this journey as well as the travels of the main series. I know there’s quite a large margin left here, but I think I’ll leave it at that for now. Isuna Hasekura