With each coming spring, I remember my grandmother. I miss you. To my paternal grandmother, who always coddled me, and my maternal grandfather, without whom the house is a lot quieter—I hope you two are also doing well in the afterlife.
I’d like to thank my editor for always sticking with me despite the rushed work after I collapsed after getting sick and when I got the flu. Thank you to Lansane for making Firene—a character I designed because I wanted to see her in drawn form—look so cute. And a deep thank you to Uchida Temo for bringing the world to life as a manga—not just for the readers, but for me as well. Finally, thank you to my friends who share the table with me.
How many Western-style afterwords does this make now? Lessee, we are on Canto I of volume 11, and there have been two two-part volumes in the past too, so... Actually, never mind. It’s a lot, and I’m truly happy to have reached this stage! Unlike the previous volume, we were able to have a little bit of leeway before publication, so I’m happy to write to you all here.
I didn’t do the kind of ridiculous stuff I did in the past like extending my deadline twice, so we’re all in the clear. A real improvement compared to the terrible time before.
Now then, we’re in the next big stage after passing volume 10 and, yup, we’re in another double volume situation. Sorry. But if I’d forced all of this into one volume it would’ve been ridiculous, so that’s why it ended up this way. Of course, I don’t have the sort of influence to ask for everything to be compiled into a single volume resulting in a book that’s almost a perfect cube, so we settled on this format.
One of my life goals is to publish a book as thick as the ones Mr. Kawakami, whom I admire a lot, writes—but I don’t have enough Super Hero Points or CP, so I’ll have to put that on hold. I’ll make sure to keep my desire to get OVERLAP Inc. to publish a book that will break the Japanese printing press secret for now so that I don’t ruin my Bonds.
Despite that, this volume ended up really long, and it’s looking like Canto II will be too. What do I do? This is the part of the story where back in the web novel version, I’d received comments that it was too long, too boring, and too hard to read, so I’d worked really hard fixing things up for the novel publication. I’m a bit worried about what’s coming next. I suppose it’s an author’s job to find a good balance, so I’ll do my best.
As expected, I’m not all that interesting and haven’t lived an interesting life to have any fun anecdotes, but I’ve got three pages this time, so I’ll fill the space with some tedious sentences!
Of course we have to talk about Firene. Unlike our previous heroines, she’s not an excessively idiosyncratic character, the sort of country girl that has feelings for traditional heroes. During the design process, I asked Lansane to design someone that could ensnare any virgin, and indeed, I got a young lady who could steal the heart of any young man in the canton. It really pumped me up to see.
Personally, silk moths come second to jumping spiders in my list of favorite insects, so I’m beyond happy to have a character based around this insect. That sweet but evanescent way of living really messes with me...
I’m also pleased to announce my TRPG sessions are still in great health. Right now, we’re having fun playing as ninjas and Overeds. My fellow tablemates now include writers—my seniors, cohorts, and juniors—and artists too. I’m enjoying my days so much that my friends from my old haunt are probably staring daggers at me and wishing for my death out of jealousy. The battles are so intense that I wonder if one day I might run afoul of an “accident.” And, guess what, I get to enjoy two sessions a week! Mwa ha ha ha!
I’ll leave the bragging there. It is time for my dear friends who have joined me at the table for this issue, my readers, to get your record sheets signed. Don’t forget to bring them to the next session too!
[Tips] The author uploads side stories and world-building details to @Schuld3157 on Twitter (which he refuses to call by the pretentious name “X”) as “extra replays” and “rulebook fragments.”
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