• Chapter 8 The Crescent Moon Witch, Clarice
This is the conclusion of the Twilight Helbe chapter.
Originally, this story was structured as a single chapter, but with all the flashbacks stuck in there, I felt like it got really complicated, so I went ahead and separated the conclusion out into its own chapter. And so it’s got a different title, but this is basically a continuation of Chapter 7.
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So there you have it, that was Volume 16 of Wandering Witch.
Did you hear me? I said Volume 16! Sixteen! At this point, it’s got like three times as many volumes as The Adventures of Niche. Shocking, huh? By the way, April of 2021 is going to be the fifth anniversary of GA Novels and the fifth anniversary of Wandering Witch as well. I’m so surprised. I never thought I would make it this far.
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that last year had a lot of good things in store for me, but this year I also intend to crack on with my work at a breakneck pace, so kindly cheer me on again this year, too!
I want to do my best working toward a second season of the anime.
Also, personally, anime aside, we put out lots of Elaina goods, and I got all kinds of messages and fan letters from overseas, and Toshiya Miyata of Kis-My-Ft2 introduced me on TV, and my year was just overflowing with all sorts of other really delightful things, but personally, the thing that made me happiest was the decision to start reselling the drama CDs.
Time and time again, readers have asked me to start selling them again, but each time I’ve had to tell them, “I don’t have the authority to make that decision! Sorry! Go tell the higher-ups at the publisher!” It must have been worth repeating that interaction so many times, because finally you can purchase the drama CDs as a standalone product! That made me really happy.
I want to keep on selling them like hotcakes.
And I want to keep writing tons of voice scripts.
That said, once the work on Volume 16 is done, I’m going to cash in all the leave I’ve amassed, so though I will be working hard, I’d like to do so after taking a break for a while.
Well, even while I’m on break, I think I’ll ultimately be busily working away, coming up with ideas for Volume 17 and whatnot, so in the end, even though I say I’m going on leave, it won’t be much of a rest for me!
By the way, this is a change of subject, but ever since the start of this year, I’ve been working at home, so I haven’t had a decent conversation with anyone other than my editor and the clerk at the convenience store.
Other than that, it’s been me holding one-sided conversations with Anne. If Anne wasn’t around, I think I probably would have forgotten how to speak Japanese at all. Thank you, Anne.
By the way, now it’s 2021, so I’d like to write down my ambitions for the year.
This year, it would be great if I got a request from someone like Bungeishunju to author an essay. Actually, I’ve been uploading lots of little essays to Twitter for years with that secret motive. Incidentally, at present, no publisher has reached out to me (of course).
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So that means it’s about time to get into the acknowledgments.
To my head editor, M, as well as Azure and everyone else involved:
Thank you for your constant support. And I’m so sorry for dragging out my manuscript until the absolute last second this time… Next time, I hope I can get it written with a little more time to spare… That would be nice…
To all you readers:
Once again, thank you so much for reading The Journey of Elaina! In July, we’re putting out a special edition of Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 17 with a drama CD included, so I hope you like it! We’ve got that, and also this year’s online signing event coming up, so I’d love it if I could say hello to you in person there.
I don’t think there’s any stopping Jougi Shiraishi or Elaina, so please, continue to stick with us from here on out. See ya next time!