Recently, I found myself wondering, when did I start writing Grimgar? So I checked the files, and the time stamp on the first draft of volume 1 was March 29th, 2013, so yeah, that was eleven years ago. I wish I could say that I remember it like it was yesterday, but it’s almost entirely faded from my memory.
Besides, looking back, the first book of mine that was ever published would have been the first volume of Bara no Maria under Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko on December 1st, 2004.
Hey, hold on.
Has it really been twenty years?
You’ve gotta be kidding me.
Twenty years.
A baby born back then would be twenty now.
I’m not exactly shocked, but it feels weird. Twenty years. Who’d have thought. Back then, I don’t think I ever would have imagined that twenty years later I might not still be writing Bara no Maria, but I would still be writing Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, a novel that unquestionably exists on a line extending from that series. Well, I doubt I was imagining anything in particular, really. I’ve never been good at sticking to one thing. I always sort of want to do something at least a little different with every book, and to write something I haven’t before.
I wonder, how much has my current self changed from who I was back then? I don’t think I’ve stayed completely the same, but I also don’t feel very different. I also feel like it doesn’t really matter one way or the other.
Grimgar’s taken a new turn. I wonder where the story is going to end up. I’ve got a bit of what I’d guess you’d call the story’s core figured out, but even I don’t know how it’s going to end up looking in terms of the little details. I think I’ll consult with my editor and Shirai-san as I continue writing it.
I hope you’ll all keep on supporting me forever, if possible. And on that note, I’d like to offer my heartfelt thanks to my editor Kawaguchi-san, to Shirai Eiri-san, to the designers at KOMEWORKS, and to everyone else involved in the production and sale of this novel, as well as to all of you out there who are now reading it, whether it’s on paper or digitally. And with that, I lay down my pen for today. I’d be happy if we were able to see each other again sometime this year.
Ao Jyumonji