Dear readers, this is the first time we’ve met during the afterword, but I am Yukisan, the illustrator for this series. This is the final volume, so even though I was turned down once, I begged them to let me include an afterword in this volume, and I was graciously given some pages to share my thoughts and feelings.
First off, I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the readers of The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar for sticking with us all the way to its conclusion. And though it feels awful for me to have to say this at the very end of it all, I am truly sorry for having you all wait so long.
Due to personal circumstances, I became unable to devote my full attention and energy to the illustrations for a period of time, which then became a longer period of time, and then an even longer one, and so on. For that reason, the past several volumes have featured a noticeable decrease in illustrations, greatly inconveniencing not only our beloved readers, but the editor and Mr. Takayama as well. Recently, I’ve finally gotten back to a place where I can draw again at full capacity, but I am truly ashamed to have kept our editor waiting so long in the meantime.
I truly love this series and all the characters depicted in it. They struggle, make decisions, and even mess up at times, but they always move forward regardless—I can’t get enough of them. As someone who had a hand in creating these books, I’d like nothing more than for you as a reader to feel similarly and love this series as well.
Lastly, to not only Mr. Takayama, but to everyone else involved in this project, I offer my sincerest thanks. I’m truly grateful to all of you for supporting me over the ten years since I first debuted as an illustrator.
May we meet again on some other journey, perhaps.