Chapter 30

Afterword Hello, everyone, this is Tappei Nagatsuki! Last time, the afterword got a little muddled as I struggled with how I should introduce myself, but you don’t have to worry this time! I can’t imagine there are that many people who would pick up the second half of a two-part story. And if there are, I’m sorry! Also, for those for whom this is just your second book by Nagatsuki, this all may be coming off as overly familiar, but if you don’t mind letting that slide, I would appreciate it. Let’s build a comfortable relationship with a bit of give-and-take from both sides! Anyway, that was Warlords of Sigrdrifa Rusalka. Thank you very much for reading along. For those of you who like to read the afterword first, consider this a thank-you in advance. And if you are one of the people in a bookstore reading this, allow me to cut off your line of retreat by saying, “If you’re reading this, I’m right behind you. Thank you for your purchase.” Whichever group you happen to fall into, I hope you enjoyed this book. As I discussed in the last volume, this is a spin-off of the original anime Warlords of Sigrdrifa, a prequel to the events of that story. As you can tell from the anime’s official site, it features one of the characters who appears in this book. In the anime, she is one of the main protagonists, and her feats are covered in great detail. Of course, please keep an eye out for the appearance and performances of several of the other characters who have appeared in these short stories as well. I’m the type of person who likes to lick their plate clean. Metaphorically speaking of course! I am extraordinarily relieved to have gotten both parts of this story to publication without any delays, but this is not actually the end of the prelude to Sigrdrifa. True to its name, this covered Rusalka’s story. It’s an episode on the European front from before the anime, but the anime takes place in Japan! Which means, naturally, there must be a prelude touching on the story there as well. Because of that, the next story will be on the Japanese side—Warlords of Sigrdrifa Sakura. As the war with the pillars heats up all around the world, the second phase of the prelude stars one of Japan’s Valkyries, Sakura Okita, a classic Japanese beauty! There is a possibility the title will be changed, so please don’t take it as written in stone! The general contents should not be changed, though, so please look forward to the next installment without any reservations about this being a fake preview! I digress, but while a certain virus has been proliferating around the world, it has not really had any major effect on my personal workload as an author. As ever, I’ve been hounded to keep writing. But my work efficiency has gone down, since I can’t just sit and work at my local family restaurant anymore! Curse you, virus. Not only delaying the anime’s broadcast but even intruding upon my sanctuary?! How much must you make me suffer…?! Anyway, while I have been dwelling on my hopes for the future and those resentful complaints, my daily page count has been limited. Allow me to borrow this platform and shift to the usual thanks and acknowledgments. To my editor Kida, thank you for allowing me to proceed with such high performance despite the novel making everything a mess. I am in awe at how implacably you withstood being sent a draft that had even fewer survivors than discussed at the plot stages! I will do my best next time as well! To the illustrator, Takuya Fujima, thank you for all your support in this book as well! The cover with the Brafford sisters was particularly beautiful, and the scenes depicting Alma and Natalie were truly a delight. To see such an unexpected synergy deepening the characters’ bonds is one of the joys of being an author. Let’s keep pushing each other to greater heights in the next book as well! I of course received help from Takaaki Suzuki with the military setting and research. I’m utterly out of the loop with military things in general, so Suzuki provided a great amount of assistance with this volume as well. The anime is also a product of our tag team, so please look forward to that as well! And also to all the people in the editorial offices of Sneaker Bunko and to the proofreaders and the people at various bookstores, without whom this book would not have been published. It is thanks to you that this book made it to publication. And with the anime premiere to look forward to, thank you to all the people involved with the anime who have been plugging away at the production. Unlike the individual work of a novelist, an anime needs the efforts of so many people working at the production, so having worked together to get past such a difficult situation, I hope Sigrdrifa will be a hit. I can’t wait to continue our work together! And finally, my greatest thanks to you readers who have picked up this book. With this, the curtain will fall on Rusalka’s story for now, but the story of this world will continue on in the form of the anime and even more light novels. It is because of all of you that I am able to work as a creator in such a fortunate position. I hope you will enjoy the future stories of Sigrdrifa as well. I hope we will meet again in the next book! Thank you so much! May 2020 (Hoping for the sun during the long rains)