Thank you very much for buying The Sidekick Never Gets the Girl, Let Alone the Protag’s Sister! This book is a version of a work by the same name serialized on Shosetsuka ni Naro, which was picked up for publication thanks to the whims of some capricious god. The web version began its serialization about a year ago—in other words, during the Heisei era, rather than the current Reiwa era. Saying it like that makes it feel a lot longer ago than it actually was.
Now then, on to business! In spite of the fact that I’ve been given the opportunity to use this afterword to talk about whatever I want to, I’m ashamed to admit that this story doesn’t actually have any deep, special message that’s worth talking about. As such, if you’ve already read through the book and found yourself thinking “huh, y’know, I’m not really sure what message that was trying to send,” don’t worry. You did not, in fact, miss anything. If you’re about to read the book, meanwhile, I’d appreciate it if you’d just sit back, relax, and read on without worrying about any of that stuff. If anything, my hope is that this book will serve as a bit of respite from your busy day, like an electric massager that uncoils the elaborate stress knots that’ve been tied in your brain tissue.
Which isn’t to say that I wrote this book carelessly or thoughtlessly! I tied myself into knots thinking as hard as I could about how to write it so that each and every one of my readers would find a way to enjoy it. In that sense, I’ve spent an awful lot of time coming up with tricks and twists, but writing all of those out here would be an incredibly insipid thing to do. I’ve crammed every bit of them into the book itself, and if you can find something to enjoy as you read through it, that’d be, just...just great (behold, my overwhelming lack of a decent vocabulary).
Finally, I would like to note that I did not by any means deliver this book to its readers by my power alone. It could never have happened without all the fine people at Shufu to Seikatsu Sha Co., who approved this book for publication. It couldn’t have happened without my editor (who also works for Shufu to Seikatsu Sha Co.), who pounded my not-particularly-professional writing into the form of a proper novel. It couldn’t have happened without U35-sama (who does not work for Shufu to Seikatsu Sha Co.), who drew such stunningly adorable illustrations they had me questioning whether they were actually meant for my book at all. Finally, it couldn’t have happened without all the readers who’ve been rooting for me ever since I first started posting my works on Shosetsuka ni Naro. I’d like to use this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all of you.
Last but not least, I hope to see you again in the sequel!
—Toshizo (May 2019)