Chapter 33

AFTERWORD Hello! It’s Taro Hitsuji. We’ve managed to publish the second volume of Last Round Arthurs! From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful for the editors, the people involved in its publication, and the readers who picked up this book. Thank you! When you think about major characters other than Merlin and King Arthur in Arthurian legend, you might gravitate toward the famous ones: Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, and Sir Tristan, to name a few. But Thomas Malory’s The Legends of King Arthur has a mob of many other charismatic characters. In this volume, I wanted to place the spotlight on my favorite knight in Malory’s tale—Sir Lamorak of Gales. Sir Lamorak is a particular weirdo, a mass of pride with incredible arrogance. But his bravery makes him one of the cornerstones of the Round Table, among the strongest, next to Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristan. (Well, according to Malory’s version, Sir Gawain is technically a mid-level knight. He’s pretty mediocre, and he’s really missing that “wow” factor. Even if he had a supplementary power that increased his strength threefold, there are a whole gang of other knights who could have still beaten the living daylights out of him.) Sir Lamorak’s egotism is no joke. During one particular match after a bunch of successive battles, he was supposed to have another battle with Sir Tristan. “Battling you in this fatigue state goes against the ways of chivalry,” his opponent said. “Let us battle once more the next day.” He was a really considerate gentleman, you see. “What?” Sir Lamorak barked back. “Are you trying to say that my tired state has no value to fight? Piss off.” And he ended up getting really upset. But his huge ego suited him, as Sir Lamorak was powerful as a knight. Sir Lamorak is strong. He’s desperately strong. In the original work, there isn’t much mention of him losing a battle. He beat Sir Gawain and Sir Palamedes and other super-strong knights. In one match, he defeated five hundred knights. He was an unparalleled character alongside Sir Lancelot and equally matched by Sir Tristan. If we just look at fights on horseback, he’s even won against Sir Tristan. But in the modern day, it seems the seat of the strongest knight has been usurped by Sir Gawain for some reason. I’m willing to bet there are people who don’t even know about the existence of Sir Lamorak. That’s probably because there was that one thing that Sir Gawain had done to Sir Lamorak. It might also be because Sir Gawain would end up in a small role if Sir Lamorak made his appearance. There’s even a theory that Cú Chulainn—that great Celtic hero—was used as a model for Sir Gawain. To bring Sir Gawain to the limelight, Sir Lamorak needed to be offed. But that’s got nothing to do with Last Round Arthurs! I made this weirdo even stranger in my interpretation of the texts—giving her a grand old entrance in this volume! I feel like I may have made a liiiiittle mistake in adapting her character, but I have no regrets! (Also, Sir Lamorak is actually from England but uses Latin for…um, reasons. But it’s kind of like when Japanese folks toss in some English when we’re putting on airs. You get it, right?) It would be great to keep expanding my own legends of King Arthur. I have to extend a great deal of gratitude again to Kiyotaka Haimura, who is in charge of the illustrations. Thank you for the stunning illustrations for this volume. I cannot thank you enough for bringing this story to life with your gorgeous depictions. And here’s a small little announcement. It’s been decided that Last Round Arthurs is going to become a comic in Young Ace magazine! I’m really looking forward to seeing how the world will take on a life of its own, even as the author! I am so fortunate to have all of you cheer this series on. I hope that will be the case in the future, too. Taro Hitsuji