Hello again, and thank you for reading volume 5 of Pens Down, Swords Up. Thanks to the support of my readers and countless other people, this volume, which marks a turning point in Allen’s story, has safely made it to publication. First of all, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Maro for their truly beautiful illustrations. When I first saw the cover for volume 5, I burst into uncontrollable laughter. I won’t bother trying to put the sheer brilliance of the cover image into words, because it’s impossible to do it justice. I simply couldn’t wait for you all to see it. You sometimes hear people saying, “This deserves to be framed!” in regards to these kinds of illustrations, but in this case, I literally went out, got it framed, and hung it on my wall (LOL). I’m actually looking at it as I write this afterword.
I originally wrote the school camp arc for online serialization in the winter of 2022. At the time, the physical publication of this series had just been decided but hadn’t yet been publicly announced. My time was divided between updating the online version on a regular basis and grappling with the unfamiliar process of getting a web novel ready for publication. Because the physical publication had been confirmed, I felt a keen sense of responsibility to ensure that Allen’s future adventures were ones my readers—both online and offline—would continue to truly enjoy reading. The school camp arc was the first challenge I tackled with that determination in mind.
The hardest part about working on both versions of Pens Down, Swords Up concurrently is remembering where I’m up to in the respective timelines. Other authors might not struggle with this as much, but as soon as I start writing, I lose myself in the flow of Allen’s world. It might be because of this flow state, or simply that I lack the ability to “switch gears,” so to speak, but either way it was incredibly difficult to swap between the two versions of Allen at first. I found it much harder—and far more mentally taxing—than swapping between reality and fantasy. I have no idea how authors who write multiple concurrent stories do it, and to be honest, I’m a little scared as to what the inside of their minds might look like.
As draining as the school camp arc was to write, I truly hope you enjoyed reading it. It was the first long arc I’ve written, and I remember the immense relief I felt upon finishing it like it was yesterday, along with a small sense of confidence that the story I’d imagined had survived the journey to the page. School camps (or forest schools, as they’re known in Japan), where class groups embark on mandatory, weeklong educational programs in the great outdoors, seem to be largely something of a Japanese phenomenon. Looking back on my own memories of those trips now, it’s not the beautiful scenery or the shrines we visited that I remember most vividly. Rather, it’s the trivial things: gazing out of the bus window while my classmates chattered excitedly around me, or how, after a long day of skiing, our plans to stay up late gossiping came to nothing as one by one my friends fell asleep the minute their heads hit their pillows. While, unlike Allen, I never insisted on adding more of those trivial moments to our schedule (lol) I do think that those moments, as inconsequential as they were, were precisely what made those youthful experiences so meaningful. I hope that the school camp arc might have helped you recall some nostalgic memories of your own, and for younger readers, I hope it encouraged you to enjoy this precious, irreplaceable time while it lasts.
With the lengthy school camp arc now at an end, the story is moving on to the next exciting stage. As hinted at the end of volume 5, the next arc will center around a certain incident currently unfolding in the Glaux Region, and Allen—along with some of his many increasingly well-known classmates—will face their toughest challenge yet. Please look forward to volume 6!
Mao Nishiura