Afterword

Afterword

 

NICE TO MEET YOU. I’m the author, Touya. Thank you for reading this little story of mine, originally published as a web novel before being adapted into a book.

I initially started writing because I had too much unused paid vacation piled up. I’m actually an office worker, and I’d only used two hours of my paid vacation the previous year. Let me repeat that: I used two hours of a whole year’s worth of vacation. I must be built pretty sturdy, because I didn’t need sick leave once. Anyway, my boss found out and suggested I take some time off.

“Take a vacation, for goodness’ sake! I better not see you in the office for a while! Gah, people will think I’m a slave driver if they see the records!”

So, on the last possible month, I traded in my paid vacation and took five days off.

 

Wh-what?! Five days off out of the blue?! What am I going to do?!—that was my immediate reaction. All right, I’ll go watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, eat some tasty things…

I did all the things I normally wanted to do but got tired of it all after only two days.

What am I going to do for the last three days…? I know! I’ll do something I don’t usually do but want to try, like…writing a book…?

And so, entirely on impulse, I decided to write a book online.

 

When I first started writing, I thought I’d go with being as inoffensive and uncriticizable as possible. Oh, how boring I was… I quickly figured out that there was nothing you could do to keep your writing from being criticized. There was one thing I could control, though. People who abandoned works halfway got an awful lot of criticism, so I told myself I’d write a short novel with a clear end.

That way, readers would go, “Oh? Hey, this writer actually finished something. Guess I’ll read their next work now that I know they won’t ditch.” Also, there was only so much I could do in three days…

 

But, to my surprise, more people liked it than I expected. Some even left comments behind.

Oh, jeez! O-oh, all right, maybe I’ll write a little more…?

Even more people started reading. They said that they’d like to read the continuation and had bookmarked my work. Eventually, a publisher contacted me.

I-I need 120,000 characters to make a book? O-okay, understood!

Of course, I didn’t know restraint, and before long my writing wouldn’t fit into a single book. Looking back on it, I don’t even know how I intended to finish this story as a short novel in the first place!

 

Oh…right, oops! I haven’t talked about the book itself yet. Well…you know how not everyone picks up on certain things when they read between the lines? I think that talking about the book here might spoil some surprises for some readers. There are also the people who read the afterword before the book to think about too. In other words…we’ll skip talking about the book! (Touya avoids responsibility yet again!)

 

The illustrator of the book is chibi. Allow me to share a little story from way back when. They were asking me if I had any preferences for an illustrator.

“I want someone who can draw handsome men!” I asserted.

“Let’s see here…so you want someone who can draw cute female characters but also cool male characters. And monsters too, considering the dragon. In other words, you prefer an illustrator who can…draw well. Is that correct?” the editor-in-chief replied.

H-huh? Did I really say all that? Wow, I sound really demanding. Should I pull back and say I don’t need all that? Mmm…but I really do want nice art!

Everyone, there comes a time in our lives where we have to make a stand.

“Y-yes, please!” I replied.

And thus, with the help of the talented editor-in-chief, chibi appeared like magic.

 

I could explain how amazing chibi’s art is, but a picture is worth a thousand words and you already have this book! But I do want to mention how amazing the illustration on the first page turned out to be even when all the information I gave was:

Fia × Captain. If possible, please add flags fluttering in the back (black dragon on a red background).

Truly a testament to their skill! It was so good, I couldn’t help writing a short story about it. Those who bought the first print edition of the book will find the short story sandwiched between the pages. Please take a long, hard look at the picture I mentioned before you read.

I’d like to end by thanking those who helped make this book a reality: the early readers who read and helped my work get noticed, the editors who advised me and helped make my writing clearer, chibi, who gave life to my characters, and all the people working behind the scenes to get this book into the readers’ hands. This book could only be made thanks to all of them. I’d like to thank Earth Star Novels as well, of course, for publishing this book.

And I’d like to thank all the readers who picked it up.

Together, we made a truly wonderful book. Thank you.