Afterword

Hello everyone, it’s been a while. It’s me, Hyougetsu.

I imagine it’ll be summer when this book hits the shelves, but in the world of Der Werwolf, it’s midwinter. When I was writing the story on Narou, I tried my best to match the seasons in the story with the seasons we were having in real life, but that’s a lot harder to do for a print publication.

That aside, Nishi(E)da-sensei did an amazing job with the illustrations this time too. Thank you very much for all your hard work, Nishi(E)da-sensei. The front cover features Woroy, who’s Veight’s main rival this volume, and his nephew Ryuunie. Both of them are going to remain pretty relevant from here on out too.

Incidentally, I told Nishi(E)da-sensei at the end of last volume that this volume was gonna be mostly about a bunch of old dudes, so he really went all out on the old man depictions. I guess this volume turned into one hell of a sausage fest. But well, I’m an old fart myself so I’m quite fond of old farts. It’s nice that they got to be in the spotlight for once. Though it’s not like they’re my fetish or anything. At least not as far as I know. At any rate, it was probably inevitable that this was going to turn into a bunch of old men duking it out the moment I decided to have a civil war set inside a feudal empire. Like, that’s the most old man topic you can have. Especially since Rolmund’s an old empire with a ton of conservative traditions. It’s hard to give women active roles in a society like that.

Moving on, I’m sure you’ve all heard about the Der Werwolf manga that’s being drawn by Terada Isaza-sensei. But what you might not have heard is that the first volume of the origin arc has just gone on sale! This one’s being drawn by Kosumi Yuuichi-sensei. In fact, it went on sale the same month this volume came out! Man, what a coincidence! Or well, not a coincidence since I worked hard to match the months up. Anyway, the two manga have different feels to them. Terada Isaza-sensei’s art is a lot more serious, while Kosumi Yuuichi-sensei has a much gentler style. But since Der Werwolf’s about a gentle guy living in a serious world, I feel like both manga capture different sides of the series perfectly. There’s also going to be tiny short stories of mine attached to every one of the manga volumes as a bonus (It’s pretty tough to write them so I dunno how long I’ll be able to keep it up, but I’ll try to have them going for as long as possible.)

Oh, I might as well give you a preview of the next volume here too. Now that Veight’s mopped up the Doneiks family and brought the remnants of their faction into his fold, he’s finally going to have a showdown with Prince Ashley. Who will rule the empire in the end!? And will Meraldia ever know peace!? If you found that summary stimulating, the whole story’s on Narou so you can read ahead there if you want. In fact, I just finished the main Der Werwolf story on Narou the other day. Hopefully by the time this volume actually goes on sale I’ll have finished all the after stories too.

Lastly, it’s time for some acknowledgments. For starters, I’m thankful to my wonderful editor, Saitou-sama. He’s the one who’s always cheering me up when I’m down, and giving me the encouragement I need to finish these books. He’s like the guardian deity that makes sure Der Werwolf’s on schedule. I’m also grateful to my assistant editor Itagaki-sama for all the wonderful advice he’s given me. It’s all thanks to him that this book made it to publication. So really, thank you so much. An editor’s job is surprisingly tough, so I’m always grateful to the editing department for all they do for me. Also, thank you to all the readers who leave encouraging comments on my Narou page or tweet about the series. You have no idea how grateful I am to all of you guys. It’s all thanks to everyone’s support that I’m here right now, so I’ll do my best to repay your kindness by getting the next volume out as soon as I can. See you all again in volume seven.