Afterword

Nice to meet you. I’m Suzu Enoshima.

This book is a revised version of something I uploaded on an online novel sharing site. In the web novel, the perspective changed left and right; for the print edition, I corrected it to flip between Siegwald’s perspective and a third-person narrator.

Also, the chunk of the web novel this volume corresponds to was originally a tad under 80,000 Japanese characters. After revising and editing, it’s grown to over 130,000.

I hope that first time readers and fans of the web novel alike will be able to enjoy this work.

Next, I’d like to dedicate a section for thanks.

First and foremost, thank you to each and every one of you who read this novel. I’m sure there are many of you who have been supporting me since I originally published the story online—or perhaps even from my Moonlight days. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I wouldn’t be where I am now without you.

A sincere thanks to Eihi, who drew all of the illustrations seen in this work. Your drawings are cute, cool, and refreshing. I can’t stop grinning whenever I look at them, and I do so at least three times a day.

Thank you to my editor O, and to everyone else at Kadokawa BOOKS who helped me with detailed advice when I was completely lost. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you so much.

I’d also like to thank all my online friends I met through writing. Whenever I went crying to them, they always did their best to cheer me up. Ayano Aoi, Arurun, Yummy-looking meat bun, Kamii Chikuma, Dottan, Noukan, Bubi, and Wontonnoodles—thank you all.

Finally, I’d like to thank my family, best friend Y, and my beloved dog, Milk.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Thank you this, thank you that, this thanks section is so long...” And you’re exactly right. Honestly, when I began writing this afterword, it shocked me to see how many people from all sorts of different places I wanted to thank.

This is a testament to how many people helped me on my path to finish this work. The fact that so many people supported me with high expectations makes me feel like this book is blessed.

By the way, I looked up “how to write an afterword” and found out that it’s a common trend for debuting authors to fill the afterword of their light novels with endless words of gratitude. I’m glad to see I’m not alone.

I think that just shows how much trouble newbie authors cause to everyone around them as we somehow stumble into the world. And to think that this story managed to stumble its way into a book so you could read it is like a dream come true.

If the stars align and we meet again someday, I hope you’ll be able to appreciate my growth upon seeing a slimmer section of gratitude.

With that prayer in my heart, I hope to see you again.