Afterword

Kanata Satsuki here! Thank you for reading I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! Vol. 5.

I can hardly believe the series has finally reached its fifth volume. We made it all the way to the battle against a certain fateful enemy who’s driven the story to this point. Given that I cut off the last volume at a point where everyone was probably thinking, How could you end on such a cliffhanger?!, I’m glad I managed to get the next installment out without issue. I appreciate all my dear readers sticking with the series for so long.

In the fifth volume, Kiara finally dukes it out with Lord Credias. When she first ran out on her fiancé, she certainly never guessed he would come back as such a fearsome opponent. The viscount drives our protagonists into a tight corner, leaving them no choice but to flee for their lives, until Kiara is ultimately taken captive.

The battle against Isaac likewise reaches its conclusion in this volume. I started showing glimpses of the character back in volume two, so as the author, it was exciting to finally reach this point after so much buildup. His story had a much softer conclusion than I had originally planned, but I hope you all found it to be a satisfying one.

Kiara finally comes to terms with her feelings here, too. If it weren’t for Isaac, the weird attitude we saw toward Reggie in the last volume probably would have carried over into this one.

The print version includes several additions and edits to what was originally posted online. The side story follows the journey from Trisphede’s Fort Liadna to the shores of Delphion’s great lake. Now that he’s taken his first big step, there’s no way Reggie wouldn’t try something, but who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes? That’s the short version of it.

Moving on, I would once again like to extend my thanks to my wonderful editor and all the rest of the editorial staff.

Isaac gets to make his first appearance on a volume cover! I just knew I’d need my artist to draw Isaac for me if we ever made it all the way to this part of the story! Thankfully, my wishes came true, and now I can go cheer in my own little corner. He never even made one of the color inserts until now! I hope you all appreciated the Isaac party this time around. He looks so cool, and Kiara and Reggie look like they walked straight out of the story’s climax! My deepest thanks to Mitsuya Fuji for such a perfect color illustration.

I’d also like to thank the editing department at Shufu to Seikatsu Sha—the proofreaders, the printers, and everyone else who helped get this book published. And finally, I’d like to extend my gratitude to all my dear readers.

As an additional note, I’ll be publishing a short story online as a thanks for purchasing this volume. I’ll be uploading it to my blog on Shosetsuka ni Naro. I hope you enjoy it.

—Kanata Satsuki, February 2017