Afterword

Long time no see, everyone. It’s the author, Takehaya. This time I’m delivering Invaders of the Rokujouma!? volume 19. This volume was close to volume 12, the longest in the series, in terms of page count.

As for its content, this volume continues the magical girl arc from volume 18. The setting moves from Kisshouharukaze City to the Magical Kingdom of Folsaria. There, facing the evil magical girls, Koutarou and the others stumble upon an unexpected truth. While it’s unimaginable to them, I suspect some of you readers have caught on already. Were your hunches correct? I think that’s one way of enjoying this volume.

I think Yurika is also the biggest attraction this time around. At the start of the series, she had neither pride, courage, nor love. She was always going with the flow and always making excuses. But in this volume, she splendidly fulfills her duties. So splendidly, in fact, that those watching her begin to worry. Koutarou and the others don’t want Yurika to really shine in battle because they know what kind of person she really is deep down. Being strong doesn’t mean she should have to fight. Yet despite fighting not suiting her, she chooses to fight in a desperate attempt to win back her wonderful everyday life. Koutarou and the others think of that life as priceless, and so does Yurika. If you readers feel the same way, then part of Yurika’s story in this work is a success.

Now, as for something I couldn’t really talk about before... Yurika played a big part this time around, but I made her so pessimistic in the beginning of the series because magic is too convenient. A magician was needed for the overall structure of the story, but if there had been a fully capable magician (like Yurika in this volume), it would have been too convenient and she might end up resolving all of the incidents on her own. So I made sure to give her a lot of weaknesses, and made her a more dysfunctional magician. As a result, Yurika became the character most affected by the convenience of the story. It wasn’t like I tried to do this on purpose. Whether or not you believe me, that’s the truth. But on a similar note, Yurika’s not the only one who was given weaknesses in order to balance out her other powers. Arguably, Kiriha—who has no real powers of her own—is the only one without weaknesses. In that sense, Yurika and Kiriha are complete opposites. This is a trick to keep some of the characters from hogging all the spotlight.

Whoops, I almost forgot! There are actually two things I need to report. The first is that HJ Bunko’s website, “Read It! HJ Bunko,” is regularly publishing short Rokujouma stories. There are also other works on there, so if you’re interested, check it out sometime.

As for the second thing, there will be a drama CD released with volume 20. The drama CD will continue from where the first left off, and cover the first half of volume 8.5. Like with last time, I believe there will also be an alternative cover.

With that, I’ve just about run out of space, so I will end things here. Last but not least, I would like to give my usual regards. I would like to thank the editorial department for their help in publishing this work, Poco-san who somehow manages to draw these illustrations despite the many genres involved, and finally, all of the readers who bought this book.

Let us meet again in the afterword for volume 20.

April, 2015

Takehaya

Bonus Short Stories

Side: Harumi

Once she inherited Alaia’s sacred duties, Harumi added a new chore to her daily routine—looking after Signaltin. The sword was like an extension of her very self, so she took great care in keeping it nice and clean. She felt like Koutarou using a dirty Signaltin would be the same as showing up to battle with her hair messy. And as someone who took pride in appearances, Harumi would never let that happen.

“Hmm, maybe I should clean the sheath today...”

After looking over the blade, Harumi decided to turn her attention elsewhere. As she never skimped on its maintenance, Signaltin was already polished to a brilliant sheen. Nevertheless, Harumi wanted to do what she could to make the sword as a whole even more beautiful. She really did treat it like she would herself.

“Ah, found a small scratch.”

Harumi meticulously looked over the sheath and polished away every scruff, scratch, and stain she could find. Signaltin was infused with mana, so even large cracks in it could be repaired with magic. But that didn’t work well for cosmetic blemishes like dirt and smudges. Such minute, precise control of mana was so difficult that it would just be easier to clean the sword by hand. Harumi also felt like she could really put her heart into it when she polished it herself, so she actually enjoyed the manual labor.

“There we go. It’s done. Now for the finishing touch...”

Harumi continued polishing and buffing with accustomed gestures. She owned metallic hair accessories and jewelry, and the skills for caring for them transferred quite nicely. As a result, Signaltin shone as beautifully as any of her barrettes or necklaces.

“I see you’re really going at it.”

“Oh, Theia-san. Do you need something?”

Harumi actually had a faithful friend when it came to taking care of her sword—Theia. They would often sit beside each other and work, Theia taking care of Saguratin while Harumi took care of Signaltin. They felt similarly about their blades and the man that used them. As a princess, Theia wouldn’t stand for her knight to use anything less than a brilliantly shining blade... in no small part because the shine on that blade represented all the love Theia put into it.

“Could you show me something, Harumi?”

“Certainly. What is it?”

“How should I fix a scratch like this?”

“For this, you start with...”

The girls had started working together because Theia often needed help in regards to maintenance. She wasn’t good at detailed work to begin with. And as a princess, she’d always left things like machine and weapon upkeep to her underlings. That made her nervous when it came to taking care of something so valuable on her own, but it wasn’t like she could ask someone else to do it for her. Working alongside Harumi was the ideal solution.

“...And then you do something like this.”

“I see. So I can’t just scrape it away.”

“If you want a real mirror finish, you need to be gentle with it.”

“Then I’ll learn how to be gentle one day.”

“Heehee, let’s do our best together.”

“Indeed.”

Theia often sought Harumi’s advice and guidance when they sat next to each other like this. Back when she didn’t know any better, Theia would just wipe her blade down with a soft cloth. But after she’d started working with Harumi, she’d developed some real technique. As a result, the golden sword that had seen many a battle was gradually regaining its original glory.

“Now that I think about it...”

“Yes?”

“When Koutarou saw Saguratin the other day, he told me not to make it too sparkly.”

“My...”

“Apparently it’s distracting when he’s using it.”

Koutarou actually felt like the girls were going too far with their maintenance. They would polish the blades to perfection, making them look like they were more for ceremony than war. It instilled a certain reluctance in him to actually use them in combat.

“Isn’t that stupid?”

“It’s certainly silly. Making them sparkly is the whole point.”

“I know, right? He doesn’t understand a maiden’s heart at all.”

“We all want to dress ourselves up for Satomi-kun.”

“I know what you mean. But at the same time... it’s not like I can’t understand how he feels.”

“Teehee. A knight’s sword is his very essence, after all.”

Koutarou feeling daunted by the swords was because of his humble nature. A knight’s sword was his soul, which meant using a sparkling one would make him feel self-conscious. It would be like saying he himself was sparkling. That’s why, taking his own image into consideration, Koutarou didn’t think the swords needed to be polished any more than absolutely necessary.

“And that’s why we want to make them as beautiful as possible.”

“I suppose, in the end, Satomi-kun is a man, after all. His tastes just stray that way.”

“I personally think flashy is just fine.”

“I agree, heehee...”

Both girls paused their work there to share a giggle.

“Actually, speaking of, Ruth has started polishing his armor too.”

“So the overhaul was finished, then?”

“Indeed. Right now she’s picking a new coating for the surface with Clan’s help.”

“So they can use something neat like that...”

“I’d like to myself, honestly.”

“But we can’t apply a coating to a knight’s soul.”

“That’s right. Heh...”

Little did Koutarou know that the girls were ultimately working together to make him sparkle more than ever. Just imagining the face he’d make when he realized it, Harumi and Theia put even more heart into polishing their swords. They couldn’t wait.

Side: Clariossa

Koutarou came over to clean at Clan’s place whenever he felt it was starting to get a little too out of control, which was usually based on her appearance. Whenever she got busy, for example, it was obvious in her messy hair and pale complexion. It was clear when she wasn’t taking care of herself... much less the cleaning. So whenever he saw that happen, Koutarou would make his way over to the Hazy Moon to help out.

“Oh?”

But strangely enough, it was clean when he got there this time. Clan had been looking tired recently, so Koutarou just assumed it would be the usual pigsty. Yet contrary to all expectation, the place was spotless.

“What’s gotten into her?”

Curious, Koutarou walked over to Clan’s room. Based on the layout of Clan’s ship, her bedroom was conveniently right next to the lab, only one door down.

“Hey, Clan.”

“...You have some nerve entering a lady’s room without warning.”

As Koutarou walked in, Clan—who was still lying in bed—greeted him with a frown. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, but she could still see his face clearly. Clan actually only wore her glasses because they were a keepsake; the lenses were as plain as could be.

“Can’t you at least knock?”

“If you don’t want anyone walking in, lock the door.”

“If I did that, then you couldn’t come over and clean.”

“So you have no intention of cleaning yourself?”

“Oh, I do sometimes. Like when you don’t show up.”

“Yeah, I’d say that qualifies as having no intention of doing the cleaning yourself.”

“Then you got me.”

In the past, Clan had hated the idea of Koutarou seeing her sleeping. She’d grown indifferent to it, however, after all the time they’d spent together, and smiled at him from her bed.

“So what brings you here today?”

“I thought it was about time to show up for some cleaning after I saw that wicked bedhead of yours yesterday.”

“My, how noble.”

Clan knew what Koutarou’s standard for coming over to clean was, and she knew what it meant when he brought up her bedhead.

“But to my surprise, the place is already clean. What’s up with that?”

“Well... That’s simply because you showed up before it got dirty again. You do remember you were here just last week, don’t you?”

“Huh, now that you mention it...”

As messy as Clan could be, she wasn’t actively trying to trash the place. It wasn’t like Koutarou needed to come to clean every few days. Realizing that, he nodded in satisfaction. But that still left one question unanswered.

“Then what’s with the bedhead?”

“...”

“What’s wrong?”

“I-I don’t want to say.”

Clan blushed and looked away. It was pretty cute, and Koutarou couldn’t help wanting to tease her a little for it.

“Come on, tell me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“There are some things I wouldn’t even tell my closest friend!”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll take everything but your cutesy clothes and go do laundry.”

“You coward!”

“You call me that so often it’s kinda lost its effect.”

“Jeez...”

There, Clan heaved a heavy sigh and resigned herself. She was embarrassed to admit the truth, but if Koutarou absconded with all of her normal clothes, she’d be forced to go out in... something cute. And as proud as she was, that would be even more embarrassing.

“I... I’m having muscle pains, so it’s hard to move! That’s all!”

“Muscle pains? Why’re you having those?”

“B-Because of my diet.”

“Oh, you did mention something about gaining weight.”

“Which is why I tried to exercise!”

“Ah, and that’s how you ended up with muscle pains.”

“That’s right!”

“Which was also why you had a grand old case of bedhead and why you can’t get out of bed now.”

“...”

Clan blushed and buried her face in her pillow. Telling Koutarou the truth was better than having to go out in public in cute clothes, but it was still humiliating.

“So much for being a genius princess... Don’t you know how to hold back?”

“I did! But I still ended up like this!”

“That’s because you never exercise. I’m always telling you...”

“I’m busy!”

Clan had tried her hand at some exercises intended for beginners. But because she’d never exercised in her life, she was completely ignorant of good fitness habits and ended up in so much pain that she couldn’t even get out of bed or fix her hair.

“Whatever. Come on now. Go ahead and get up.”

“It hurts, so I don’t want to.”

“If you stay still, it’s only going to last longer.”

“That must be easy to say when you’re not the one in pain, Veltlion!”

“Once you get up, you can get someone to give you a massage.”

“I wouldn’t dare shame myself in such a way! You’ll have to be the one to do it...”

“Goodness gracious...”

In the end, instead of cleaning up her ship, Koutarou spent the day giving Clan a massage. It wasn’t what he’d come to do, but he couldn’t complain too much. He had a little fun getting to see Clan in pain, after all.