Afterword

To those of you who read the first book, we meet again. And to those of you—fewer in number I suspect—who started following the series from volume two, it’s nice to meet you. I write light novels under the pen name Tamamaru.

It has been a while since the last volume. The first book was well received, and thus I now have the chance to pen an afterword for a second time. Thank you for your support.

In the last volume, due to limited space, the afterword was dedicated to acknowledgments. This time, I have been given an extra page, so I would like to add a few words about the story as well.

The following includes spoilers for the volume. For those of you who like to begin reading a book starting at the acknowledgments, please proceed with caution.

As I mentioned briefly in the afterword of the previous volume, I started writing this work on a whim. At the time, the story itself had yet to crystallize. Even now, the story continues to morph and change as I write.

Let me explain what I mean: I’d intended to introduce Diana as the first of the heroines, but instead, she made her debut in this volume. Her role as the daughter of a nobleman has largely remained unchanged. Before Diana joined forces with Eizo, I thought I needed to first introduce a character that was familiar with the forest, which is how Samya came to be. Her story grew from there to keep the plot consistent, and it all snowballed into the work you are holding here today.

If the story hadn’t been popular enough, I’d planned to end this volume with the Eimoor Family ruckus, leaving the story of Lidy the Elf untold. The elf plotline is largely unchanged from my initial conceptualizations. The fact that the story reads smoothly without any additional machinations is a source of pride for me as an author.

So, in this volume, we finally meet Diana, the supposed-to-be first heroine. The Eimoors make another appearance in the bonus stories. Their role will only grow from here on out. Well...I don’t want to make any promises. Please do keep reading to find out.

One more thing... The reasons why Eizo has not made any strides on the romantic front have already been introduced in the web novel. Some of you may be vexed by the development, or lack thereof. When will there be progression? That question has yet to be answered even in the web version (supposedly).

“Wait, aren’t we missing an encounter story?” you might ask. “Even Helen’s story has already appeared.” Please keep reading the future volumes (if there are any) to see what happens.

Now then, my work has been novelized thanks to Kakuyomu and their Web Novel Contest. I submitted an entry to the fourth Kakuyomu Web Novel Contest and won the grand prize in the isekai fantasy category. The web serialization is available on Kakuyomu as well.

The events of the web novel differ slightly from the compiled book but only slightly. For those of you who are curious about future developments, I would be grateful if you give the web novel a try.

Furthermore, I believe that by the time you are all reading this volume, the manga adaptation will have already begun. The manga was made possible thanks to Web Dengeki PlayStation Comic, Comic Walker, and Nico Nico Seiga.

Himori Yoshi-sensei will be in charge of the art. You’ll experience a side of Eizo and company that you’ve never seen before. Please check out the manga adaptation as well.

Now, on to the acknowledgments.

I am grateful to Kinta-san, as always, for the beautiful illustrations in this volume and to Himori Yoshi-sensei for the art for the manga. The prospect of seeing such stunning artwork gives me extra motivation when revising my manuscripts.

Of course, I must thank my editor S-san, who has accompanied me throughout this entire journey.

Thanks to my friends, my mother and my little sister, and the two cats—Chama and Konbu—for giving me the energy to continue writing.

Last but not least, the most heartfelt thanks to the readers who have stuck with me up to this point. May we meet for a third time at the end of volume three!