Afterword

Greetings, I’m Mochitsuki. Thank you for purchasing volume five of Tearmoon Empire. Thanks to the positive reception of readers like yourself, we’ve managed to put out five whole volumes of this series. To tell the truth though, it’s been nothing but one unforeseen issue after another.

For example, this series was written with four episodes in each part. The idea was to have each volume contain two episodes, creating a nice two-book structure for each part. That was the intention, at least. The deserted island story, however, grew longer than anticipated, resulting in the format you see now. Furthermore, Esmeralda, whom you can see adorning the cover illustration of volume five, was originally supposed to be just another name in the “Other Characters” list. I’m still not sure how she managed to become important enough of a character to stand alongside Mia in the cover art. It’s quite bizarre.

The point I’m trying to make is that I, as the author of this series, practice something very similar to Mia’s back-float horse riding. Whenever a wave emerges from the characters, I simply let my body relax and engage in back-float storywriting. Somehow, I’ve managed to both stay afloat and drift all the way here.

It’d be nice if I could just keep going like this, but... Yeah, I should probably get my act together. I’ll, uh, try my best.

Mochitsuki: “Moving on then. It’s time to unveil the results of the character polls. Thank you for all your votes.”

Mia: “Honestly, I don’t know why you even bother. What’s the point of voting when I’m obviously going to win?”

Mochitsuki: “...Right, of course. Anyway, I’m sure everyone is looking forward to seeing the results.” (Note: This was written at the end of July.)

Mia: “But I do admit that a postcard with only me on it feels a little lacking. Maybe we should pair me up with someone?”

Mochitsuki: “Well, mascots tend to be pretty popular for these things. How about we pair you up with, you know, that mascot of ours?”

Mia: “We have a mascot? Who—”

Gui: “You called?”

Mia: “Gui? How do you even pronounce that? Like ‘guy,’ I guess? I don’t see how— Oh, this is that stupid pun, isn’t it? Fungi and fun guy. Oh, you people. I didn’t know you secretly created a mushroom mascot for us.” (Bright smile)

Now, some words of appreciation.

I’d like to thank the illustrator Gilse for always providing such beautiful artwork. The cover illustration this time was absolutely brilliant with its air of fantasy. The color of the cave is exactly as I imagined!

Thank you to my editor, F, who’s helped me with all sorts of problems—deadlines, for one. I appreciate your consideration.

As always, thank you to my family for the ongoing support.

Finally, to all the readers continuing to accompany Mia on her journey, thank you for your time and interest. I hope to enjoy your support for a long time.

Let us meet again in the sixth volume.