AFTERWORD

If you’re able to read this afterword, then it means this book has safely made it out into the world. It still feels completely unreal to me that a novel I wrote is now a book.

In any case, for a lowly debut work, things got off to an extremely bold start with a duology right off the bat. And with only two months in between, too. At the time of writing this afterword, I haven’t yet seen the actual finished article. I even had the audacity to suggest releasing both volumes at the same time, so I guess my desperate struggle on such a tight schedule was just what I get. I’d like, however, to start by apologizing to Ms. Ishida first and foremost, who got mixed up in all this (?), as well as the rest of the staff.

In all honesty, I was quite scared about whether some newbie with no notable achievements could really pull off the outrageous “continued in part two of two” business. I originally wrote this on media that didn’t require me to be conscious of how many pages it was. I knew that if it became a physical book I’d have to either pare it down or split it up. When the editor told me I didn’t have to pare it down, I was extremely grateful as a writer, but I was still anxious.

I felt again then that just the fact that it was irregular was enough to make me nervous. Of course, that nervousness did lead to me unhesitatingly agreeing with the editor when the two-month, two-book plan was brought up, so…

Speaking of irregularity, the main characters in this book, The Irregular at Magic High School, are all irregular boys and girls, some more so than others. My original concept for the main character, Tatsuya, was that of a youth labeled as a poor student because he couldn’t be measured by a preexisting framework. The supporting characters are all irregular in some way or another as well. His little sister Miyuki, who could be said to be the other protagonist, is an honor student but certainly not normal by any stretch of the imagination…though I don’t believe I need to elaborate on that point, since you’ve already read the book.

But while they all feel uneasy about being irregulars, it doesn’t result in conflict. Both the main and supporting characters all defiantly think in a “so what?” kind of way. Actually, it might be less acting defiantly and more seriously not caring that much.

For heretics to push their heretical selves through and persist by force… There’s probably some of my own aspiration in that as well. Heretics fighting through, without yielding to orthodoxy, finally running out of strength and being defeated and killed—the aesthetic of such destruction is appealing, but I think there’s an important story to be told about heretics who calmly break all the walls in their way while saying “so what?”

Using a group of irregulars taken from both the honor students and the poor students—Tatsuya and Miyuki, Leo and Erika, Mayumi and Mari, and many others…

That was the sort of story I wanted to create.

Let’s bring my talk of dreams to an end there.

I’d like to thank Ms. Ishida for giving beautiful illustrations to this work, Mr. Stone for patiently putting up with all my selfish requests, and all the staff involved in the creation of this book. Especially M. Ki—I sincerely apologize for all of my many shortcomings.

And my greatest thanks go out to all the readers who purchased this book.

I hope that you will give a look to the next book, The Irregular at Magic High School, Vol. 3: Nine-School Battle Arc, Part I.