Afterword

Hello, everyone. It’s been a while. This is the author, Gamei Hitsuji.

Thank you so much for picking up a copy of The Magician Who Rose From Failure, volume four. We’ve finally made it to the fourth volume, and the first volume of the manga is out! I couldn’t be happier!

Looking at the word count alone, I’ve probably written around five to six volumes’ worth. The bigger books can fit a lot of pages with a lot of words, making them pretty hefty. It’s my intention to keep on threatening the shelf space of all my paperback readers. Sorry about that.

This volume follows on from the previous one, where Arcus and his companions get wrapped up in a war(!) after traveling to the west. I say “wrapped up,” but maybe “participated” would be a more accurate description. It’s difficult to say, since Arcus went in against his will, but at least the subheading “Tales of War and Magic” fits now.

While he’s not exactly making strategy suggestions one after the other, Arcus makes use of the knowledge he’s gained from the man’s books in the war council, and economizes his limited aether on the battlefield while firing off several new spells to knock back the enemy. I made him so impressive out there that I ended up wondering why the word “failure” features in the title in the first place.

And who could forget the work of his attendants? You don’t want to miss out on that particular spell of Noah’s! Haha.

Then there’s the mysterious Prince Ceylan, a key figure in this volume. Or is it Princess? And why is he so interested in Arcus? How does he know Arcus in the first place? The relationship between Ceylan and Arcus is also a highlight of volume four.

Arcus then went on to encounter the Phantom Chain. Her unreasonable request means Arcus might not get a chance to focus on his quest for revenge for a while. Replace “might not” with “won’t,” actually. I can’t help but hope that Arcus finds his happiness sometime soon.

Finally there’s Eido, who only appears in the published version. What will his fate be after all the hostility he has shown Arcus and his companions?

The first volume of the manga version is out now, so I hope you’ll start following that too!

I’d now like to give my words of thanks to round things off. Thank you so much to GC Novels, my illustrator and artist on the manga version, Saika Fushimi, my editor K, manga editor H, my proofreading company Oraido, and all of my supportive readers.