Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 5 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

Hello, everyone, it’s your resident chuuni lover, Shirakome Ryo, here!

Thank you so much for picking up Arifureta Zero: Volume 5.

I’d like to start this off by apologizing. I’m sorry this volume is so long! I imagine most of you could probably tell from how this volume ended, but the next one will be the grand finale of the Arifureta Zero series.

This volume was about Laus joining the Liberators and them gathering for the final battle, but the main thing I wanted to do was showcase what kind of people the Liberators were, and to remind everyone about the beliefs they held.

Ultimately, that’s what the Arifureta Zero series is all about. So when I was thinking of all the things I wanted to get to while writing, I realized there was a lot more than I’d initially realized, and by the time I was done, it had become this massive tome. Also, it was just really fun writing about moe Miledi and deadbeat Sui, so I ended up including more scenes with them than perhaps necessary... But at the end of the day, I still cut out a lot, so I hope you’ll forgive me! Incidentally, I made moe Miledi’s speech patterns similar to Yue’s on purpose. Without Belta’s influence, Miledi would have probably turned into a kuudere like Yue.

At any rate, we’re almost at the Arifureta Zero series finale. If you’ve been following the main series, you already know how the Liberators’ story ends, but I don’t think that’s too important. What really matters is how they reach that ending, the way they lived their lives up to that point, the struggles they faced, the thoughts they had, and the decisions they made.

I’m going to write as much of that as I can into the next volume, so I hope you’ll join me then.

In entirely unrelated news, season two of the anime got announced the day this book went on sale in Japan. The newest key visual and a PV should be out by now. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend checking out the anime’s website or the official Twitter account.

Lastly, it’s time for the acknowledgments.

As always, a huge thank you to the illustrator, Takaya-ki-sensei, as well as the artist for the Arifureta Zero manga, Kamichi Ataru-sensei, the artist for the main series manga, RoGa-sensei, and the illustrator of Arifureta: I Heart Isekai, Mori Misaki-sensei. And, of course, a big thank you to my editor, my proofreader, and everyone else who helped with the publication of the book.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you my dear readers, both those who are buying the published books and those who follow the series on Narou. It’s all thanks to you that I’ve come this far!

Shirakome Ryo