Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.8 - Chapter SS3

Drama CD 3 Post-Recording Report

By Miya Kazuki

In the year 2019, on an unspecified day, I went to the post-recording session of the third drama CD. My first course of action was to meet Suzuka-san and the casting director, whereupon we headed to the studio. We were partway there when I found out Namino-san and the scriptwriter wouldn’t be attending. It was a great shame; I’d really hoped to have two post-session manga. Sadness.

Once at the studio, there was the usual exchange of greetings and passing around of business cards. It was mostly for Suzuka-san; I’d attended the post-recording for the anime, so I already knew most of the staff. I went in feeling confident—and then noticed the cover art for Part 1 Volume 5 of the manga on Suzuka-san’s business card!

“What’s that?” I asked. “I don’t have one of those.”

“Hm? Do you want one?” Suzuka-san replied. “Maybe you should wait. I’m getting new ones made with the artwork from Part 2.”

“Can I get one of each? I mean, they’re just too cute.”

Once everyone had traded their business cards and received copies of the script, they started discussing the presentations and group photos. I waited to one side with Suzuka-san while the staff were busily moving around.

“I never thought we’d get a cast like this. There are so many huge names.”

“Right? And this CD covers the Royal Academy. I’m looking forward to hearing how the retainers sound.”

This drama CD started with Rozemyne’s return to the dormitory in her second year at the Academy and focused on Roderick’s name-swearing. I was so excited to hear the retainers’ voices. Morohoshi Sumire, the actress playing Leonore and Hannelore, was going to do her recording later, as were the actors playing the guardian trio. Everyone involved was so very busy.

“Kazuki-san, you’re most interested in the guardian trio, right?”

“Agewise, the actors are just perfect. I’m impressed we managed to get them all together. The casting director is something else.”

Hayami Shou as Ferdinand, Inoue Kazuhiko as Sylvester, and Morikawa Toshiyuki as Karstedt... The director had warned us that at least one of them probably wouldn’t be able to make it this year and that we were unlikely to see them all together at once.

“Kazuki-san, could you greet the voice actors once they all arrive?”

“I can—but I think Rozemyne’s actress, Iguchi Yuka, might be tired of greeting me by now.”

The director had explained the greetings in advance, so I didn’t anticipate any issues. My only concern was that, as a crucial character in the anime, Iguchi Yuka had already attended two test sessions. I’d seen her for both, and the thought of greeting her a third time seemed a little embarrassing.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” our director assured us. “There are more than enough new faces to warrant another greeting. Oh, and Suzuka-san—you should join her.”

“Wait, I’m greeting them too?! Nobody told me! I’m barely even involved with Part 4!”

“You’re drawing a post-recording manga, aren’t you? Of course you need to take part. Just let them know what you’re up to.”

“I’ll introduce you,” I said. “Then you can just add, ‘Nice to meet you.’”

“That doesn’t mean I won’t be nervous!”

We were then informed that everyone had arrived. Suzuka-san was holding her stomach out of stress, grunting and groaning as we headed to the booth where the voice actors were waiting.

“I am Miya Kazuki, the original author,” I announced. “Those of you who attended the anime recordings must have heard me say that several times now, but I thought I should repeat it again for the new people here. This drama CD takes place midway through Part 4, so it might take you a little while to get used to the characters, and there are bound to be some words that are hard to pronounce. I thank you all in advance for your hard work.”

“I’m Suzuka, the mangaka for Parts 1 and 2. I plan to turn my experiences here today into a manga, but I’m mostly here as a fan.”

After the brief greetings, we returned to the control room. Not for long, though, as we were called back into the booth to answer some questions. No surprise there, right? Bookworm has some unusual terms—highbeasts, feystones, divine colors, and the like. Then there are the really long names and complex emotional states that need to be incorporated into the dialogue. It made sense that the recording staff couldn’t answer in my stead.

“I am here as requested. Now taking questions.”

As I recall, Endou Hiroyuki—the voice actor for Roderick—had the most questions. That came as no surprise; Roderick was basically the main character this time around, so he had plenty of dialogue! Part 4 Volume 6 hadn’t even been published when we were recording the CD, so Endou Hiroyuki had gone to the trouble of reading the web novel instead.

“The script says ‘Lord Matthias,’ but it was just ‘Matthias’ in the source material...”

“Keen eye, but the script is correct. ‘Lord’ was standardized during editing.”

Rozemyne’s voice actress also had a lot of questions. She pointed out some repetitive syntax, so we had that fixed. She also asked how to read certain words with ambiguous pronunciations.

“How do you want me to say this prayer?” she asked. “Should my delivery be firm, since it comes before a battle?”

“You don’t need to shout or anything. It’s a prayer to the gods, after all. Oh, but I do want the weapon prayer and the healing ritual to stand out from each other.”

Truth be told, it was cute how Iguchi-san repeated names under her breath like a chant as she practiced. Maybe it was my fault she had to resort to such measures; I mean, I was the one who gave everyone such long names. (Haha.)

The voice actor for Cornelius asked why his character addresses Rozemyne both with and without “Lady.” I see it as a way of separating his work voice from his private one, and sometimes he slips up when he gets emotional, but none of that was written in the script.

“Also, this part here—is there a grave reason Cornelius is hiding his relationship with his escort from Rozemyne? Depending on the circumstances, I might need to add more weight to my voice...”

“No, not at all. He just doesn’t want his mother using him as fodder for her love stories. There’s no need to make it too serious.”

The actor for Wilfried also generously voiced another former Veronica faction noble for us. That came with its own questions.

“Is this noble male or female? I would also like to know their age, if possible.”

“Umm... He was running around with Wilfried, so the former. This scene takes place after their baptism but before they start school, so... somewhere between seven and ten.”

Charlotte’s voice actress asked how to read one of her reports.

“Here it says, ‘And then she collapsed.’ How do you want me to read that? Dryly, since it’s a report? Or oozing with concern?”

“A tiny bit emotional. Not very. Just enough to show that she really is concerned.”

One topic many of the actors asked about, including those voicing Hartmut and Damuel, was ordonnanzes.

“Here it says or-DEN-nanz. But it should say or-DON-nanz, right?”

“Hm? I pointed out that error when going over the script, but it doesn’t appear to have been fixed. It should say ‘ordonnanz.’ I wonder if my other corrections were missed as well...”

The voice actors’ scripts wrongly said “ordennanz,” but the audio engineer’s said “ordonnanz.” I can’t even begin to imagine how that happened.

Returning to the questions—I think I ended up being useful. Well, some of my answers were a tad useless, but that’s what the age-old technique of “I trust your judgment” is for! Based on the skill of the voice actors I’d seen for prior recordings, I knew they’d manage just fine.

Question time ended, and the recording began. The prologue was primarily dialogue from the guardians, which wouldn’t be recorded until much later, so we skipped to the first chapter. There was a brisk test run, and we made sure the script and character voices were in good order, much like during the previous recordings.

However, unlike the previous recordings, the scriptwriter was absent—the same scriptwriter who tirelessly determined whether each character’s voice matched their age.

Oh nooo! Who’s going to decide in her place? Me?! Is it me?!

“Kazuki-san, is Rozemyne acceptable? She sounds fine to me.”

“Yes. Her voice sounds older and more refined than when she was playing Myne in her commoner days for the anime.”

As mentioned, Iguchi Yuka was playing Rozemyne. Her performance as Plachta in Atelier’s Mysterious trilogy was striking. She had a real talent for making minor distinctions in her characters.

“How about Cornelius?”

Yamashita Seiichirou—during the previous recording session, a female voice actress played Cornelius. I requested a male actor from this CD onward, though, as Cornelius’s voice would naturally have changed due to puberty.

“I can already imagine how the Cornelius fangirls are going to react.”

“Er, Kazuki-san... Is that a yes or no?”

“I mean his voice has matured, exactly as I asked...”

“Okay... I’ll interpret that as a yes, then.”

Terasaki Yuka played the roles of both Wilfried and Judithe. Her voice was as energetic as expected. No problems there.

“Terasaki-san is playing Wilfried, right? I can’t believe it. Especially when Judithe’s voice was so cute...”

“Seriously. I wonder what goes on with voice actors’ vocal cords.”

Then there was Endou Hiroyuki, who was playing Roderick. His voice was especially important, given his significant role in the drama CD. He did a fine job.

“Roderick’s timidness and weak social status seep through his every word... I approve, but what do you think, Suzuka-san? Does it suit his age?”

“He sounds like a side noble who’s about to be lost in the crowd, which is very appropriate for Roderick. I think it’s fine.”

Suzuka-san imagined Roderick floundering while being crushed in a massive crowd of nobles and giggled. Her unique choice of words aside, the voice really did suit him.

Our voice actress for Philine was Iwami Manaka. The voice she gave the character was so adorable that I nearly leapt out of my seat and shouted, “Cute!”

“Philine is suitably charming. Approved.”

“Super cute, but doesn’t it make her too much like our sweet, gentle Hannelore? And then there’s Leonore, who has more of an edge to her.”

“True. Hannelore is cute, while Leonore acts more like a secretary.”

The voice actress playing both girls was due to record at a later time. I was very much looking forward to hearing her.

From there, the voice checking continued. There were a lot of characters to consider this time around.

Umehara Yuuichirou was our Damuel. He sounded a lot like a knight, at least from what I could tell. His lines were all shouted, so it was hard to know whether his normal voice fit the bill. I decided to let it slide for now.

Matthias showed up a bit later in the story. Umehara-san plays him as well. It said on the sheet that Damuel was his main role while Matthias was a side one, but I’m pretty certain Matthias had more lines. Damuel wasn’t at the Royal Academy, so he only showed up in flashbacks.

“Wow, Matthias is so... Matthias!”

Umehara-san did such an excellent job with Matthias that Suzuka-san’s vocabulary went right out the window. (Haha.) It was so kind and gentle but still carried the strong spirit of a knight. I expect Matthias fans will roll around on their beds in glee when they hear him speak. Look forward to it.

Then there was Miyazawa Kiyoko, who plays Rihyarda. She used to teach Japanese before she retired as an instructor, went to a school for voice actors, and then debuted as a voice actress. I remembered thinking she had a voice well suited for explaining things and giving lectures, so it was a real “Aha!” moment when I found out about her past. Anyway, I really admire her can-do attitude and dedication to her passions. There’s so much I could learn from her.

“Mm... Rihyarda’s previous voice was exceptionally soft, but this one feels a bit sterner...”

“Considering her role as an instructor, sterner sounds better. Any thoughts, Kazuki-san?”

“Yes, this is good. It feels more Namino-Rihyarda than Shiina-Rihyarda.”

“Yeah! It totally does!”

Rihyarda received our approval, then it was on to Brunhilde. Iwami Manaka provided her voice, making it her second role in this drama CD.

“This feels more like Leonore than Brunhilde, don’t you think?”

“It’s a bit rough.”

“They’re both dignified young noblewomen, but Brunhilde is an attendant, so I would rather she speak a little more softly.”

And just like that, Brunhilde’s proud, distinguished voice softened like butter in a hot pan. Excellent work, Iwami-san.

Next was Hartmut. In many ways, he was the most anticipated—and troublesome—character in the recording. He caused me a lot of strife in the bonus short story. Voicing him was Uchida Yuuma.

“Hmm... Can we make him a little more over the top? He sounds like Hartmut, but there isn’t that... off-puttingness.”

“Yeah, he’s too calm for Hartmut.”

He needed to exude drunken fervor or at least seem more like a cultist. I couldn’t think of a polite way to put it, but the sound engineer rephrased it for me and conveyed only the important parts to Uchida-san.

“Wow! Hartmut sounds like Hartmut now.”

“Amazing! I want to throw up!” (Said as praise.)

I wanted this Hartmut to preach about Rozemyne, but I didn’t want to listen to him. It was a great combination. Perfect, even.

Nobody had any qualms about Terasaki Yuka’s portrayal of Wilfried. To be honest, I was completely focused on how she made him sound so distinct from Judithe.

“No problems with Wilfried. Can’t even make jokes about it.”

“Same goes for Charlotte.”

Hondo Kaede played Charlotte perfectly. Her strong spirit came through in her cute voice, and she exuded the sharp air of an archduke candidate. The cuteness even stood out compared to Philine’s. There wasn’t a single thing I wanted to change.

Once we’d ironed out all the voices, we moved on to correcting the script. Certain dialogue was based on a monologue from the web novel, so lower-city speech sometimes slipped into noble dialogue and some of the honorifics were missing. You know, the kind of things you don’t normally notice until you reread your work. The sound engineer wrote it all down, went to the booth, and distributed corrections.

From there, the second round of testing began. One person had gotten used to pronouncing “Traugott” as “Tragoutt” and really struggled to fix it. “Bonifatius” was another tough name, as nearly everyone stumbled over it. Then there were those of the former Veronica faction... Once again, I was reminded that the language in Ascendance of a Bookworm could be pretty rough.

Iguchi-san made cute little grunts every time she made a mistake, which was so much like Rozemyne. I couldn’t believe how cute it was. Sorry.

I pointed out whenever something was improperly enunciated, but the sound engineers were the true heroes. They had an accent dictionary on hand, and anytime a word sounded even slightly incorrect, they immediately looked it up to be safe. They had plenty of experience and moved impressively fast. True veterans.

We finished the main takes, then rerecorded any sections with accidental overlapping dialogue or unwanted noise in the background. Most lines were isolated and repeated out of context, but that didn’t faze our talented voice actors—they delivered them with just as much emotion as before!

No sooner had we come to the end of the first chapter than we started on the second. New characters meant more voice testing.

Hondo Kaede and Iwami Manaka voiced Schwartz and Weiss, respectively. Another instance of voice actors doubling up on roles—or tripling up in Iwami-san’s case. Again, no problems to report.

“A doubly cute performance. Makes you want to pat Schwartz and Weiss to infinity...”

Solange’s voice came from Miyazawa Kiyoko, the actress for Rihyarda. She spoke softly and sweetly to contrast the head attendant’s harsher tone, and the end result was two characters who didn’t sound at all alike. Voice actresses really do have amazing range!

“Solange sounds fine. How about Rauffen?”

Rauffen was done by Yamashita Seiichirou—who also voiced Cornelius, in case you’d forgotten. He made the two characters so distinct that, without the casting sheet, I never would have guessed he played them both!

“The voice sounds a little too harsh. Can we make it younger and a bit brighter?”

“I thought it was perfect. Is he not supposed to be harsh? I thought Rauffen was a stern character.”

Both the producer and director found my input surprising. Rauffen certainly was a hot-blooded, overbearing teacher, but I wanted more youthful vibes. Like Shuuzou Matsuoka! The test voice better suited Aub Dunkelfelger, so I asked that it be changed. Good.

“How about Roderick’s father? Does he sound the right age?”

“He does to me. The most important thing is switching his manner of speaking after the Ivory Tower incident.”

Takeuchi Sou provided the voice for Roderick’s father. The character only appeared in flashbacks, but he played a crucial role in making Roderick more sympathetic. In the aftermath of the Ivory Tower incident, he goes from speaking normally with his son to taking a much more violent tone.

“Oh, it’s plain ol’ Damuel.”

“Kazuki-san! Phrasing! Haha.”

Damuel’s normal voice was soft and caring—that of a layknight somewhat used to serving the archducal family. No wonder his kind words made Philine’s heart throb. Though his character seemed a lot like Matthias on paper, Umehara-san couldn’t have made their voices more distinct. They both sounded so cool.

Once the voices were done, we moved on to corrections.

“Didn’t the odd ‘Hannelore’ sound more like ‘Hennelore’?”

“On page X, please change Rozemyne’s line from ‘High Priest’ to ‘Ferdinand.’”

“That child of the former Veronica faction sounded too much like Wilfried. Please use a different voice.”

“On page Y, change Roderick’s line from ‘I’m fine anytime’ to ‘I am fine whenever.’ Also, change ‘Dad’ to ‘Father.’”

“Roderick’s emotions need to gradually intensify. If you start too strong, you won’t be able to ramp them up.”

I wasn’t the only one making corrections; the director and producer provided some as well. The sound engineer checked everything before moving to the booth and conveying our thoughts to the voice actors.

The tests concluded, and we moved on to the actual recording. We completed the first wave, then carried out the same checks as during the first chapter. Things were going smoothly.

At one point in the second chapter, there was a conversation between Hartmut and Cornelius. It was nice to have dialogue between two close friends, especially when they’ve known each other for such a long time. My heart throbbed more over Cornelius in lover mode than knight mode. I think some people will fall in love with him just from his voice. Even I stopped to wonder, like, when did Cornelius get this cool...? Yamashita’s voice wizardry is amazing.

Uchida’s Hartmut was very... Hartmut.

“Wow, he’s making my face scrunch in a whirlpool of disgust!” (Said as praise.)

“I can practically see him staring down Rozemyne with a cultish grin!” (Also said as praise.)

Believe it or not, those were compliments of the highest order. Hartmut’s fans loved his sickening attitude, and they’d probably complain if we gave them anything less. He needed to be off-putting.

I was a little worried about how Endou-san, an adult, would portray Roderick at eight years old during the flashbacks. But he managed an especially cute voice, which made Takeuchi-san’s brutal father voice seem all the more unreasonable.

“Sensei, any comments?”

“Hmm... It says here that ‘the retainers cry out in surprise.’ Rihyarda, Philine, and Judithe are the only ones present, so make sure not to include any male voices.”

The director and producer searched the script for any other mentions of retainers that might need to be clarified. Meanwhile, the sound engineer asked whether there was anything else I wanted to mention.

“Oh, sure. Let’s see... This is a surprisingly big one.”

I thumbed through the script, then pointed dramatically at a section I’d marked.

“Page X! During his conversation with Hartmut, Cornelius isn’t recoiling in horror enough. I want him at least as repulsed as he was during our voice tests.”

“Got it. I’ll ask him to use that tone again.”

It was essential that listeners experience Cornelius at his coolest and at his most disgusted. Look forward to it. (Haha.)

“Good work, everyone. Break time.”

Once the second chapter was over and done with, we held a fifteen-minute break at the sound engineer’s instruction. The voice actors used this time to eat snacks, use the bathroom, head to their next studio, sign paperwork, and so on.

As I munched on snacks in the control room, Suzuka-san took out a clear folder. “Kazuki-sensei, could you look these over?” she asked.

“Ah! Cover art for the manga!”

I eagerly started reviewing her illustration for Part 2 Volume 1.

“This is excellent. Oh, but wait... Isn’t this book from the reading desk? Myne is too weak to hold something like that.”

“Aah... But if we put the book on the desk, the title box would cover Myne’s face.”

“That’s no good.”

As much as we wanted realism, we couldn’t obscure the protagonist’s face. Repeat after me: the cover art is a representation, not reality!

Our break came to an end, meaning it was time to test the voices for the third chapter.

“How’s Traugott?”

“He sounds great. You can really tell that he’s lost his confidence.”

Uchida Yuuma voiced Traugott. You’d never guess that he also plays Hartmut. How can one actor portray both Traugott mumbling through a broken nose and an ecstatic Hartmut extolling the virtues of his saint? It’s unbelievable.

Okai Katsunori played a generic apprentice knight who showed up during a feybeast hunt. Pretty much everyone has made an appearance by the third chapter, so there aren’t too many new characters to mention.

“Umm, I think you’re mispronouncing this word. Repeat after me.”

“On page Y, please change ‘Where are you going?’ to ‘Might I ask where you are going?’”

After various tests, we started another main recording session. Endou-san couldn’t quite nail the accent when saying “for my heart’s desire,” so we made that his assignment. He would rerecord it later.

Once we’d completed the third chapter, the guardian trio arrived. It was almost closing time, and several actors needed to go to their next studio, so we went straight to taking a group photo. The big-name trio exchanged words with the other voice actors while the staff set up chairs and such in the booth. I watched from the control room so as not to interfere.

“You won’t be joining the photo, Kazuki-san?”

“I keep my appearance private, so no.”

The photo had everyone except Hannelore’s voice actress. You could say her timing was as poor as her character’s. (Haha.)

From there, the staff quickly debated whether to start the epilogue or the trio’s scene next.

“There are several actors pressed for time, so I say the epilogue.”

“Perhaps, but the veterans are busy too. We should start with them.”

The sound engineer made the final decision. Time spent debating was time wasted, so they started chronologically with the guardian trio’s scenes in the prologue. Hayami Shou was our Ferdinand.

“I was there when he recorded for the anime, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

“If he yelled at me with that voice, I would cry. Rozemyne must have nerves of steel to simply brush it off.”

Suzuka-san’s remark made me laugh, but she was right—it was a deep voice that could make your legs weak with fear. Ferdinand doesn’t have much of a presence at the start of the anime, so it’s impressive that he made such an impact with so few lines.

Inoue Kazuhiko gave Sylvester an overwhelmingly authoritative voice. Because the character was an archduke, perhaps.

“Should Sylvester sound a little younger?”

“Less young and more... flashy.”

“Sylvester’s the archduke, but he doesn’t ooze that much authority. Ask for the target age to be lowered a bit.”

Morikawa Toshiyuki played Karstedt. I’d only ever heard him speak in a kind voice, so I was curious to see what he’d come up with. Lo and behold, he was a dead ringer for the role.

“Wow! He sounds so much like a knight commander! So amazing! So strong! So cool!”

“Fits well with the other two. And on that note—is it just me, or does this trio have, like, an overwhelming aura? An incredible presence? Do you think Iguchi-san’s going to be alright performing with them?”

“They might have an aura, but it’s Rozemyne who drags them around. Funny to imagine, right?”

Okai Katsunori took on the role of the attendant delivering three wooden boards to the guardian trio, who read them with their heads in their hands.

“Remember they need to use their public personas during the scenes outside and their private ones when they’re alone in the office. And, um... when they’re alone, act like old friends. Or like people who are pretty close.”

Despite my not-so-great instructions, the voice actors gave me exactly what I wanted. All in a day’s work for a trio of veterans!

Yet when it came to Bookworm’s long names, even our professionals found themselves up against the wall. They let out a little “Aah...” every time they misspoke. And then there was the tricky vocabulary. Someone overheard one of the guardians say, “Sagacious... Sagaci... Okay, isn’t this word a little too advanced?” (Haha.)

That said, after the testing and only a brief primer on kanji readings and accents, they captured the emotions and intentions of their lines with only a few small pointers. The recording finished in the blink of an eye—a mere thirty minutes after they’d all met up. Fast, right? And when they were done, they went straight to their next workplaces. Thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedules.

The veterans passed through like a storm, and it came time to work on the epilogue. Roderick was our man of the hour during the name-swearing scene, so we had to make sure Hartmut didn’t outshine him. It was something I paid careful attention to when writing—one wrong move and our favorite cultist would charge to the forefront. Things went smoothly in the end, though. Maybe because of my warning.

Once the epilogue was done, everyone hurried out of the studio like a rush of water.

The background noise came next. Because a surprising number of our actors returned to the studio, we already had some audio of retainers greeting each other and chatting. The volume would naturally be lowered for the CD. I didn’t really follow at first, but as it turns out, if you layer two or three of the recordings on top of each other, it sounds like a bunch more people are there. Techniques like that are something else.

“Aaand done. Good work.”

It was then that Endou-san, voicing Roderick, timidly raised a hand. “Um, what about my assignment...? The part I was meant to rerecord.”

“Oh, right! I completely forgot about that!”

Mr. Engineeeer! (Haha.)

The director and producer began skimming their scripts to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything else. Roderick’s homework was swiftly completed, and with that, we were done.

But then Takeuchi-san raised a hand.

“Will we not be recording the ternisbefallen’s cries?”

“And the zantze...”

Right. He was playing the ternisbefallen, while Endou-san was the zantze. I remembered my surprise when I saw the casting sheet. “Voice actors can roar?” I pondered ponderously.

“Hmm... Sensei, what kind of vibe do ternisbefallens and zantzes have?”

“Ternisbefallens are like dogs or wolves, right?” Suzuka-san asked. “And zantzes are like cats?”

“That’s right,” I said. “Ternisbefallens are wolflike feybeasts two or three times as large as a person. Zantzes are catlike feybeasts only about knee-high.”

The sound engineer fell into thought. “We can leave those to the sound effects team. Good work, everyone.”

“Okay. Good work, everyone.”

Endou-san and Takeuchi-san played it cool, but I was screaming “NOOO!” on the inside. I really, really wanted to see Takeuchi-san howl. I couldn’t believe it was going to be done with sound effects. So sad...

Anyway, we were discussing which sounds to use when the sound engineer seemed to remember something.

“Oh, sensei—what are ordonnanzes like? They must be pretty big for Matthias to be able to ride them.”

Um... Matthias? Ride them?

“I mean, like, in terms of sound effects. What kind of SWOOSH would they make?”

He spread out his arms and made a loud SWOOSH to demonstrate, bringing to mind a deadly serious Matthias riding a giant white bird into battle. Though the image made me smirk, it wasn’t accurate in the slightest.

“Oh no, no... You’re thinking of highbeasts. Ordonnanzes are little white birds that receive a voice message and then fly away to deliver it. You could hold one in the palm of your hand.”

“Whew! Good thing I asked. I was about to give the ordonnanzes a SWOOSH.”

“Yeah. I was totally in Team SWOOSH until you cleared that up.”

As it turned out, the sound effects guy had made the same mistake. He spread out his arms and swooshed in solidarity.

Suzuka-san and I burst into laughter as we both imagined nobles riding massive ordonnanzes. Try to picture Bonifatius crashing one into Ferdinand’s room and shouting, “HOW IS ROZEMYNE DOING?!” several times a day. It’s hilarious.

“Oh, sensei. Does SWOOSH work for highbeasts?”

“You may SWOOSH.”

The sound effects need attention too.

All in all, recording the third drama CD was as fun as ever.