Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka - Volume 13 - Chapter Aft

Afterword 

I’m afraid I’m giving away all my secrets up front, but my model for the catastrophe was a certain alien queen. 

The afterword to this volume is something of a confession of sins. 

I offer my sincerest apologies for not managing to finish this episode in a single volume. I had planned to tell the whole story of the elven tavern waitress by the end of the book, but as usual, I found myself several hundred pages beyond the planned length, and therefore I decided to split the story into a first and second volume (plus, I thought readers might get worn out if they had to go straight through all the tight spots and bloody battles that continue after Chapter 6 without a break). I’m terribly sorry about that… 

There was an omen this might happen. The main heroine this time around was supposed to be the tavern elf, but instead, the prophetess of tragedy shoved her out of the way and claimed center stage for herself. Seems she wanted to escape the shadows she had been confined to so far. 

I’d thought up the “prophecies” as a sort of gimmick for the plotline early on, but once I got started, the deliverer of the prophecies just wouldn’t stay still. Her despair, inner struggles, and determination went far beyond what I had initially planned, and in the end, she escaped my control for fifty pages or so. It may have been the first time words flowed so smoothly onto the page. In the end, she was promoted to quite the heroine (at least in my opinion). It was such a shock to me that I kept on mumbling to myself that it must be a mistake. 

While I was bending backward to accommodate this unexpected turn of events, however, I was also a bit pleased. I suspect that it’s a good thing for both the author and the book when the characters who live within the story betray the author’s original plans or shoot to the forefront of their own accord. My apologies to those readers who were expecting to see more of the elven heroine, however. She’ll have a larger role to play in the next volume (I think), so please hold on a little longer. 

With that, I’d like to move on to acknowledgments. 

To Matsumoto-sama, who is newly in charge of the series, I look forward to continuing to work with you in the future. To Editor in Chief Kitamura, I thank you for supporting me numerous times when I thought all was at an end and apologize for once again causing you so much trouble. Suzuhito Yasuda-sensei, I am deeply appreciative and impressed by the wonderful illustrations you have provided, which truly spice up the story. I especially love the illustrations of the battle rush. My thanks, as well, to everyone else involved in the production of this book. Most of all, I extend my sincerest gratitude to all the readers who decided to pick up this book. 

I will do my utmost to deliver the second half of this episode as quickly as possible. I hope we meet again, and I thank you for reading this far. With that, I take my leave. 

Fujino Omori