From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone - Volume 5 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

It’s good to see you all again. I’m Shigeru Sagazaki. Thank you very much for picking up From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Volume 5. We’re finally five books in, and it’s truly because of you, the readers, that we’ve come this far. Please allow me to thank you again.

In the last afterword, I think I mentioned how I pushed things rather close to the deadline. To tell you the truth, the same happened this time. If anything, it was even worse. My days spent silently typing at my keyboard, my heart trembling as the deadline closed in, were honestly mind-numbing. I never want to go through that again. I might’ve said the same thing last time, but people tend to repeat their mistakes.

Sometimes the words just flow, but when they don’t, they really don’t. In the end, I wrote about thirty thousand characters in the last two days. When I told my editor that, he said, “Sagazaki, you’re the type to do your summer homework on the last day, aren’t you?” Yeah, I am. I probably never would’ve finished without a significant reason to do so. Everyone, try not to become an adult like me. That said, I don’t think many of my readers for this series are students.

Anyway, the stage for this volume is the changing of seasons. It was summer when I wrote this, but by the time it goes on sale, it’ll be winter... I only realized that after finishing half of it. If any of you have personal experience, please recall the days you spent on summer vacation visiting your grannies and grandads in the countryside while you read this volume.

Touching on this volume’s plot, I’m personally satisfied with how it came out. I believe everything was tied up rather nicely in the end, including Beryl’s significant realization. And now that Beryl knows his true strength, there’s more to write. I’m finding that I have to change myself a little too.

I definitely have something I want to write, so I just need to wrap it up nicely into a plot. This time, I’m hoping to take things easy—I do not want to be hounded by the deadline. I have a feeling that’s already an unachieveable dream, though. Please let it be my imagination...

Also, thanks to Akita Shoten reprinting the manga version, the series as a whole has broken five hundred thousand sales. I am deeply grateful to every reader who has bought a book. On the other hand, I’m trembling in fear at how outrageous the number has gotten. What I want to write and what pleases the readers is not always the same thing, so I’m hoping to keep that in mind as I continue writing.

I’d like to keep going with Beryl at the center—sometimes being kind of lame but sometimes being really cool. I‘d truly appreciate it if you could continue to follow this story.

I believe we’ll meet again around summer. The season I’m writing in and the publication dates are totally different, so we might end up with another out-of-season story. If we do, please read it, and feel free to poke a little fun at me.

The Reiwa era has been really crap at taking care of the globe, so I pray you all find yourselves in good health.

Until next time.