Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 17 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

Cat: “All right, time for the afterwooord! I’m the ‘Cat,’ Cheshiiire!”

Bear: “...”

Cat: “I got a good bit of spotlight in this volume, complete with my own illustratiooon!”

Bear: “...”

Cat: “Heh heh. It was my birthday, so I even got into a fancy tuxedo to celebrate the occasiooon!”

Bear: “...”

Cat: “Hm? Brother Bear, you’re being oddly quiet right now... AH!”

Bear(White): “...”

Cat: “Wait, you’re Carl?! Well, I guess you’re the ‘Bear’ of this volume, but still!”

Bear(White): “...”

Cat: “Huh? Wait, am I supposed to speak enough for the both of us? Seriously?”

Bear(White): “...”

Cat: “Oookayy... I guess this is my punishment for abusing my authority with that eveeent... But how can I pad out the page count without banter...? You know what, I’ll just talk about what led to this! Specifically, this event’s background and the reason why Carl was in it!

As was mentioned in the story several times now, our goal is to increase the number of Embryos in their seventh forms. Because of this, we often do things that might help sixth forms evolve. SUBM attacks, my dueling, Chrono’s PK, and events like this one are all among our strategies. Though, as you can tell from the fact that we don’t even have a hundred of them yet, we didn’t have many successes. Because of that, for this event we tried expanding the range of participants, inviting standout sub-sixth forms like Ray and Alto—as well as Carl, who’s already in his seventh. We hoped that this change of selection standards would spice things up a bit.”

Bear(White): “...”

Cat: “Carl’s role in this was basically the same as a creature in a horror game—the ‘Invincible’ monster that you’d never want to encounter, especially not on an isolated, uninhabited island. The twins expected the presence of such a menace to accelerate the evolution of the other participants and personally, I do think that it was a good punch to those who don’t butt heads with Superiors very often or at all.

In the meta sense, this was the first appearance of a character who has been mentioned since the very first volume, as well as Ray’s Superior encounter that wasn’t in the web novel. The author wanted his entrance to come as a bit of a surprise.

Though, as you have surely read, in spite of his status, he was defeated as the volume’s mid-boss. The existence of the barrier, Horobimaru’s skill-canceling, Ray’s ‘explosiveness’... There were several reasons for his defeat, but if there’s one thing to be said about this, it would be that if someone is called ‘Invincible,’ you can safely expect them to be beaten in one way or another.”

Bear(White): “...”

Cat: “That said, Carl is a Superior with many aces up his sleeves that he didn’t show, so do look forward to his next appearance.

Anyway, it’s time for the comment from the author.”

Thank you for reading volume 17 of this series. I am the author, Sakon Kaidou.

This was the first volume of all-new content, so I’m curious whether or not you’re satisfied with it.

The most extra content I have written before this were additions to the previous volumes, the digital-only Fairytale Squad story, and the story that came with volume 1 of the anime, but this was the first time I’d ever written a full volume exclusively for the light novel series.

It was a lot of work and I spent a lot of time dealing with the typos, but I feel like it made me grow a bit as an author.

This volume covered an event that was particularly game-like and a little laid-back.

Up until now, Ray had been involved in battles that had tian lives, cities, and even countries on the line, but this was all about an event that he could thoroughly enjoy alongside his friends.

You could say that this is represented by the bright, cheerful, and wholesome cover Taiki had drawn for this volume. It is quite unlike what we had so far and I personally like the aura it exudes. Alto in all her yellow glory looks great, as well.

This volume 17 also gave a spotlight to the four stars of The Crow Records.

The scenario for this volume had a foundation in the plot of that series, so they really stood out here.

Out of the four, I personally found Shion especially easy to write. Silly gooses are the best gooses.

Though, since she did not do one iota of combat analysis, Juba’s gimmick was left unrevealed. You will have to wait until her next appearance to find out more about it and Juba herself.

Anyway, volumes 15 and 16 were centered around people other than Ray, and this volume had him cooperate with an unusual bunch, but with volume 18, we will finally go back to the familiar members of Death Period.

Do look forward to the events that will unfold when Ray returns to Gideon.

Also, volume 9 of the manga has been released, as well. It features Kami Imai’s amazing depiction of Marie and Veldorbell’s battle, so do pick it up if you are so inclined.

Please continue supporting Infinite Dendrogram.

Sakon Kaidou

Cat: “There. With the author’s comment out of the way, it’s time to announce the next—”

Bear(White): “VOLUME 18 IS SET TO COME OUT IN JAPAN IN MARCH, 2022!”

Cat: “Huh?!”

Bear(White): “...”

Cat: (Did he only keep quiet all this time because he was building up the energy to make the announcement?)

Cat: “A-Anyway, see you in the next voluuume! Goodbyeee!”

Bear(White): “...Bye.”