Ishura - Volume 7 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

Thank you for reading Ishura. It’s Keiso. The commendable readers who have followed this series from its first publication may perhaps remember the advertisement page at the end of the first volume. At long last, Ishura, Vol. 7, came out during the winter.

The content of this volume also concerned Lucnoca the Winter, though I didn’t necessarily do it to match up with the publication schedule. The volume was filled with enough people dying and all-out war to give the previous one a run for its money. In contrast to all that, however, I have been able to continue writing this series all the way to the second round of the Sixways Exhibition thanks to Kureta, providing wonderful illustrations every time and perfectly handling the designs of the large cast of characters; my editor Satou, who always humors a worthless human like me and carefully manages my progress; all of the individuals involved in the publication and promotion; as well as all the help and support from all of the readers. Thank you all, truly. Every time I write the afterword, I meditate on my gratitude.

With this gratitude, as well as a reflection back to the start of it all, I have a delicious pesto recipe that I would like to share with you.

As for what prompted this reflection, it is because I will be using the hard cheese that I used in the first volume’s afterword, Parmigiano-Reggiano, here once again. It is a very convenient ingredient that keeps well and can be used in various situations, so I would once again recommend always having some on hand. However, for this recipe, there is one other very expensive item you will need to have on hand: a blender.

I myself went quite a long time without owning a blender, simply using a dubious hand blender I bought off the internet when I truly needed one, but a proper blender is much easier to use and stands out from other options in terms of both durability and easiness to clean. You can find ones that will more than suit your needs in the hundred-dollar range, so I recommend getting one. If you really don’t have any other option, please use a mortar and pestle, or similar.

For this recipe, place thirty grams of the cheese in your blender, followed by two tablespoons of olive oil. Fresh basil leaves are very fragrant, so you actually don’t need to use that many. I’ve never properly measured how much before, but I think if you take two to three leaves, wash them, and add them to the blender, that should be enough. Next, add in a handful of the mixed nuts from the bags you can buy at the supermarket. Now, this is simply my opinion on the matter, but for pesto, the flavors of nuts and cheese are the most important. Normal recipes often call for pine nuts and other items that I still don’t quite know where to get my hands on, but mixed nuts can generally be found anywhere at cheap prices, and will do wonders for the final flavor, so this is my suggested spin on the recipe.

The only equipment we’ve used up until now are a tablespoon measure and a mixer, but once you coarsely grind up the above ingredients somewhat and mix them with your pasta, it’s complete. The pesto from this recipe makes for a perfect winter pasta dish, fully letting you savor the flavors of the mixed nuts and cheese.

As for why I started bringing up the first volume of the series so much, it’s because very recently, I’ve had the chance to go back and read the first volume many, many times. Ishura is getting an anime adaptation. It’s an anime all sorts of people, including myself, have spent an incredible amount of energy to make. I’m convinced that the end result will be a truly wonderful work. Once again, I give my deepest gratitude to all the people involved and to all of you, the readers.