Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 14 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

Jougi Shiraishi, relentlessly pursued by deadlines, came up with a secret plan to escape this sorry fate (or at the very least, delay it for a moment).

If I collect all the side stories I’ve put out in the past and publish them as a book…would that work?

If I did that, it would give me some leeway on my deadlines and satisfy the people who want to read those uncollected stories! What a great plan! Please! Let’s do it! Let’s put out one volume like that in between now and Volume 15! It’ll be like a special edition of The Journey of Elaina, see! I’m serious! I’m making a special request! Come on!

Jougi Shiraishi burst into tears in the editorial department.

Even as I write this now, it occurs to me that if I had the spare time to do that, I should have been working on my manuscript instead. At any rate, it was several days later when I got my answer from the editorial department.

Editorial: “We passed along your plan for a book of side stories.”

Me: “Really?! So then the schedule for Volume 15 has been bumped pretty far back, I bet!”

Editorial: “No, we’re putting out the book of side stories as Volume 15.”

Me: “…Hmm? Oh, but there’s some leeway in my schedule now…right?”

Editorial: “No, since we’re plugging it into our existing plans, we’ll be releasing it as Volume 15 in December.”

Me: “Hmm???”

Editorial: “For Volume 16, we’ll use the same deadline we previously had for Volume 15, so your schedule is actually going to get even tighter.”

Me: “Why?????”

Editorial: “Oh, and of course, it wouldn’t be fair to the readers to simply rerelease the short stories. So you’ll need to fill out the volume with some new content, too.”

Me: “What??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????”

Jougi Shiraishi tried to make things easier and ended up making things harder instead. Cue thunderous roar of laughter.

I can’t believe the next volume is coming out the month after next. Though I am happy that my long-held dream for a short story volume is finally being granted. I’ve been saying we should put one out forever! And so Volume 15 will be coming out a little early, in December, so please pick up a copy!

Now, let’s get into my comments for each chapter. There will be spoilers, so those of you who haven’t read the main book yet, stop right here and go read it!

• Chapter 1 Special Offer

This is a story I wrote to serve as a prologue to this volume. I think there are multiple ways to interpret where it fits in chronologically.

• Chapter 2 The Country of Stories

This is a story about swindlers getting swindled. As I was writing about the Travelers’ Restaurant, I thought, The employees of this restaurant seem to have an easy job. How nice!

• Chapter 3 Sena the Judge

This is a tale about how certain members of the Judgment Squad wound up corrupted because they thought they didn’t have to take their jobs seriously as long as someone else was taking theirs seriously, and about Sena, who earnestly tried her hardest in spite of them. If you’ll forgive the change of subject, I often see people on police shows fly into a rage when they get caught by the police. “You can’t just pick on me!” they say. But I always find myself wondering, How can you insist on fair treatment when you can’t even follow the law…?

• Chapter 4 The Actors’ Story

This one’s about Elaina’s mom and Miss Fran, who are doing the same thing Elaina is. This chapter links back to the first story’s observation that no matter how much time passes, the same stories are making the rounds at the Travelers’ Restaurants.

• Chapter 5 Their Own Private World

This is a story about two weird people finding each other. Their weird ways become normal, and everything outside their little private world seems abnormal. Conspiracy theories can only exist if they have people who laugh them off as foolish nonsense. Recently, I’ve been holding back, but as you may know, I started writing The Journey of Elaina because I wanted to write stories in every conceivable genre, so I intend to continue on with this kind of story from here on out. Thanks for your support!

• Chapter 6 Flowers for Fools

Fundamentally, I am not very good at “lip service,” or flattery, and whatever I say is pretty close to my true feelings on the matter, so I live my life convinced that the same must be true of the people around me. In other words, I’m a simpleminded man who takes people at their word even when it’s just lip service, and I’m usually happy to do so. I think it might actually be healthier than living in doubt of everyone else.

• Chapter 7 The Moonlight City of Eherias

This story concludes the volume.

I want to live my life in such a way that when I take the wrong path, I can say, “Sorry, my mistake!” The more of an adult I become, the more useless pride gets in my way, and I can no longer say, “Oh, sorry!” as easily as I could when I was an elementary schooler… These days, whenever there’s a difference of opinion and things get tense, I always try to solve it with a compromise. When I think about that, I start feeling old and get sad. (I’m twenty-seven years old and self-employed.)

And so that’s it for The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 14.

And I have news! By the time Volume 14 goes on sale in the middle of October, the anime will already be airing!

Given the current situation, I wasn’t able to participate in the recording process in person, and I made most of my contributions remotely. But my goodness, the footage really is beautiful, and I’m so impressed by the incredible performances from the ridiculously amazing cast.

Every time I see a promotional video, I’m beside myself, and whenever I hear the recordings, I’m filled with emotion. The opening and ending theme songs are just the best, and I’m happy every day.

I’m living each day with my heart dancing in my chest, excited to find out which stories will show up next and how they will be depicted. I bet Elaina also feels like this every day as she goes from place to place on her journey.

Since the person writing the anime script started with the earliest chapters, I always look forward to reminiscing as I watch. And I’ve also been reminiscing as I go back over the contents of the short story compilation, Volume 15, piece by piece. (Buy it, okay?!)

The anime is full of great selections from start to finish, from comedic tales to serious ones. They’re all beautiful and wonderful and amazing, so make sure you enjoy it all the way to the last episode! I’ll be enjoying the weekly broadcast right along with you.

By the way, did you know this volume had a special edition with a drama CD included? As always, the CD is packed with comedic stories and strong acting performances from the whole cast, and yet again, I was in the wings roaring with laughter as I listened to the recordings. If we can, I’d like to put out drama CD compilations and new drama CDs as often as possible. I also want to work on the anime, and on movies, too. My days are just overflowing with things I want to do, and I’m pleased as punch. I just wish times like these could go on forever. Truly, my life right now is like a dream.

And there you have it—that was the afterword.

I have a lot of people to acknowledge this time, so if you would be so kind as to let me thank them all at once, that would make me very happy.

To everyone involved with The Journey of Elaina, whether the original books, the comicalization, the drama CDs, the merchandise, or the anime: Thank you all so very much.

I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that we can continue to work together for many years to come.

And to all you readers: Thank you for always supporting me and sticking with me. I’ll see you next time!