Afterword
Thank you. First to my grandmother, whom I will never stop missing. Next to my editor, who accepts my slow progress with good humor but stern encouragement. Then to Lansane, for realizing my every fantasy, no matter how outlandish. Most of all, a thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to read my work.
Your support is what has allowed me to continue publication without issue—er, well... I mean, I suppose this release proves things are going smoothly enough, and that fact brings me untold joy.
That said, I have once again produced a moderately dense work of writing by greatly magnifying a set of events the web novel glossed right over. I’d let myself indulge then by hinting that Agrippina had come across some powerful enemies; now, she finally gets a chance to play her part as a proper character. For you online readers, you may be excited to see names put to faces!
This volume is packed with enough new material to leave longtime readers scratching their heads. To tell the truth, my secret plan is to continue on this course until the big names above the editorial team cave in and green light a full anthology of freshly thought-up Hendersons. While that scheme has yet to bear fruit, another of my wildest dreams has come true.
I’m sure that the little advertisement on the physical book band already has many of you excited. Yes, that’s right: I’ve finally reached one of the summits any Narou author can hope to surmount. This series is getting a manga!
With awards from Ichijinsha under their Game/Anime Comics section and the Special Shonen Ace Prize from Kadokawa’s manga newcomers awards, the artist in charge will be Uchida Temo (Twitter ID: @utida_temo). I am incredibly happy to have a fellow Keeper on the project, and with the inclusion of a very on-theme creature in this very volume, I can only assume the gods watching over us—perhaps of the cephalopod variety—have arranged for this selection.
Now that I have a manga in the works and five whole volumes—ignore that there are technically six books—published, I figure they’ll bump me up from a “self-proclaimed author” to the real deal if I ever do anything to get myself on the news.
...I don’t plan on it, mind you, but it’s good to be safe.
All jokes aside, my work is being turned into a manga. I’ve seen comments to the effect of, “This series would be too much work,” “Seems like a hassle to include all the details of the setting,” or, “Having to draw in demihumans for background characters would be pure hell.” Admittedly, some such gripes were of my own making—which was why I’d considered it a pipe dream—but after two years of publication it’s finally happened. I hope you’ll continue to watch the little munchkin run wild when he visits a different medium.
Now then, I don’t intend to pack this whole afterword with announcements; let me touch on the main text to the extent I can without spoilers. Whether because of authorial mistakes or ingenuity in hindsight, any web novelist can attest: work on a series for long enough, and even the most elaborate of plots will turn up with holes somewhere. From forgetting to show how Celia could turn into a mensch to failing to give Agrippina a chance to show her true power, many were the occasions upon which I’d thought to myself, Oh, I should’ve included that.
Yet even with the ease of editing an online work, revisions alone do not drive the story and thus risk boring the audience. Worse still, changes can actively confuse loyal readers; it’s simply impossible to prioritize amendments over new material. Truthfully, the state of the web novel is something that leaves a good deal of regret in my heart, but I’ve come too far to turn back now.
In light of this, I am taking full liberty to do whatever I please with the printed version. I’ve added in new characters just because I felt like it, and dreamt up payoffs for foreshadowing I’d missed my chance to capitalize on the first time. Hints on the cursed nature of Agrippina’s eye were first dropped in the first canto of volume four; I’m very pleased that I finally have the chance to unveil what mysteries it holds in the course of furthering the main plot.
Another major victory of mine is that I was able to add scenes of Erich enjoying his time with Mika and Celia. The push for forward progress in the web novel meant that he’d turned fifteen and left the capital in the blink of an eye, but I didn’t want these relationships to boil down to, “Hi! We’re friends now! Bye!” Seeing how characters interact as their bonds deepen is one of the joys of storytelling—in both novels and in tangential conversations shared in the downtime of a tabletop campaign.
If you, the reader, are so kind as to muster enough support for a seventh book, I will endeavor to once more fill it with new material. Next, I’d like to expand on all of Erich’s run-ins with trouble as he makes his way home.
Web readers may recall those one-shot adventures that were glossed over in a handful of words. You may even have had some rather choice words about how tersely they were described—you were right, and now I’d like to do them justice. The many comments asking for more details than a mere recollection of the journey have given me the push to let my own wants take the wheel.
On another note, despite the infamous disease’s continued ill effects on the world, I have good news to share: recently, I had the opportunity to partake in my beloved tabletop games not once, but twice! Fueled by the fun I had, I gave it my very best to write in a way that might make you wish to do the same. Once the curtains fall on this period of history, I can only hope that my work can become someone’s reason to pick up a rule book.
With all that said, I’d like to send this afterword off with a prayer that you might enjoy my rambling scribbles again in the future. Please take care of yourself, and may we meet again in the Trialist Empire of Rhine.
[Tips] The author uploads side stories and world-building details to @Schuld3157 on Twitter as “extra replays” and “rule book fragments.”
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