Paladin of the End - Volume 2 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

To everyone who picked up this book, thank you very much, and to those who have been with me since Volume 1, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Kanata Yanagino here.

Four months after the first volume, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to publish a second. It’s thanks to all of you who pick up my books. Thank you very much.

The text of this second volume is a revised version of what I posted on Shousetsuka ni Narou one year ago. In fact, I am finishing my revisions as I write this.

Looking back on myself a year ago, I remember that I was terribly agitated, confused, and frightened. The reason was obvious: it was because my environment was changing so drastically.

The parts corresponding to Volume 1, which I had posted as practice, became the subject of some discussion. I became listed in the site’s ranking tables. More and more people started posting their impressions. There was even talk of turning it into a book. The practice work which I simply assumed that people wouldn’t take to was treated to a reception far greater than I’d ever been expecting. I was both thrilled and shocked.

Because it was so popular, feelings of self-doubt and a fear of disappointing people welled up in my heart. Would I be able to continue writing stories of similar quality? I had to choose whether to go ahead with the book idea, not go ahead with it, or put the idea on hold; and I also had to consider how I could balance it with my current job. I couldn’t even have imagined these kinds of worries back when I was writing Volume 1 and overreacting at every little comment.

Of course, at the time, I didn’t have the right mentality to deal with a situation like that. I was overthinking everything and getting excited and depressed over the smallest things. Looking back, I’m now aware that I was pretty difficult to deal with.

I am very grateful for my creative associates, who were so patient with me during that period. They lent an ear to my confused and incoherent rambling. They gave me advice on my drafts. They took part in our usual random chats. And above all, they showed me their own works, always created at their own pace. All of us chatting night after night about each other’s works was a pleasure with no substitute. By looking at what my friends’ creations were like, I was able to continue typing away at my keyboard, even though I still felt very unconfident. This story, which started from a small idea, continues today thanks to the passion and enthusiasm I was able to borrow from them. For that, I am still truly grateful.

However, despite this, my writing was pretty rough due to the psychological state I was in. After I decided to revise the story for publication and looked back over it, I found something I thought I could have done a little better on everywhere I looked, and I had a real headache thinking about how to fix everything and fit it into a single volume. What to leave and in what form, how to change things, how to include new elements... Remaking something once it’s already finished is quite difficult. Unlike Volume 1, which came out very well in that sense, the second volume was a real struggle. I did everything in my power to improve it, and now, it’s like a completely new work. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.

Finally, some acknowledgments.

To Kususaga Rin-sensei, who added marvelous illustrations to this book: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I jump for joy every time I lay eyes on one of your beautiful illustrations.

To my fellow creators: I said enough, no more, too embarrassing. Thank you, please keep on being my friends.

To my editor, the editors at Overlap, everyone involved with this book’s printing, sales and marketing, and everything else related, and to you, the person who took this book into your hands: I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The next volume will either be The Lord of the Rust Mountains, a journey of adventure about the extermination of an evil dragon, which enjoyed the same kind of good reviews as The Boy in the City of the Dead when I published it on the web, or it will be a newly written tale of adventure which I will create specifically for book publication.

Either way, I will do my best to make it something you will all enjoy.

I hope you will read it when the time comes.

Praying that we can meet again,

Kanata Yanagino, June 2016