AFTERWORD
Well, hello there! This is Tappei Nagatsuki, and this just might be your second time hearing from me in one month! I also go by Mouse-Colored Cat! If this is your first time hearing from me, I do hope the opportunity for a second time comes.
Now then, some of you may be scratching your heads right now, so I’ll just explain—Volume 3 of Re:ZERO Short Story Collection goes on sale at the same time as Volume 15 of the main series!
Everything’s been piling up—I had to write two afterwords this month—so for those of you who also bought Volume 15, this will be your second time hearing from me.
As the synopsis states, “The main character doesn’t die!”—this is incredibly rare! So if you’ve ever thought, “I’m too scared to read the main series because Subaru keeps dying, but he doesn’t die in the short stories, so it’s way more relaxing!”—then this book is for you!
I mean, readers with that kind of taste probably wouldn’t even touch Re:ZERO in the first place, but hey, anything is possible!
That being said, the chaotic wave of two volumes at once really was a formidable foe. I think I touched upon this in the afterword for the last volume of short stories, but the short stories in these books come from the ones serialized in Comic Alive. This means I already have a finished manuscript, so it should be easy, but as these are stories I wrote years ago, the urge to rewrite them drives me insane! There’s never enough time! But I’m going to rewrite them anyway!
So yeah, I ended up making a ton of revisions to this volume, too, meaning it was just as much work as usual.
That said, I think the extra effort made it much better, so I sincerely hope you enjoy this polished collection of short stories!
By the way, I haven’t had much space for afterwords in the main series lately, and there hasn’t been much room for announcements, either. But this time, I’ve got three whole pages! That means—announcements!
I actually mentioned this briefly in my author profile, but before this book came out, I spent some time in Hyogo Prefecture. Sightseeing? I wish. Nope, I was there for my health.
I’m sure my clever readers already know this, but artists have a terrible habit of neglecting their health. Of course, it varies from person to person, so I can’t speak for everyone. But as far as I know, most of us are guilty of it. (Naturally, that includes me.)
But in order to keep making good art, good health is a necessity—so I took the plunge and went for a checkup. And for that, I flew to Hyogo!
While I was there, I thoroughly enjoyed Sun Park, took tons of pictures, and triumphantly returned home in high spirits! There’s no place like home!
So how did my health checkup go? Ask me again next year!
Anyway, it was in that spirit that I finished writing this short story collection! I sacrificed my health for it, so you’d better like it!
Now, since I’ve probably harmed all of your mental health with my rambling, let’s get back to your regularly scheduled apologies and acknowledgments.
To Editor I—publishing two books at once is something that should never be done. Not only me but everyone involved almost died, so let’s make sure our HP bars are fully restored before we try this again! That said, thank you so much for all your hard work!
And now, I have a different person to thank for the illustrations! Makoto Fugetsu, who does the art for the second part of the Re:ZERO manga, provided the illustrations for this volume, too!
It was amazing seeing all of Fugetsu’s illustrations—starting with Natsumi Schwartz (who did appear in the manga), and even the royal selection candidates who never made it into Part 2. Seriously, thank you so much!
To my designer, Kusano—thank you as always for going above and beyond! Designing two covers this time must have been a huge challenge, and yet each one is uniquely gorgeous!
And of course, to everyone at the MF Bunko J editorial department, to manga illustrator Daichi Matsuse, and to Otsuka Shinichirou (who I think it’s refreshing to thank at this point), as well as to PR, sales, and everyone else involved—thank you so much for all your support!
Releasing two volumes at once isn’t something I could’ve done alone. Thanks to all of you, it was a fun challenge.
And above all, I owe everything to my amazing readers. Thank you, always. With the novels, manga, and new episodes of the anime on the way, there’s still plenty more Re:ZERO to enjoy!
I hope you stick around with us!
(November 2017—just thinking about the year almost being over sends shivers down my spine…in fear.)
“All righty, then, the very important announcement time has arrived…”
“How ridiculous. Why must someone such as I participate in such a farce? And with a savage she-fox like you as my partner? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Dang, egocentric as ever, aren’t you? But a job’s a job. So stop your griping and pull yourself together, you hear? And if you can’t do that, then I’ll just have to take care of everything by myself… What do you say?”
“A spirited display of hard work for my sake…an auspicious suggestion? Hardly. Knowing you, you’ll consider me in your debt and use it as leverage to pressure me into some distasteful trade—I can practically see it. Very well. Just this once, I shall comply with your initial suggestion.”
“Sure, fine. Since the preamble got a bit long, let’s breeze through this. First, Volume 15 of the Re:ZERO main series should be coming out at the same time as this book. The very long fourth arc should finally be wrapping up, so it might be nice to start over at the beginning and do a reread—that’s just me, though.”
“The audacity, releasing one thing after another without a break. Anything else?”
“Well, also in the same month, the fifth volume of the Re:ZERO Arc 2 manga comes out in Big Gan Gan’s last volume, so I’m sure there’s gonna be long lines at the bookstores for that.”
“And the artist is…hmm, appears to be the same commoner who drew the art for this very book. Very good. This artist did a beautiful job drawing me, so I shall permit their continued employment.”
“You really are pompous, aren’t you…? Also, Volume 16 of the main series is scheduled to be released in March 2018. That’ll mark the start of a new arc, so here’s to hoping there’s gonna be more scenes with us in that.”
“Oddly enough, I am of the same opinion as you, she-fox. Those foolish peasants are simply hopeless. No matter how I try to paint my brilliance into their memories, their respect wanes by the day. Even if I grace them with my presence now and again, thanks to their puny brains, they are constantly in danger of forgetting the glory and ecstasy of my presence.”
“Uhhh, I wouldn’t go that far, okay? Just for the record…”
“Additionally, in the coming year, the ever-popular oni maid sisters are going to hold a birthday celebration. A servant will provide you peasants with details at some point in the future.”
“I don’t really like the way you said that, but… Huh, this announcement section went much better than I thought it would. Y’know, Priscilla, you and I just might be compatible after all.”
“Hah! Don’t make me laugh, she-fox. As long as you and I are in competition, I shall never show any magnanimity toward you whatsoever. Kindly direct any further inquiries to your own scarf.”
“Ugh, and here I thought we were making some progress… I can’t ever let my guard down around you, can I?”
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