Spice and Wolf - Volume 22 - Chapter Aft

AFTERWORD

This is Isuna Hasekura. It has been quite a while. We are now on the fifth volume of the Spring Log series. While I am surprised that it has continued for this long, it has already been an entire three and a half years since my tenth-anniversary event, and in terms of the Spice and Wolf main story, that is about as long as from the debut first novel to the end of the airing of the second anime season. In terms of the number of volumes, that is from the first volume to the thirteenth! I believe those who have been following this series from the very beginning would sort of understand what kind of shock I am in right now. We have grown old…And by the way, the time from my debut to the end of the second anime season, in my perspective, was a time filled with events that could have lasted me two-thirds of my life, so it seems strange that it was only three and a half years.

On the other hand, there have thankfully been all sorts of developments for Spice and Wolf itself, like the continual releasing of new goods or how Holo’s 3D model was distributed in a Dengeki Bunko online event just recently.

At this point, I do sometimes feel ambitious for such a long-lived title, like I might publish a new volume when it comes time for the twentieth anniversary, but I will do what I can at my own pace, so I hope you will stick around.

While we’re at it, a second edition of Spice and Wolf VR, where you can meet Holo and pet her ears and tail, has been confirmed, and we are diligently working on it even as I write this. The next story will be one that takes place in the Nyohhira bathhouse, so perhaps there will be some new characters! Please look forward to that!

There have been no developments particularly worth mentioning in my life, but if I were to pick one, it would be that I have been playing the mobile version of Ragnarok Online, and from the very first day I was playing with the same guild members from so long ago, acting under the same guild name. And for the first month or so, it was just like old times, but all of a sudden, everyone was gone. And now I just play a little bit by myself—oh, I should stop talking about this. I’m sad.

Also, this year, in the first year of the Reiwa era, I once again got my hands on the newest Unity beginner’s textbook and quickly gave up on it, so I can say that my usual routine (the ritual of wanting to acquire a new skill but never keeping up with it) is proceeding as it does every year. I also bought study references for English conversation last week! I got so much material I’m not quite sure how many books I actually have! Most recently, I downloaded a mental arithmetic app and have started doing some mental arithmetic. I have kept up with it for a surprisingly long time. I can calculate problems multiplying three-digit by one-digit numbers in five seconds on average. I tremble when I see the top scores, and I wonder if they use calculators…But now that I have written this much, my page has filled up.

I believe the next volume should be Wolf and Parchment, and I hope you will pick that one up as well!

Isuna Hasekura