The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

First, thank you very much for picking up this book! So, that’s the eighth volume of Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀. I hope you enjoyed it.

Personally, I’m overjoyed to have written a scene I’ve been thinking about since way back when I drafted the first volume. There was a lot I had to set up to get to this point, so I feel a sense of accomplishment at having reached the finish line. At first, I expected to get here in five volumes, but it took eight. There were a lot of unexpected things that happened, but I’m proud to have gotten here. Now that I’ve reached that goal, it seems like I have the go-ahead to keep going, so I’ll happily head toward the hidden goal. But if you ask me how to get there... I don’t think I’ve got a clue!

I’ve never written anything this long, so I’m kind of at a loss for how to continue a long-running series. This is the kind of time I’d want to ask for advice from someone else with experience in the field, but I’m not really close enough to another author to ask!

In terms of communicating with other writers, HJ Bunko used to do a once-a-year awards ceremony where I was able to hear a bunch from the other writers, but that hasn’t been happening lately. Ah well, no use crying over spilled milk. It was fun, but at the after-parties there used to be a thing where whoever’s book series was next getting an anime had to buy everyone a round, and that would have been me this year. We’re talking for twenty or thirty people here too.

Being a loner moonlighter wasn’t what I’d call lonely, but as a full-time writer, being a loner is somewhere between lonely and maybe disastrous. Plus, you have to consider the importance of networking and learning about your craft. If you let your perspective become narrow, there’s no way to regain your footing when your own style doesn’t connect anymore. If I’m doing this for a living, I can’t just do well enough for now—I need to figure out how to keep this career going. So, someone, please be my writing friend!

Finally, I’d like to thank my editor N, the illustrator Nagu, and everyone else involved for their hard work and dedication. This volume’s cover art was sublime! I ended up changing my wallpaper again!

Goodbye for now!