The Neighboring Aarya-san who Sometimes Acts Affectionate and Murmuring in Russian - Volume 3 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

This will be our 3rd time meeting. Light novelist Sunsunsun here (aka the most loved man in Japan by the number 3).

I know you may be wondering what I’m rambling on about, but just give me a moment to explain. Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko, which published my debut novel (the first volume of this series), is celebrating its 33rd anniversary this year, and March (3rd month) of the 3rd year of Reiwa (2021) marked my 3rd year since I started writing web novels online. Plus, I was 3 to the 3rd power years old when I started, if we want to get technical. See what I mean? I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I was loved by the number 3. Oh, and did you know if you write my name in Japanese (さん), it could also mean 3 as well? That’s three 3s in a row! Anyway, before I forget, I wanted to mention that this series got 9th place in Takarajimasha Inc.’s 2022 light novel rankings (Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! 2022). And what’s 3 × 3? Plus, guess who got 6th place in “Favorite Female Character”? Alya. That’s another multiple of 3 and— (The rest was omitted for your sake.)

Anyway, this is the third volume of Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian—another milestone. A lot of work went into this, and my editor seemed to have put a lot of work into it as well, because he asked a certain famous someone to recommend and promote my series. Who, you may wonder? Miki Yoshikawa, that’s who. The extremely famous manga artist known for romantic comedies such as Flunk Punk Rumble and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, and she is currently working on A Couple of Cuckoos—a huge hit I’m sure you’re aware of. I can’t believe it. I have read all three of these series, so I’m sure you can guess how nervous I am. My favorite character is Hana Adachi, by the way. I love female characters who are fighters and very strong, despite not looking it… Hmm? Hold up. I never really thought about it, but was I influenced by Hana Adachi when I came up with the Sarashina family in my works? …Hold up. Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember writing a web novel in which the heroine had the last name Adachi, and she studied under the Sarashina family… Hmm? And I had this strange rule where I would only use plant names to name these strong female martial artists… Was that also me being subconsciously influenced by Hana (hana = Japanese for flower) Adachi? …The subconscious mind is an amazing thing. I’m sure a lot of it was coincidence, but I feel like this is, in a way, proof that people are influenced by experiences and things they’ve seen in the past when they create something new. Eh. Whatever. I guess it’s not important.

Anyway, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would have someone who had been famous for her romantic comedies even before I ever started writing comment on and recommend my work. This is a web novelist’s dream come true. Seriously, I’m in shock. All I have is love and appreciation for Miki Yoshikawa, who agreed to do it, and my editor, who set me up with her. Thank you very much.

Now you see why this novel ended up being so long at over 150,000 Japanese characters. I couldn’t put out something half-assed when Miki Yoshikawa was going to be commenting on my work, so I put everything I had into this novel and then some. It ended up being one and a half times longer than the first novel. What is wrong with me? And this is after a lot was cut and edited, too. And after all that, it was still 150,000 Japanese characters long. The only reason the book doesn’t look like a giant brick is because of the editor’s magic. I feel really bad for him, to be honest. I’ll make sure to take note of his struggles while I write the next volume. I’ll probably just take note and do nothing about it, though.

The afterword this time ended up being four pages. Maybe this was a side effect of the editor’s magic? And, well, I guess since it’s going to be four pages long, I better start talking about the novel itself. I know I talked about the legal speed limit or something during the afterword in the first novel, but last time, I slammed on the gas and went way over the speed limit, and my editor didn’t get mad at me, so I figured I’d go as far as I could this time. In fact, I came at this afterword with the mindset that I’d lose if I took it even remotely seriously…so I was never expecting to be asked to write more. Hmm… I don’t have enough gasoline in the form of topics to speed my way through four pages, though…or so I thought. Wow. Would you look at that? I’m already out of pages. I wonder why… It was because I rambled about Miki Yoshikawa for way too long, wasn’t it? I know. My bad.

Now let’s talk about this novel… Oh, I know. Masha’s homeroom teacher. While it wasn’t touched upon in the story, Masha and her similarly bubbly mother met with her homeroom teacher for the student-parent-teacher conference…and, well, let’s just say it must have been hell for that teacher. Yep. That should be enough about the novel itself.

Before we go, I would like to thank my editor, Natsuki Miyakawa, for all his help these past three novels…especially this time. In addition, I would like to also thank the following people:

Momoco for the godlike illustrations she did for me, even though she is extremely busy.

Sumire Uesaka for doing the voice of Alya again, Kouhei Amasaki for doing the voice of Masachika, and Fumihiko Tachiki for doing the narration for the commercial.

Kurone Mishima and Azuri Hyuga for doing guest illustrations.

Miki Yoshikawa for promoting my series, even though I’m still a novice.

(I have just realized what a dream team I’ve been blessed with after looking at all their names lined up like this. This is not something someone who just had their debut not too long ago deserves. The overpowered members continue to join the party until the rookie hero stops thinking for himself altogether. That’s what this feels like.)

Ahem. And last but not least, everyone involved in creating this novel, and every one of you who read it.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much! I hope we can meet again in Volume 4. Until then.