The Power of the Saint is All Around (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

HELLO, this is Yuka Tachibana.

Thank you so much for buying Volume 9 of The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent.

Thanks to everyone’s support, I somehow managed to deliver Volume 9. I am so deeply grateful to everyone for always supporting me. Thank you so much. For various reasons, I feel like this was the hardest to write yet. Maybe it’s because I got really inspired with the last one and I wound up getting carried away with this one. I regret it. I’m bracing myself.

Thank you so much to my editor at KADOKAWA BOOKS, W, for giving me so much advice. It’s thanks to them that I was able to somehow get this volume out. Thanks to everyone else involved as well.

So, did you enjoy reading this volume? There’s going to be some spoilers from here on out, so please be sure to finish reading it before going any further.

The setting of the story changes from the Kingdom of Salutania to Zaidera, so I had to do all kinds of research. I started with food. I can’t help but feel that the fact that Sei is such a foodie is just a reflection of my own tastes. Sorry about that. But the medicinal cooking dishes really are delicious.

As for the kind of rice dishes that show up, Chinese-style rice porridge and rice cakes wrapped in bamboo leaves (chimaki) were the ones that stood out most to me.

I had the Chinese-style rice porridge for the first time at a breakfast served at a hotel I stayed at in China. It was incredibly delicious, so much so that I had it for breakfast every day of my stay at that hotel. It had chicken and century eggs—it was also my first time having century eggs. I think it’s thanks to that rice porridge that I can actually enjoy century eggs now, as I had avoided them before.

I remember when I was a kid, my mom would make Chinese-style chimaki on very rare occasions. It was made of glutinous rice and chicken, but I feel like there were other ingredients in it too. Since we were making it at home, she steamed them in aluminum foil instead of bamboo leaves. The steam cooker was made of stainless steel too. She hardly ever went to the trouble, but they were delicious and one of my favorites. Thinking back on it now, they took a ton of time and effort to make, so that might be why she didn’t bother that often. I doubt I could make them myself either (lol).

As for the buildings, I went to see a special exhibit at a museum where they recreated the Forbidden City in a virtual space. It let you really feel just how much power the emperors of the past used to wield. My vocabulary isn’t the largest, so it’s hard for me to describe, but I saw what I believe were delicate fittings of bamboo that had been gilded in gold leaf and were awfully shiny. The walls were covered with landscapes of rare birds and beautiful flowers, and the ceilings were painted with intricate patterns. Even though we were indoors, there was even a square gazebo. I’m pretty sure even the prop roof was plated in gold leaf. 

I heard the palace was built to someone’s tastes, but I just don’t understand. All I can say is that the interior decorating was the pinnacle of art. I’ve heard that the real palace has finally been restored and is now open to the public, but because of the way things are now, I can’t go. I wasn’t able to visit before the publication of this volume, but as someone who loves to travel, I hope I’ll make it someday.

Once again, Yasuyuki Syuri-sensei was the illustrator for this novel. Thank you yet again for the wonderful illustrations. Maybe it was because I loved the expression Sei made in the last volume so much, but I had Sei wear that look of rapture over food in the opening illustrations again. It’s awesome, to say the least. Syuri-sensei never fails to impress. And let’s not forget that illustration for the acrylic stand that came with the special edition of this volume!!! She drew it to commemorate Sei’s engagement and it’s just so perfect… Thank you so much for your consistently great work!

That brings me to this volume, which also had a special edition! It came with an acrylic stand of that Syuri-sensei illustration. I got ahead of myself when I mentioned it before, but in honor of Sei and the knight commander’s engagement, she drew them in very different attire than usual. Needless to say, Sei looks adorable, and the knight commander looks very princely. His main occupation may be a knight, but he got a side gig as a prince for the stand. Be sure to buy it if you’re interested!

The manga version of the series is doing great, as always. It goes without saying that I’m grateful to everyone who supports it, but to everyone else involved as well, starting with Fujiazuki-sensei. Thank you so much. As of Volume 8, which came out last December, they’ve reached the end of the Klausner’s Domain arc. It’s thanks to everyone’s support that the manga has been able to continue for so long. Thankfully, it’s not ending yet either. I hope you continue to enjoy the world of the Saint as drawn by Fuji-sensei.

Thanks to everyone’s support, Volume 3 of the ­spin-off manga, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint, came out last September too. It seems there’s a big readership for that comic as well. Again, I’m very grateful to all of the readers and everyone else involved, starting with Aoagu-sensei. Thank you so much for everything. The grand magus shows up for the greater part of Volume 3, and the part about when he was little is worthy of a special message. That’s right. You get to see him as a kid. It’s an important scene, but when [redacted] happened, it was so cute… If you’d like, please check out this manga too.

Both the manga and the spin-off are currently on sale with amazing reviews. You can read them on ComicWalker, pixiv Comic, Nico Nico Seiga, and other webcomic sites. Some of the chapters are available to read for free, so please check them out.

I wonder if by the time Volume 9 comes out, season two of the anime will start airing? For more details, be sure to check out the anime’s official website and Twitter account. I also make sure to announce when information is released, so be sure to look for my reports on Let’s Be Novelists! and Twitter.

Finally, thank you so much for reading all the way to this point. I hope we’ll see each other again soon.