- 6: Successor, Come To My Tower Afterword
"Well! I'm sure you've already noticed, but the author's tyranny is not to be trifled with! I've broken the jinx, so now I'm aiming for the heroine's seat! This is Patricia, aka Pat! I've returned for the end-of-the-book discussion, after last time—"
"After that, you're out of here."
"Sobsob..."
"I'm the author. This is the end of the sixth volume of the series! As I was saying earlier, this'll be her last appearance. The system has gone a little awry, though..."
"You're the one that's gone crazy..."
"Lying's not a sin!" (Assertion)
"... Well, even a sinner has a right to be proud."
(Ignoring her) "Anyway, I've finally gotten the sixth book of the series lined up, and was able to start the Tower of Fang arc, which I've been planning for a long time. This volume and volume 5 were both meant to be the Tower of Fang volume, but in the end I had too many characters, so I decided to divide it into two volumes."
"So this time, a lot of the foreshadowing from last time panned out, right?"
"That's right. I've tried to make each story complete, but there were some instances of foreshadowing that I didn't manage to fully expand on, so it can be a little confusing."
"It's best to do what's right."
"... Seemed pretty normal to me, but it was a bit of a mess, huh?"
"Pat's words are spoken only with love."
"Love...?"
"I don't know... But this is the end of the Tower of Fang arc. What are you going to do next?"
"What Akita thinks of doing isn't always what Akita does." (Irresponsible) "Actually, I had originally planned on making the next two volumes about the Kimrak Church's headquarters."
"Is that not the plan anymore?"
"I'm thinking about adding a little something extra."
"An extra volume?"
"That's not to say I'm not going to do an extended Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Reckless Arc story or anything like that. It'll just be a story that falls between the sixth volume and the main Kimrak arc. An episode that has nothing to do with the secrets of the world that are currently being explored. A mysterious incident that happens in one of the villages they stop in!"
"You're thinking it up as you write this, aren't you... Well, anyway, why would you put something like that in the middle of the story?"
"Because I feel like the story is getting more and more serious as time goes on."
"Oh, so you actually give consideration to these sorts of things."
"It's certainly not because the details of the Kimrak Church arc are incomplete."
"I ... retract my statement."
"No, really, it's for the aforementioned reason. The Kimrak Church arc (has a hidden secret. It's not unfinished or undecided. I may not be able to persuade them of that, but I have to believe it!) is almost done. Compared to the story in the sixth volume, the next one will basically be slapstick."
"But with this author's history, the main character will still be covered in blood by the end of it, right?"
"Akita firmly believes that standing in a pool of blood is a requirement of being a main character."
"You're hanging yourself with your own words, once again."
"I told you, lying isn't a sin." (laughs) "But I guess being unfaithful is a sin. That's why I'm sorry for not being able to reply to all your fan letters."
"Oh, now I'm listening. Have I gotten any good fan letters?"
"I'm happy to say that you don't get any, but thankfully, the number of fan letters for this series has been increasing, and recently, Akita hasn't been able to answer them all by himself!"
"But no matter how you slice it, you're just one person."
"That's why it can't be helped. I'm thinking of randomly selecting letters to reply to. So don't be angry if you don't get a response. This series and the Reckless arc will continue to be published every other month. Somehow."
"Well, I guess we'll have to forgive you, if you can manage to do that."
"Uh... Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye... and make up more excuses."
"That's just like you, it's astounding. See you at the end of the next book!"
"They'll only be seeing me, actually." (heartless)
—March 1996 Yoshinobu Akita
