Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter Aft

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Afterword

Thank you so much for picking up this book, the twenty-second volume of Cooking with Wild Game.

It’s because of all of you that I’ve been able to put out this many volumes. I couldn’t possibly thank you enough.

This volume deals with the aftermath of the sun god’s revival festival, as well as the start of the new year. I hope you’re looking forward to seeing what’s to come.

This time, the story goes back and forth between the castle town and the forest’s edge, and the townsfolk are invited to the Ruu settlement, with a ton of characters making appearances, like always. My hope is that you’ll enjoy all of their various interactions while referencing the character sheet at the front of the book when you need to.

The bonus intermezzo story ended up being from Mikel’s point of view. There’s another short story from the women’s point of view that takes place during this time frame, and it will eventually see publication as well, but I decided to give this slot to the men.

By the way, the web version does a popularity survey each year, and this volume’s contents were published around the same time that the second one was held. In other words, the second anniversary of the serialized version. It kind of amazes me that I was able to write twenty-two volumes’ worth of text during that period.

At any rate, I figured this would be a good time to publish the results.

Popularity Poll:

1: Ai Fa

2: Ludo Ruu

3: Dan Rutim

4: Asuta

5: Toor Deen

6: Gazraan Rutim

7: Shumiral

8: Rimee Ruu

9: Raielfam Sudra

10 (Tie): Shin Ruu/Yamiru Lea

Characters You Want to See Star in a Bonus Story:

1: Jiza Ruu

2: Arishuna

3: Yamiru Lea

And there you have it.

The top four were the same this time around as in the first survey. I obviously expected the main characters, Asuta and Ai Fa, to be there, but it was a surprise to see how deeply popular Ludo Ruu and Dan Rutim are. Ai Fa and Asuta remained in the same positions, first and fourth respectively, in the third and fourth surveys that followed as well. The second and third spots changed, but Asuta somehow managed to stay fixed in fourth place, which amusingly felt like some kind of curse.

I was also really impressed with how many votes the male characters earned. While it did push me to try to give the female cast even more charm, I was also glad to know how popular the men were.

The ninth place character, Raielfam Sudra, hasn’t appeared very many times so far, but he was still able to claim a spot on the list. In terms of the light novel releases, I believe his last appearance was all the way back in volume fifteen, and he didn’t even have a name until then, despite the pivotal role he played in the execution of the criminal Tei Suun. What an odd character. Ranking ninth is quite an achievement for a small, middle-aged man who was mostly known for having a wrinkled face like a monkey’s.

At any rate, Raielfam Sudra is a personal favorite of mine as well, so I was quite happy with the results.

Also, starting in the next volume, the second round of the Group Performance is going to begin. It will last for seven stories altogether, three of which will be centered around the characters from the above story.

Volume releases are a completely different format compared to publishing on the web, so we’re still considering the best way to release these extra stories, but I hope you’re all looking forward to seeing them continue alongside the main plot.

Let me finish by thanking everyone involved with the production of this book, and of course, all of you who purchased it.