AFTERWORD Before writing. Chief Editor: About how many pages do you think the manuscript will be this time? Author: The desert story should be around 170 pages, so combined with the new shorts, it should be around 250 pages total? Chief Editor: All right, let’s go with that! At the deadline. Chief Editor: So, are you done? Author: Yes, I’ve finished the 300 pages for the desert story! Chief Editor: I have no words. The page count keeps going up with each new book. This isn’t funny anymore—at this rate, can I really call myself a light novel author? This is really, really, unbelievably bad. Are you going to write a 500-page first volume for a new series out of nowhere next, idiot? I had a looming sense of dread about the future that was waiting for me as I somehow managed to write the second volume of the Chronicle series. My apologies for the two-year-plus wait since the last one. Even though there were so many more characters that needed to be depicted than there were in the first volume, and even though it was the Goddess of Beauty’s familia, meaning everything they necessarily ended up with being super flashy—regardless of all those excuses, I really do think this was over-the-top. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that my pulse would be racing hardest while writing the afterword. I seriously think I might have to adopt a strict page limit so that the next volume is a light novel instead of a heavy one…! True to the afterword in the last volume, this is a story about a certain goddess of beauty and her followers. When I submitted the manuscript I was worried about whether it would be acceptable, or whether this was going to be too much, since the stories involving this goddess inevitably ended up getting a little bit licentious, but since no one commented on it, I decided it was fine and had it published. Romance in the desert is an essential part of lots of Harlequin novels and whatnot, so forgive me!
Personally, I was really happy with how this book’s guest heroine, the prince (not a typo), developed during the story. I think the short story “Ali and the 8 Followers” that was also published in Gangan GA is also that prince’s story. When I wrote the climax, I felt a tightness in my chest and a marvelous sense of wonder. And since it was about the strongest adventurers on par with the Sword Princess and her familia, as I already touched on before, I went way over the anticipated number of pages and received quite the scolding. The barn door’s already wide open now, but their characters are just a little too unique, which both makes me very happy and means the struggle is never-ending. The boar warrior and cat chariot have made a few appearances here and there in the main series, but I was oddly excited at how the white elf—who had been ominously in the background up until now—finally managed to step into the limelight. With regards to the four prums, I had a certain image of the brothers and just let it all sort of flow from there. Also, I finally got to write in the dark elf! Basically what I’m trying to say is I, the author, ended up liking the Goddess of Beauty’s familia even more after finishing this volume. On the one hand, setting this story in the desert was entirely about catering to my personal taste, but on the other hand, I had been trying to sprinkle various world view points in the books that have already been published, and I wanted a chance to expound on that a bit. The Chronicle series stories may end up being primarily stories set outside of the city. Perhaps I could use this series to gradually expand on the world beyond Orario. The flashback stories also presented here are intended to reveal more about the setting in general and to hopefully entertain those who have invested so much time and effort into reading this series. I don’t know whether I’ll be successful, but sometime around when the main characters’ story is finished, I would like to be able to tell the tale of Zeus and Hera. Even the afterword is getting long now, so with my apologies, I’ll move on to conveying my thanks. To my editor, Matsumoto, chief editor Kitamura, and everyone else who was involved, I’m sorry for crashing into the deadline. And I’m extremely sorry to the illustrator, nilitsu, for causing problems because of that! I have nothing but gratitude for your providing such wonderful illustrations even as the manuscript delays drug on. To all the readers, I’m sorry for keeping you waiting so long for this second volume. To everyone who helped support me and to everyone who waited for me, I’m extremely grateful. I was quite worried this time, since it was my first attempt at writing a story that heavily featured the desert, so I shamelessly had my fellow GA Bunko author Awamura Akamitsu read over the manuscript for me. Thank you for agreeing to help me and taking the time when you were so busy, and thank you for all of the helpful pointers you gave me. It really helped. I think the next volume might be a story of a fox girl from the Far East. I plan on involving the main series’ cast for the first time. Additionally, a story about someone unexpected might be included, too. I hope you’ll look forward to it. Thank you for reading this far. And with that, I will take my leave. Fujino Omori
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