Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 7 - Chapter Aft

Afterword 

I hit a (dare I say) crisis like no other while working on this book. Originally, I’d hoped to provide a sort of behind-the-scenes look at the happenings of the seventh book in the main series—what happens to our hero on his way back after being forced to spend the night in the Pleasure Quarter. The Sword Princess and her companions would have run into him on their own way back from the Labyrinth District, whereby a certain fairy heroine would have caught whiff of his red-light-district musk, prompting another bout of rage-induced pursuit around the city that results in disaster. This would eventually lead to my two main characters getting another chance alone together. A sort of romantic-comedy scene would have ensued where the Sword Princess would have acted distant and formal, misunderstanding why the white rabbit was mumbling about a prostitute. With a little bit of luck and Bell’s knowledge of the epic, they would then have discovered the enemy’s stronghold, infiltrated the labyrinth together with our fairy heroine and the rest of the group, leading to Aiz and Bell running into Levis, which would have instigated their first joint battle, along with other various happenings, until finally, after separating from the rest of the group, a number of life-saving circumstances would have resulted in their first kiss…That was the tentative outline I had written, at least, though it was mostly just some ideas I jotted down. 
However, after meeting with my editors, we reached the conclusion that “it would simply be unreasonable to include Bell,” what with the inconsistencies this could create with the already published main series. My prepared plot was then thrown out the window, and no matter how much I screamed and put up a fight, I still had the deadline looming on the horizon, thus forcing me to “think and write,” basically ad-libbing the entire book (a new challenge for me). 
It was tough, but somehow, I managed to make decent headway. Until the fated day arrived. 
The last day of my deadline: and somehow, the coup de grâce, the final battle, was unwritten. 
It wasn’t that I didn’t know how to depict it but rather that I didn’t even know what to depict! It was like setting out on an adventure without a map—terrifying, let me tell you—and with grim despair, I reluctantly took up the reins of the bitter legacy I’d left myself in the cliffhanger from the previous book, the Bull of Heaven…but even then, I was soon to be at my wits’ end. 
I didn’t have my elves with their rule-defying, last-ray-of-hope-type magic, and even Braver was knocked out…Yes, it turned out having nothing but a dwarf and two Amazons didn’t leave me with many options at all…I was doomed! The end was nigh…! 
At this rate, I was going to have to accept the risks and revise what I’d written to throw the Sword Princess and the werewolf into the mix…! Only then, just as I was about to move forward with the forbidden act, my characters, quite literally, broke. 
Huh? Tug-of-war? Seriously? Is this okay? 
Is there even a demand for these guys? 

Oh, who cares! Look at their passion! Go, go, go, goooooooo! Get ’em! 
Huuuuwwwwooooouuuugggghhhh! GOLDION HAMMERRR!! 
…Which is seriously how it went down those last few nights: my brain was warped by zero sleep and pure, unadulterated fear. 
I was too scared to even reread the last half of the book. So I’ll have to leave it up to you, my readers, to decide if the final takedown was even within the realms of plausibility or not. As for me, I mostly just realized that I suck at ad-libbing… 
At any rate, let’s move on to my words of thanks for this volume. 
To my editors, Otaki and Takahashi, as well as chief editor Kitamura, I apologize sincerely for the slew of hard-won battles this side series has become. It would be nice if the next book could finally be a bit of a respite. Also to my illustrator, Kiyotaka Haimura, I tip my hat at the brilliant way you depicted nearly all my enemy characters. 
As this volume will also be released as a limited edition, I’d like to additionally thank Waki Ikawa for the pamphlet illustrations, as well as Takashi Yagi for his continued work on the manga version being released by Gangan Joker. Seeing my work come alive in the form of illustrations and comics brings me such joy. I want to thank both of you from the bottom of my heart. To everyone else who helped make this book possible, I also extend my thanks. And, of course, to you as well, my dear readers, who have stayed by my side all this time. 
This book ended up having a number of scenes that pained me to write, which only added to overall fatigue. For this reason, I’m thinking the next book might be a story about a certain werewolf—no, it must! He may be a tsundere (is that the right word?), but he needs a chance to shine, or howl in this case, and I hope you’ll stick with me for it. 
Those who’ve read my ramblings all the way till the end—thank you. 
All the best. 

Fujino Omori