With this book, Bete will finally be able to make it onto the cover. Though I skipped a book since writing about the Amazonian sisters in book six of the side series, book eight will once again see my poor characters’ rage take the front seat. Back when I first started writing the main series, the only two characters in Loki Familia whose pasts I’d fully envisioned were Aiz’s and Finn’s. I hadn’t put a thought into any of the other characters’ backgrounds. Thus, when GA approached me about writing this side series, my first thought was, quite ineloquently, Shit! As you can imagine, the star of this book, Bete, was one of those in-the-dark characters. Even among various stakeholders, Bete has always been vilified: “Bete’s annoying,” “Kill him off quickly,” “Bete was so grating in the first book,” “I’m actually amazed at just how annoying Mister Okamoto’s Bete is in the anime.” But for me as the author, I’ve never wanted to create easygoing, expendable characters. No, this character in particular was supposed to be the one to give Bell his original drive, a haughty, prideful kind of character. Which is why Bete turned out the way he did. Getting kicked around can be a form of baptism, almost. And without that impetus, so to speak, neither they nor the things around them will ever change. Even if they try desperately to change them, they’ll never change. That was kind of my basis for building up the character, bringing together a sense of frustration but also the feeling of looking up to someone into one entity.
The phrase “howl of the weak” comes up often when I’m trying to put this character into words, but more and more, he’s starting to become the typical tsundere, much as I hate to admit it. Anyway, it’s about time I move on to my thank-yous for this volume (though, please be aware of some pretty major spoilers throughout). To Otaki, Takahashi, and all the rest of the staff at GA Bunko, I thank you once again for all your help on this volume. To Chief Editor Kitamura, who wisely advised that “[I] can’t kill Lena!” during our plot meetings, I’m even more grateful now that I’ve written out the epilogue. To Kiyotaka Haimura, who, once again, has supplied my work with the most wondrous of illustrations despite the grueling schedule, I want to get down on my knees and thank you. I’m also incredibly grateful to the staff, cast, and everyone else who made the limited-edition drama CD for this new volume possible. And, of course, you have my utmost thanks, as well, my readers, who have once again picked up my book. Though this afterword is already getting rather long, there is one more thing I’d like to announce: A new Sword Oratoria anime has been slated for an April 2017 broadcast. To have this little side story get the animation treatment the same as my main series is thanks to nothing but the overwhelming support of you, my readers. I can’t thank you enough. I’m even more inspired now to keep working as hard as possible—after all, I can’t let myself lose to the incredible work of the staff and cast on the new film version. I hope to see all of you again in the next book. All the best.
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