Genjitsushugisha no Oukokukaizouki - Volume 6 - Chapter Int

Midword 

Thank you for buying volume six of Realist Hero. This is Dojyomaru, and I feel that, while there are far more dragon-inspired mechs, a lot of ryuu-inspired mechs, like Denshi Seijuu Doru and Ryuseiou, are cool, too. 

I have a lot I want to say this time, so I got three pages to do so. I’ll be explaining things that include spoilers for this volume, so I recommend not reading this section until you’ve finished the main story. 

With this volume, the fifth fiancée, Naden the black ryuu, has finally joined Souma’s family. 

While she was the only ryuu living among dragons, Naden is an ordinary girl, with a personality a lot like those in the world Souma came from. I wanted to bring out the feeling that she was a girl in love with love, and I think she came out feeling very much like a young maiden. I hope she’ll be well loved. 

Also, this volume showed the connection between the world Souma came from and Liscia and the others’ world. In short, it hinted that this might not be another world. If so, then what are magic, different races, demons, and monsters to this world? I’d like to gradually reveal that as the story progresses. It’s as strange a story as ever, huh. 

Normally, if you start with a world of sword and sorcery, you build your story on top of that platform; but in this story, we’ll be discussing why it became a world of sword and sorcery in the first place. That may sound pedantic, but I think it’s what gives this story its “individuality.” 

I talked about individuality and universality in the main story, as well. Souma likened it to the exam wars, but I feel it applies most strongly to the creation of literature. If what you make is too bizarre, no one is going to accept it or pay it any attention. However, when it comes to material that is easily accepted by everyone, formulas and templates have already been established, and you’ll be buried in similar works. 

While working with subject matter that will be accepted by a large number of people, even though it may be not accessible to everyone, I want to find some way to inject myself and differentiate it from other works. It’s that gap that writers (though maybe not just writers) struggle through repeated trial and error to find. 

If there’s one more thing I have to say, it’s about the manga adaptation by Satoshi Ueda being released at the same time as this volume. Every time I see the rough draft of a chapter, I’m overwhelmed by the quality of the art. He’s done a good job summarizing things I explained at length in the novel. I have to give him credit, and say that if you want to review past events, you should go read the manga adaptation. 

Thank you, Mr. Ueda. Please keep working with this novel. 

Now, as for the continuation of this story... you can read it. I’ve put everything after the Star Dragon Mountain Range arc on Pixiv. You can read about four volumes ahead there. I questioned whether it was okay to announce this, but my editor said, “Sure, why not? It works as advertising,” and didn’t think it was a big deal. 

For those of you who are interested, search on Pixiv using the keyword ????. You’ll know you’ve found it by the Little Musashibo icon. But the Pixiv version is split up into a lot of small parts, so for those who want to read things all in one go, I recommend waiting for the published volumes. 

In my case, I do a lot of rewriting and additions for the published volumes, so it would be good if you could keep buying them, too. 

Let me say this definitively: Whatever the web novel version says, what’s in the published volumes is “canon.” 

I’ve gone on for a while now, so let me wrap this up. 

I give my thanks to Fuyuyuki for always providing such wonderful character designs, to Satoshi Ueda for the excellent manga adaptation, to my editor, the designers, the proofreaders, and everyone who now holds this book in their hands. 

This has been Dojyomaru. 

This midword will be followed by three short stories about what those left behind in the kingdom got up to during this volume. I considered fitting them in where they go chronologically, but decided it was better to read straight through the main story, so that’s why the book is organized this way. 

In terms of timeline, Side Story 1 happens just before Souma and Naden make their short trip back; Side Story 2 happens while Souma, Liscia, and the rest have gone to confront the storm; and Side Story 3 happens when everything is over, and they’ve gotten back to the kingdom. There’s a second epilogue after them to lead into the next volume. 

To be completely honest, Side Story 3 actually takes place right after Epilogue 2. 

I hope you will read all the way to the end.