Goblin Slayer - Volume SS2.03 - Chapter Aft

AFTERWORD

Hullo, Kumo Kagyu here!

Did you enjoy the final volume of Dai Katana?

I put my all into writing it, so I hope you had fun!

I’ve traveled very far from home…

Why am I having that thought, when I haven’t even drunk Mr. Saturn’s coffee?

Is it because I’ve reached my first final volume as an author?

Or could it be because the origins of this story go all the way back to 2014?

That’s right—at first, Dai Katana was something I wrote on the web, just however I felt at the time. But then life happened, and I put the project on hold for five years. Now it’s been reborn as a novel series, and after three years, it’s reached its conclusion…

I’ve written in fits and starts over that time, writing a bit, then putting it on pause to work on other, more urgent books, then starting again… It’s taken me eight years to get here. In that time, I somehow became an author.

I’ve traveled very far from home.

With all those experiences, the original story has changed in a variety of ways. Although to be fair, the original story was one where I decided on the twists simply by a roll of the dice. People died unexpectedly, they got unaccountably closely involved with slimes, or they were careless and were nearly killed. The dice guided me to plot developments I could never have imagined.

The place where I stopped was—you guessed it, the moment when Female Bishop appears before “you” with her former party. When I resumed writing, however, I realized that I was going to have to handle things alone from there on out. I fretted about what I would do—but even so, I tried to write the story I intended to write.

Maybe some of you out there preferred the story the way it was before it changed. If so, I hope you’ll still enjoy this version, the same way you might enjoy a theatrical version and a special edition. Me, I loved the straightforward forest ending of the theatrical version, but then again, we get to see more of Boba Fett in the special edition, which is cause for celebration.

This is pretty much the same thing. I guess.

In this book, “you”—that is, you—are the main character and become the hero.

This is something I learned from Sorcery!, the books that really sealed my nerdy fate. The one I got my hands on was about a magical crown that would make the wearer a great king—except that it has been stolen by the Archmage.

The Archmage’s hideout lies beyond a wilderness crawling with monsters; it’s not somewhere the army can invade. Instead, they send an adventurer—you.

You cross hills afflicted by pirates, brave an eerie cityport, and defeat the Archmage’s assassins, a team of giant snakes…

To my young self, these adventures were tremendously exciting—although it took me a long time to get my paws on Volume 2!

Sorcery! has other game books that take place in the same world (although there are plenty that don’t, too). Those endless stories, those endless adventures, were a major part of what drew me onto this road less traveled.

Sorcery! was, for me, truly a bronze-covered book.

There’s another work that forms a major “motif” in this book: Wizardry. In it, “I,” a nameless adventurer and my party, work our way through a seemingly endless dungeon. What party members I gather and what adventures we have are all up to me. It’s my own personal story, forged one step at a time as the ashes cling to my feet.

It’s also the story of many different adventurers and each of their tales. Both of these were very interesting to me and lots of fun.

Another influence I can’t neglect to mention: Legend of Lodoss.

You might be aware of another Goblin Slayer side story, called Year One. I called it that because, well, it was a story of the main character’s past.

Dai Katana, meanwhile, is a story of the world’s past. It answers the question of what happened in the battle with the Demon Lord. Therefore, I thought, it is to Goblin Slayer as Legend is to Record of Lodoss War.

I knew I had to do a story about the All Stars.

All these influences and elements combined to create Dai Katana: The Singing Death.

I’ve traveled very far from home…

I could never have made it this distance all alone.

There were all the people who have enjoyed and supported this work for the past eight years, starting with the web version.

The admins of the aggregator sites who thought this story was interesting enough to include.

Everyone at GA Bunko Editorial who helped get this story out into the world.

All the distribution, marketing, and salespeople, and all the others who were involved in that process.

lack, who drew fantastic illustrations.

Takashi Minakuchi and Shogo Aoki, for handling the manga version.

To all my friends who chatted with me, listened to me, and played games with me—thank you always.

To my five party members who have adventured with me for eight years now.

And finally, to “you.”

You who have picked up this book, adventured, and saved the Four-Cornered World.

It’s all thanks to you.

I mean it—thank you so much.

And congratulations.

I’m sure you’ll continue adventuring even after the end of this story. Maybe via video games, or tabletop RPGs, or even game books.

Me, on the other hand? I’m going to become a duelist, or maybe a king. Then again, I might not have a lot of time for that stuff since I also have plenty I need to write. There are 50,000 different things that might happen—this, that, and the other thing; tales perhaps told, perhaps not.

I’m grateful for it. Although sometimes I feel like I’m drowning in it. But still, I’ll try my best.

Maybe we’ll meet each other somewhere during your adventure.

My sincere wish for you is that whatever that adventure is, it makes your heart pound.

If your heart races as you wander, I will be overjoyed.

See you again—sometime.