AFTERWORD
HELLO. This is Makoto Inoue.
I really love Fullmetal Alchemist, so naturally, being allowed to write this novel made me very happy.
In order to completely immerse myself in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, I spent many stressful days using my brain to its full capacity. But on the other hand, it was also enjoyable because I was able to spend time thinking about my favorite characters. It might have seemed like I was just sitting there zoning out, but inside my head I was adventuring in the Fullmetal Alchemist world with a backpack. Or, it might have seemed like I was clutching my head in worry, but inside my head Colonel Mustang and Second Lieutenant Havoc were doing a comedy routine. After spending my days like this, I realized that I’d become even more of a fan than I was before.
To me, this Fullmetal Alchemist novel was a short visit into Hiromu Arakawa’s world. I would be extremely happy if the readers, and of course Arakawa Sensei, can even get a small amount of enjoyment out of the book. (But I do apologize if you don’t like it.)
As always, I received a great deal of support from many people on this project. First of all I’d like to thank Arakawa Sensei, for taking time out of her busy schedule and teaching me so many things about the Fullmetal world. I promised you that if I ever saw you at Toys “R” Us staring in rapture at Darth Vader that I would pretend not to know you, so if you see me rummaging for Gundam model kits, please just look the other way (heh).
I’d also like to thank my editor, Nomoto. He helped me out tremendously by giving me advice and replying very quickly to all of my questions. Also, during the planning stages he would tell me things like “BOOM! Bring this over here … and then BLAM! Put this down here …” or “BAM! Just like that!” and “Copy the whole thing—WHOOSH!—right now …” I really enjoyed hearing him using so many sound effects in actual conversations. And I’ll never forget what he said that one time …
MAKOTO INOUE: (talking about the schedule for the end of the year) “Wow, Nomoto, it looks like you’re going to be even busier than before.”
NOMOTO: “No, no it’s all just a part of my job! To me being busy is nothing but a bunch of … HANNACHARABOO!”
He would say all of this in his characteristically pleasant voice. He knew how to keep things fun even when the work became stressful. Three seconds later, I would be laughing so hard that my stomach hurt. Thank you, Nomoto.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all of the people who read this book. Thank you very much!
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