Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 19 - Chapter Aft

Author, Afterword ? AND YOU ? 
Even though everyone has one or two things no one else would know about, they are unexpectedly not to the level of being called a secret. 
I looked up the meaning of ?secret? in the dictionary, and found out that one of the meanings was ?a teaching which the Buddha kept hidden because of a certain reason?. 
This was a term created from a Buddhist sect known as esoteric Buddhism. 
Even if we consider this source, the meaning of ?secret? can also be understood as a matter which would cause an impact on an unspecified number of people around the secret, regardless of whether they are hidden or revealed. 
Thinking back on our lives, we would realise that there are unexpectedly very few things which are meaningful whether we hide or reveal them. 
Basically, the contents we want to hide would at most be things like the regrets or guilt we harboured when we were really young or in our youth. 
Even though this is a sensitive topic, another would be annual income or the assets we own, matters which are related to money. 
However, even if we hide these things, it would not cause much impact to the people around us who do not know, and after these are revealed, unless the contents are too illegal or too exaggerated, it would only affect the ratings of the person who revealed them and not cause an excessive impact on the surrounding people. 
Thinking about it, the only thing which could be considered a ?secret? in our daily lives would be, 
“Who is dating who.” 
It felt like only this is left. 
If a specific couple appeared in a certain organisation, it would cause a huge impact. 
Considering this impact, before a suitable opportunity arrives, hiding the fact that they have become a couple is can be said to be very meaningful. 
After this is revealed, the fact which was hidden will definitely receive comments from both sides and will cause a huge impact to the surroundings in the end. 

Honestly, ?secrets? which are ranked above this, quoting a good example, it would be the athlete’s name list for an international sports competition; quoting bad examples, it would be the cover up actions of a company or the corruption of the government and bureaucracy. This topics are too large in scale, so it feels like things which we will come into direct contact with, 
Then, thinking back on my life, I discovered that thanks to the readers, in the life of the author Wagahara, I started to harbour secrets periodically. 
Not the contents of what I will write next, but the ?Release Date?. 
With regards as to what I will write next, even if I have already thought of the plot early on, I still could not proceed as scheduled when I actually start writing, so there are many things that even I don’t know about. Therefore, this could not be considered a secret. 
On the other hand, hiding the matter of the release date, even if I do not specially explain this, everyone also knows that this hiding and publicising on a business level and the timing are very meaningful and impactful. 
After saying, ‘The release date has been published, please look forward to it!’, the impact caused to my surroundings is really hard to estimate. 
Then, even though I dragged it out and said a bunch of strange things, what I truly wanted to say is ‘It has been so long since the last release date, I am really sorry’. 
Being able to reveal the release date of ?Hataraku Maou-sama! 19? and some secrets in the story really made me feel relieved. 
As for the release date of the next volume and the secrets of the story…… I will try my best, try my best to reveal them earlier. 
The volume tells a story about a group of people living their daily lives, trying hard to face the secrets hidden deep within their heart. 
After facing them, will those secrets be revealed, or will they continue to be hidden. 
With regards to the conclusions made by each of them, everyone can wait to confirm it in the world within this story. 
Then, see you next volume! 
See you! 
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