Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 10 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

Hello! I only have three pages this time, so I’m going to get straight into my comments on each chapter!

• Chapter 1 On the Road: A Story in a Book

I treated this chapter like a prologue to Volume 10. I thought it might be interesting to have Elaina talk to you from inside a book, so I wanted to give it a try. I’m glad I was able to bring the idea to fruition.

• Chapter 2 The Tale of a Mermaid Who Was in Love with Love

I feel like most tales about mermaids are tragic love stories, but in this book, I wrote a comedy instead. I wonder if the day will ever come when Keith learns to handle himself around women…?

• Chapter 3 The Land of Letters Never Forgets

A story about Elaina and Miss Fran, and about Miss Fran and her own teacher… That’s all!

• Chapter 4 Witch Trial

When I came up with the idea for this chapter’s plot, I was really torn on whether or not I should actually write it, but my head editor told me to go for it, so I ended up writing it. It’s probably my least original work to date.

• Chapter 5 Mages in the Sky

A story about Amnesia and her sister, and also two mage sisters. I had been thinking about writing a story about a castle in the sky for a long time, but I was hesitant because I worried it would turn out to be a very long chapter. However, it seemed like it would fit well with an eye toward this volume’s epilogue, so I finally made it a reality in Volume 10.

• Chapter 6 On the Road: The Story of the Lonely Book

This chapter is divided into two parts. I was happy that I got Brainy Elaina to make an appearance. The image of Miss Fran admonishing The Lonely Story Book at the end of this chapter acts as an introduction to the next chapter.

• Chapter 7 On the Road: Inside the Lighthouse

Human beings grow and change, and no relationship stays the same forever, but even though we know this, I think that we feel a sense of loneliness when our personal relationships change. The e-book kicked off with Saya’s story, and she’s reached critical junctures twice, in Volumes 3 and 5, and I wanted the same to happen in this volume. Volume 10 of the Wandering Witch series, the series which began with Elaina placing a hat on Saya’s head, ends with her placing a hat on her head again. Elaina’s travels with Miss Fran and Saya’s miserable days also come to an end here.

• Chapter 8 On the Road: Fire Rising in a Dark Sky

The Lantern Festival is based on the practice of releasing khom loi. For this book, I made it into a custom of taking your feelings for distant loved ones, putting them in lanterns, and launching them. We saw Amnesia and her sister watching the lanterns from high in the sky and Saya pulling her teacher along to a bright place without launching a lantern. We saw Miss Fran gazing at the lanterns from the sea. We saw Elaina reaching out toward the lanterns from land. Though every one of them was watching the same spectacle, I’m sure they all had different wishes for the lanterns.

That concludes my comments for each chapter. Nice to see you again. I’m Jougi Shiraishi. Mainly because I made the last chapter too long, I have very few pages for my afterword at this time, so I’ll try to summarize my thoughts concisely. This being the tenth volume since the start of the series, I’ve been thinking for a while that I wanted to make it a kind of pause in the story. And so I thought I would bring it to a close at the end with Saya’s story. Based on the length of the final section, it would have been a perfect ending to the whole series, but this series is going to keep going after this, so I hope you will cheer me on! By the way, I may as well announce that from the next volume on, we are returning to Elaina’s usual solo travels.

Regarding the attached drama CD, I guess I’ve said this several times on Twitter already, but when I attended the recording for the first CD, I was so nervous that I bit my lower lip so hard, I thought I might chew it right off. But at the recording for the second CD, I couldn’t help but enjoy myself, listening in the back, and I was all smiles the whole time. Personally, I liked Chapter 4 the best. Thank you again to everyone who was involved in producing the drama CD, especially the cast!

Now then, the acknowledgments.

To M, the head editor: I’m…so sorry for making you wait until the last minute this time. It was just one thing after another, and in the end, I gave you the longest manuscript I’ve ever written…

To Azure: Thank you for your always-adorable illustrations. I especially like the drawing of Elaina on the cover for the drama CD… Looking forward to continuing working with you.

To all my readers: I’m sorry that my afterword is so short this time. It would make me very happy if you would continue to watch over Elaina’s journeys going forward. See you later!