Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 12 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

Before we get into the afterword, first let me start with a story from the time when we were making the second drama CD.

Since the recording of the second CD was taking place at a certain spot in Tokyo, my editor and I, plus Azure, decided to meet up at the nearest train station prior to the recording and travel to the studio together.

I’m impatient, so I arrived at the station a little bit before our meeting time, and so did my editor. I had nothing to do until it was time, and I had no idea what to do with myself, so I idly watched the people arrive at the station as I waited for Azure.

That’s when it happened.

There’s someone with the same shoes as me…!

I spotted a person among the crowd coming down the stairs into the station who was wearing exactly the same shoes as I was.

This was a station in Tokyo, where countless numbers of people flowed through early in the morning. And among the flood of different shoes, as numerous as the stars, it was not unusual that someone would have bought the same shoes as me. And yet running into someone who had put on exactly the same pair as me and come to the same station at the same time of day seemed like an incredible coincidence. So I felt like it was fate, and at the same time, I felt a sense of fellowship. It made me want to rush right up to the person and engage in some shoe talk, whispering right in their ear, “Heh-heh-heh, those shoes are great, aren’t they…? Where did you buy them? I got mine at a store nearby—” I didn’t even really like the shoes that much, but I felt like doing something like that. That was how moved I was. I felt like the stars had aligned.

Now, just what kind of person do you suppose was wearing those shoes?

My chest swelled with feelings of camaraderie that I had wholly invented in my own mind. I tilted my gaze and, starting at his feet, looked up until I could see the man’s face.

“…………”

It was Azure.

Never mind the feelings of fellowship; we were actually just work fellows…

What a surprise for Shiraishi…

So we went to watch the recording session in our matching shoes. Thankfully, none of the staff or voice cast noticed. Or maybe they did notice and just decided not to mention it.

By the way, after the recording session, the head editor, myself, and Azure had a wrap party, and since Azure and I had exactly the same shoes, it caused some confusion when it was time to leave, and we couldn’t tell whose shoes were whose. For the record, despite being sober, I nearly put on Azure’s shoes and went home in them.

Now that I’ve touched on something that happened at the recording of the second drama CD, I’d like to talk about the third CD.

I get by with two pairs of shoes for private use, and one of those pairs is the one that miraculously matches Azure’s. And the other pair are sneakers made out of (black) suede. Thinking that it would of course be inexcusable to match Azure every time, I switched to wearing my sneakers after the second CD incident, but I actually recently found out that my sneakers are also a match, for a pair owned by the publisher. Since it became clear there was no escape for me, I ended up deciding to attend the recording of the third CD wearing the shoes that match Azure’s. I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t buy different shoes, if matching bothered me, but the thing is that I forgot.

And so on the day of the recording—

For the third recording, we went straight to the studio without meeting up beforehand. As usual, I was impatient, so after waiting restlessly in a nearby café for two hours, I entered the studio.

I took off my coat, sat down, and sighed.

I didn’t really care about something like matching shoes. I was just a little embarrassed about it for some reason. I waited several minutes, thinking absentmindedly that there was no helping it if we did match.

Azure entered the room.

I stood up and greeted Azure with a bow as he took off his coat.

“Good morning!”

With an air of innocence, I checked his feet.

The shoes Azure had on that day were different shoes than he had worn to the recording of the second drama CD.

We had avoided wearing matching shoes. That meant there shouldn’t be any concern about not knowing whose shoes were whose when we went out drinking after the recording session.

Feeling relieved, I looked up.

By the way, the outfit I was wearing that day was very, very simple.

And the outfit Azure was wearing that day was also a simple ensemble.

“…………”

To make a long story short, Azure and I were wearing matching outfits that day.

Oh no, we wore matching shoes to the second recording, and now we match again somehow, ha-ha-ha, I thought. It was the third CD recording, and never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined we would match everything above the shoes.

As you might expect, it was inevitable that people noticed, since there were two of us right next to each other looking exactly the same. It was only natural that someone made a passing comment about our outfits. “You look sort of like twins…”

Aw, it was a coincidence. Really.

And so the strange spectacle of having two people standing beside each other greeting everyone in exactly the same outfit unfolded at the time of the third recording. Already, given the circumstances, I knew there was no way we were going to make a good impression, no matter what kind of greeting we offered. No matter how I dressed up my words or tried to make myself look cool, the clothes I was actually dressed in were a perfect match for my buddy’s. Of course, the humor of the situation far exceeded any attempt at coolness I could muster. It would have been way more natural for us to go easy on the greetings and launch into a two-man comedy act instead.

Anyway, the recording of the third CD got started with a strange coincidence involving matching outfits, but as far as the main event of the recording—it was really fun.

Recently, I have been very busy, and I find myself without a moment to catch my breath. Somehow, my life changed just like that without my noticing. But it’s truly a joyful thing for me that, in the middle of all that busyness, I get to be present at the recordings for the drama CDs and watch the actors breathe life into the Journey of Elaina characters. I think it’s an amazing opportunity to encounter new aspects of the characters.

During the first recording, due to my extreme nervousness, I felt like I might die the moment I made eye contact with the cast. But lately, I’ve gotten somewhat used to it. I think if I was standing about five kilometers away, I would have no problem making eye contact.

All right, that was my story about the third drama CD.

Personally, I think about ten or twenty minutes per story is probably just right for a drama CD. The Journey of Elaina has always been a series of short stories, and I think it’s more in keeping with the books to have several stories on one CD (though there’s also the reason that I want to write dialogues between various characters).

Actually, the third drama CD had the most lines of any drama CD so far, and I did wonder, Is the length of this going to be okay…? and I felt hopeless because I knew, But there’s nothing left that can be cut… But thankfully, everything worked out. The plans for the fourth drama CD are already made, and this time I’d like to try to keep the length a little more reasonable…

And next time, when it’s time for the recording, I will be filled with trepidation as I pick out my clothes and shoes, terrified that anything of mine might match with anyone else.

I digress, but I recently purchased a pair of old-school Vans as my third pair of shoes. I was thinking that with such incredibly basic shoes, I could escape criticism, like, “Well, they’re incredibly basic, right? Can’t help matching somebody! Right?!”

So now that I’ve discussed my recent circumstances, I’d like to get into the comments on each chapter of The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 12.

My comments on each chapter are packed with spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book yet, skip over them!

• Chapter 1 The Story of a Certain Traveler

A prologue sort of story.

Now that The Journey of Elaina is set to become an anime, I discussed with my editor the possibility that people might start reading the books from the latest issue. This chapter was about giving a rough idea of what kind of story this is and what kind of person our protagonist, Elaina, is. The fact that it’s not one continuous story is one of the nice things about a book made up of lots of short stories.

• Chapter 2 An Expedient Species

I’ve heard that genes evolve in order to leave behind as many copies of themselves as possible.

Apparently, creatures and viruses that invade the bodies and minds of their hosts and control them are called parasites. But many of these parasites bring about the death of their hosts. Hairworms cause their cricket hosts to drown themselves, and a mouse infested with toxoplasma stops fearing the smell of cat urine and then gets eaten because it’s easy to catch. There are all sorts of other kinds, too, but most of them pretty much have traits like this. It seems that parasites can even reproduce by causing the death of their hosts through methods like suicide or predation. For example, the toxoplasma from the mouse I brought up earlier multiplies inside the cat’s organs, propagating its offspring by mixing into the animal’s excrement. I suppose in a way, the parasite’s murder of its host is not unlike the mating of animals or the pollination of plants.

With all that in mind, the dark elves that show up in The Journey of Elaina must consider the species known as human beings to be truly an expedient species. That was that story. Honestly, I’ve wanted to write this story for a long time, and I agonized over it, so it’s a relief to finally have it done.

• Chapter 3 A Tale of Three Cities: The Reason for the Price

I rarely go to the discount store, but every once in a while, a drink whose product concept was too out-there to really gain popularity is left on sale for a super-cheap price, you know? I actually kind of like those peculiar drinks, so I sometimes buy them, but when I try drinking them, they’re not that good. Even though I remember them being a little tastier back when I bought them at a convenience store for the standard price, they are actually pretty gross. It’s as if all the magic has been removed. I think it might be because they were nasty when I bought them at the convenience store, too, but since I paid full price for them, I convinced myself they tasted good. By the way, this phenomenon is apparently called cognitive bias.

• Chapter 4 The Exorcist and the Demon

I think life is probably more fun if you have the open-mindedness to enjoy something, even knowing it’s a lie. This is changing the subject, but recently, advances in technology have made it easier to spot blatant hoaxes. Maybe that’s why you don’t see many programs about ghosts or horror stories anymore. Around the time I was in middle school, there were a bunch of shows about exorcisms. The victim would be tied to a chair, and the priest would order them to “Tell me your name!” In a distressed voice, the victim would croak out, “Lu-Lucifer…!” After which Lucifer was simply banished by the priest. Well… There are different degrees of lies, now aren’t there…?

• Chapter 5 A Tale of Three Cities: Because It’s Something People Recommend

I don’t need to go out of my way to tell you that this is one of those “grass looks greener on the other side” kind of stories, but to put it simply, that’s the kind of tale it is. It’s one of the very rare instances where the character of Mina appears. Actually, I’ve been waiting for the right time for her to appear ever since Volume 5, but I couldn’t quite work her in, and it ended up taking me seven volumes.

• Chapter 6 Lucille Who Never Smiles

This one’s just a story about making a girl who doesn’t smile smile. Nothing more and nothing less; that’s really all there was to it. Personally, I’m pleased with how it ended. I feel like this is the first time I’ve written a character who doesn’t properly speak as a guest character… (Except for Gardenia and the other characters who only talked through writing.)

• Chapter 7 A Tale of Three Cities: A Story of Something of Value

Miss Broom always shows up at key points.

I’m changing the subject, but apparently there are cancer treatments in this world that, although extremely expensive, have absolutely no basis in medicine. And yet strangely, great numbers of people seek out such treatment methods. I touched on this a little bit in the “The Reason for the Price” part of the tale of the three cities, but when something is very expensive, sometimes, strangely enough, that makes people feel like it’s really effective, as if it’s been treated with magic. In actuality, the real medical treatments that can help many people for a low price are the result of many scientists working around the clock. So it’s not necessarily true that they are cheap because they are not effective. At least, that was what was written in an article I read a while ago. That made me think.

The tale of the three cities basically deals with the subject of those sorts of price differences, and the three chapters together make up one story. By the way, the city names were made A-B-C (provisional names) because I wanted to make it easy to understand. It would have been fine to give each city a real name, but it seemed like that would make the connection between the chapters less clear.

• Chapter 8 Good-for-Nothing Sario

I’m convinced that villains look like villains from one angle, but that when you view them from a different angle, they look like good people. I feel like I’ve written similar stories countless times. I’ve never encountered someone who was completely steeped in evil to the bottom of their heart. Since from a single viewpoint, the world and the people in it can look as evil or as good as you like, I’m of the opinion that it’s not wise to hate anything. But even though I’m fully aware of that, I do have days when I just can’t stand something. I’m only human. At times like those, if I go on an outing and escape from reality, I feel a little bit better, so that’s what I recommend.

• Chapter 9 The Story of a Certain Photographer

This is the epilogue to Sario’s story. I really would have preferred to conclude her story within Chapter 8, but Chapter 8 was leaping willy-nilly through the chronological order, so out of necessity, I had to stretch it out into an epilogue.

Right, so that was The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 12.

This time, I have ten pages for my afterword, so I took the liberty of tossing in this and that and various other things that I haven’t gotten a chance to talk about lately. However many pages I’m granted for the afterword, I’m going to fill them with endless prattle and as many comments on each chapter as the page count will allow, so I hope you’ll bear with me in the future.

Oh yeah, and I think more information about the anime version of The Journey of Elaina that’s coming will be made available soon. So feel free to keep checking for new information at any time! There’s an official Twitter account, too!

With all that said, I think it’s about time to move along to the acknowledgments.

To M, the head editor.

Thank you, as always. Next time for sure, I’m going to try to get you the manuscript early…

To Azure.

Thank you for always drawing such adorable illustrations. The cover image for the special edition was especially awesome. (They’re all awesome, though!) From now on, I’ll let you know ahead of time what clothes I’m going to wear to the recording session…

To Itsuki Nanao.

Thank you as always for creating the wonderful comic book version. It makes me truly happy that I can see Elaina’s various expressions in the comics.

To all of the staff involved with the drama CDs.

Thank you so much for your work on the most recent one. I was really glad to hear you say that you thought the script was interesting when I met you for the first time at the recording site. I look forward to working with you again on the fourth CD.

To all of the cast members working on the drama CDs.

No matter how many times I listen to the back-and-forth between Elaina and Miss Fran, or the sibling bickering between Amnesia and Avelia, or the investigations that Saya and Sheila conduct, or the narration by Miss Fran, it never gets old. I’m always thinking about how lucky I am to have such amazing people acting the parts as I listen to your recordings. I’m looking forward to working with you again on the fourth CD.

To all of the staff involved with the anime.

I’m so sorry that I haven’t found an opportunity to meet you all. I’m really moved by your gorgeous art and character designs and by the way you brought to life the parts of the story that didn’t have any pictures in the original books. Thank you so much.

That does it. The Journey of Elaina is still ongoing, so I’d be delighted if I could count on your continued support.

And I can’t wait to watch the anime, too.

All right then, let’s meet again in Volume 13. See you later!