Afterword
Nice to meet you. Or maybe I should say, “Good to see you again.” My name is Jougi Shiraishi.
Recently, I’ve become a full-fledged member of society. When I was small, I pictured all grown adults as perfect human beings. But, well, when I tried to become a cog in the wheel of society, even though it was awash in amazing people, I myself was unable to become one of them. People don’t always go through a dramatic personal change just by experiencing a shift of circumstances, and now I earnestly think that I will remain who I am, even as an adult—at least, until I have a change of heart.
Speaking of which (?), thank you for purchasing Volume 2 of Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina.
Just as in Volume 1, she went around meeting people, weaving stories with them before parting ways…but if that’s all there ever is to the plot, it wouldn’t be very interesting! I was worried that might be the case, so I decided to change the plan for Volume 2. And since Elaina is constantly flying through forests, I decided to give it more of a seasonal touch. As a result, poor Elaina endured traveling through both snow country and the desert in a single volume.
Also, when I showed my manuscript to my editor, it turned out to be packed with dark stories. It could have been because I was writing this volume right around when I was preparing for my first year as a full-fledged member of society, or maybe because my apprehensions about this new lifestyle were on the rise. Or it could have been because I had reached the peak of my dissatisfaction with the world at large.
And because my manuscript was overly dark, my editor expressed concern for me: “Jougi, have you fallen to the dark side? Are you all right?”
I’m all right. I’m feeling very well, in fact. By the way, the story that was too dark was revised to be a tiny bit milder, and I meant for it to be included as one of the chapters in this book, but then it was cast down into hell (meaning it was rejected).
Now then, on to the acknowledgments.
To my editor, M. Thank you for saving me before I descended into the dark side. May the force be with you.
To Azure, thank you for continuing to draw adorable images and characters as you did for Volume 1… Princess Chocolat’s cuteness is especially dangerous. Like I almost fell in love. But she’s gay. Tough luck for me.
Finally, to everyone who had a part in the publication of this book, and to all the readers who have been kind enough to read all the way to the end of this empty afterword, thank you all very much.
…I’ve got a few lines left over, so I’ll give you some spoilers for the next volume (assuming it gets printed).
Some guy named Jougi Shiraishi from the present day is reborn in another world. However, he is neither gifted with convenient special abilities nor surrounded by beautiful women. Since he had only lived in modern civilization, he has no specialized knowledge, and no one else speaks his language anyway. For all these reasons, he starves to death in a matter of days. I’ll depict a course of events along those lines. Of course, the essential parts of a person don’t change just because their environment shifts. I’m planning to make that the punch line.
That’s a lie, of course. Well then, if there’s another volume, I’ll see you there!
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