Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 25 - Chapter Aft

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Afterword

Long time no see. It’s the author, Takehaya. This time I’ve safely delivered Invaders of the Rokujouma!? volume 25.

Time sure flies. We’re already on volume 25. Since I submitted my first proposal to the editorial department in 2007, this feels like the tenth anniversary to me. For you guys though, the tenth anniversary is a still little bit down the road. I’ve kept up a publishing pace of three volumes a year (although it’s been hastened from time to time), so when the thirtieth volume is released in the form of volume 28, that should be right around the time of the series’ official tenth anniversary. The Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Hercules! chapters being released on the web are piling up, so I think we’ll make it to volume 28. Of course, if we only have one more volume left, that might not happen (ha!). Actually, there’s a reason I’m bringing that up.

This work has a defined ending, and this volume made some progress towards that ending. I think those of you with good intuition probably already caught on to that. So while I won’t say when, this series will eventually come to a close. That alone is for certain.

Once that ending has been reached, Koutarou and the others will of course live normal lives. Or perhaps not, but at least they would be more normal than they are now. Specifically speaking, the legend of the Blue Knight, including the modern-day parts, will be turned into a movie in Forthorthe. The Blue Knight himself will be asked to appear. And when spring comes around, Mackenzie, who’s a high school student now, will visit room 106. I think there will be stories like that. Of course, there will be some danger now and again such as the remnants of the radical faction attacking. But what I want to ask is if readers would like to see a bit more of the normal lives of Koutarou and the others.

And once the main story is over, “what if” stories might be nice too. For example, “Koutarou has begun going out with X!” Ah, but if I start on a “what if” series like that, I’d have to make one for everyone (ha!). Apart from that, there might be a story about what happened to Alaia in a world where Koutarou never came to the past, “The Sword Princess and the Dragon Knight.” In a “what if” series, I could even revive the story about Space Detective Mackenzie that might have happened if the series had stopped at volume 3. I feel like there’s a lot that could be done in that vein.

I think stories like this could be used to fill the second halves of volumes with three chapters from Hercules! Of course, if they become too long, that would be a silly approach. For example, “The Sword Princess and the Dragon Knight” would never work as a second part. It would have to be its own book. Maybe even two.

But the idea is that I don’t want to release a volume with six stories from Hercules! Personally, I think at least half of the volumes should be new content, so I don’t want to let the Hercules! stories pile up too much. However, as I’m pondering what kind of new content should go in too, I thought I might as well ask you guys.

Below the colophon at the end of the original printed book (the page that has the name and address of the publisher in large print) is a questionnaire. If possible, I would really appreciate it if you would take a look at it and let us know what you think and if you’d like to see some “what if” stories or not on the line that reads “the future of Rokujouma!?” For those that don’t have access to it or can’t find it, if you tweet your thoughts with the hashtag #theFutureofRokujouma (#六畳間の今後), I believe the editor in charge, S-kun, will take a look at it. I don’t mind which method you use, but please help out if you can.

S-kun is personally pushing for “what if” stories featuring the various heroines with limited edition boxes for each heroine containing the book and some goods. It would probably work the same way as the special editions did with the drama CDs. You’d just get the goods instead of a drama CD. In regards to this, you can also let us know what you think in the questionnaire or on Twitter. Also let us know what kinds of goods you’d be interested in seeing. If the voices asking for them are loud enough, it might just become reality (ha!). Personally, on top of what I described above, I think special game books would be fun to bundle as the second part of the Hercules! chapters. It would be about the right length to use, and if they’re not too complicated, the digital versions could handle them too. It might go something like this.

Start from 1.

Satomi-san, you and the others set foot in an old European style mansion. The inside is dim, musty, and dusty. On the wall in front of you hangs an old painting—an old painting of a young woman.

“In movies or games, a ghost would definitely come out of this painting.”

“Like this?”

“Kyah! S-Sanae, think of the time and place!”

“Heehee, sorry!”

There is only one door from the entrance leading further inside. Based on the rough map you have, past that should be a long hallway with several rooms.

If you examine the painting of the woman, go to 2. If you open the door and head into the hallway, go to 3.

The woman in the painting suddenly opens her eyes wide and glares at Satomi-san.

“All of you will die here! Just like I did!” a very eerie voice from the painting cries.

“...”

“...Hmph.”

Waaaaah...

“‘Hmph’ is all you have to say? This is your fault, Sanae! You spoiled the surprise for everyone, so of course she’s disappointed!”

“Heehee, sorry.”

Since Sanae apologized, I’m going to give you a hint. The woman in the painting is reaching out for something. It seems she was trying to grab a silver knife, but died before she could get it.

“In other words, if we want to survive, we need to search for the silver knife.”

“Good thing we have such an easy game master.”

“Koutarou, aren’t you casually being the worst?”

Okay, then what do you want to do now? If you want to examine the painting a little more, go to 4. If you think that’s enough, leave the room and go to 3.

There’s no lock on the door, so it opens easily with a turn of the knob, but it lets out a loud creak as it slowly opens. Past the door is a dim hallway with two doors on each side.

“All right, men, follow me!”

“Theia, are you sure? You’ve seen several films with setups like this from Earth, right?”

“That’s right! The head and caboose of the group always die!”

“Hmm... Then how about walking shoulder to shoulder?”

Please stop! Pretty please stop! This is just getting complicated!

“Looks like there’s a trap ahead.”

“Wouldn’t it be an ambush?”

“How about throwing my grenade? That should do the trick either way.”

“Why do you have something like that?!”

“I got it in the last scenario and kept it. Look, it says so right here on my character sheet.”

“It’s true! It’s written on her character sheet, Koutarou!”

Waaaaah...

“Give her a break. You should be more mature, Theia.”

“Fine. I guess I’ll play along...”

Okay, then what do you do next? If you want to examine the doors one at a time, go to 6. If you want to make sure that there aren’t any traps, go to 9.

And so on and so on. The concept is a tabletop RPG where Yurika is the game master.

The truth is that I’ve always been trying to think of a way to get the readers to feel like they’re part of Koutarou and the girls’ games. This was sort of an idea I had for that. Not everyone would have access to a video game or something like that, but every reader would have the book, of course. And since it would be the complement to a Hercules! volume, the editorial department might not get too mad if it’s just a one-off. I think it’s pretty feasible, so if any of you would be interested in something like that, please let S-kun know through the questionnaire or Twitter.

Now then, that’s enough of talk about the future. Let’s come back to the present. Thanks to an excellent strategy, Koutarou and the others were able to counteract the intervention of Elexis and the evil magical girls. In volume 26, we’ll have the decisive battle against Vandarion.

Thanks to the events of volume 25, a lot of Vandarion’s power has been stripped away, but he hasn’t given up just yet. He’ll attack using all kinds of methods in an attempt to kill Koutarou and defeat the royal families. Unlike Elexis and the others, Vandarion’s faction won’t hesitate to use any means necessary. There’s no doubt that their battle will be a fierce one. Just how will Koutarou and the others fight against them when they can’t use Signaltin? Please look forward to the story accelerating towards the end of the Forthorthe arc.

Now I’m all out of space for the afterword. I had a lot of space for it this time thanks to the way the book printing turned out, but I think I managed to fill it up well. And that said, we’re already at the end of it. I would like to, from the very bottom of my heart, thank the editorial department who works with me to publish every volume; Poco-san who worked hard to fulfill my even more specific than usual specifications; and all of you, my readers with this volume in hand.