Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 35 - Chapter Aft

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Afterword

It’s been a while. Takehaya here with the release of volume 35. We’re on our usual four-month schedule, but it’s sure felt like a lot longer than that with the coronavirus going around.

Luckily, I suffered no major delays with the state of emergency as it fit perfectly between volumes 34 and 35. I tend to do most of my work from home anyway. There are still the editorial department as well as the printing and shipping companies involved, though, so I was anxiously watching over what happened. Had there been any serious issues, however, this book wouldn’t have reached you by now, so I was relieved to hear the state of emergency had been lifted. Then again, it’s still too early to let our guard down.

Now, to put the serious talk behind us, let’s focus on the book instead. There were two major developments this volume. First was the introduction of our first new princess since Ceilēshu, and second was Koutarou and Nefilforan’s joint attack on Ralgwin’s base.

Nefilforan is the fifth princess of Forthorthe whose weapon of choice is a greatspear. She’s battle-hardy like Theia, but rather than being a natural at warfare, her power and skill come from hard work. Thanks to that, she can do things that even Theia can’t—like how she almost defeated Koutarou. She also prefers close combat, whereas Theia is a marksman. The fifth princess is a very serious girl, and that’s reflected in her training. (Theia would likely get too bored to keep up with it.) She also gets along well with Ruth, who has a similarly serious personality. Nefi is two Forthorthian years older than Theia, which makes her about the same age as Koutarou. Incidentally, this actually means Theia and Ruth are somewhat younger than Koutarou, even if they’re in the same grade.

When Nefilforan arrives with her regiment, Koutarou and the others are at last able to attack the remnants of Vandarion’s faction. Raiding their base with just the security detail assigned to the delegation would have been too difficult, though they can still only have a minimal amount of forces. This is to make sure they don’t intimidate Earth or Japan—a bit of diplomatic consideration. They need all the strength they can get, however, as they can’t let the enemy escape. If Ralgwin gets away, he’ll just set up shop somewhere else. That’s why the goal is to crush him for good in one fell swoop.

Then again, Ralgwin has no intention of going down that easily. He’s finally outfitted his troops with spiritual energy weaponry. Moreover, he’s a crafty one. As those of you who’ve already read the book know, Koutarou and the girls are in for a rough fight. Harumi and Theia in particular do a lot of heavy lifting. Harumi even got a color illustration!

Lastly, a certain someone makes his appearance. Sanae has sensed his presence before, but he finally shows up in this volume—which will only add to the chaos of the fight. In this 5,670,000,000th world where Koutarou made all the right choices, he was bound to show up eventually. Our main story might have come to an end in volume 29, but things won’t truly be over until this is resolved. Some of you might already know who he is, but please keep it a secret for a little longer (lol).

Volume 36 will probably continue the story. There was quite a bit of Hercules! content for the tenth anniversary celebration, so the main story will carry on for a while longer to catch up. The mysterious figure said that he would give Ralgwin the rest of the answers in regards to the Blue Knight’s power, so they will of course be heading there. Ralgwin also has a mountain of problems to overcome now that he’s lost the majority of his soldiers and his base—not to mention that he’s got Koutarou on his tail.

Ralgwin does have a spare base somewhere out there. He’s the cautious type who always has a backup, but with things so dire, he may not get to use it. It’s unlikely the mysterious figure made off with all of the soldiers who knew about it, so its location might be compromised. Ralgwin will have to come up with another card to play, so he’s got his work cut out for him. Meanwhile, Koutarou and the others will have to chase him down after his sudden disappearance. We now have ourselves a little game of cat and mouse, so please stay tuned for the conclusion.

I have a little more room for the afterword this time, so this is a good opportunity to talk a bit more about the book itself. Because of the format that Hobby Japan uses, book pages come in increments of sixteen. That means if 256 pages isn’t enough, the next step up is 272. I believe this is determined by the specifications of the printing machine, the size of the cardboard boxes used for transport, the thickness of the paper, and other such factors. If not, there should be an editor’s note after this, so please defer to that instead. [Editor’s Note: The ultimate page count is largely determined by how the books are manufactured. Please look up offset printing and signature sizes if you’re interested!]

Now, the afterword is fourteen pages long this time, meaning we have two extra pages to use. The excess space usually goes to the afterword and advertisements. Yes, the afterword is also meant to fill up space. It makes more sense to adjust the length of the afterword and advertisements than to take away from the main story. Again, if this is not the case, please refer to any following editor’s note. Since I have fourteen pages to work with, I’m going a little nuts here. [Editor’s Note: Depending on the circumstances, the volume might see adjustments to accommodate, but we try to avoid affecting the story because of production circumstances.]

I was asked to write at least five pages of material for the afterword, likely to avoid filling the back of the book with more than ten pages of ads. Since page count increases in increments of sixteen, that’s what we’d be looking at. Ten pages of adverts is a lot, but it’s difficult to ask an author to fill all that extra space themselves. I believe the numbers are what they are in order to strike some sort of balance. But again, please refer to the editor’s note. I’m writing based on intuition. [Editor’s Note: Since we have the space for it, we try to give the reader something to enjoy!]

That’s my general understanding of things. I wonder how it’s different in other countries. I’m sure the number of pages varies depending on the language. Sixteen might be unique to Japanese publishers. Maybe other countries work in multiples of twelve or something. Perhaps this afterword will even end up much longer in other languages! Although, perhaps there are other changes that offset that. Speaking of, I have copies of Rokujouma in other languages, so maybe I’ll try counting. By comparing the versions, I might be able to figure out the increments. That sounds like fun, so I’ll give it a shot when I have time someday.

Oh? And just like that, I’ve gone over the necessary page count. This is a good place to call it, so I’ll conclude the afterword here by thanking everyone at the editorial department for their work on this book, Poco-san for doing a great job when I asked if there could be a gradation on Harumi’s hair on the cover, and all you readers worldwide.