AFTERWORD Thank you for reading Sword Art Online 20: Moon Cradle! The subtitle here is the same as for Volume 19, but it’s not a mistake or laziness on my part. Like Volumes 1 and 2 (Aincrad) and 3 and 4 (Fairy Dance), the title spans both books. The story of Moon Cradle ends here…for now. But the problem hasn’t been completely resolved, has it? I’ve left behind a number of questions, like who the real mastermind is and what the red jewel is supposed to be. But the battle between Kirito and the black emperors is going to continue over another hundred years and eventually get to the battle with the Abyssal Horror (the spacebeast from the ending of Volume 18), so if I want to write the whole story out, who knows how many books that might take…At the very least, I wanted these two books to provide a bit of enlightenment for the feelings of Tiese and Ronie, but even that didn’t get a full conclusion. I’m sure that, one day, Tiese will hear Eugeo’s voice through the Blue Rose Sword, but…what about Ronie? She has a distant descendent in Laurannei, so we know she’ll have children eventually, but it’s hard to imagine her cutting off her feelings for Kirito and marrying someone else at this point in time. But now that she’s about to be promoted to a proper knight, I’m sure that Ronie will get much, much stronger and find her own answer, not something that’s been given to her by someone else.
The story of the Underworld will stop here, at Volume 20. In the next book, I’m planning to put us back in the real world, where Kirito and Asuna start a new story as high school students, not rulers of an entire country. I’m still envisioning some vague ideas as to what that story will be at this point, but I plan to bring it to you in the not too distant future. I hope you look forward to our new chapter. And I’ll also rush to get you some more Progressive at last! About two weeks from the release of this book, on September 27th, the Blu-ray and DVD of the theatrical movie will be on sale. I’ve heard that the visuals, which already looked so crisp and high quality in the theater, will even have a number of improved takes! I’m also writing a little short story epilogue of sorts to pack in with it, titled “Cordial Chords.” You can enjoy it even if you haven’t read the theatrical bonus, “Hopeful Chant” (though you’ll enjoy it more if you did), so please check it out! To my illustrator abec, who did double duty on that bonus material and this volume, thank you so much for the ever more beautiful and impactful illustrations. To Miki, who is so busy running a company and an editorial office that it’s a mystery when he actually sleeps; and to my sub-editors, Tsuchiya and Adachi, thank you for all your help. And to all of my readers, I hope I see you again as SAO finally prepares to head into mysterious, uncharted territory! Reki Kawahara—July 2017
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