The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 6.5 - Chapter Aft

AFTERWORD

“I’m going to let you say ‘There’s no way’ three times… No more. No less. Got it?”

“…Huh? What are we talking about, Editor?”

“So I was hoping you’d write a short story—”

“There’s no way!”

“It’s a short story for Dragon Magazine. We need it to look like—”

“There’s no way!!”

“And I’d like to continue the series for at least a year—”

“There’s no waaaaay!!!”

…That was what started this collection of short stories. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, I guess. Somehow, I’ve managed to keep it afloat for a year now. The short stories in this volume were originally published in Dragon Magazine, but I added some flair to them and rewrote sections to create a midlength novel.

I know it’s cliché for me to explain each chapter here, but please humor me.

• Chapter 1: The Demon Lord’s Rescue Log: Courage Turned Cowardice

I wanted to write something different from the usual fare, which gave birth to this dark fantasy. The main series is written in first person from Ard’s point of view, but this short story incorporates third person. There’s not much comedic relief here… I wrote this to fulfill my personal tastes.

• Chapter 2: Dues to the Demon Lord Reborn: The Tale of a God Slayer

Unlike Chapter 1, this shifts the focus back to the Demon Lord. I think I’d like to delve more into the Old Gods elsewhere.

I’ve always wanted to write twin heroines, so I took the chance when I got it, and I’m very happy about that… I’m not sure if I successfully made them cute or not, but let’s not talk about that here.

• Chapter 3: Dues to the Demon Lord Reborn: Of Intimacy and Salvation

All about parent-child relationships. You might hear that a child can never truly know the depth of a parent’s love, and the girl is a perfect example of that. The parents really could have been more direct…but family dynamics are tough.

• Chapter 4: Dues to the Demon Lord Reborn: Heart Turned Mind

I’m out of ideas. I don’t know what to write…and I can’t do this anymore. Maybe no one will notice if I added some random idea that popped into my mind.

…And then my editor gave me the go-ahead.

It’s a scenario where the characters take on the appearance of the opposite sex, but I wonder if I pushed that aspect enough. I’d love to write a story where Ard Meteor, a maiden, falls hard for a hypermasculine Ireena…

• Chapter 5: Prelude of the Endangered

This was a new story for the novella. I wanted to include a piece that took place in the ancient past, and I’m thrilled that I got to write it. For those of you who have read the main series and want me to do more, feel free to let me know on Twitter. If I get good feedback from the readers, I’ll write two or three more follow-up chapters that take place in ancient times.

—Last are my thanks and apologies.

First, I’d like to give a great big “thank you” to my illustrator Sao Mizuno, my editor, the designers, and everyone else who contributes to the main series. I’d also like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who picked up this book. I hope we meet again in the next volume.

Until then.

Myojin Katou