Wortenia Senki (LN) - Volume 19 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

I doubt there are many such readers left, but I welcome any new readers who picked up the series with this volume. And to those of you who have kept up with the series since volume 1, it’s been four months since the last volume in March. This is Ryota Hori, the author.

At the time of writing this afterword, it’s already mid-June, and the volume will be released in mid-July, at which point we would be in year 3 of the Reiwa period. We’re entering the second half of the year, but time does pass by quickly. This is probably due to the pandemic and the state of emergency preventing us from leaving the house.

Just last year, in April and May, I was able to go out to see my nephews’ and nieces’ school entrance ceremonies, go to welcoming parties at work, and go watch the sakura bloom with friends. But this year, I’ve been strictly indoors.

With the Covid situation not showing any signs of winding down yet, authors like me are at home every day and very rarely leave. Thanks to that, it’s hard to tell the changing of the seasons, and days just pass you by.

It has given me the chance to catch up on movies on streaming services, or read all the ebooks I’ve bought but neglected to read, so life like this has its perks. And yet, I have my misgivings about this situation. I’m starting to ask myself if I’ll be able to go back to how I used to live once the state of emergency is lifted.

In the end, spending two hours twice a day commuting to and from work is hard. Of course, going to work comes with the advantage of eating at my favorite restaurants along the way, so there are merits and shortcomings to everything.

Apparently, the state of emergency is set to be lifted on June 20, and they’ll start distributing the vaccine in full force, so perhaps the pandemic’s end is in sight. But it’s said a mutation of the virus is possible, so it’s hard to tell at this point.

The Tokyo Olympics are also set to start in July, but given the situation, it’s difficult to get excited for it. Personally, I was looking forward to the Olympics and would like for it to be held. Taking the contestants’ wishes into consideration, it also feels like it would be best to do so. But considering the risk of infection, I can understand why some are calling for it to be canceled. It’s a difficult topic, to be sure.

The last Tokyo Olympics took place in 1964, over half a century ago, so if they get canceled, who’s to say I’ll have a chance to see it in my lifetime... That said, given the Winter Olympics in Sapporo and the Nagano Olympics, the frequency of them being held does seem to rise, but I prefer to watch it in the summer. Not that I dislike winter sports. But for some reason, the Winter Olympics fails to excite me.

That said, I do watch it when it’s on TV, so I guess it’s just a personal issue of mine. Maybe it’s just the inclusion of the word “winter”? Also, and more importantly, I wish they’d lift the restrictions on selling alcohol and operation hours at restaurants. I understand the restrictions are there for a reason, but half of my usual places are closed for business because of it, and those that are still open have to serve soft drinks instead of alcohol...

I can understand ramen stores not serving alcohol, so I won’t complain there, but some dishes absolutely demand alcohol on the side. When I saw a poster at one of my regular pork skewer places in Shinjuku saying they only serve soft drinks, I ended up giving up and just going home. I understand that, in the harsh state of the market, I should have probably gone in and pitched in to help their profits, but the thought of fried food without beer or a highball is just too much for me...

On June 21, the restriction on selling alcohol was lifted while restricting the number of customers, so I stopped by the place, but a friend of mine from Bangladesh lamented that their sales really took a huge hit. And he’s usually such a bright, funny person too. But seeing no one come in after me did give the sad impression of a dead mall. But just as I called for the bill, I saw new customers come in, so it’s not like they got no traffic at all.

I can only hope my presence would prompt others to visit. After all, seeing an empty restaurant would make anyone think twice about going in.

Anyway, after wasting some of the afterword page count on these mundane concerns, let’s start our traditional summary of the volume’s highlights. This volume marks the official start of the war between Queen Lupis’s northern subjugation army and Ryoma Mikoshiba’s forces.

When volume 4 came out in July, 2016, Queen Lupis betrayed Ryoma and sent him to the Wortenia Peninsula. That was five years ago in real world time, and it took fifteen volumes before I could finally get to the long awaited battle between Lupis Rhoadserians and Ryoma Mikoshiba. And while sparks have been flying between the two in the background the whole time, the war is finally beginning in earnest.

That said, in terms of numbers, Queen Lupis holds the clear advantage. She is, despite all her faults, the queen of an entire country. One would normally expect the northern subjugation army to win easily, but keep in mind that they’re up against our protagonist, young Mikoshiba. He will try to change the tides of the war with many plots and unconventional methods.

As tactics and conspiracies rock the battlefield, Ryoma and Helena have an unexpected meeting on the field of battle. These two once-allies lock eyes, now standing on opposing sides, and promise to eventually lock blades before going their separate ways again...

When I word it like this, they almost sound like lovers torn apart by war, but Helena and Ryoma are closer to a grandmother and her grandson. But Helena, being the charming character that she is, is the kind of character I enjoy writing about.

In addition, we learn more about the Organization from Kikuna Samejima, and about Asuka and Rodney’s conflict, so there’s much to dig into with volume 19.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who was involved with the production of this book, and all you readers for picking it up. Next time, we reach a milestone number in volume 20! I intend to keep it up, so please continue supporting Record of Wortenia War.