Mitou Shoukan://Blood-Sign

Volume 6, Afterword

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(Postscript Open ??/?? ??:??)

Afterword

And that was Volume 6.

This is Kamachi Kazuma.

Now, the theme this time was “a series of unexpected events for Shiroyama Kyousuke”. He usually seems to see through everything, so I decided to change things a bit to show him being tossed around by everything that happened. Both options have their pros and cons, but which one tugged at your heartstrings more?

Some things were revealed in Volume 5’s flashback story and we learned a bit about the world’s mysteries, so I decided to bring out a stronger grade of enemies this time around: the Robo Azaleas that are immune to Incense Grenades, the illogical Offering Team created only to destroy the meaning behind Alice (with) Rabbit, the pirate(?) who crawled back up from hell, and the return of the Award 1000 who was something of a legendary mahjong cheater who could end the match immediately by summoning the White Queen on his first move. They all put Kyousuke in some kind of a bind, but that represented something of an opportunity for him since he was trapped in the dilemma of having no room for growth after reaching the top as the strongest. A summoner does not avoid fear; they absorb it for inspiration. Kyousuke himself said so as far back as Volume 1.

The trickiest one to handle was Azalea because I had to be careful how I brought back a boss character who had already been defeated. I think I did a pretty good job of messing with Kyousuke’s usual calmness and levelheadedness. I’ll leave it to all of you to judge how I did with the boss characters.

The White Queen’s trick this time was rather plain since it was only used to show how impressive the Award 1000 was, but I think the most frightening thing about her is how she always smiles even when her chest is pierced or when her beloved has plotted a sure-fire method of killing her. Plus, she made the ominous prophecy of “your wish will soon be granted” just before leaving. She did not appear much, but I worked to ensure she left an impression when she did.

This volume also included some irregular events for this series: Kyousuke changing vessels partway through, the guest vessel not losing her memories at the end, etc. Not everything that is unexpected needs to be a bad thing for Kyousuke. What do you think?

I give my thanks to my illustrator Ikawa Waki-san and my editors Miki-san, Onodera-san, and Anan-san. …This one ended up with a sizable cast, didn’t it? And they were switching from yukata to bandages, sometimes had a key hanging from their neck and sometimes didn’t, and had other small differences that had to make it more confusing. Thank you very much for sticking with me yet again.

And I give my thanks to the readers. What did you think of the first volume after returning the timeline to the present? Kyousuke is making progress after facing his past. The Queen wants to reach for happiness even if it means psychological regression. I hope you are looking forward to the rest of their battle.

And I will end this here.

I put a Meganeura in this one, so maybe it’s about time I went with a dinosaur.

-Kamachi Kazuma