The preliminary volume of the "Flowers for Princess Fischl" series.
This work originally came in a violet and black wooden box as a limited edition gift, but many hardcore fans of the series who wanted to collect the whole saga were enraged by the great amount of content versus the small number of copies printed. Due to this, Yae Publishing House would name this book "Volume 0" and sell it separately. Eventually, the original work, the boxed collector's edition, and Volume O would all come to be regarded as standard by fans.
Phantasmagoria
"... The dream lives on."
Such words surely must appear the midst of every tale, and they are largely the words of the Kaiserin of the Immernachtreich. This, surely, is not the enigma that concerns the greatest majority of readers, but we must still start here nonetheless.
Ozvaldo Hrafnavins
The mighty lord of the Nachtraben. If Fischl's strength in battle might be considered a ten, and the Beasts of the World should have an average of fifteen, then Ozvaldo's strength may be considered thirteen. His great power was on display when he destroyed Dämmerung in Volume 1.
*That said, the Nachtvorhang is itself the nemesis of Dämmerung anyway. As for the feelings that Ozvaldo holds towards Fischl, Mr. Nine does not believe it to be romance, but more likely a form of imprinting common to bird-kindred.
(Editor-in-Chief's Note: Regardless of what the author says, dear readers, you are free to interpret the personal relationships of the characters from Immernachtreich however you like.)
Aside from this, the title "Prince Nachtraben" is not a particularly high-flown one, considering that the night ravens have always been known for being conspirators and bearers of curses. Ozvaldo likely insisted on this title, for how could a mere "King of the Night" call himself thus before the Immernachtreich?
Beast of the World: Gesamtkunstwerk[Note 1]
In certain probabilities, this is the Beast of the World that the Immernachtreich would be faced with in this cycle. Its battle strength is around thirty.
In a distant causality, if the philosopher Zarathustra[Note 2] was not chosen, then the opera writer would have gained victory in the contest over the will of the world.
Once Gesamtkunstwerk takes the stage in the opera theater of the apocalypse, many more Beasts of the World that reside within the center of the universe will inexorably begin to appear as well.
In the final volume, the weakness of the Beast of the World: Saint of Seven Tears (whose combat strength was ten, and therefore equal to Fischl) was quite out of the ordinary, and the Saint merely wept for Zarathustra at first, a choice that seems undeserving of any blame.
Both Zarathustra and The Musician exist to give praise unto the Prinzessin der Vererteilung [sic]. One proclaims the agony she suffers in her heart, while the other proclaims the grandeur of her travails. The Prinzessin, of course, will not favor the latter, for of such things would she be ashamed.
Sommernachtgarten[Note 3]
It is said that those who are highly skilled in the magical arts will possess their own unique domains of consciousness. Their loves, hatreds, yearnings, jealousies, adherence, and passions of the soul will be stored here. In the fictional tales of other novels, this space is called Summerland.[Note 4]
The Sommernachtgarten of the Prinzessin is something in this vein. That this concept was never well-explored in the end remains quite the pity.
The Suspected Eternal Return
Quite a few of the finer points of the tale have caused people to wonder if the Kaiserin of the Immernachtreich once experienced all that Fischl has. Fischl's father is undoubtedly not a mere shade. He is majestic and mighty, and helps Fischl to dispel her confusions. As for Fischl's mother, the Kaiserin, her actions and deeds show her to have quite an interesting character indeed. But she will only speak one line, which is, as was noted earlier in this text, "the dream lives on."
In the final volume, Fischl's mother had already faded away, and so this volume, naturally, did not have this preceding line.
But as the universe entered its denouement and all things within it flowed into the Immernachtreich, she spoke another line of enigmatic intent—
"Find meaning somewhere. The night deepens."
"Find meaning somewhere. The night deepens, but the dream lives on."
Dear readers, I hope that you will all find happiness in this world where the sun still rises each day.
Collection of Questions and Answers
Q: Dear Mr. Nine, may I ask what the relationship between the Celestial Emperor's daughter in "Legend of the Shattered Halberd" and Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort is?
A: I felt that the tragedy that unfolded toward the end of Volume 5 of "Legend of the Shattered Halberd" was due to the male protagonist, and the Celestial Emperor's daughter's attraction to him. As such, I wanted to write a Prinzessin der Vererteilung [sic] who had no need of a male protagonist. This was the scaffold that would come to be "Flowers for Princess Fischl."
Eventually, though, I did write the sixth volume of "Halberd," which rescued the ending. There was probably some cross-pollination in the process of writing two series at the same time, but I was personally quite pleased with the result.
Q: In a fight between Mir's dad (Khan the Asura and his sword Laevatain) at full strength versus Gesamtkunstwerk, who would come out on top?
A: I originally intended to refuse to answer this question, but the editor-in-chief said that she'd axe my next manuscript if I didn't. In which case, my Mora would be on Gesamtkunstwerk.
Q: Mr. Nine, you mentioned in "Farewell Frau Welt"[Note 5] that you were suffering from hair loss. Are you doing better now?
A: Could the Yae Publishing House not accept this sort of question? And do people actually read what gets added in these new editions?
(Editor-in-Chief's Note: Oh, but the readers are very concerned about you! And yes, they are also very concerned with the purchase of new editions.)