To all of you now holding this book. If this is our first meeting, it's nice to meet
you. If you are one of the people I interact with on Pixiv, thank you for your
continued patronage. I am Dojyomaru.
First, I would like to apologize for not being able to properly greet you all with an
afterword at the end of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom volume one. I only
barely managed to fit that long "Enriching the Country Arc" within my page limit, so
there was no room left for an afterword. Because of that, I would like to borrow this
space to do what I should have in volume one and thank all of the people involved
with this book.
First, I would like to thank Fuyuyuki for providing such wonderful pictures. The
schedule was tight, but you still managed to finish enough pictures for us. Thank
you. My editor and I were both talking about the illustration of Tomoe in the middle
of volume one, saying, "Huh, this is really good."
To that same editor, I would like to thank you for supporting me when I get
discouraged so easily. It's because of you that I'm here where I am today.
And finally, to everyone who pointed out typos or missing words in the web
novel version; to the proofreaders, to the designers, to my friends M and K who
celebrated my debut with me; and, more than anyone, to those of you who've
continued to read my novel on Pixiv despite my many mistakes, as well as those of
you who bought the book, I offer my heartfelt thanks.
...Yeah, I should have said all of that in the first volume, huh.
I know I'm nothing special, but I hope you'll stick with me for a long time.
In fact, as I'm writing this afterword, I have no idea how many pages it will be. My
editor said "Make it two pages, please," but it feels like the book might grow another
page during proofreading. If that happens, this entire second page may be cut.
Because of that, I prioritized saying the important things first.
Now, on this page which may be cut, I'd like to talk idly about this volume.
For those of you who remember the "Subjugation Arc" which makes up this
volume in the web novel version, you may find yourselves wondering, "Was this
character always like this?" Opinions may be divided on the changes, but I thought it
was the right way to lead into the world I'm currently reworking.
Various characters worry about various things, take various actions, and through
the influence of that... the world takes shape. I may be inexperienced, but that is the
sort of story I hope to write.
This has been Dojyomaru, writing this as a typhoon approaches.