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Book 11
Book 11: Afterword
Afterword
Thank you for purchasing the eleventh volume of Realist Hero. This is Dojyomaru, who is slightly relieved to see the afterword in its proper place.
This volume is mainly about the kids, Tomoe, Ichiha, and Yuriga, going to school. They’re joined by Velza, who has appeared occasionally since the first volume, and a new character, Lucy, who is like a mini-Roroa. Regardless of whether or not it will be depicted in the story, I’m sure Tomoe and her friends will have a great time at school.
If I were to discuss one alternative possibility here, it was possible that Souma might have gone to school instead.
At the end of volume five, it was mentioned that one option that Hakuya considered to shut down the constant proposals to Souma was sending him to the Officers’ Academy or Royal Academy, (The invitation from the Star Dragon Mountain Range happened to come in at just that time, so the plan was shelved, and he ended up doing foreign trips instead) but this is something the author was considering, too.
I thought a story where he went to the Royal Academy with Liscia and Aisha, and they recruited talented people there, might work, but because there are so many school stories in the light novel genre, it would be difficult to set this one apart from others, so I gave up on the idea. But as I was imagining what it would be like if Souma went to school with Liscia and the others, I thought it was workable.
Well, let’s let Tomoe enjoy school life as much as Souma would have.
They say school is a microcosm of society.
Perhaps that means we can say that the academic scenes which Tomoe and her friends experience are a microcosm of the Kingdom’s society.
The authoritarianism of the Royal Academy has crumbled, and now those with skill and talent are welcomed. The children of the knights and nobility actively vie to build a connection with people of talent, and those who might be called prodigies. When they step out into the adult world, I think the Kingdom will change even more than it already has.
Now then, I’m sure those of you following me on Pixiv will already realize this, but this volume has been separated out from the story set in the Mercenary State, Zem, which originally was part of the same chapter as it.
There were a lot of places where I cut corners in the characterization during the web version of the Zem Arc, so I am taking the opportunity to rework it for the book edition. There is a need to write a lot of new content to make it a full volume, and that requires more time than usual, so please forgive me, as I suspect the next volume will take longer than usual to come out.
Now then, I give my thanks to the illustrator Fuyuyuki, to Satoshi Ueda for the manga adaptation, to my editor, the designers, the proofreaders, and everyone who now holds this book in their hands. josei
This has been Dojyomaru.