Afterword
Hello, Hitsuji Tarou here.
This time, the third volume of Akashic Records of the Bastard Magical Instructor has finally been published.
Infinite thanks to the editors, publishing staff, and all the readers who have supported and cheered for this Rokudenashi story. Thank you so much!
Now, Rokudenashi has reached its third volume, and the story is gradually moving forward.
Just a short while ago, I never could have dreamed that this wild tale spun by the good-for-nothing youth Glenn Radars would become such a big deal.
I’m genuinely excited, as the author, to see what kind of story Glenn-kun will weave next and which direction Rokudenashi will take.
I want it to be a story that’s fun to write and fun to read. To me, Rokudenashi is that kind of story, and to stay true to that initial spark, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the circumstances that led me to write it.
By the way, the protagonist of Rokudenashi, Glenn, is a character with a deep connection to me—or rather, one I’ve known for a long time. Originally, he was a side character in a practice novel I wrote back when I was just starting out as a writer.
This was back when I didn’t even have my own computer, couldn’t touch-type to save my life, and scribbled novels on loose-leaf paper with a mechanical pencil, filing them away in a binder. I’d fill university notebooks with character designs, magic systems, and other daydreams that no one would ever see—honestly, I couldn’t show them to anyone—and revel in my own fantasies.
But strangely, as time passed, that novel and those setting notes gradually faded from my memory until they were completely buried in the darkness… becoming a forbidden black tome that no one knew about. I completely forgot about Glenn’s existence, too.
Years later, I graduated university, got a job, and while being swept up in the busyness of daily life, I kept dreaming of debuting as a writer, squeezing in novel-writing between work. The trigger for me to start writing Rokudenashi was a reunion with that lost, dark history…
“Ugh!?”
One day, after coming home from work, I noticed something on my desk in my room and let out a weird yelp without thinking.
W-What the—!? Those black forbidden tomes, which I thought I’d completely erased from my memory, were stacked in a pile!
“Gyaaaaaaaah!? What the heck is this!?”
“Oh, Hitsuji. You’re writing novels to go pro, right?” my mom said smugly as I trembled, drenched in cold sweat.
“If that’s the case, those old novels you wrote might come in handy, don’t you think? I dug them out of the storage.”
Y-You didn’t have to do that—!?
“Uh… by any chance… did you… look inside?”
“Haha, don’t worry, I didn’t look, I didn’t… pfft (holding back laughter).”
Eeeek!? You totally looked, didn’t you, Mom!?
But kindness is kindness, so I couldn’t exactly get mad, and I had no right to be mad in the first place.
Besides, well, maybe the old stories I made could spark some inspiration.
So, I decided to flip through those black tomes—my old novels and setting notes.
But—
“Tch, this is awful (coughing up blood).”
You hear stories like this all the time, and I was no exception.
First off, the cover of the university notebook filled with magic settings had ‘Grimoire’ written on it in marker, which alone shaved off a chunk of my sanity. Nice one, past me.
“Ugh… I-I’m losing my will to live… (flip, glance).”
—[Divine Art]: A general term for first-class divine language magic. Only beings who have reached godhood can use it. Many spells target specific entities, such as ‘Lula Belze Bastar’, effective against Beelzebub, the ‘Lord of Flies’, or ‘Letel Lucifal’, which deals massive damage to the fallen angel Lucifel—
“Just kill me already!?” (Slam!)
I couldn’t help but throw the notebook onto the floor.
Ugh… I saw something I shouldn’t have…
Just recently, I was browsing a thread exposing cringeworthy dark histories, thinking, “Pfft, that’s rough. Good thing I’m not like that,” completely serious. Now I want to punch that version of myself a million times.
…Huh? Wait a sec.
I started writing novels seriously around the time I entered university, so… that means when I wrote these ‘black tomes’, my age was—arghhh!? This isn’t just chuunibyou-level stuff anymore!
Another massive fumble on my sanity check right there.
This book might seriously be as dangerous as the Necronomicon…
Anyway, while my sanity was being chipped away, I kept reading through those old setting notes and novels… and, well, they were awful. Chuunibyou settings aside, the storylines were a mess, characters were inconsistent, foreshadowing was half-baked, the humor was cringeworthy and tone-deaf, and it was a parade of convenient plot devices and over-the-top developments (not that I’m much better now, maybe). It was barely readable.
“Haa… Was I really this bad back then…?”
Even as I sighed, I felt a twinge of envy toward my past self.
After all, those black tome s, while bottom-tier in skill, were bursting with free-spirited ideas. The current me, half-polished with writing experience, would never come up with the kind of ideas and settings scattered throughout them. That said, even I can’t forgive a hardcore sword-and-magic fantasy world featuring a game arcade and fighting game cabinets. Seriously, what was I thinking back then?
In any case, I could feel from the writing that back when I wrote those black tomes, I wasn’t skilled, but I was having the time of my life writing novels.
“Writing novels for fun… huh.”
Back then, I don’t know how I got so twisted, but I was only writing super serious, depressing stories. Comedy? Out of the question for my style. Honestly, the heavy tone sometimes made writing feel like a chore.
“And sure, we say chuunibyou, but what I’m doing now is just an extension of that, isn’t it…?”
As my writing skills improved, I might’ve unconsciously started mocking and avoiding those kinds of settings and developments. The fact that I was only writing heavy, depressing stories back then, to the point that writing felt painful, might’ve been because of that. Still, even I can’t forgive a hardcore sword-and-magic fantasy world where an engine-powered chainsaw shows up and gets used in a serious fight scene. Like, what’s wrong with this world?
“Well, yeah, maybe a story I can write with an empty head and just enjoy would be nice.”
With a wry smile, as I flipped through the black tomes, my eyes suddenly landed on a certain side character.
That character was a slacker with zero motivation most of the time, but when push came to shove, he’d step up… That was the kind of guy he was, and his name was Glenn Radars.
This Glenn-kun was a dual-wielding swordsman. While the protagonist and other characters threw out ultimate techniques, supreme magic, or superpowers on a whim, he was the only one without any special techniques, magic, or abilities. He fought doggedly with just his two swords, reliable but far from the strongest. With everyone else and the enemies tossing around powerful techniques, magic, and abilities, Glenn-kun came off as kind of plain, always getting battered in fights and barely scraping by. Why he was the only one treated so unfairly, I can’t even guess now…
“What’s with this guy? Compared to the protagonist of this knockoff Slayers black tome, this guy’s got way more character.”
I was also getting tired of writing a protagonist whose only traits were kindness and being a pushover. Above all, I had a gut feeling that making this guy the protagonist would make writing fun.
So, I decided to promote this Glenn Radars character to the protagonist of my next work.
The rest is as I mentioned elsewhere. I thought, “If this wild guy became a teacher, things would get crazy,” and “If it’s a fantasy setting with a teacher, it’s gotta be a magic academy, right?” From there, the story of Rokudenashi started coming together.
Writing it was a blast—Glenn-kun was running wild, and it was insanely fun. For the first time in a while, I finished a work feeling refreshed.
In this way, Akashic Records of the Bastard Magical Instructor became not only my debut work and a monumental piece for me but also a work that reminded me how fun writing novels can be.
To me, writing novels is, first and foremost, something fun.
And beyond my own enjoyment, I want to keep striving to make the work itself entertaining.
Without being swayed by cheap tricks or trends, I hope to keep writing novels with that joy in mind, never forgetting it.
To anyone willing to stick with my works, I hope you’ll continue to support me moving forward.
Hitsuji Tarou
