Aiz, who had felt many emotions in a short amount of time, felt her lips pout slightly as she stared back at the boy.
…H-huh?
Ruby-red and golden eyes stared at each other. The boy didn’t budge, but Aiz started to get flustered.
Had she done something wrong? Although her face didn’t show it, the young spirit dwelling within her was racking her brain, desperately running around and looking for an answer. The white rabbit only looked at her, frozen like a statue with his white hair sticking up like ears, waving back and forth.
—That’s right, I need to apologize.
Aiz started to open her mouth the moment the thought hit her.
Then she saw the boy getting redder and redder from the neck up by the second. By the time she fully noticed, his head was roughly the color of an overripe apple.
His beautiful red eyes were in bad shape, twitching almost like there were worms crawling under the surface.
Now she knew for sure something was wrong. She frantically prepared to ask him what—when the boy jumped to his feet.
Then…
“GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
He ran away from Aiz at full speed.
“…”
Bounding and leaping like a panicked critter, the boy disappeared from the room.
Still sitting on her knees in the middle of the floor, Aiz couldn’t move at all.
“Geh-geh-geh.” She thought she heard some monster laughing in the distance.
“…Why do you always…run away?” Aiz mumbled to herself, on the verge of tears.
Afterword
This is the second volume of the spinoff series—but the number of characters has already exploded. The headache I’ve gotten from giving characters who will appear in the main story a flying start has informed me just how difficult it is to write a gaiden—a side story.
I know it’s stealing entrances from characters later on, but it would make me happy if these new men and women were welcomed with open arms when they appear in the main storyline.
On a different topic, one of my editors and I had a very entertaining conversation about zombies in the second installment of a certain action-adventure horror game when we met to discuss this volume. While not much of a gamer myself, I spent countless hours watching my friends play and going through guidebooks. I remember being very knowledgeable about the storylines.
In that specific game, there’s a “Side A Storyline” with the male hero of the story and a “Side B Storyline” with the heroine that you could switch between during a play-through. There are some weapons and items that only the hero can use, and others only available to the heroine, a sort of backward restriction…At least I think that’s how it works.
There is a male hero in the main story, and a female hero in this gaiden. They share the same world, so that led us to experiment with a few things and have some fun. “What if we have him use a weapon in the main story that she couldn’t use here?” Both of us got really excited and talked for hours about the endless possibilities. This was after it had been decided that Volume 5 and Gaiden 2 would be released in a two-month span.
Reading this book right after finishing Volume 5, or reading Volume 5 right after this one, might just bring a smile to your face.
While acknowledging the fact that the main series can’t continue while I’m having you read the gaiden, from time to time I will casually work these in from here on out.
And now to show my gratitude.
First to my editors, Mr. Kotaki and Mr. Takahashi, for your assistance and advice during the creation of this book. I can see and feel the influence of your words from cover to cover every time I read it. Next, for the beautiful illustrations from Mr. Kiyota Haimura that have given this book a unique charm that went beyond my expectations. Thank you so much. Lastly, I want to say thank you to everyone involved in the creation of this work and to the readers who make it all possible. Words cannot express how grateful I am.
Thank you for your continued support.
Until the next installment.
Fujino Omori
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Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 2 Page 22
