Epilogue

TL: Cannongerbil

Editor: Striker, Ulti

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After that night, Princess Leonor and her entourage made up and left the town of Axel, heading towards the capital of Belzerg like they originally planned.

We did spend quite a bit of time flying around town on the back of Faitfore, but it was pretty late out, so it didn’t seem like anyone witnessed her. It’s a bit of a relief for me to know that a White Dragon flying around didn’t become the talk of the town.

As for my relationship with Lynn… There didn’t seem to be any major changes.

“Why do you have that pathetic expression on your face?”

Even right now, she’s eating her salad opposite from me like she usually does.

Well, in truth, that’s really all there is to it.

After that night, she fell asleep the moment she got off the dragon after the tension bled out of her.

“Say, haven’t you two been acting a little weird since that night?”

Keith suddenly interrupted with something weird.

“It feels like you two are a lot closer, or rather, you seem to be weirdly concerned about each other.”

“W-W-What are you saying? There’s no way I could have those kinds of feelings for Dust!”

It’s rare to see Lynn this flustered.

Could it be that she is conscious of me too?

“Keith, stop teasing her. Even if it is true, it’s between them. Though, all I can say is finally.”

“Taylor, don’t say strange stuff too!”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s not like we should hide it from our friends. Now, whisper your love to me like you normally do.”

“I’ll kill you!”

“Gurk!”

She punched me right in the face and sent me sliding back along with my chair.

“You bastard, even if you are hiding your embarrassment, there should still be a limit! I’ve had it with you! Step outside, I’m going to lecture you!”

“That’s fine with me! After you!”

Dammit, just as I thought we were making some progress, this happens. I should settle once and for all who isー

“Uwaaah! Damn you, you shot your magic at my back!”

I heard chanting, so I dove to the side, and a flash of light blew through where I was just moments before and flew out through the main door.

“Tsk, you dodged that.”

“If I didn’t dodge it I would’ve been dead!”

Even though we were having a shouting match, my companions simply laughed and looked on.

Actually, not just that.

“Oh, it’s been some time since we saw Lynn and Dust go at it! I’m putting my money on Lynn.”

“I’m betting on Lynn, too. Actually, Dust, hurry up and lose already!”

“Do your best Lynn! If you need it I’ll assist you!”

The adventurers have started to gather around us.

“Why is everyone taking Lynn’s side!?”

“Go take a look at your everyday behaviour!” x4

Everyone, Lynn included, said the same thing.

“Don’t say it at the same time!”

Dammit, what a bunch of noisy guys… And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Princess Leonor, this really is the place for me. I really enjoy spending everyday together with my friends.

“Ugh! Don’t attack people while they are lost in thought!”

“You were thinking about your love anyways, right?”

Why are you bringing that up again?

Well, if you insist on doing that, I have some plans in mind too.

“The only person I love is you, Lynn!”

I boldly declared in front of a large crowd.

“Oooooh!” x3

The crowd that has gathered around us let out a rowdy cheer.

Because of my unexpected declaration, all eyes present were focused on Lynn.

And the person in question was shaking with her head lowered, just like she was on that night.

“You can go ahead and leap into my chest, you know?”

I opened my arms to receive her hug, but she instead headbutted me in the stomach.

“Stop saying nonsense. There’s no way I would do that… And it’s embarrassing in a place like this.”

I didn’t catch her last words, but if she’s going to put on such an attitude, then I have some plans of my own too.

“You really let it get to your head just because I’m a little nice to you. Fine, I’ll strip you naked and make you beg for mercy!”

“If you think you can do it then go right ahead!”

As usual, whenever we get into a fight, the drunken adventurers would start gathering around us and turn the entire thing into a scene.

It’s full of idiots, but this town is the best place to me.

“Everyone, please be a little quieter!”

The one who threw a wet blanket on the entire situation was the receptionist, Luna.

Everyone present, including me, fell silent in response to the volume and severity in Luna’s voice.

“I’m making an emergency announcement right now, so all adventurers present, please remain here for a while.”

“Hey, come on, this level of rowdiness is nothing out of the ordinary. And what’s this about an emergency announcement?”

Normally they would just laugh and turn a blind eye, so what’s with her this time?

“There is some news we would like to share with everyone regarding those rumours of the Demon King’s army approaching this town.”

Her serious tone and expression caused every one of us to simmer down immediately.

 

Afterword

How did you like the sixth volume, everyone?

This time, the truth of the rumour that Alice mentioned in “Continued Explosions” has been revealed.

In the rumour, it was made out to be a tragic story of star-crossed lovers, but the truth is… Please consult the main volume.

The main character in that rumour is the princess, but in truth I had quite a bit of trouble settling on her character. Akatsuki-sensei gave me his notes, but as she is a character that doesn’t appear in the main series properly, I had to flesh out her personality and decide on the specifics of her characterization by myself.

As fans of Konosuba would know, this world is full of quirky characters, not only the main characters but the supporting characters each have their own unique personality. After Faitfore, I had to really rack my brains to come up with a character that would fit right in and not be overshadowed by the others.

A character that would stand out in another series would be completely overshadowed in Konosuba, after all!

Speaking of the princess, while she might look very similar to Lynn, it’s actually a simple task to tell them both apart. All you have to do is to move your eyes down a little.

However, it can be easily covered up with clothes, so only those close to her would notice. Also, if you look too closely, magic might start flying.

 

Incidentally, when I first read the notes on Dust’s backstory, my first impressions are “Who is this supposed to be?”

I mean, it’s Dust we are talking about, you know?

That the character who is said to be even worse than Kazuma when it comes to scumminess would actually be that prodigious Dragon Knight is already surprising enough, but to think that he used to have such a personality too.

The person who influenced that exemplar of a knight was that princess.

… Now that I think about it, isn’t she the most twisted character in this story?

 

Well, moving on from the characters, let’s talk a little about the plot as well.

Princess Leonor, after coming to Axel, felt that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy herself fully if she was with her entourage and swapped places with Lynn, who looks just like her, in order to freely enjoy herself…

Well, that’s the general outline. Honestly speaking, Lynn just got caught up in this, the poor thing.

Speaking of characters, what that troubled me most upon picking up this spin-off was how to handle the characters of Taylor and Keith. I would really like to give them more screentime and more chances to shine.

 

Incidentally, have you all watched the movie “Konosuba: Crimson Legend” yet? Of course, I caught it in the cinema. I’ve mentioned this before in previous afterwords, but I was originally a huge fan of Konosuba, so even if I wasn’t in charge of writing a spin-off series, I still would’ve caught it on the big screen.

The anime was great, but catching it in the cinema is really something else. The acoustics and visuals are great, of course, but the best thing is being able to laugh with the other people in the cinema.

That sense of closeness and belonging is part of the charm of going to the cinema.

The one regret I have is that I originally planned to watch it on release day, but I fell down with a cold. I would’ve definitely affected the other movie-goers if I watched it in that condition, so I had no choice but to wait until I had a full recovery.

I went to see the movie once I’ve recovered, but by that time the first screenings special booklets were unavailable.

Ah, I really want that booklet. I wonder if the editor who reads this would be able get his hands on it and slip it to me~.

To the Crimson Legend!

… Now then, the customary words of thanks and appreciation.

 

Akatsuki Natsume-sensei, the sixteenth volume is the best! I can’t wait to read the next installment. Though, as it’s nearing the end, I do feel a little conflicted over wanting to read it or not.

Mishima Kurone-sensei, I was really happy to see Kazuma plastered on the front cover of Volume 16. Kazuma is usually stuck in the background of some other character, so seeing him take the lead with the other characters in tow is really moving.

Yuuki Hagure-sensei. Thank you for illustrating Princess Leonor who doesn’t appear in the original series! I really can’t show anyone else the face I make when I admire your renderings.

To everyone at the Sneaker Bunko editorial department, Mr. M in charge, and everyone else involved in getting this book to print, thank you for your continued support. Thank you very much for your work this time too.

And to everyone who’ve picked up this volume, thank you very much!

 

Hirukuma

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And that is Dust 6. I hope you enjoyed reading about Dust’s true past as much as I did. I must say, the Dust spin-off have really grown into their own over the course of the series. There have been some fairly derivative moments in the past few volumes, but the last two books have been solidly great, especially the two original characters that Hirukuma introduced.

This time the image cleaning was done by Kasen, while the typesetting was done by Ulti, so great thanks to them for that. Also I’d like to thank Ulti, Striker and Xenthur for going through these chapters and catching my stupid mistakes before they make their way up to the site. Without them consistently doing that my final result would be a lot rougher than they are.

Now, as usual, I’ll be uploading the short stories over the next couple of weeks before taking a break to work on Volume 17. Don’t worry, I know a lot of you are dying to read the conclusion to Konosuba, so I’ll try to get it out as fast as I can. I’ll try to line up some content to fill in any gaps between the end of the short stories and when Volume 17 goes live, but with luck, I won’t have to use any of it. Tentatively, I’d set the release date for early July, but it might end up coming out in late June if everything goes just right.

Till we meet again.

-Cannongerbil

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