Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume26 Chapter9

== Afterword ==

– Sorry about the many things that you'll have to wait for.



Hello, this is Konno.

What did I mean by that?

After reading the first section, "Criss-Cross," you'll probably be left wondering, "What happens next?"

You may think this will be settled in the next section, "Map Stroll," but you'd be wrong because this actually takes place a bit earlier, so doesn't resolve anything at all.

Leaving open the question of what happened to that card.

In the end, you'll have to wait for the next volume.

But, I don't think it's all that bad to have to wait for things, from time to time.

Like having to wait for the next issue of a magazine to get the solution to a puzzle. Without the ability to easily check the answer, you can settle in and challenge yourself.


''Spoiler Alert – this section contains spoilers for this volume.''


On top of that.

The white card's location has been held in reserve until the next volume too.

Of the seven hints, six were revealed in the text. 

In this sense you're in the same position as Sachiko, although you didn't get the hints in the same way, so it's hard to say whether you're at an advantage or a disadvantage.

So, for those who have the spare time and inclination, please give it some thought.

As usual, this is not a solicitation, but if you solve it like Tanuma Chisato by saying nonsense phrases, or you write it down on the corner of a piece of paper, as usual, I'll be happy (and just that).



''End of Spoilers''



Now then, on a different tangent.

For those that read the afterword before the book, this next bit isn't related to the story.

Regarding the stray cat living at school that they talked about during "Map Stroll" (Goronta/Merry-san/Lunch), she (for she is a female cat) is based on a model. That said, it wasn't just one cat. Just like she has many names, she also has many models.

As you may have expected, there was a stray that had settled down at the high-school I attended. From that cat I borrowed her pattern of showing up at lunch time and taking the left-over food. The different grades and classes all had different designations for this cat – I was told by one of my classmates that its name was "Bun."

Goronta and Merry-san. These are one cat. The actual namesake was a cat in my neighborhood. This is a pretty old story, though. I don't know whether it was someone's pet cat or a stray, but we'd see it around every now and again and it was quite well known in the neighborhood. But a cat can't introduce itself and we didn't know the owner, so we didn't know the cat's real name. The ladies of the neighborhood took to calling it whatever they liked. One day, when seeing a cat come walking along, one of them called out, "Merry-san." Another lady that she'd been chatting to corrected her, saying, "Oh, isn't that Goronta?" I don't know which one was right and which was wrong, or if it mattered in either case, but when I heard that I laughed at the discrepancy between the two names. Because, on one hand you've got Merry-san (and -san was part of the name), and on the other you've got Goronta! It was too funny, so I immediately wanted to put it in a story.

When I was a child, a cat was attacked by crows. This episode actually happened to my friend's cat. When I heard the story (obviously, from the cat's owner), that the crows had had been eating the cat, I was incredibly shocked. That cat was lucky to get rescued by a human and become a pet cat. Even so, I thought it must have been terrified.

Her outward appearance, a blackish tabby cat, is from a kitten that stumbled into my garden a long time ago. For two or three days it wandered around the neighborhood, meowing as it went, but it quickly disappeared. It called out to many people, so maybe it was taken in by someone. Or maybe it turned into a proper stray, and moved on to a different territory. I hope it wasn't attacked by crows. But to be on its own when it was so small. It must have been tough. That's the life of a stray cat.

The combination of these cats, and many others, went into the making of Goronta/Lunch/Merry-san. I'm sure her conduct from here on will continue to be a reflection of many different cats too. 

I don't own a cat, but I've got plenty of friends and acquaintances that do, so I'm not about to run out of material (thankfully).

– Ah, but you shouldn't keep a cat waiting too long.

Konno Oyuki.


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