Kaze no Kishihime v2a

How did you enjoy Volume 2 of The Heavy Wind? This is Yamaguchi.

This volume put the spotlight on Cendrillon. He's so pathetic here that you almost want to ask, "Just how pathetic can one man be?" But honestly, men really are that pathetic.

People often say that a man's love works like overwrite saving. Personally, I don't entirely think that's true, but that's the conventional wisdom. To put it simply, we just can't forget. Old loves get tucked away into a little pocket in the heart, and they stay there, heavy and solid. And as time passes, they become beautified by a magical spell called nostalgia. So try asking someone about an old romance sometime. You'll be amazed at how dramatic it has become. Every little gesture turns into a scene from a movie. To the point where you want to say, "Come on, no way that really happened."

But the truth is, it's an illusion. In the end, what matters is the present. The "now" is everything. If you fail to see what is right in front of you, a person—or perhaps men in particular—becomes a prisoner chained to the past.

Will Cendrillon be able to brush away the ashes that have settled over his heart?

...Oh no. I wrote all that, and now I realize it's kind of gross. Grossness alert. Pikon. "A prisoner chained to the past"—I actually wrote that with a straight face.

Ah! My editor has just issued the command: "Write it with the spirit of Twitter!" Which is his roundabout way of saying, "This isn't very funny, is it?" I could cry.

Writing the afterword now! I'll put my Twitter account here too, so please follow me: "hexagonzero." Thanks in advance.

Now then, my heartfelt thanks to Usatsuka-san for once again producing such wonderful illustrations despite a brutal schedule. Eustache's face came out perfectly. A true villain face!

And to my editor, S-san—I hope your stomach is holding up. I'm truly sorry. Next time, I swear I'll try not to put your digestive system under so much strain. I want to be the kind of author who soothes the stomach like medicine.

And finally, to all of my readers: thank you very much! I'll make sure Volume 3 is even more entertaining!

Noboru Yamaguchi