Epilogue
In the inner city of the capital of Beltrant...
In a room in the Huguenot residence, the current head of the family, Gustav Huguenot, was looking down at a little girl, who was just under ten years old.
Her pale orange hair reached down to her shoulders, and while her face was very cute, her eyes showed nearly no sign of life. She wore a baggy brown robe over clothes that seemed easy to move in, but it was quite cold to only be wearing one layer of the material.
No — her greatest characteristic lay elsewhere.
The girl had small fox ears and a twitching fox tail, which were physical features characteristic to werefoxes.
Werebeasts — they were grouped together along with elves and dwarves by the human race as demi-humans.
Because the demi-humans’ territory was located towards the center of the continent, there were barely any in the western region of Strahl where humans inhabited. They rarely showed themselves in human-occupied territories.
However, there were still demi-beings that snuck into human territory out of curiosity; there were also those born into slavery under human owners. For those demi-humans, it was their fate to be treated as slaves.
It was especially bad for werebeasts.
As beings halfway between human and beast, many saw them as impure. Higher-class humans, with their refined hobbies, were known to keep them as slaves; they saw themselves as saviors, giving worth to impure existences by keeping them as pets.
The girl’s mother was a captured slave who fell ill several years after giving birth and passed away. For the record, half breed children between humans and werebeasts would only inherit the characteristics of one parent, making the girl a pure werebeast. The girl was born, raised, and kept as a pet in Duke Huguenot’s residence. Thus, while she could hold a simple conversation, she had not received a proper education. There was only one skill that she was taught...
“This is your next assassination target. Remember this scent.” Duke Huguenot threw a single piece of cloth at the fox-eared girl.
Yes, she had been trained as an assassin.
The physical abilities of werebeasts were remarkably higher than humans — their five senses were exceptional, and a werefox’s ability to detect scents was on par with a dog. They could be raised as excellent war puppets.
“Yes.”
With a nod, the girl brought the cloth to her nose to memorize the scent, then put it away in her pocket.
“Your target is twelve years old. Sex is male. Name is Rio. He has black hair, so he should be instantly recognizable by appearance. Kill him by all means necessary — even if you have to sacrifice yourself as a result. That’s what you were raised for, after all. Remember: you cannot run as long as you have that collar. Go.”
“Under... stood.” The fox-eared girl replied to Duke Huguenot’s order in her faltering way of speech with a nod. Instead of a glint of hope in her eyes, the metal collar around her throat had snatched it and glinted dully instead.
After that, the girl put on her hood and left the room and the residence.
Sniff, sniff.
As she tried to locate the scent of the assassination target, she felt a strange nostalgic feeling.
Warm...
Somewhere deep within her long-frozen heart, something started to melt... But that strange sensation instantly disappeared.
The girl left the mansion to find Rio, her assassination target.
Afterword
Dear readers of the novel version (this book), it’s nice to meet you. My name is Yuri Kitayama.
Dear readers of the web version, thank you for continuing to support this series. This is Yuri Kitayama.
No matter which reader you are, thank you for showing your interest in the first volume of Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles.
Now, there may be people confused by my use of the terms ‘novel version’ and ‘web version,’ so allow me to explain that first:
This Seirei Gensouki series first started as a novel I submitted to the website Let’s Become a Novelist, which I am still updating now. After receiving much love from the readers there, HJ Bunko graciously extended an offer to me that thus led to the publication of this novel version. And so, you can access the web version of Seirei Gensouki at any time you wish on the Let’s Become a Novelist website through your PC or phone.
That being said, reading the web version won’t reduce the excitement nor fun of reading the novel version. Nor is reading the web version necessary to enjoy the novel version.
In order to allow the story to be enjoyable no matter which version you choose to read, the novel version of Seirei Gensouki is a remake (or rewrite, really) of the contents of the web version (specifically speaking, the basic story line is borrowed from the web version with a few additional scenes, altered scenes, increased heroine time, change of setting, etc...).
So if this makes both the novel and web versions enjoyable, I will consider myself a very lucky author.
There is also something else I’d like to say before I run out of room... I’d like to express my deepest gratitude for all those involved with Seirei Gensouki, now and in the future.
Firstly, to the readers of both the web and novel versions who continue to show my humble work love, thank you very much! There would be no Seirei Gensouki without you.
To the proofreaders who check for minute typos and language expressions, store owners who advertise and promote this work, thank you all very much.
Furthermore, to the editors at HJ Bunko and involved parties at Hobby Japan: thank you for your pains in publishing Seirei Gensouki!
I am especially grateful to my editor, N, from the bottom of my heart! Thank you for gently guiding a completely lost newbie author like me through our first meeting together, and for working so hard behind-the-scenes to get this work out. I will be in your care from now on too!
Finally, to my illustrator, Riv. Thank you so much for your numerous, beautifully colored illustrations of Seirei Gensouki. Even details that I hadn’t considered as the author (especially backgrounds and clothes) had so much detail put on them. The cute and colorful expressions of the heroines make me grin every day. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! I’d like to wrap things up here for now... I hope we can continue to meet now and far into the future. The publication of Volume 2 has already been decided, so hopefully I’ll see you again there!
Yuri Kitayama
August 2015
