Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? Volume 7 G

Hello, I’m Okina Baba.

In the blink of an eye, this series has already reached Volume 7.

Lucky number seven!

And seven brings to mind everyone’s beloved catfish.

You might not remember, since it was way back in Volume 2, but the catfish monsters’ official name was the Elroe guneseven.

They might not ever make a reappearance in the novels, but they’re a major player in the manga Volume 3, so make sure you check it out!

Anyway, now that I’ve managed to work in a manga plug, let’s talk about Volume 7.

Since Volume 6 had way less action than any of the volumes before it, this volume makes up for it by being almost entirely action.

Really, I don’t think I’ve ever written a volume that was full of so many battles from start to finish.

Not to mention, the opponent was unlike anything we’ve seen before.

And on top of that, even though they spent the whole volume fighting, less time passed than almost any other volume.

It’s like, a certain amount of time passes between Volume 1 and Volume 6, but this one focuses on a single incident, so it’s basically all within the span of one day.

Just like an episode of 24.

As for other changes, the notes about the reincarnations in the table of contents have changed from Shun’s list to Ms. Oka’s.

It contains different information from Shun’s list, too.

So did you notice anything?

The location of Mirei Shinohara’s name is different in this list from the old one!

Both lists are in Japanese alphabetical (A-I-U-E-O) order, yet Shinohara’s in two different places.

To tell you the truth, that may or may not have been a mistake on my part.

See, originally, her name was going to be read “Mirei Urushibara.”

But when I was adding the name meanings, I changed it to Mirei Shinohara and then didn’t notice.

It slipped through proofreading, so it wound up that her name just changes somewhere along the way.

Thus, because of a fairly minor mistake, her name changed from Urushibara to Shinohara.

Still, I think Mirei Shinohara sounds better than Mirei Urushibara anyway, so I decided to just keep it that way instead of correcting it.

Which is why Shun’s list still contains that mistake.

In the web version, she’s like a barely mentioned nameless background character anyway, but in the novel version, she’s become a regular part of the S story, so I’m sure you can forgive me.

What? You can’t?

Come on—give me a break here.

Anyway, it’s the masterful Kiryu’s amazing illustrations that let me get away with stupid mistakes like that.

I cruelly requested covers without any human characters for the first three volumes, and even now none of them is actually a human, but Kiryu’s art makes it all work!

So I’ve been recklessly putting faith in that, and even in this volume, I keep making impossible requests like the devil I am.

Just look at how many machines are in this volume’s illustrations!

Look upon this cruel author who asked Kiryu, an expert on drawing monsters, to draw a bunch of mecha instead!

Really, Kiryu, thank you so much.

Speaking of which, let me say my thanks here.

Starting with Kiryu, of course, for drawing those mecha I so heartlessly requested. Thank you again.

Thank you to Kakashi, who draws the sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious, always amazing manga adaptation.

Volume 3 of the manga even includes a bonus manga about the aforementioned Mirei Shinohara, so be sure to take a look.

Thank you to my editor Mr. K and everyone else who helped bring this book into the world.

And to everyone out there who picked up this volume.

Thank you very much.