Well, there you have it. With this, TraCon is officially finished with Act 1: Prologue.

Yep, you heard it right! Everything so far was just the Prologue, the beginning, the tutorial! Even still, I can’t believe that we’ve made it this far into the story in just 7 months. That’s quite a short timespan when you think about it! The first character that I introduced in the original draft may have been Lune, but Act 2 will feature the second, so stay tuned! I’m actually really hyped for what’s to come, as this is technically one of those ‘Parts I was waiting to write’ for lack of a better term.

That being said, how did you enjoy Volume 5? Issei was fun, but he wasn’t planned to make an appearance in the story yet, much less take such a predominant role in the Volume, but I just really wanted to add him as soon as possible. If I had to state any regrets I have with him, I would probably only say that I didn’t ever write about him teaching Marina how to play Shogi on his phone, but let’s just say I’ll edit that in in the rewrite (ehe!)

If you’ve been following me for a while, you may have noticed just how important I find names to be, but did you notice that ‘Issei Kaido’ containts the word ‘Isekai’ in it, further explaining his origins. I had a real tough time with finding that name, so I’m pretty proud of it! Another name is Licht, Lune’s would be son’s name, referring to ‘Moonlight’, or the ‘Licht’ (Light) that comes from the ‘Lune’ (Moon). One could also argue it comes from ‘Sol’ (The Sun), but I’ll leave that up to you, the reader, to interpret however you wish.

Marina’s bad naming conventions were meant to be a gag, but I don’t think I emphasized that enough. Also, no offense to the Velmas and Gunthers out there! Those were the first names I thought of, they were chosen completely arbitrarily!

Let’s see, what else? Oh right, I wanted to emphasize Lune’s loneliness, and how much Marina was guiding him along the path that she thought was right. Lune was straying off what could be considered the right path, what with constantly overworking himself, getting drunk, and of course, cheating on Cecily, but I also wanted to emphasize the happiness and fulfillment he felt as Sol. He was certainly wrong to be doing these things, but they made him happy, and that’s what mattered to him. In the end, he was hit by reality and finally realized just how bad of a life this is (hence the “I don’t know who Sol is, I’m Lune Grimheart.“ line).

Oh, but I did like how I portrayed Marina’s and Lune’s relationship. She really was his Guardian Angel in a way. Sort of like what Beatrice is to Dante in that one famous book. Somehow, I feel their relationship, whilst flawed, was a lot more realistic than Cecily’s and Lune’s, which was written a lot more like an unrealistic yet cutesy fairy-tale rom-com. Still, I’d like to have written Marina to be a bit less horny, sometimes I feel like I forced that aspect of hers.

Eh, things turned out well, so I’m glad. Like I said previously, Volume 7 will be the start of Act 2, but I don’t yet have a title for it like with Prologue. I’ll think of something later. Who knows, maybe I’ll change Act 1’s name in the meantime as well, cause until I get published, everything’s tentative! Well, not everything, just some names I guess.

I elaborated a lot on the Four Gods here, about the 6 World Wonders Issei’s trying to visit, as well as Heaven. As for the information further explaining these plot-points, you’ll just have to wait until I explain them! Sorry~!

Thank you all once again for reading this far, you’re literally making my dream come true with each follow and rating! Hope to see you again in Volume 7! Here is the new World Map, made by the lovely and amazingly talented Ariana Vivoni, a felllow RR community member just like you! If you see her around, send her my regards and also tell her she's a beast!

-Mikan Sensei

World Map: