According to various Japanese bloggers, in The Beans 14, it said that the next volume of the novel is coming out 4/1, and it won’t be a gaiden (thank the gods). This is extremely early.
This vol of The Beans, BTW, does not contain a short story, but it does contain a replacement cover (of Ou Ki, Anju, and Yuushun), and some other pic of the Censorate people (office group photo? XD), as well as some other stuff. I don’t own it, though, so I have no idea how true this all is.
BTW, Ou Ki, Anju, Yuushun (and Kouki) really should be on the cover for real sometime, IMHO.
January 27, 2010 at 8:28 am
Hope this ain’t an april fools day joke.
That would be so awesome. Things are getting so exciting, the novel can’t come soon enough. 
January 27, 2010 at 11:49 am
Agreed!
I can’t wait!
January 27, 2010 at 8:41 am
That is like the best news of my life if it’s true. I’m dying of suspense here.
I really want to see Ou Ki, Anju, Yuushun and Kouki on the cover.
Btw, since this is my first time commenting: Thank you so much for all your hard work translating the novels for those of us who don’t know Japanese! You have no idea how much I appreciate it (but I wish they would release an official translation).
January 27, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Well, probably not all of them at once. They wouldn’t all fit.
You know, I really don’t think that is ever going to happen. Saiunkoku is not very popular in the English speaking world.
January 27, 2010 at 10:03 pm
I’m trying to change that though. I just hit the 150 person mark on my FB group, and I’m always looking for new members.
I think I have almost 60 signatures on the petition too. Both are still way below “popular”, but I’m hoping to change that in the future.
January 27, 2010 at 10:50 am
Are you going to pre-order this time?
January 27, 2010 at 6:08 pm
I don’t know… why do you ask?
January 27, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Thank you so much for your translations!
Can I ask you a question? How many volumes usually in one arc? Do you think the next book of main story will be also a final book?
January 27, 2010 at 7:03 pm
I really don’t know? To either of your questions.
I don’t think though, that the next book will be the final one. There is too much unresolved stuff. I say at least one more book after this next one, and there will need to be another gaiden.
January 27, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Yeah, I think so too. But I hope that the next book will be a gaiden, though.
Thank you so much!
January 28, 2010 at 12:01 am
Thank you for your translations!
January 28, 2010 at 3:42 am
why did they choose such a fabiculous date.
it just seems amazing..
January 28, 2010 at 7:30 pm
I’m surprised that a new one is coming out so quickly. I mean the date means nothing to the Japanese so I doubt this is some long premeditated April Fool’s Joke. And that it’s probably not going to be a gaiden? Wow. She must have really gotten a lot of work done, or it was easier to write the two novels closely.
January 28, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Yeah, they said 本編, so probably not gaiden. This current novel doesn’t have a very definite conclusion, so maybe she was writing them continuously. Anyhow, I’m hoping that even more will be resolved next vol.