Chapter 116: A Request

Time quickly arrived at next Monday. Akiwara Yuto woke up early, headed to a nearby internet cafe, opened the forum, and uploaded the fourth installment of "The Death of a Mystery Novelist."

The story in this installment went like this:

After receiving the envelope with the word "murderer" written on it, the female caregiver was terrified and immediately sought out the eldest grandson who knew the truth. After reading the contents of the letter, the latter learned that there was also a hemodialysis report that might contain evidence exposing the caregiver's crime.

After weighing the options, the eldest grandson took the caregiver to the hospital where the deceased's latest blood data was kept, intending to destroy the evidence.

But to their surprise, the office where the documents were stored had already been burned to the ground by a fire. This meant that the file containing the blood data had likely fallen into the hands of the person who sent the letter.

The eldest grandson considered this and, believing the other party wouldn't do something useless, reminded the caregiver to check her text messages and email. Prompted by him, the caregiver indeed found an email in her inbox.

In the email, the sender demanded that the caregiver arrive at a certain location in Adachi Ward within half an hour to conduct a transaction. But just then, the detective showed up.

After a chase, the caregiver and the eldest grandson were successfully intercepted by the detective. Just as the caregiver thought she could not escape the long arm of the law, the detective told her that the person he had come to arrest was the eldest grandson.

Through the detective's words, the caregiver learned the reason: that day, when she was climbing the outdoor ladder, she had been seen by her great-grandmother, who suffered from dementia and had mistaken her for the eldest grandson. Therefore, the eldest grandson was treated as a suspect by the detective and taken to the police station.

After being cleared of suspicion, the caregiver felt relieved, yet she decided to continue to the transaction location in Adachi Ward.

But when she arrived at the scene, she found a corpse. Upon closer inspection, the person was none other than the mystery novelist's butler.

At this moment, the butler suddenly opened his eyes, said in a faint voice that the report was still there, and then passed out.

Driven by her conscience, the caregiver finally decided to call the police and an ambulance. Shortly after, the butler was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. On the other side, the detective also learned the truth from the eldest grandson.

After confirming the facts, the three of them, along with two accompanying police officers, returned to the mystery novelist's home to explain the cause and effect of everything to the other relatives.

Once home, the caregiver remembered where the butler had always hidden things, so she searched and indeed found the mystery novelist's blood report. Although this would be treated as evidence of a crime, she handed it directly to the detective.

After receiving the report, the detective did not read it out immediately. Instead, he first explained the facts he had learned to the other family members.

But just as the others began to use foul dialects to insult the caregiver, the detective glanced at the document and then said, "She is innocent!"

After the upload was finished, Akiwara Yuto left the internet cafe and headed to a nearby train station. After more than 50 minutes, he arrived at Anju Bookstore and climbed the creaking stairs to the second-floor office.

"Good morning, everyone." Akiwara Yuto pushed open the door, greeted Anjuzu Goichi and the others who were working in the office, and then asked, "President Anju, are you free now? Is it convenient to talk privately?"

Anjuzu Goichi was a bit puzzled, but he still stood up, greeted the others, and left with Akiwara Yuto.

The two walked to a nearby coffee shop, sat down, and ordered two black coffees.

"Akiwara-sensei, is something the matter?" Anjuzu Goichi asked tentatively.

He didn't know the purpose of Akiwara Yuto's visit this time; after all, according to past practice, it was usually he who extended the invitation before the other party would come over.

So, was Akiwara Yuto dissatisfied with the existing cooperation terms and wanting to change or break the contract?

Akiwara Yuto did not know Anjuzu Goichi's complex thoughts, but said earnestly, "President Anju, I would like to ask you for a favor."

Although Anjuzu Goichi's expression did not change, he felt secretly nervous inside. "Akiwara-sensei, please go ahead."

Akiwara Yuto continued, "As a veteran in the publishing industry, you must have quite a few connections. I would like to ask, do you know anyone in the literary criticism circle?"

Hearing this request, Anjuzu Goichi realized it wasn't what he had thought. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "I do, but they are only casual acquaintances."

Anjuzu Goichi picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Akiwara-sensei, do you mean to contact book reviewers to promote 'The Devotion of Suspect X'?"

Akiwara Yuto nodded. "President Anju, that is exactly what I mean."

"That might not be very appropriate." Anjuzu Goichi hesitated for a moment, then explained, "As it stands, the book's sales are still climbing steadily. If nothing goes wrong, it should be ready for a reprint in about two months, at which point there is a high probability it will attract the attention of book reviewers."

He paused and added, "On the contrary, approaching them rashly now might not be very appropriate."

He had actually said this quite tactfully; after all, although it was common knowledge that there were many book reviewers who took money to do favors, the media outlets those reviewers belonged to often cooperated with large publishing houses.

For a small publisher like Anju Bookstore, approaching them rashly without an introduction often led to even harsher demands, and they might even end up writing a bad review.

Therefore, the safest way was to wait for the market to ferment on its own; once the book's sales went up, book reviewers would naturally take notice.

Akiwara Yuto actually understood this logic, but after seeing the statistical data from the four major publishing houses' magazines earlier, he had been feeling a sense of anxiety.

After all, no matter what, if it could be reported on sooner, it would be one step closer to a big hit.

In his view, the effect of getting one book review might be much more effective than holding a dozen book signings for thousands of people.

Akiwara Yuto was silent for a while, then organized his thoughts and said, "President Anju, I generally understand what you mean, but I still hope you can find a book reviewer. After all, the better it sells, the greater our profits will be."

Seeing that Anjuzu Goichi was still hesitant, Akiwara Yuto added, "As for the costs of establishing these connections, they can be deducted from my share of the sales revenue first. That way, it shouldn't harm the interests of Anju Bookstore."

Akiwara Yuto saw it very clearly: as the president of a small publishing house, wanting to persuade a book reviewer would undoubtedly require spending favors and costs, many of which could not be calculated in money alone.

Therefore, he had to at least compensate for the costs to further persuade the other party.

Anjuzu Goichi's expression became serious. He said, "Akiwara-sensei, let me consider it."

If he were to ask a book reviewer for a favor, he would indeed need to pull some strings, but since Akiwara Yuto had already promised to cover the expenses, he didn't need to worry.

Moreover, the sooner a book reviewer published a review, the sooner "The Devotion of Suspect X" could enter the public eye and gain attention. Once it sold better, Anju Bookstore would also reap more benefits.

Then again, if he refused Akiwara Yuto's request and the other party refused to cooperate again during the reprint, that would be bad. After all, the penalty for breach of contract was only a fraction compared to the funds recovered from the first printing.

After weighing things for over ten minutes, Anjuzu Goichi sighed and replied, "Akiwara-sensei, I understand. I will look for some acquaintances in the next few days and then contact a book reviewer."

Hearing this promise, Akiwara Yuto showed a satisfied expression...