Chapter 137: Playful Smile

Tokyo, Mystery Writers Association Conference Room.

Kawai Shinta, as the vice president, sat in the office chair handling work.

Yesterday, the results of the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award had been released, but after all, there were still a few days before the award ceremony, so the winner must be kept secret.

Besides that, before the award ceremony is officially announced, we must consider other invited guests, as well as relevant media personnel, and do a good job in the relevant work of the press conference.

At this time, there was a knock on the office door.

Kawai Shinta said "Please come in." Immediately, a man in a gray suit walked in.

Kawai Shinta looked up and found that the other party was his subordinate, Takeda Yuto, who was responsible for the association's external public relations work for the Association Award and Newcomer Award.

"Takeda, is there anything wrong with coming over?" Kawai Shinta asked casually while flipping through documents.

Takeda Yuto stood up straight and replied seriously: "President Kawai, I am here to report on something about the Newcomer Award winner Akiwara Yuto."

"Akiwara Yuto?" Kawai Shinta didn't expect to hear this answer. He looked up and asked suspiciously: "Does the other party have any problems?"

This must be asked carefully. If the Newcomer Award is just awarded to the other party, and it turns out that the other party has big problems, the face of the Mystery Writers Association will not be good.

And this kind of thing is not without precedent. A few years ago, there was a writer who won the Mystery Writers Association Award, and after winning the award, he was exposed for beating his wife to miscarriage.

Immediately, the media paid attention, and even wrote an article titled "The Winner of This Mystery Writers Association Award Beat His Wife to Miscarriage," making the Mystery Writers Association, as the organizer, very embarrassed.

Kawai Shinta didn't want to experience this kind of thing a second time.

"The situation is a bit complicated," Takeda Yuto hesitated. "It's about Mantanshe. They seem to have taken some restrictions on this writer."

"Mantanshe?" Kawai Shinta was a bit confused. He remembered that in the information he obtained, Akiwara Yuto debuted in a magazine called *New* under Mantanshe.

Since the two are in a cooperative relationship, why does Mantanshe want to restrict Akiwara Yuto?

He stopped the work he was handling, frowned and said: "Briefly."

Kawai Shinta nodded and replied: "According to the information our Public Relations Department has recently obtained, Mantanshe seems to be using business cooperation as a threat, requiring other media not to report on him."

Isn't this a blockade? Kawai Shinta was a bit surprised.

A large publisher blocking a writer who has just debuted is simply too strange.

"Do you know the reason?" Kawai Shinta asked.

"According to the news we received, the statements of various newspapers are not unified. Some are because of factional strife, some are because the author himself has bad character, and some are because he offended powerful figures."

What a mess, Kawai Shinta shook his head, but he pondered carefully.

It seems that whether the Newcomer Award should be awarded to Akiwara Yuto needs to be carefully considered.

It would be fine if the other party just had a chaotic private life; the public and the media don't care much about this.

But if the other party has problems in character, or has done something morally corrupt, it must be carefully considered.

Kawai Shinta thought about it and let his subordinate go back first.

Immediately, he took out a communication book from the drawer and turned to one of the pages. He picked up the receiver and dialed the number on the communication book.

"Hello, I am Kawai Shinta. May I ask if it is Seto Tamae-sensei?"

"There is nothing special, just want to ask you about a writer named Akiwara Yuto. Do you know the other party? What do you think of this writer?"

"What? The other party proposed nine methods of trick design? Please tell me carefully."

Kawai Shinta originally just wanted to ask about character, but didn't expect to have an unexpected joy. Immediately, he held the receiver and listened carefully.

While listening, his pupils dilated involuntarily.

Tricks of the person, tricks of the scene, tricks of time, tricks of murder weapons and poisons... This series of trick design methods made Kawai Shinta feel surprised and shocked.

He never thought that someone could think of the trick design methods of mystery so clearly.

Kawai Shinta felt more and more incredible. In his view, based on these nine trick design concepts alone, Akiwara Yuto could have a place in the Japanese mystery world.

This Akiwara-san is really a genius, and it's no wonder he can write a work like *Negligent Homicide* that contains a variety of trick design methods!

Time passed bit by bit. After 20 minutes, Kawai Shinta ended this call.

By this time, he had forgotten that the purpose of his call to Seto Tamae was to understand Akiwara Yuto's character.

However, he thinks this is not important. A writer with such talent is completely a treasure of the Japanese literary world. Even if his character is a bit poor, what can happen.

Compared with the changes he can bring to the future of the Japanese literary world, some personal things are completely not a thing.

But back to the point, why did this Akiwara-sensei leave Mantanshe, and why did Mantanshe block him? Even if the writer's character has problems, it shouldn't be like this, right?

Kawai Shinta felt more and more strange, and picked up the receiver again, dialing a number on the communication book.

As the vice president of the Mystery Writers Association, Kawai Shinta has a certain status in the Japanese literary world and has connections with many publishing industries.

So the one he contacted this time is Mantanshe's competitor, Keihan-sha.

As competitors, the two should know a lot about each other's information.

The call was quickly connected. Kawai Shinta held the receiver and said: "Director Murata, I am Kawai Shinta, I want to ask you about something."

"It's like this, Mantanshe's Public Relations Bureau recently made... to a writer named Akiwara Yuto..."

"You let people go and ask, right? Okay, I'll wait."

Kawai Shinta put down the phone and waited slightly.

After 15 minutes, the phone rang, and Kawai Shinta answered the phone.

A male voice came from the other side: "President Kawai, according to an editor named Awazu Hideki of our *April Youth*, the development of the matter is like this..."

Kawai Shinta nodded subconsciously, then listened carefully, listening for a full twenty minutes before putting down the receiver. But at this time, he already understood the ins and outs of this matter clearly.

But the more he understood the inside story, the more angry he became.

Damn Mantanshe, just because the writer ended the cooperation, you let the outside world block him.

If everyone does this like you, wouldn't the writer become a slave to the publisher?!

No, this precedent cannot be opened!

Also, a genius like Akiwara Yuto who can propose nine trick design methods, if he really stops writing because of suppression, it is undoubtedly a major loss to the Japanese literary world!

Kawai Shinta stood up and walked back and forth in the office space. After a while, he finally decided what to do next.

He thought about it, picked up the receiver again, and called back Takeda Yuto, who was responsible for external public relations.

"Takeda, the winner of the Newcomer Award will not change." Kawai Shinta looked at his subordinate and said: "Besides that, help me send a few special invitation letters. In addition to the Mantanshe vice president who was originally scheduled to attend, invite a department head named Kihara Daigo and a deputy editor-in-chief named Takei Kohei."

Hearing this request, Takeda Yuto showed a surprised expression.

Inviting a department head is barely okay, but what is inviting a deputy editor-in-chief of a magazine? However, since the superior said so, he should just do it.

He nodded and turned around, but what he didn't notice was that Kawai Shinta showed a playful smile on his face... ===== CHAPTER 138 =====