Chapter 229: The Current Status of Old Friends

Akiwara Yuto's move this time was largely inseparable from the "death threat letter" he had received earlier; he could not forget the densely packed characters for "die" on the letter paper.

Therefore, while moving, he also tasked Asano Aiko with handling the liaison with detective agencies to search for information on all possible suspects.

……

The next morning at ten o'clock, Sixcup Cafe in Akasaka, Minato Ward.

Akiwara Yuto and Asano Aiko sat face-to-face in a corner booth, while the two bodyguards sat at another table nearby.

Asano Aiko ordered coffee, took a document out of her briefcase, and handed it to Akiwara Yuto.

"This document is a summary of the latest information found by these few detective agencies."

Akiwara Yuto took the document, flipped through it briefly, and placed it on the table.

"Asano, I won't read it; just give me a rough summary."

Upon hearing this request, Asano Aiko's expression became serious. "Akiwara, as things stand, the situation is..."

According to her words, Akiwara Yuto began to gradually understand the current status of some of his old friends.

Asano Aiko first spoke of Kihara Daigo, who, after going from being a department head at Mantan Publishing to a printing factory employee, divorced his original wife and cut off contact with his daughter.

However, Kihara Daigo still had some savings after all, so he remarried and settled down in Hokkaido.

His new wife is a widow with a daughter; she is plain-looking and has no steady job, but her strength is her gentle personality. The two live a very plain life, but it is not too bad.

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment and felt that since Kihara Daigo had already started a new family, it was unlikely he would write any threat letters; at his age, he didn't seem like the type to do such a thing.

Asano Aiko then brought up Takei Kohei.

The other party is currently working together with Kikuchi Tai in the Shikoku region. According to an investigation by a detective agency, there is deep conflict between the two, and they have even had confrontations in the office that nearly led to a brawl.

In the end, under the demands of their superiors, Takei Kohei had to bow his head and apologize. After all, in terms of position, he is now merely a "subordinate" to Kikuchi Tai.

Akiwara Yuto laughed; aside from himself, the person with the deepest grudge against Takei Kohei was probably Kikuchi Tai, as he had been held firmly in check by Takei Kohei's leverage, to the point where he was forced to move his whole family to Shikoku.

However, at this point, that leverage was no longer useful, so the conflict had erupted directly.

After finishing this, Asano Aiko spoke about Kadowaki Yuzuma.

After the sales of *New* plummeted, Kadowaki Yuzuma was once transferred by Mantan Publishing to *Tokyo Literature*.

But because he was often mocked there as a "plagiarizing writer," he left Mantan Publishing and joined a monthly magazine with a monthly circulation of about 70, 00 copies.

However, because the monthly magazine has fewer pages, his income is only a quarter of what it was during his time at the weekly.

To make ends meet, Kadowaki Yuzuma went to work as a Japanese language teacher at a cram school, helping students prepare for university entrance exams; his income is now quite decent.

According to a report from a detective agency, Kadowaki Yuzuma seems to regret what happened back then and often visits a shrine on Sundays.

Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto sighed.

Kadowaki Yuzuma certainly has talent; after all, before he went to *New*, he had always been their signature writer. But perhaps because he was too utilitarian, he hadn't created anything decent since.

If a writer doesn't put their heart into their work but instead focuses on various schemes and interpersonal relationships, they often end up fading into the crowd.

After lamenting the impermanence of the world, Akiwara Yuto made a judgment: "The possibility of the three of them writing the letter is low."

People don't do anything extreme unless they are pushed to a certain point; the other three either have families or jobs, and it is unlikely they would risk everything.

He thought for a moment and asked, "What about Onuki Masakazu?"

Asano Aiko hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Sorry, there is currently no news about him at all."

"No news?!"

Akiwara Yuto frowned with dissatisfaction. He had hired five well-known detective agencies in the industry; how could there be no news at all?

After all, as long as someone is a person, they will have a fixed place of residence or interpersonal relationships.

Seeing this, Asano Aiko spoke again, "Akiwara, according to the investigation by the Murano Detective Agency, Onuki Masakazu's parents have already cut ties with him, and he didn't have any friends to begin with."

"Moreover, fearing retaliation, his parents quickly moved to the countryside, leaving him alone in Adachi Ward. After losing his ghostwriting work, Onuki Masakazu had no money to pay rent and was forced to move out of his existing residence."

"Before leaving, he tried to seek help from Wada Shin, but he was kicked out before he could even enter the door."

Akiwara Yuto closed his eyes and pondered for a while, feeling more and more that he might be the one who sent the threat letter.

Unemployed, no fixed residence, no interpersonal relationships—it is normal for such a person to do anything.

But it's hard to say; it could also be a reader dissatisfied with the plot of the work.

In any case, he should be more careful.

Akiwara Yuto sighed and said to Asano Aiko, "Asano, remember to stay with Ms. Nakazato whenever you go out recently."

He had hired two bodyguards, a man and a woman; the man was named Hatanaka Itsuki and the woman was named Nakazato Mutsumi, both of whom had undergone long-term bodyguard training at a security company.

The male bodyguard often accompanied him when he went out and attended various events, while the female bodyguard was assigned to Asano Aiko, as the latter often had to represent Akiwara Yuto to handle various business matters.

As for Satake Maki, she now took on some basic proofreading and editing work and rarely attended public events. Even if she had to go out, she was usually with Akiwara Yuto.

Asano Aiko felt a warmth in her heart and smiled, "Akiwara, I understand, don't worry."

The two skipped this topic and talked about other aspects.

After finalizing some recent work, Akiwara Yuto took the initiative to pay the bill and then left with the bodyguard named Hatanaka Itsuki. Asano Aiko watched his back as he left, a hint of tenderness in her eyes.

……

After a short 15-minute walk, Akiwara Yuto said goodbye to Hatanaka Itsuki downstairs and returned home.

He changed his shoes in the entryway and headed straight for the study.

This study of his was about 15 tsubo in size, with tall bookshelves against the wall, filled with books and materials Akiwara Yuto had collected.

In the middle of the room was a desk made of black walnut. Behind the desk was a floor-to-ceiling window with transparent glass, from which one could see the vast Tokyo Bay.

Akiwara Yuto stood in front of the window for a moment, then sat down at the desk and began to think about his next plan.

As it stands, with the support of royalties, he no longer had to worry about money, so he didn't need to deliberately pursue writing commercial works.

After all, although commercial works are bestsellers, they often bring some negative reviews.

Like *Furuhata*, although some readers liked it very much, the reasoning methods still couldn't compare to some classic works.

So many critics still thought his level had dropped, falling far behind his previous works.

However, stopping the serialization was impossible; after all, the *Furuhata Ninzaburo* television series was currently in the spotlight, and there was no need to give up a cash cow for nothing.

So for now, he just needed to maintain the status quo.

Once the 40-plus episodes of serialization from his past life were finished, he could just sell the relevant copyrights for a good price; perhaps he could talk to the Science and Education Bureau about it.

Besides this, what was most useful to him was fame and connections.

In terms of fame, nothing beats winning an award.

For him, the most useful ones currently were the Uemura Prize and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award.

The Uemura Prize was currently manipulated by the radical faction behind Wada Shin; if he wanted to win, he would have to wait and see if the Ministry of Science and Education had any intention of reforming.

Even if there were moves toward reform, the radicals probably wouldn't compromise so easily and vote for him.

However, he heard there were major internal disagreements among them; perhaps he could make use of that?

Information was still insufficient; he should ask Chairman Kawai about it later.

As for the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, he heard the factional configuration among the judges was very similar to the Newcomer Award, and the association was constantly reforming its judging rules.

As long as he produced excellent work, the hope of winning was still very high!

As for connections, was there any way he could take it a step further?

During this awards incident, Wada Shin could easily find a group of "public intellectuals" to slander and besiege him; if not for the help of *April Youth*, it would have been much more troublesome for him to turn things around.

This proved the importance of connections!

Since that was the case, he should get to know more people, preferably those with influence in the public opinion circle.

That way, if something else broke out, he could quickly use their channels to defend himself.

But how should he get to know such people, and how could he form a relationship of shared interests?

While Akiwara Yuto was thinking with a frown, the phone on the desk rang. Akiwara Yuto picked up the receiver and quickly heard the voice of Kawai Shinta.

"Akiwara-san, there is one thing I hope you can help with."