Chapter 60: No Need to Worry

Akiwara Yuto guessed who had the most motive to do this, but he couldn't think of any solution for a while.

If it was aimed at himself, he would just shake his hands and leave. After all, his ability has been recognized by the market to a certain extent now, and he would just jump to "April Youth" or other literary journals.

But if the other party was aimed at Asano Aiko, he was not easy to intervene.

After all, just like what Awazu Hideki said, he is just a writer, and he is only in a cooperative relationship with the publishing house.

However, to be honest, he thinks Awazu Hideki might also exaggerate.

First of all, Kikuchi Tai has frequently shown favor recently, and even entrusted Asano Aiko to bring bonuses and promises.

In addition, for the sales of "New Novel," although he doesn't want to boast, his role is indeed crucial, and he has explicitly and implicitly indicated many times before that the responsible editor he identified can only be Asano Aiko.

Besides that, if the other party wants to play small actions against Asano, they must pass Kikuchi Tai's level. After all, he is the editor-in-chief of the editorial department and has the right to personnel transfer.

Akiwara Yuto pondered for a long time before settling his heart. He walked downstairs to pick up the receiver, called Asano Aiko, and made an appointment to meet at the "double" cafe near the Mantan Society the day after tomorrow.

He prepared to tell Asano everything he learned, ask if the other party encountered any work problems, and if she would encounter trouble in the future, how she would solve it.

After the call was connected, although Asano Aiko was a bit curious about Akiwara Yuto's intention, she didn't say anything, just agreed and made an appointment for the time.

Akiwara Yuto hung up the phone, letting himself temporarily put down this worry. After all, dark arrows are hard to guard against, and no matter how much he cares, it is of no avail.

He returned to his desk, took out paper and pen again, and began to consider carefully.

What work should he write next?

How about the "Edogawa Ranpo Short Story Collection"? As the forefather of detective fiction in his past life, the works Edogawa Ranpo wrote, such as "The Human Chair," "The D-Slope Murder Case," and "The Beast," are all peak masterpieces of Japanese detective fiction. Moreover, because they are in short story form, he could place one in each issue, succeeding his current work.

However, the historical backgrounds depicted in these works are a bit old; would readers find them lacking in immersion?

That possibility cannot be ruled out.

Then how about Miyabe Miyuki's "All She Was Worth"? This work is a full-length novel that mainly tells the story of a suspended police officer entrusted by someone to investigate a missing fiancée case. The narrative style is very cold and slightly different from other works.

Furthermore, this work has earned a high reputation; it was not only selected by the British "Guardian" as one of the top 10 Asian detective novels but was also named by the "Yomiuri Shimbun" as the most remarkable detective suspense novel in Japan over the last 20 years.

However, wouldn't it be more appropriate to use this work to aim for the higher Uemura Prize? Using it just for the next serialization seems a bit wasteful.

Akiwara Yuto frowned. Many classic works appeared in his mind—some local to Japan, others from abroad. However, after repeated consideration, he had a measure in his heart: to bring out something decent so that he could progress step by step.

After all, if he suddenly wrote a work that far exceeded his previous level, then no matter what he wrote later, it would surely be compared, and it would be even more likely that the media would consider him to have exhausted his talent.

But which works are just a grade higher without being too abrupt? He fell into deep thought again.

Until the end of the day, he still hadn't come up with a result.

When the time reached 3:00 PM the day after tomorrow, Akiwara Yuto arrived at the "double" café near the Mantanshe Sect, as per his agreement with Asano Aiko.

He pushed open the glass door, walked in, sat at a corner seat, and ordered two lattes and a small cake, curious that Asano Aiko hadn't arrived on time.

But before 5 minutes had passed, Asano Aiko appeared at the entrance. She walked in, sat down, put away her small bag, and apologized with a smile: "Sorry, Akiwara, I kept you waiting."

Akiwara Yuto glanced at her and felt that she looked a bit different from before.

Compared to her previous intellectual style, today Asano Aiko was wearing a plain-colored long dress, which made her skin look even fairer. Paired with her short black hair and cherry lips, she had the feel of a magazine model. Even more amazingly, she had actually applied pink nail polish.

Looking at this attire, it didn't seem like she had encountered any work problems at the editorial department. He was a bit puzzled for a moment, but didn't say anything.

Asano Aiko noticed his gaze; she didn't show it on her face, but she felt a little nervous and excited inside.

After receiving the invitation the day before yesterday, she had prepared carefully, specifically buying this new style of long dress and changing her nail polish. Even the delay just now was the result of her taking extra time to apply makeup.

Although she had prepared herself, she still felt a bit shy upon realizing that Akiwara Yuto was truly looking at her.

Seeing that she remained silent after sitting down, Akiwara Yuto felt a bit strange, so he spoke first: "Asano, after you left the day before yesterday, an editor from 'April Youth' also came to my house."

Asano Aiko had been lost in thought, but she woke up instantly upon hearing this news.

She forced herself to calm down and then asked: "Akiwara, did the other party come to invite you to join 'April Youth'?"

Aside from this reason, she couldn't think of any other.

Akiwara Yuto nodded, then recounted the whole story, emphasizing the intelligence he had obtained—that someone might use underhanded methods against her out of jealousy.

Asano Aiko nodded after listening and also began to fall into deep thought. After a while, her expression relaxed, and she said with a smile: "Akiwara, the other party is just from another publishing house; you don't need to take what he said too seriously."

To be honest, she felt the possibility of her being targeted was not high.

The Mantanshe Sect is, after all, a formal publishing house, and all personnel and work processes have corresponding systems.

In terms of work, as the editor in charge, her main content is collecting and proofreading Akiwara's manuscripts; the person who could cause her the most trouble is sitting right in front of her.

In terms of personnel, as an editor for "New Novel," any job-related matters must be handled by Editor-in-Chief Suicide Due. Others, even if the General Manager wanted to intervene, could not bypass Editor-in-Chief Suicide Due.

She felt that it must have been the peer from "April Youth" exaggerating, so she instead began to soothe Akiwara Yuto.

Having said this, she suddenly remembered something and asked: "Akiwara, has the content for your next serialization been decided?"

Compared to other matters, this was the most crucial one.

Akiwara Yuto deserves at least half the credit for the currently great sales of "New Novel." If the hiatus after he stops serializing is too long, it will inevitably lead to the loss of a considerable number of reader fans.

Hearing this question, Akiwara Yuto's expression stiffened; he really hadn't decided what to serialize next.

However, looking at the slightly smiling Asano Aiko, he thought of another question.

Can the words spoken by that Editor Sujin Xiushu really be ignored......