Chapter 61

"Although it is difficult to say, according to a series of materials I have collected over the past few weeks, Akiwara Yuto really has no dirt that can be exploited."

The person speaking was a young man, about 25 or 26 years old, wearing an ordinary professional suit, looking like a common office worker.

At this moment, he was sitting in a booth at a café, reporting to a middle-aged man opposite him.

After the young man finished this sentence, he took a stack of photos from a black briefcase he was carrying and laid them flat on the table.

"Akiwara Yuto's daily actions are very regular. In the morning, he goes to a nearby convenience store to buy bento and bread, and then basically spends the whole day writing at home. The person who visits his home most often is his editor in charge, Asano Aiko. Besides that, the contracted writer of your editorial department, Imamura Yuto, also visits occasionally."

He paused, lowered his voice, and said: "Mr. Takei, I am very sorry, but at least for now, the other party has no bad habits and there is nothing that can be exploited."

His name is Yamamoto Ryota, a private detective mainly responsible for helping clients investigate civil-related information.

There are actually many detectives like him in Nihongshe Society; taking Dongjingwan as an example, there are thousands of related agencies.

The emergence of these large numbers of private detectives is also inseparable from the special background of Nihongshe Society.

Because the police have no right to intervene in civil disputes, some civil disputes must be resolved by hiring private detectives. For example, the order he received before was to help a married woman collect evidence of her husband's extramarital affair.

If she could capture evidence of her husband sleeping with another woman, this woman could obtain a more favorable property division result in a divorce lawsuit in court.

However, this business was not easy to do, and because he hadn't obtained the photos for a long time, he was beaten to it by other detective agencies. So, upon learning of the new commission, he started tracking and investigating without stopping.

Unfortunately, the investigation target this time, Akiwara Yuto, was again someone who couldn't be swayed.

The middle-aged man sitting opposite held the photos and fell into deep thought while looking at the images. If Akiwara Yuto were there, he would discover that this was the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of "Dongjing Literature," Takei Kohei.

Takei Kohei frowned. He picked up the photos, looked at them while pondering, and his expression became increasingly gloomy.

Ever since they parted on bad terms at Akiwara's house last time, he had been considering how to deal with Akiwara Yuto, or rather, how to make the other party "submit."

Originally, he had no such intention; he just wanted to transfer Asano Aiko to see if he could make Akiwara Yuto change his mind, but that was just a trial thought. If the cost was too high, he would just let it go.

But he didn't expect that the circulation of "New Novel" would soar all the way to the current 140,000 copies, only one step away from the 150,000 copies of "Dongjing Literature." This caused many people's view of Akiwara Yuto to change from a "promising newcomer" to a "genius like a monster."

Such a transformation also caused Takei Kohei himself to face no small amount of pressure. Regardless, as the duty editor on the day Akiwara Yuto submitted his manuscript, he was the first recipient of the other party's work.

In fact, he had recently heard some gossip—there were already people within the "Dongjing Literature" editorial department dissatisfied with him, and even another deputy editor-in-chief intended to use this as an excuse to attack him.

So for him, the higher the sales of "New Novel" and the greater the fame of Akiwara Yuto, the more it felt like a loud slap on his face. If it became serious enough, it would even affect his succession to the position of the editor-in-chief who was about to retire.

He absolutely could not tolerate all of this happening!

But he had to admit that he currently had no means. Ever since they parted on bad terms at Akiwara's house last time, he had found several private detectives, but the result only proved—Akiwara Yuto doesn't street race, doesn't drink heavily, doesn't visit nightclubs, and his usual social circle is pitifully narrow. He is a total shut-in who only knows how to write text; there is simply no dirt to be found.

And if it were just a small stain, it would be of no help to Akiwara Yuto's reputation. After all, the other party has the title of "genius writer," and the public's tolerance level is extremely high.

Takei Kohei thought for a while, then put down the photos in his hand, rubbed his constantly tense brow, and prepared to pay and leave.

Another useless detective, no use at all!

But just as he was preparing to take out his wallet, Yamamoto Ryota, sitting opposite, took another stack of photos out of his briefcase. "Mr. Takei, although I didn't find any dirt on Akiwara Yuto, I did have some other gains while investigating the other party's interpersonal relationships......"

"Other gains?"

"Don't be anxious, sir; just look at the photos and you'll know."

Hearing the other party say this, Takei Kohei stopped the action of taking out his wallet. He took the photos handed over by the other party and looked at them carefully for a few moments.

On them was a man with a somewhat bloated figure, hugging a woman wearing heavy makeup while drinking.

Because the photos were a bit blurry, it took him a long time to confirm the other party's identity, and he muttered silently: "Kikuchi Tai?!"

Yamamoto Ryota took a sip of coffee and said unhurriedly: "That's right, the other party is the current editor-in-chief of 'New Novel,' Kikuchi Tai. It took us quite some time to capture this photo, and, not only that......"

"Not only that?" Takei Kohei glanced at Yamamoto Ryota and found that the other party had no intention of continuing. He put down the photos and revealed that politician-like smile. "Understood. If it is useful to me, I will increase the commission fee on my end."

"Mr. Takei is indeed a straightforward client!" Yamamoto Ryota revealed a satisfied smile and continued: "The woman in Kikuchi Tai's arms is named Yamanaka Narumi, the president of a design company. This company seems to have recently received a cover design commission from 'New Novel'."

He took out another photo and placed it on the table. "Besides that, this Editor-in-Chief Kikuchi also purchased a luxury sedan worth 7 million yen; it's the one in the photo."

He slowed his speech and lowered his voice: "Mr. Takei, as a member of a publishing house, you must understand the income level of editors better than I do, so you should know what this means, right?"

Takei Kohei's expression became serious. He took the photo and simultaneously sorted out the series of intelligence the other party had just provided in his mind: woman, design company, luxury car......

Recalling that he had heard Kikuchi Tai had previously overridden objections to outsource the cover, a term suddenly popped into his mind—embezzlement of public funds!

Only then did he discover that he didn't need to find any dirt on Akiwara Yuto at all; after all, the biggest trump card had already fallen into his hands. He wanted to use this trump card to plan things out well for himself.

Thinking of this, he revealed a "sinister" smile......

Teacher Akiwara, it seems that you must either join "Dongjing Literature" or become a "traitor" who leaves the Mantanshe Sect!