Chapter 79: Layers of Doubt

Three days later, in the morning, at Akiwara Yuto’s home.

Akiwara Yuto stood by the telephone in the Xuanguan and said into the receiver, "Lady Asano, may I ask if you could let Asano come to the phone?"

"I'm sorry, Akiwara," Lady Asano sighed, then continued, "She is still feeling a bit unwell, please forgive her."

"I understand. Please pass on a message for me: she must take good care of her health," Akiwara Yuto said.

"Understood, I will pass that on to her for you."

Akiwara Yuto was silent for a moment, then hung up the phone.

He closed his eyes and began to think about the series of events that had occurred recently.

Because of that statement by teacher Seto Tamae, the entire awards ceremony became a joke. The person primarily in charge, Kihara Daigo, immediately announced that the awards ceremony was over and demanded that all staff and contracted writers remain silent toward the media.

Although public relations work was done, some media outlets still reported on the content, though the wording was much more "tactful" and did not use the word "black curtain."

Despite this, Mantansha still held a small press conference. At the conference, Kikuchi Futoshi bowed to apologize and announced that he would take responsibility for the result, but the reason was vague, citing only his own mistakes.

At the end of the conference, Mantansha announced that he was being transferred to the Shikoku branch to serve as deputy branch manager, which was effectively an exile.

After the press conference ended, Akiwara Yuto received a call from Asano Aiko, who told him the detailed "cause and effect" and hoped he could forgive her. Just as Akiwara was feeling puzzled, she hung up the phone. After that, he could not get in touch with her at all.

Takei Kohei also paid a visit, extending an invitation to him once again in the name of *Tokyo Literature*, and gave multiple assurances that they would protect his interests and could make further concessions on manuscript fees and royalties.

However, faced with this invitation, Akiwara Yuto did not agree, only saying he needed to consider it further.

……

Akiwara Yuto sorted through the recent events, then found paper and a pen and began to analyze them.

The occurrence of these events felt as if they had been arranged, making him feel a deep sense of wrongness.

First, Kikuchi Futoshi’s performance did not match his personality.

According to Asano’s account, Kikuchi Futoshi had changed the shortlist for the Gold Award in order to curry favor with the department head and get a promotion. But if that were the case, why would Kikuchi Futoshi promise to give the Gold Award to him? There was absolutely no need for that.

Moreover, with Kikuchi Futoshi’s slick personality, even if he had that intention, he would have communicated and appeased him beforehand, and compensated him in other ways.

Second, Kihara Daigo’s reaction was very strange.

If Kikuchi Futoshi really did this to curry favor with him, then as the department head, even if he couldn't help Kikuchi Futoshi openly, he could have intervened from the sidelines to arrange for Kikuchi Futoshi to be in another department or a slightly better branch.

One must know that the Shikoku region is located in the Nankaido, which can be said to be the worst economic environment in Japan.

Such a lack of mercy would undoubtedly chill the hearts of subordinates who wanted to be on good terms with him.

Besides these two points, Asano Aiko’s reaction of avoiding him after telling him the truth, and Takei Kohei’s immediate visit to extend an invitation, all made him feel that a pair of hands was pushing all of this.

He furrowed his brows and then put down the pen in his hand; what he needed now was more information.

However, who should he look for?

He thought for a while, opened a drawer, took out a business card, and dialed a number according to the card.

"Editor Awazu, are you free this afternoon?"

……

3:00 PM, the "SWAG" cafe in Chiyoda Ward.

Akiwara Yuto sat in a corner seat, holding a cup of black coffee. Sitting opposite him was Awazu Hideki, the editor of *April Youth* who had invited him to join the Kajokan last time.

Awazu Hideki said "thank you" to the waiter who handed him a dessert, then faced Akiwara Yuto and asked, "Teacher Akiwara, what is the matter that you have asked to meet with me this time?"

He paused, then continued, "Could it be that you have already decided to leave *New Novel* and join *April Youth*?"

Akiwara Yuto did not directly deny it, but he did not admit it either, only saying politely, "Editor Awazu, you must have heard about the recent awards ceremony of the Mantansha Literature Award, right?"

"That’s right, I have learned a little about it here," Awazu Hideki revealed a gloating smile, "That counts as a scandal, neither big nor small."

"So, Teacher Akiwara, are you feeling cold toward Mantansha because of your own experience?"

After finishing this sentence, he stared at Akiwara Yuto, trying to find a trace of dissatisfaction on his face.

After all, as the biggest contributor to the high sales of *New Novel*, Akiwara Yuto had ended up not even getting the Gold Award, only receiving a Silver Award; surely the other party would be very dissatisfied, right?

But to his surprise, the expression on Akiwara Yuto’s face was very calm, showing not the slightest fluctuation.

Akiwara Yuto did not answer this question, but instead said, "Editor Awazu, I asked you here this time because I want to ask some questions about the internal affairs of Mantansha."

"I am only an editor for *April Youth* at Kajokan, so I might not know much about the situation at Mantansha," Awazu Hideki waved his hand, but still said, "Please talk about what you want to know first; I can only tell you what I know."

Akiwara Yuto nodded to show he understood, though he was very skeptical in his heart.

The fact that the other party could know his address and mention some of the circumstances of his cooperation with *New Novel* showed that the other party had an "insider" in the editorial-related departments of Mantansha, and that this insider’s rank was not low. Since that was the case, the other party definitely had the information he needed.

He put down the coffee in his hand and asked, "Was the awards incident really pushed by Kikuchi Futoshi?"

Awazu Hideki did not answer immediately, but instead asked, "Teacher Akiwara, if I tell you some of the situation I know, will you accept the invitation from *April Youth*?"

"No, I still need to consider it." Akiwara Yuto naturally would not sell himself out so easily, but he still said solemnly, "I will owe *April Youth* a favor."

Hearing this answer, Awazu Hideki was silent for a moment, but immediately laughed: "If it were someone else, I definitely wouldn't pay attention if they said that. But since it is you, I believe it."

In his previous understanding, Akiwara Yuto had remained at *New Novel* solely because of Asano Aiko’s kindness in recognizing his talent, so he did not doubt that the other party would lie about this.

His expression became solemn, and then he said, "I am not entirely clear about the specific incident; all I know is this..."