"Yeah, I won."
Mutou Judai leaned against the back door of the Yurindo main store, talking on the phone.
"I wasn't injured... it's just that the opponent was a bit disgusting. And after the match ended, there was this little girl who seemed to have something wrong with her head who suddenly said something about marriage to me."
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Erina on the other end of the phone clearly raised her voice a level.
"How did you respond!?"
Erina instinctively asked this, but before Mutou Judai could speak, Erina hurriedly added.
"...Mainly I'm worried you might be deceived! Look, you just met her for the first time, but she suddenly talked about marriage and such. Maybe she's from other Kengan Association members."
"Judai, you've just started dealing with Kengan. The waters in the Kengan Association are too deep for you to handle—as a friend, I still need to help you handle such matters!"
"Don't get the wrong idea!"
Hearing Erina say this, Mutou Judai slowly smiled.
"Of course I refused."
"After all, regardless of whether the waters are deep or not, normal people would refuse sudden marriage proposals from strangers, right?"
Erina breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mm... forget it, let's not talk about this. Judai, you should be back from Korakuen, right? So what would you like to eat today?"
"Of course—mainly because you helped connect Korakuen and Totsuki this time, and even fought a Kengan match. You worked hard... plus I originally agreed to provide your meals, so I'm just asking."
Hearing Erina's tone, Mutou Judai could instinctively imagine her appearance.
"Seafood rice then..."
"But Erina, I'll be returning late. I'm at Yurindo bookstore here. I have some things to discuss with Chairman Okuya, so I'll probably return in the evening."
"Mm, I understand... don't come back too late."
"Okay."
After briefly telling Erina about what happened at Korakuen, once everything was said, Mutou Judai hung up the phone.
When he pushed open the back door of Yurindo bookstore, he saw Okuya Ken currently leaning against the door nearby, still looking like a drunkard, showing Mutou Judai a silly smile.
"You two lovebirds are as affectionate as always... but at such a young age already having to report work. When you two get married, you'll probably be tightly controlled by that girl Erina."
Cough cough...
Mutou Judai's expression changed slightly, but he cleared his throat and calmed himself down.
"That's our business... anyway, Chairman Okuya, thank you for the trouble regarding the 'A Certain Magical Index' I sent before."
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Okuya Ken waved his hand.
"It's no trouble. For me, this was something within my capabilities. Moreover, your 'A Certain Magical Index' has very good quality as a light novel."
Although Okuya Ken usually looked like a drunkard, he was still the chairman of a leading publishing industry enterprise like Yurindo bookstore, so he had an eye for various published works.
And his eye was quite good.
If he said the quality was good, then the quality was definitely good.
"If it sells well, then maybe my publishing houses will even benefit from your light, getting a free boost in reputation. After all, that's how the publishing industry is—excellent creators can be cultivated, but the top-tier creators aren't cultivated, it still depends a lot on talent..."
Okuya Ken was someone who knew how to handle people well.
He spoke as if he knew what he was talking about, as if Mutou Judai had come to discuss business with him. But actually, Mutou Judai was very clear that it was just one book—whether it became popular or not, theoretically shouldn't be able to reach someone at Okuya Ken's level.
Yet he didn't feel annoyed at all and patiently explained things to him.
—What a good person.
Okuya Ken led Mutou Judai into Yurindo bookstore, then brought him to the work area where editors from various publishing houses were located.
As a leader in the publishing industry, Yurindo bookstore had many publishing houses under its name.
Like Immortal River, FULLDRIVE Bunko, and such—and this time Okuya Ken brought Mutou Judai to the editorial department of Immortal River Bunko.
"FULLDRIVE Bunko already has Yamada Elf whose sales are very good, but Immortal River Bunko hasn't had any good works recently. So if you're interested in writing, I recommend you come here. If your 'A Certain Magical Index' becomes popular here, then all of Immortal River Bunko's resources can be directed toward you."
Hearing Okuya Ken say this, Mutou Judai nodded.
"I don't really understand these things. If you say so, then I'll submit here."
Okuya Ken and Mutou Judai talked like this, then they walked into Immortal River Bunko's editorial department.
The moment they entered the editorial department, the editor near the door immediately stood up and bowed to Okuya Ken.
"Chairman Okuya!"
With his voice, others also looked over and greeted them one after another. Okuya Ken responded to each.
In such an atmosphere, he brought Mutou Judai to the depths of the editorial department, to a position near the corner.
"Editor Machida, this is the newcomer I recommended, the creator of 'A Certain Magical Index.'"
Hearing Okuya Ken say this, Machida Sonoko, who had been somewhat restrained, brightened up.
"I see. Since it's Chairman Okuya's acquaintance, then surely there's not much to say about many things—but sensei, I did read your work, and it's excellent. But have you thought about what pen name to use?"
Unlike caring for other newcomers, because Mutou Judai was brought by Okuya Ken, Machida Sonoko was clear that even if the writing wasn't good, they had to accept it. Illustrations, treatment, everything would definitely be top-tier, and resources must be directed toward him.
So these things didn't need to be said.
Moreover, she had also read 'A Certain Magical Index,' which was undoubtedly a quite excellent work. You could say that without some foundation, it would be absolutely impossible to write such a work.
Since all these things were settled, only the pen name issue remained.
"Pen name..."
Honestly, Mutou Judai had never thought about this thing.
And he wasn't good at naming things.
So he thought for a moment, then randomly selected from the names of several people he'd met recently—
"Let's call it Kiryu Setsuna!"
"Alright, Kiryu Setsuna, right?"
Machida Sonoko wrote these four characters and showed them to Mutou Judai. After Mutou Judai confirmed this was it, he nodded.
After seeing that Mutou Judai had no other requirements, Machida Sonoko was somewhat relieved and was blooming with joy inside.
Mutou Judai's 'A Certain Magical Index' was indeed an excellent and mature work, recommended by Chairman Okuya and assigned to her—this was like money falling from the sky for her.
Moreover, she recently had a newcomer called Kasumi Utako. Although this Kasumi Utako wasn't as experienced at writing as Mutou Judai, she had talent. The first volume's sales and response were good for a newcomer, and with some polishing, her future looked promising.
Now with these two creators under her, her bonuses were secure for the short term, so Machida Sonoko was very happy.
There wasn't much to say after that.
The manuscript was given, and regardless of quality, Okuya Ken would publish it for Mutou Judai, so manuscript revisions naturally weren't needed.
The treatment was also the best.
Okuya Ken even said that if Mutou Judai wanted, advance payment was fine—but Mutou Judai refused this point.
After briefly discussing these things, Mutou Judai bid farewell to Okuya Ken, went out through the back door, entered the depths of the alley, planning to go home to find Erina.
Then...
When he walked into the depths of the alley, on the deserted path completely dependent on streetlight illumination after dark, two figures blocked his way.
The two were a man and a woman.
The woman had short hair, while the man was a burly guy with soft explosive hair like a bird's nest.
But these things weren't what Mutou Judai focused on...
What Mutou Judai really noticed were their eyes.
Both the man and woman—their eyes were completely black with white pupils...
Exactly the same as the Karura he encountered today!
After seeing him, the woman directly ran to one side, slipping into a distant corner, leaning against the wall, watching here with interest.
The burly man casually threw his outer clothing to the woman, then looked at Mutou Judai who had stopped.
"Aren't you going to introduce yourself before taking action?"
Mutou Judai saw what the opponent intended to do and spoke expressionlessly.
The burly man looked back at him equally expressionlessly.
"I'm called Wu Horio, called the Weeping Demon Child in the clan—for now, knowing this much is enough. More can be said after we fight. Anyway... the battle will end quickly."
Hearing him say this, Mutou Judai also nodded and glanced at him.
"Yeah... it will end quickly."
...
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