Chapter 508: It might be better to be more black-bellied
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
Seiji spent the entire day practicing cultivation at the student council president's residence.
Later that night, Seiji headed for Peach-sensei's apartment.
"Good evening, Harano."
"Good evening, Editor Yoshizawa."
Saki was the one who opened the door and greeted him.
Seiji followed Saki inside and saw that Mayuzumi was sitting down in the living room.
The mangaka smiled and greeted him. She then handed him several drawings.
"These are some new characters that I've designed for 'Honey Candy Girl' based on you and Houjou-san as the character models. I'd like for you to look at these and give me your opinion."
"New characters for 'Honey Candy Girl'?" Seiji's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He took the drawings and sat down to have a closer look.
The first drawing was of a beautiful girl who seemed to possess a heroic aura about her. She had short black hair, and white angelic wings grew out of her back. She wore light armor, had a resolute expression, and seemed overall rather like a boy… well, a more direct way of putting it was that she seemed like a cool tomboy.
The second drawing was of the same black-haired girl and all her various expressions, along with some drawings of her wielding possible weapons. There were three weapon types Mayuzumi had tried for her, including sword and shield, gauntlets for fisticuffs, and a greatsword.
The third drawing was of a silver-haired beautiful girl wearing extravagant maid attire. She wore a monocle and had a gentle expression and a slight smile. She gave off an impression of being gentle yet mysterious.
The fourth drawing was of the same silver-haired girl and her various expressions, along with some drawings of her wielding possible weapons. There were four weapon types Mayuzumi had tried for her, including dual guns, sword and gun, a sniper rifle, and a heavy assault rifle.
"All these drawings are excellent," Seiji gave his sincere praise. "Both of these characters seem so charismatic!"
Seiji felt a rather subtle feeling inside when he thought about how he and Mai were the character models for these two new 'Honey Candy Girl' characters.
It was all the subtler due to the fact that the character based on him was female. Although he understood, it still felt rather subtle to him.
"The quality is passable, but I still think I could do better," Mayuzumi stated seriously. "How do you think it can be improved so that these characters have excellent charisma, just like you and Houjou-san?"
Seiji didn't know what to say at this.
"Sensei, I can say a few things about Houjou-senpai's charisma, but as for myself…" He felt this was rather awkward.
"Then let's just talk about Houjou-san first. What do you think needs to be added in order for this character to be just as charismatic as she is?" Mayuzumi pointed at the silver-haired girl.
"I think that this is drawn excellently already," Seiji looked at the drawing and rubbed his chin in contemplation. "But if I forced myself to find something… It might be better to make her more black-bellied."
"Black-bellied?" Mayuzumi blinked upon hearing this.
"Yeah… Maybe I should describe it as more evil… give her a feeling of iciness." Seiji was unsure how to accurately verbalize what his image was. "Houjou-senpai… no, make this character's personality as someone who's quite gentle to people important to her, but she'll be terribly cold towards her enemies or those she loathes… And she should be able to maintain her smile while executing someone… That might help to improve this character's charisma."
At this moment, Mai Houjou, who was currently performing household tasks in the student council president's residence, sneezed.
The mangaka took out a notebook and wrote down Seiji's suggestions.
"Anything else?"
"I don't have anything else." Seiji shook his head.
"What about this character, then?" Mayuzumi pointed at the black-haired girl.
"This… I don't know what to say," Seiji could only smile wryly. "At most, I could recommend making a longsword into one of her possible weapon choices as well."
"A longsword… a tachi…" Mayuzumi's eyes lit up as she thought of something and scribbled something down in her notebook.
"Thank you for your suggestions. I shall make good use of them." She closed her notebook and smiled at Seiji.
"It's my honor to have been of assistance as one of your fans." Seiji smiled as well. "About when will these two characters officially enter the story?"
"If I'm pleased with how I draw them, they'll be able to be published two weeks from now at the quickest."
"I'm really looking forward to it."
Seiji imagined the character based on himself appearing in one of the currently most popular ongoing mangas and felt that it was quite interesting.
Now then, it was time for the main topic at hand.
He was here to explain last night's incident to Saki and Mayuzumi.
The editor had asked him last night just what had happened at the award ceremony, but it hadn't been convenient to explain it to her there. He promised to tell her the following day.
Today during lunchtime, Seiji called Mayuzumi and roughly explained the situation. He then arranged a time with her and Saki to come visit them and give them an explanation.
As for why he included Mayuzumi in this as well, that was because he felt that Mayuzumi should learn about this incident together with Saki.
Seiji took a sip of some hot tea before he began the explanation. He began with how they were all dragged into Rinura's realm…
Saki's eyebrows arced upwards in surprise when she heard that Tsuyoshi Matsutani, the author of "I Can't Sleep When I'm Sleeping Together With My Younger Sister!", was a Spiritual Ability user.
Mayuzumi's expression noticeably changed when she heard how this realm had each author's setting within it. Her expression was quite subtle upon hearing how the authors met the characters from their own stories.
Seiji knew what she was thinking of.
"It's quite similar to the situation with Reo-chan. That's what I was thinking at the time," Seiji mentioned.
"Could it be… related?" Mayuzumi was wondering about this.
"Let's finish listening to my story first." Seiji continued his explanation.
He paused for a moment after he started talking about the Moon Bunny Eatery and how Seiji and the others received assistance from the restaurant owner.
"I believe that this restaurant owner character was the same as the angelic 'Seiji' character from when we were dealing with Reo-chan. A friendly, mysterious existence was possessing this character. It's highly possible that it's the same one that helped me and Sensei."
Something flashed softly in Mayuzumi's eyes.
Seiji continued with his story.
The editor and mangaka were both obviously astonished to hear about how the restaurant owner had been attacked and murdered.
"The restaurant owner character died, and the mysterious existence left. But, it still gave us a direction to go in…" Seiji continued telling the story.
He told them about how he and his companions were guided by the restaurant owner's seal and golden longsword in locating the final author, and how the palace guards were actually the award ceremony's attendees…
"After that, we saw you, Editor Yoshizawa. At the time, you were standing next to a youth that was dressed regally like a prince. You were wearing clothes like a noble would," Seiji told Saki.
"I don't have any memories of this at all." The female editor frowned.
"You were in a puppet-like state at the time, just like all the other award ceremony attendees. I don't know why that was the case." Seiji sighed.
Then, he began telling them about the prince.
"He was actually someone from another world?" Both Mayuzumi and Saki widened their eyes in surprise.
"Yes, that's how he described himself. There's no way to truly ascertain whether he was telling the truth, but I chose to believe him, just like how I chose to believe the 'Hinako Tachibana' with Reo-chan at that time." Seiji looked at Mayuzumi.
The mangaka gripped her hands tightly.
Seiji then finally finished the last part of his story and then sipped on some more tea.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"It's wonderful that everyone was alright in the end," Mayuzumi exclaimed sincerely.
"Yeah…" Something flashed in Saki's eyes.
"This is indeed the best possible result." Seiji put down his teacup. "It's truly fortunate that this incident could be resolved in such a manner. We still don't know who the true perpetrator that caused this incident is… but even if we knew, it's highly likely that the perpetrator is too powerful for us to handle. Natsuya and I both agree on this. That's why we don't intend to investigate it and intend to simply let this incident pass us by. I hope that nothing similar occurs in the future… if an incident like this occurs again, we'll just have to act based on the situation at that time."
Everyone fell silent once again.
"Although I don't want to say what I'm about to say next, but…" Seiji revealed a serious expression. "Sensei, my guess is that if this perpetrator finds out about your and Reo-chan's existence, then it's highly likely that he'll take advantage of you and try something similar. That's because both of you possess a mysterious power that's powerful enough to even summon the dead."