Friday arrived, and today's agenda was to visit Takanashi Mirai together with the Class Rep. So neither of them headed to the Literature Club after school. Instead, they left school together right after classes ended.
With the illustrations finally completed, Kuroha Akira had nothing left to worry about regarding the light novel. Yesterday after returning home, he'd used Hijikata Isamu's fax machine to send the cover and color illustrations to Hurricane Publishing. Almost immediately, he received a text message reply from editor Mori Katsuma—containing only four words:
"Sales will double."
The quality of the illustrations was enough to crush every light novel currently on the market. The era-leading art style would attract enough attention, and combined with the novel's own theme and content being very "light," there was no reason for it not to succeed.
Sorry, light novel authors of this era—the times are about to accelerate!
In an era where illustration quality was being openly displayed and story pacing was gradually speeding up, whether one could avoid getting left behind depended entirely on the author's adaptability. As for Kuroha Akira? He was already impatiently looking forward to the harvest.
Just like when reading a satisfying novel—the most satisfying parts were always counting the loot and watching the protagonist level up. Full of that sweet, sweet sense of achievement.
This also meant that Kuroha Akira's poverty-stricken days were finally coming to an end.
Generally speaking, the first volume of a light novel had the highest sales. If it sold well, reprints would follow, bringing a continuous stream of income. He remembered reading a tweet once that said Nagaru Tanigawa, the author of Haruhi Suzumiya, basically lived a life of daily mahjong and relaxation just from the royalties of that one work—which was why subsequent volumes came out slower and slower.
While that was mostly a joke, there was truth to it: in this industry, if you could write a hit series, you could afford to kick back and relax.
Of course, that "one work" might need to be serialized for seven, eight, or even over ten years to accumulate enough fame. If Sister's Journey were Kuroha Akira's sole achievement, he might achieve the easy life he desired just by successfully writing it to completion.
However, this work now had three people splitting the money. The actual amount each person got wouldn't be that huge. And one couldn't forget the Class Rep's contribution. Even though she had no intention of taking a cut, and her family background meant she didn't lack the money, as long as she put in effort, she still needed compensation. Only then could they achieve a "clean slate with no debts or favors owed."
Thinking about this, Kuroha Akira simply asked the Class Rep sitting beside him,
"Speaking of which, Class Rep, after the light novel comes out, the royalties should be pretty decent. Should I share some with you then?"
"Hehe… so I get a share too?"
The Class Rep's single sentence made Kuroha Akira's forehead break out in a cold sweat.
That rhetorical question was loaded. The meaning behind it was: "I never thought you'd actually share money with me. I thought I was the only one being excluded."
That kind of resentment—where only she was left out—was on full display.
Kuroha Akira quickly forced a smile and said,
"Of course! Class Rep, you're the supervisor! Everyone gets a share!"
"Hmm… alright, Akira-kun. I also know my role isn't that important. You probably came up with this 'supervisor' position just to save my dignity, didn't you? You must have gone through a lot of trouble."
"Uh…"
Kuroha Akira was speechless. Every time, the Class Rep could completely see through his thoughts and say things that made him sweat bullets.
"Although I never intended to take a cut of the money from the start—may I venture to ask about your three-person distribution plan?"
Kuroha Akira nodded. He still trusted the Class Rep and saw no reason to hide anything.
"The total royalties are 13%. I'll take 5%, Shiori gets 1.5%, and the rest goes to Moe—about 6.5%."
Normally, illustrators received 2-3% royalties. This time, editor Mori Katsuma had highly praised Aizono Moe's cover illustration, so getting 3% was definitely not a problem. So in reality, Kuroha Akira was simply giving up about half of the royalties he could have received—the larger portion going to Aizono Moe and a smaller portion to Shirai Shiori.
Of course, if Shirai Shiori continued to handle the main text of later light novel volumes, Kuroha Akira wouldn't mind giving her a bit more. The ideal scenario would be for him to get a share without doing any actual work… even if it wasn't much, getting something for free was the best!
Upon hearing this distribution, the Class Rep asked with a hint of surprise,
"Akira-kun, are you really planning to give Moe-chan that much?"
"Of course. We agreed before that I'd split half with her."
Keeping his word was one of Kuroha Akira's life principles—and also a reminder to himself to be careful with what he said and not make promises lightly. After all, unfulfilled promises only led to disappointment… so it was better not to say them in the first place. This was the wisdom of someone who'd lived a bit.
"I wasn't even planning to write light novels anymore. It was because I met Moe-chan that I became confident I could actually make money from it. Writing light novels is inherently a very uncertain endeavor—you need good illustrations to back you up."
"Hmm… I can understand your thinking. From your perspective, Moe-chan's talent gave you a reason to keep creating light novels… but this isn't ideal."
"Why not?"
The Class Rep pinched her chin and voiced her concerns.
"Akira-kun, you're the initiator of this project. If you're not the one taking the largest share, even if you're fine with it, others will think something's wrong."
"Oh… Class Rep, are you saying Shiori-chan will think the distribution is unfair? That she's getting too little?"
"No. It's that both of them will feel you're getting too little, and that they shouldn't be getting this much."
"Huh?"
Kuroha Akira's brain couldn't keep up, and he blurted out a dumb question.
Don't people always complain about getting too little? Is there really anyone who feels they shouldn't get this much?
This was where Kuroha Akira's adult mindset fell short. He'd been a corporate slave for too many years and had completely forgotten that students' views on money were totally different. In fact, very few people were particularly materialistic during their school days. They hadn't yet experienced the harsh realities of society and didn't truly understand how hard it was to earn money.
"Honestly, Akira-kun, I think you completely don't get it. Let me ask you—when you first said you wanted to give Shiori-chan compensation, did she refuse, or did she look surprised?"
Kuroha Akira thought back. At that time, Shirai Shiori did look very surprised—as if she hadn't expected to get a share of the royalties at all.
Could it be that he'd been completely redundant?
Could he have actually made Shirai Shiori work for free?
Kuroha Akira immediately felt like he'd just lost a fortune. But then he thought: if he hadn't offered to share royalties with her, Shirai Shiori wouldn't have offered to share royalties from her future works with him. So all in all, he still came out ahead… He had to think that way! Otherwise, his heart would feel like it was bleeding!
"Yeah… pretty much."
"Then Moe-chan is even more extreme. When you first said you'd give her half, she wanted to object, but because your attitude was too firm, she couldn't get a word in."
"Uh…"
So he didn't actually need to give Aizono Moe that much?
Kuroha Akira held his head.
Could it be that even though he felt he'd already gotten a huge bargain… he could have taken even more?
Damn it… I'm still too naive as a capitalist!