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"How is the writing for the third volume coming along?"
"It's almost done. I'll finish it in a couple of days and bring it over for you to read."
After all, he had already reaped all the massive, tangible benefits. If he couldn't produce actual results for her, wouldn't it look exactly like he had just been scamming her from the start?
"T-That's good."
"I've already spoken with the Editor-in-Chief. We aren't going to rush the release of the second volume. We're going to let the sales and hype for the first volume ferment a bit more until your reputation grows even bigger! It's going to be perfect."
"Rest assured, the Chief personally guaranteed that the entire publishing house will throw its full weight behind marketing your second volume when the time comes."
After all, the publisher had to make money too. With Kai's book performing so well, Fujikawa Fantastic Bunko was raking in enormous profits. If they managed to produce a light novel that broke the ten-million sales mark, the imprint would undoubtedly eclipse the other two major publishers in both prestige and market dominance.
Machida wasn't just doing all this because she was Kai's professional editor.
She also fully considered herself as Kai's woman. Securing maximum benefits for her own man—wasn't that just a matter of course?
"Alright, I'll leave all the logistical arrangements to you then."
He was just a glorified copycat anyway. Handing all the marketing and sales issues over to Machida was more than enough. Furthermore, Kai was extremely confident in his own 'hardware'—as long as he kept her thoroughly satisfied, she would handle the rest flawlessly.
"Mhm, so have you thought about what to do regarding the illustrator?"
The illustrator for the first volume was an in-house artist provided by the publisher, and their skill level could only be described as aggressively mediocre.
After all—
Even though they knew Kai's manuscript was phenomenal, it had still just been a debut volume; the market reception had been entirely unknown. Fujikawa Fantastic Bunko was never going to spend a massive fortune hiring a highly famous, top-tier illustrator for an unproven rookie author.
But now, rolling into the highly anticipated second volume, the situation was completely different.
"If you don't have any specific illustrators in mind, I can start scouting for one on my end."
"An illustrator?" Kai paused his movements for a moment. He then continued, "No need. I actually have a candidate in mind on my end. I'll contact her first and give you a definitive answer in a couple of days."
Speaking of illustrators...
Kai actually did have the perfect candidate in mind: the undisputed ace of Sobu High's Art Club, Eriri Spencer Sawamura.
Who also happened to be the very famous doujin artist, Kashiwagi Eri.
To claim Kai had no interest in winning over the ultimate, textbook tsundere blonde would be a flat-out lie.
This was perfect, Kai had been brainstorming exactly what kind of angle he could use to organically approach Eriri.
And now? Machida had literally gift-wrapped the perfect excuse and dropped it right into his lap.
"Mhm, okay. Whatever you say!"
Machida offered no objection to Kai's decision, agreeing without hesitation. As they spoke, both of their voices carried a low, breathy edge.
"Excuse me..." Staring at the two people casually chatting away, Shizuka, whose consciousness was finally starting to slowly return to reality, honestly couldn't take it anymore.
"Do you guys seriously have to discuss business while doing this??"
She was literally in the middle of a brutal, relentless siege—yet they were casually discussing corporate publishing strategies.
Could they show her at least a tiny shred of respect?
By this point, the blindfold that had been covering her eyes had long since been tossed to god knows where, and Shizuka had finally regained her vision.
Staring up at Kai's face hovering directly above her, Shizuka's emotions churned in complete disarray. Yet the moment she recalled how thoroughly she had been swept away just moments ago—
Sonoko Machida had been eating this good the entire time??
No wonder...
The last time she saw Machida, the woman had practically been glowing with intense, radiant joy. She would have to be crazy not to be happy with this kind of stamina.
"Oh my—already recovered?" Catching sight of Shizuka's deeply disgruntled expression, Machida teased, her tone light and faintly mocking. "So, what did you think? I didn't lie to you, did I?"
"..."
Shizuka desperately wanted to roll her eyes at Machida.
But right now, she literally didn't have the physical strength to manage it.
"You psycho... you definitely did this on purpose."
She looked at Kai, then looked back at Machida.
If Shizuka still hadn't figured out the entire setup by now, she would be a complete idiot. It was intentional. The trap had been absolutely intentional.
"Don't talk nonsense. I only found out about the connection a little while ago too."
She shrugged. Machida put on a mask of pure innocence.
In reality, when she first discovered the student-teacher connection between Kai and Shizuka, Machida had genuinely been quite shocked as well.
But then again.
Who told Shizuka to constantly act so tough and stubborn all the time?
Machida had instantly wondered what kind of spectacular, mind-shattering expression Shizuka would make once she realized the 'mystery man' was actually her own student.
And she had to admit.
Machida had thoroughly enjoyed the show. She genuinely hadn't expected it. How could a human being's face possibly cycle through that many different, extreme expressions in a single split second?
"..."
Shizuka lacked the energy to even attempt a comeback. She could only shoot a deeply resentful, pleading glare at Kai.
"What's wrong, Hiratsuka-sen—"
Realizing exactly what title Kai was about to use, Shizuka frantically cut him off.
"Just call me Shizuka!"
Using her formal teacher title at a moment like this felt deeply unnatural—almost outright wrong.
Kai let out a low chuckle, not even bothering to argue the point.
Shizuka Hiratsuka's physical constitution was undeniably top-tier. At the very least, her current performance was leagues above Sonoko Machida's very first time.
However, no matter how incredible her physical stats were, facing a literal cheat-code existence like Kai was ultimately a futile struggle.
Fortunately, Machida was waiting eagerly on the sidelines to tag in!
Otherwise, Shizuka's final condition wouldn't have been much better than Marin Kitagawa's current bedridden state.
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Later that night.
Kai didn't spend the entire night at the hotel.
The main reason was that Shizuka still couldn't completely cross that massive psychological hurdle in her mind just yet.
Kai didn't mind in the slightest.
After all, it was only a temporary mental block. Give it enough time, and Shizuka would naturally come to fully accept her new reality.
Furthermore.
As he was leaving, Machida deliberately shot Kai a highly suggestive wink, clearly indicating that she would stay behind to thoroughly 're-educate' and mentally prepare Shizuka for the future.
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