"Um, Mochizuki-sensei..."
Watching Hayato lean in with a cheeky grin, Akira leaned back slightly, unperturbed, and asked, "What is it?"
At this moment, the other party brought his hand out from behind his back, held out the first volume of the FSN tankobon with both hands, and said with a flattering smile, "Could you please give me an autograph?"
"...That's it?"
He sized the other person up with half-belief for a moment.
Finally, looking at his expectant gaze and confirming that he wasn't up to any tricks, he took the tankobon from him. As he signed it, he said with a wry smile, "Miyazaki-kun, I suggest you don't make that expression again in the future."
"It makes you look like a bad guy."
"?"
Suddenly being personally attacked, Hayato was still a bit bewildered, while Shota on the side took the opportunity to snicker in agreement, "Indeed, Miyazaki-kun sometimes looks just like those yankees on the street."
"...Huh—?!"
Hayato finally reacted and was immediately ready to launch a fierce counterattack against Shota, but at this moment Akira finished signing and handed the tankobon back to him, saying, "Alright, here you go."
Thus, Hayato, who was ready to lose his temper a second ago, instantly changed his expression like a master of Sichuan opera face-changing, happily taking the signed tankobon and saying, "That's awesome, thank you, Mochizuki-sensei!"
Such a dramatic change made Daisuke unable to help but snicker, and at the same time, Akira also slightly curled the corners of his mouth.
Meanwhile, seeing Hayato successfully get an autograph, Shota also shyly took out a copy of the FSN tankobon and leaned in, saying, "Um, Mochizuki-sensei, actually I also..."
"I get it, I get it."
Akira smiled again, took it, signed it for him, and his gaze naturally turned to the last person, Daisuke.
However, Daisuke smiled somewhat awkwardly, "Thank you for your kindness, Mochizuki-sensei, but I don't need one."
"Because I'm currently saving money, so..."
Sigh, is this the difficulty of someone who has to earn money to support a family?
Daisuke had mentioned before that he and his wife wanted a child, but their reserve funds were not yet sufficient, and now the two of them were working hard to save up money for the child's milk powder.
"Hmm..."
Akira thought for a moment and decided to take out the tankobon that the printing factory had given him. After signing his name on it, he smiled and handed it to the surprised Daisuke, saying, "I have already flipped through this tankobon, there might be some creases on it, I hope you don't mind."
"How could I!"
Daisuke first shook his head, but looking at the tankobon Akira handed over, he hesitated again, "But, can I really accept this...?"
"Stop dawdling, it's not like it's anything valuable."
Seeing this, Akira didn't intend to dwell on this matter, so he simply tossed it gently and threw the tankobon directly to him.
Daisuke caught it in a fluster, and hearing Akira's remark, he didn't say anything more, but just said gratefully, "Thank you, Mochizuki-sensei."
To this, Akira just smiled and waved his hand dismissively.
Hayato and Shota, who were on the side, looked at the tankobon in Daisuke's hand with some envy.
Compared to the tankobon they bought for Akira to sign, the signed tankobon in Daisuke's hand, which Akira himself had held and flipped through, was undoubtedly more collectible!
On the other hand, Daisuke thought more than the two of them.
The signed tankobon in his hand was indeed very collectible, and if Akira's fame grew in the future, its collectible value would also increase.
And this meant that the economic value of this signed tankobon would also become higher and higher, which meant it would become more and more valuable.
So this was definitely not, as Akira said, something not valuable.
He believed that Akira would never be unaware of this, but he still chose to say and do so, from which one could also see some of the other's personality.
Undoubtedly, at least for him as a full-time assistant, this was definitely a Manga Artist worth following!
Thus, Daisuke couldn't help but sigh in his heart:
Being able to get the job as Mochizuki-sensei's main assistant back then might just be the most correct decision he had ever made in his life.
However, on the other side, Akira's thoughts were somewhat different.
Based on his understanding of the manga industry in his previous life, a top-tier Manga Artist could easily support an assistant team of seven or eight, or even a dozen people.
Some Manga Artists would even pay for insurance and give bonuses to the full-time assistants they worked with long-term, reaching the pinnacle of life together.
Of course, this was based on the needs of the Manga Artist and long-term in-depth cooperation between both parties.
However, his situation here was completely different—not to mention long-term in-depth cooperation.
At least in terms of demand, because his drawing efficiency was too high, the three assistants only needed to work for him two days a week, and they still had to find other part-time jobs the rest of the time.
This situation was indeed something no one could have expected.
Actually, it was fine for now, after all, FSN had only been serialized for a little over three months, and judging by the planned length, it might not even be serialized for two years.
But if he planned to continue serializing manga later, and after Daisuke had been following him for so long, it would feel a bit unjustifiable to keep letting him work part-time jobs everywhere.
However, if he were to pay a monthly salary based on the current workload of two days a week, it didn't seem generous, but rather a bit like being a sucker.
"Hmm..."
If he optimized Hayato and Shota out and handed all the assistant work to Daisuke, it might work.
Just at this moment, the two of them felt a sudden chill for some reason and shivered together.
Could it be because the season was changing and the temperature had dropped, and they weren't wearing enough clothes?
The two looked at each other and thought with some confusion.
However, Akira was actually just thinking about it; there was no need to let the two of them experience the harshness of society so quickly.
And considering that the two of them were newcomer Manga Artists, maybe one day they would create a successful work and go solo directly.
Although he didn't seem to have heard their names in his previous life, this was, after all, a parallel world that was similar yet different from his previous life, so one could only say that anything was possible.
That said, if these three were really to follow him for a long time, he might really have to seriously consider a solution.
For example, finding them something to do or something like that.
"Hmm?"
Akira's eyes suddenly lit up, realizing that this idea actually seemed quite feasible.
After all, if he wanted to develop the Type-Moon IP, how could he not recruit talent and develop a system?