Several days had passed since Mitsuhiko Okaya moved into his new home.
Okaya’s ex-wife, Misae, was… at the apartment he used to live in.
“Hey… you… open up… it’s me.”
Misae said this while standing in front of Okaya’s apartment door.
“Hey, you… let’s give it another chance, okay? Please?”
The reason Misae came here was simple. She had run out of money.
Okaya had shipped his personal belongings, including high-end furniture, to his former home in Misae’s hometown.
They were sold off immediately, and as a result, a considerable amount of cash was raised.
…And yet, she lost it all in just a few days. The reason was… simple. She had been supporting a man.
The man… that is, Kisogawa, her lover.
She thought that if she gave him money again, like before, he would take her back. But…
“Hey, you! Hey! Can you hear me?!” There was no answer from inside.
I wonder what on earth is going on…?
“Is that you, darling? … Please… stop being mad and come out… Hello! There you are! Hey there!” Thud. Thud-thud-thud!
“Don’t ignore me! I’m standing right here, apologizing to you, so get out of there! Hello! Hey!”
Eventually, Misae realized that Okaya must be out.
“It’s your fault… it’s all your fault…”
Misae pulled something from her pochette. It was… a spare key.
“Oh, darling~… so careless of you~… to not get rid of the key~…”
…When Okaya had discussed their divorce, he had retrieved the spare key from her.
However, Misae had actually made an extra duplicate beforehand and kept it hidden.
“This isn’t theft… What’s wrong with a wife coming back to her own home~…” Misae wore a vicious smile. It was clear she had lost her grip on reality. She inserted the spare key into the lock. Click!
“Huh? W-what?… Why is it…?”
Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack!
“Hey! Why won’t it open, dammit!” …It’s a simple matter.
Because the shape of the keyhole had changed.
When Okaya moved out of this apartment building, he had the keyhole replaced as he left.
The landlord had told him he didn’t need to go that far.
But Okaya, considering the possibility of unforeseen circumstances, had paid out of his own pocket to replace the lock with a new one.
…As a result, Misae was left unable to open the door.
“Open it-o-ooooo! Hey! Open it-o-ooooooo! Heyeee-eeeee!”
But no matter how much she pleaded, Okaya did not come out from inside.
She slumped over, dejected…
“He wouldn’t… answer the phone… and what about the apartment…? Why…? Tell me, why is it like this you… Did you throw me away…”
Though “thrown away” wasn’t quite right; they had divorced, actually…
Moreover, Misae herself was the one who had pulled the trigger on that decision…
Misae maintained her mental equilibrium by casting herself as the heroine of a tragedy.
“I’ve run out of money… I don’t have anyone to rely on…”
…The option of working for herself was not one she had.
From birth until this very day, she had never worked a single hour in her life.
She had met Okaya in university, and ever since they married, she had lived a life without want or worry… ”…”
Misae pulled out her smartphone and contacted 【him】.
After several rings, the line finally connected.
“I-It’s me… Misae…” The person on the other end of the phone was Kinogawa Kuzuuo. He was Misae’s lover.
『Ugh… what? I’m busy right now, ya know?』
Kinogawa’s displeasure seeped through from the other side of the line. “S-Sorry, Kuzuuo-kun…”
『Tch…! So, what do you want?』
“H-Hmm… that is, regarding that money from the other day… did it arrive? I wired it.”
That’s right… Misae took the furniture she’d gotten from Okaya out of pity, sold it off to make some cash, and…
And then, damn her, she gave every last cent to Kisogawa.
“Oh, I got it. So, what’s up?”
“Eh…? W-What? Uhh… I mean, umm… how about we start over? You know?”
Misae had lost Okaya as her only lifeline and immediately tried to return to Kisogawa. What a flighty woman she was. But then again…
“Uh, honestly, no thanks.” “Wh-Why? Why not…?”
“Look, Grandma, you’re useless to me now.” “Us… useless?”
“Yeah. Useless. Thanks for the service—”
She had no idea what Kisogawa was talking about. But there was one thing she understood perfectly well.
He had dumped her. Even though she was just his mistress.
“W-Wait! We loved each other so much, didn’t we?!”
“Dude, that’s too heavy. That’s way too heavy.” “Heavy? It’s not like…
『Besides, I’ve got tons of other women on the side~? No big deal if you’re not around. Sorry about that』
“Other women?! What the hell! Is this cheating?! So mean!”
“Gyahahaha! You were cheating too, weren’t you? Who are you to say that, old lady?”
……Grief at being betrayed washed over her, along with a surge of anger.
『Just take the last of your cash as a nice little parting gift. I’ve already squeezed every last drop out of you, so consider me blocking you for now. Take care』
Kisagawa cut the phone off unilaterately with a thud.
“No… that can’t be… No… it’s a lie… LIIIIIIE!”
She had been abandoned by Kisagawa, and… also by her ex-husband, Okaya.
I couldn’t tell my parents either… something so embarrassing. I couldn’t rely on them…
“Hey! You! Help me out! I’m in a bind hereeeee!” And just then. “Um… excuse me…”
“You?! … Wait, what?”
There, a police officer in uniform stood there.
“S-surely the p-police… w-why…?”
“We received a noise complaint from the neighborhood. It sounds like you’re raising your voice quite a bit… could we have a quick chat about what’s going on?”
The landlord was standing behind the police officer.
It seemed likely that a neighbor had called the landlord, who then reported the incident to the police.
“No! That’s not true! It wasn’t me!”
The police were only coming to hear out what happened… but.
Misae was convinced she might get arrested.
“That’s not it! That’s not true! I didn’t do it, please don’t believe them!”
Whoosh—! Misae fled.
Before the officer could stop her… she ran away, crying wretchedly. ★
On the other hand, regarding Kisosawa Masao…
“Whew, that old lady was seriously annoying.”
Kisogawa was on staff at Takanawa Books, a label under the major publishing conglomerate Takana Group. “Kisogawa-kun, what’s up?”
“Oh! Morning, Tsume-san!”
The one who had greeted Kisogawa was Tsume Jūnikane, the editor-in-chief of Takanawa Books.
A talented woman who had risen to become the editor-in-chief of a major publishing house in her early thirties.
And… she was the very person who had failed to recognize Okaya’s talent and driven him out. “Oh, good morning, Kisogawa-kun.” Jūnikane let out a soft chuckle.
Although she had been addressed familiarly by her first name, Tsume made no move to correct him.
In fact, if anything, she seemed to take delight in being treated like a woman that way.
“Well, I’ve got someone who’s really persistent about me, and it’s getting a bit annoying.”
“Oh my, how troublesome. I know a good lawyer, let’s have him consult on the case.”
“Thank you so much! Wow, Tsume-san is really great! Just as expected from our sharp, beautiful editor-in-chief!”
“N-no… Stop with the flattery…”
Saying this, Jūnikane blushed.
Seeing that, Kiso smiled wickedly to himself.
(Still the same meddling old hag.)
“By the way, Kiso-kun. Have you finished proofreading Ms. Rushia’s final volume?”
Rushia referred to [Aida Rushia]. Aida Rushia.
She is a light novel author ranked third in popularity and skill within the industry, following the god-tier author Kamimatsu and Shiba Oji, the author of AMO.
She can certainly be called one of the three pillars supporting this label right now. “All set!”
“I see… I’m sorry for throwing work at you so suddenly. Since Okaya-kun quit out of nowhere, I had no choice but to hand over his responsibilities.”
Originally, Okaya was in charge of Rushia’s series.
However, due to Okaya’s resignation, the editor-in-charge had been changed.
…That said, since Rushia’s manuscript had been almost entirely crafted with Okaya, Kiso had practically nothing to do. Just…
“No problem at all! I’m sure I can get along great with Ms. Rushia too!”
“Oh good. That’s a relief. [Senomoshi] ends here, but… we still need Ms. Rushia to keep writing, so please take care of her next project as well.”
“【Sensei Moshi】 is ending, huh. It’s a huge loss losing such a moneypot of content. If they just kept putting it out, it would keep making money. Why does the author, Sensei Rushia, insist on calling it quits?”
Sensomoshi was short for Sensei, Moshi-kashite… Shinde iru ndesu ka? (Sensei, maybe… are you dead?). It was a light novel title. It was Akita Rushia’s debut work. It had been submitted to a rookie award.
…Incidentally, the one who dug up Sensomoshi had been Okaya.
“Sister Tsume. I heard Sensomoshi was actually supposed to be rejected? Is that true?”
“Yes, it is. I intended to drop it because suspense titles don’t sell well as light novels. But Okaya-san threw in a stay of execution.”
Okaya had originally pushed hard for it to win the Grand Prize.
But you can’t give the Grand Prize to a work that has been rejected once…
So, as a result, it became an Honorable Mention, and through repeated revisions with Okaya, Rushia debuted.
But the Grand Prize winner that same year ended up cancelled after Volume 1 due to poor sales.
Meanwhile, Sensomoshi, released around the same time, surpassed ten volumes and even got an anime adaptation, becoming a super-popular hit…
Okaya had prescience then. But…
“Wow, only the editor-in-chief could do that! You’re saying you found Sensomoshi, right?” …That couldn’t be. It was Okaya’s achievement. However… “Well, yes.”
Sekiizen Torigoe believed the success was her own doing.
…because she was the one who had indulged in her subordinate’s (Okaya) [selfishness].
She genuinely thought that, had she not intervened, it would have been a massive hit.
“Alright, Kisanogawa-kun. I’m entrusting Lucia-sensei to you. This concludes the series, so whatever you do, don’t let her slip away.”
“You got it! Totally no problem! I’ll absolutely keep her on board! We even nailed down the plan for her next work just yesterday! It’s a hundred percent lock that she’ll write it with us!”
“I’m relieved to hear that. Keep up the good work, Kisanogawa-kun. I have more faith in you than in anyone else.” Sekiizen departed. Well then… Brrring-brrring!
The landline on his desk started ringing.
“Hello, Takanawa Books here… Oh! Lucia-sensei! How’s it going!”
Kisanogawa’s caller was the aforementioned [Maeda Lucia].
“Yes, thanks for working on the final volume of Senmoshi! So, regarding your next work right away—we wanted to release it by the end of the year, so I assumed we’d be scheduling a meeting today or tomorrow… Eh?” Clatter…
Kisanogawa instinctively dropped the receiver.
“S-sensei! Lucia-sensei! P-please tell me you’re joking!?”
『…You’re kidding, right? Fine, I’ll be straight with you』
On the other end of the line, Rushia said.
Her voice was… trembling with rage.
『Rushia… I’m done writing here! An editorial department without [Okaya] is worthless!』 Click!
“R-Rushia-sensei!? Hey, you’re joking, right? Hey! H-h-e-l-p!” Kinosawa dialed back immediately. But the call was refused.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
Jūken had come over, worried about the commotion.
“N-nothing’s wrong! Everything’s fine!”
Kinosawa panicked. He had to do something.
But why was she suddenly saying she wouldn’t write anymore…?
“I-I’m going out for a bit!”