The former label of Mitsuhiro Okaya: Takanawa Books.
An editor from that very office… a man who had been cheating with Okaya’s wife. His name was Kusunoki Nagio.
Kusunoki, being the editor-in-charge, was heading to the home of industry-top-three light novel author, [Maeda Lusia].
It was because Lunia had suddenly declared she would no longer write for their label…
“What the hell is this place…? It’s huge…”
Kusunoki was standing in a prime district within Tokyo.
There stood an astonishingly large, old-fashioned mansion.
“A house this big… I’ve only ever seen stuff like that on TV dramas…”
The nameplate at the entrance read [Maeda].
There was no mistaking it; this was Lusia Maeda’s residence.
As for how Kusunoki knew where her home was,
it was because when authors sign contracts with publishers, they are required to list their real names and addresses on the document.
Having taken over the account for Rashin from Okaya, he knew where she lived.
“In any case, we need to meet and talk!”
Kisogawa tried to storm into her home. But… “Woof woof woof woof!”
“Eeek! W-What the hell are these things…!”
The moment he stepped onto the lawn, multiple large dogs charged at him.
Dobermans, Mastiffs, Tosa Inus, Akitas, and so on…
Large, vicious dogs were lunging at Kisogawa.
“It hurts! Stop…! You bastards, quit it! Stop! STOP!” He wasn’t playing around.
Seeing the intruder that was Kisogawa, they had identified him as an enemy.
Kisogawa’s limbs were bitten and pinned down… suffering a miserable beating.
“Damn it! Don’t think I’m letting off on you just because you’re dumb animals!”
He kicked the head of a nearby Akita, thud! “Yelp!”
“Hah! You think you’re gonna fool me, you damn mutt!”
The Akita steadied its trembling legs and scrambled back toward the mansion.
The rest of the dogs snarled, fixing their glares on Kisogawa.
“Jesus Christ… what is this place…” Just then. “Who might you be?”
A towering man in a black suit approached.
One look told him he was no ordinary person. He wore sunglasses.
He had the physique of a bodybuilder, yet he was dressed in a suit.
Probably a member of this household. Thank God.
“Ah, sorry! I’m Kisogawa from Takanawa Books’ editorial department! I came to see Ms. Runia HIRATA!” “For the young mistress…?” The young mistress? Who is that…? Contextually, it must be referring to Runia.
A burly bodyguard, a castle-like estate, and the young mistress… What kind of person was Runia?
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kisogawa. I cannot allow you to enter the young mistress’s presence.” “Huh? W-why?”
“The young mistress gave specific orders. To never let you pass through.”
“Haa? N-No way! What’s with you? I’m the editor in charge of Lucia-san!”
“I apologize, but please go home.”
Why was Lucia pushing him away like that? He didn’t know.
But he couldn’t just back down here.
“Please give it a shot! If Lucia-san doesn’t write for us, we’re in trouble! The company is!”
…It wasn’t the “company” that would suffer; it was simply himself who would be in a bind.
Due to his own mistake, a top-tier light novel author in the industry would no longer write for Takanawa…
It was obvious that Kisogawa would have to bear the responsibility. “Please!” “Go home.” “This…!”
Kisogawa shoved the man aside and tried to enter the mansion. But… his vision flipped upside down. “Wh-? Fu-gyaaah!”
Before he knew it, Kisogawa was flying through the air. Then he fell to the ground, lying there helplessly. “Ow… ahh…”
Turning around, he saw the large man in a stance.
He realized that the man likely practiced martial arts or something similar and had used those techniques to throw him.
The man grabbed Kiso’s arm and locked in a joint lock.
“It hurts! It really hurts! My arm’s gonna break!”
“If you’re going to go on like this, I have no choice but to take an arm from you.” A muffled groan…!
“Yiieee! Stop it! It hurts, ahhhh!” And then, just at that moment. “Hinegawa, stop.” A girl’s voice cut through the air from somewhere.
The large man known as Hinegawa pulled away from Kiso in a flash.
“It really hurts… I think my shoulder dislocated… It seriously hurts…”
Kiso remained on his hands and knees on the ground, looking up at the approaching girl. Standing there was…
…a young girl wrapped in an expensive-looking kimono.
She looked to be in her early teens… or maybe around ten. She wore a crimson obi belt that matched her vivid red traditional attire.
Her most striking features were her pitch-black hair and her scarlet eyes. It must have been albinism. “Are you Kiso?”
The girl spoke in a cold, detached tone.
“H-Yes… who are you?”
Piku! A vein bulged on the girl’s temple.
”…And you’re the assigned editor? You don’t even know what your author looks like?”
“Eh…? Eh!? W-Wait, could this kid be… ah, I mean… you are…”
Yunokawa stepped behind the girl and spoke.
“This is Miss Ruchia Kaida, the daughter of the Kaida Group.”
“Huh…?… The, the daughter of the Kaida Group!?” The Kaida Group.
It was an entity formed after the dissolution of the Kaida Zaibatsu, which had formerly been one of Japan’s three great financial conglomerates.
Even now, the Kaida Group remained a massive corporation wielding enormous influence over Japanese politics and economics.
(A daughter of that kind of zaibatsu… why is she writing light novels!? She doesn’t have to do this stuff…! She’s already rich!) But…
(No wait, isn’t this a golden opportunity? If I can get on the good side of a zaibatsu heiress, I’ll be rolling in money! Heheh~!) Perhaps blinded by greed… Kiso didn’t notice.
The flames of anger flickering in Ruchia’s eyes.
“N-No way…! I’m sorry, Mr./Ms. Kaida-sensei!”
Kisogawa spoke, a sickly, mocking grin spreading across his face.
“First time we’ve met, right? I’m Kisogawa! Sorry for the late introduction, sensei! But you’re simply gorgeous!” Kisogawa began to creep closer.
He was a piece of trash as a person, but he had a face that made up for it.
Any woman would fall for him with that sweet look; it only took one push to make them swoon.
That was how he’d bedded Misae, the editor at Douzenkan, and countless other women.
Rushia was just a woman, in the end. With his face, he had nothing to worry about…
“Sensei is amazing! A young lady from a zaibatsu family, and so beautiful! To top it all off, you’re a genius writer!”
Rushia flinched, overreacting to his last phrase.
Kisogawa didn’t notice her grinding her teeth in anger.
“Yo! Just as expected of our genius beauty author! The future of Takanawa, I mean, the light novel industry…” “Nie.” “Understood.”
Nie stepped up to Kisogawa and smashed him across the face with all his might.
“Bubeeeeee!” He possessed terrifying strength.
A human weighing over sixty kilograms, sent flying through the air like a ball and crashing into the ground. “Wha… what the…?”
He had no idea what had happened to him. He just…
“! My face… my prized face is…”
The right side of his face, where he’d been struck, was caved in.
Pulling a compact mirror from his pocket, he saw the indentation shaped exactly like a fist.
What kind of power… no, that’s not the point.
His prized face had literally deformed from the punch.
“Wha— what are you doing to me!?”
“Jiniwa. Make that stray dog shut up.”
Clicking his knuckles one by one, the giant man approached.
“P-promise no violence! I-if you come any closer, I’ma call the po-po-police on ya!”
But Roshia looked down at him coldly and said, “Go ahead. Try calling.” “Huh…?”
«Call the police, if you want. Ninagawa, take your hands off.» With a soft click, Ninagawa sheathed his fist.
Ignoring Kisogawa’s bewilderment, Rushia spoke up.
«There you go. Go ahead and call them, then.»
Kisogawa was daunted by the unfathomable aura emanating from the girl.
«Ah, ah…! I’ll call! It’s an assault case!» Kisogawa dialed 110. But…
«It’s… not going through!? Why! It’s a 110 emergency call!? Why is this happening!?»
The phone was ringing. The signal was strong.
And yet, no matter how many times he dialed, he couldn’t get through to the police.
«I wouldn’t underestimate the influence of the Akita Group if I were you.»
Ninagawa’s words struck Kisogawa with a chill.
«The… their reach extends even to the police!?»
«That is just how powerful the Akita Group truly is within Japan. And now, you’ve angered the granddaughter of the current head of the family… [Akita Takayama], Rushia [Akita]. Did that feeble brain of yours finally grasp what that means?»
Power enough to put a word in the police.
And Kisogawa has just stepped on the tail of a tiger that belongs to the daughter of such a conglomerate…
“W-What is it with you?! Did I do something wrong?!” Ruchia held up three fingers.
“You have committed three acts that incur My displeasure. The first: you kicked My dear friend.” “Friend…”
Beside Ruchia, an Akita dog sat obediently. “Y-You mean the dog…”
Thinking that a dog could be her friend was, well… slightly condescending, and it slipped out without thinking. That only served to enrage Ruchia further.
“The second: you mocked My work.”
“I-I didn’t mock your work! I wouldn’t do such a thing!”
“You… did you even read the final volume’s manuscript of Senomoshi? Not once?” “Ah…” …I hadn’t read it.
“The final volume of Senomoshi is the finest manuscript created alongside [Okaya]. It was a perfect script, without a single flaw… yet you didn’t touch on the typo corrections or the content at all. On top of that, you didn’t even offer your thoughts. You.” …That’s right.
Ruchia’s manuscript had been finalized by Okaya.
Therefore, Kisogawa simply turned it into a book. He wasn’t interested in the manuscript itself at all.
Senzai only saw it as a content engine for generating money, so he didn’t care about the actual content in the slightest.
Lusia could sense that contemptible feeling.
“The third point. This is… the hardest to bear.”
Lusia’s body trembled violently.
“You… hurt and drove away someone important to Me.”
“D-Daughter of a Zaibatsu? I haven’t hurt anyone important to you, miss!” Who was she even talking about?!
And yet, the daughter of an old-line zaibatsu family didn’t have a single person in her circle of acquaintances who could be considered important?!
While Kisosawa descended into utter chaos, Lusia continued.
“You hurt Okaya. The second most important person to… Lusia.”
“O-Okaya…? Wait, that… the editor by the window!? Mitsuhiko Okaya!?”
Why was Okaya’s name coming up? Kisosawa was completely baffled.
“Okaya… didn’t treat Me as a zaibatsu princess, or as Grandfather… [Kaida Takakura]‘s granddaughter… but as a writer, with genuine respect.”
A quiet rage spilled from her small frame.
Kisogawa was completely overwhelmed.
“I respected Ogaya. I wanted to keep creating works together… and yet, you stole him from me!” She didn’t raise her voice much.
But… touched by the aura of rage emanating from her, Kisogawa… wretchedly peed himself.
“Go to hell, you garbage. I’m never working at Takanawa again. And… I’ll report this incident to your grandfather. Sleep with fear tonight.”
As if the conversation was over, Rushia took her Akita Inu and walked away.
To the top of a conglomerate with influence reaching into the Japanese economy and even the police force…
This news of Kisogawa’s foolish act would reach their ears. Which meant… what the hell was happening?
“W-wait! I beg you! Forgive me! I’ll apologize!”
“I don’t need your apologies. It’s your fault Ogaya is gone. That is a pure and unchanging fact. …Remember that.”
Rushia walked away without looking back.
“W-wait! Please wait! Gwaa…!”
Mizogawa lunged forward, but Tsugei seized him and hoisted him up in a one-shoulder carry.
“I apologize. You may leave now… If you try to get any closer…”
Tsugei smoothly reached into his coat pocket.
“A—a handgun?! Hiiiii!”
Mizogawa fled, screaming and wailing in terror.
What emerged from Tsugei’s pocket was… a mobile phone.
“Hey, big brother? Yeah… I’m working right now. Yep… the young lady over here is doing fine. Miss Arissa is… I see. Alright, talk later, bro.”
He had simply received a call from family and been taking it. Now then… as for Mizogawa…
“Dammit! Dammit! What the hell! What is this?!” He retreated, sobbing. But… he didn’t know…
That he hadn’t just stepped on a tiger’s tail; he had touched a dragon’s scales…
By provoking the anger of an influential chaebol heiress and writer with sway over the Japanese economy…
And that he was about to bring misfortune not only upon himself, but upon his company as well…