Chapter 2: The Convenience Store on the Way
Looking up, meeting his father's suspicious gaze, cold sweat dripped straight down Kaede's back.
No, I must explain properly, otherwise if Dad can't keep a secret and Mom finds out, I'll never be able to clear my name!
So, Kaede immediately used his fast chanting ability, recounting what happened at the doujinshi convention earlier.
With his arms crossed, Asakura Kiichi nodded after listening: "So, you bumped into someone at the doujinshi convention, and both your shopping bags happened to be identical, so the other person took yours by mistake?"
"Exactly, that's it!"
"Do you think I'll believe that?" Suddenly changing his tone, Asakura Kiichi looked at his son, his voice full of doubt, "The things you bought yourself, wouldn't you feel something was off when you held them?"
"..."
Kaede was also stunned, scratching his head. He picked up the bag to weigh it, then said with a somewhat helpless expression: "It was too coincidental, the weight was about the same as my bag, plus there were a lot of people around at the time, so I didn't notice."
Saying this, he was afraid his father wouldn't believe him, so he directly took everything out of the bag and counted them one by one.
Except for three that he had also bought, the other doujinshi were all different types. Among them were bondage, humiliation, and other genres, all by well-known doujin artists in the industry.
Kaede had originally thought that the girl he bumped into earlier, whose face he hadn't clearly seen, might have bought BL-type doujinshi. He didn't expect to see things that were much more explosive than BL.
After counting, Kaede put everything back, and said softly: "Fifteen books. I bought 13 books plus one doujin game. The weight was just about the same. I should have checked after picking it up."
Seeing his son's reaction, Asakura Kiichi also believed that he wasn't making things up.
Patting his son's head, he suggested: "How about you go to the exhibition again tomorrow? There should be a broadcast station there, right? Announcing it should help you find the person, as they must have also realized they took the wrong bag."
Kaede nodded. He figured that was the only way.
Just then, his mother's voice came from outside, announcing that dinner was ready.
Kaede immediately took the items back to his room and put them away, absolutely unable to let his mother discover them. She had already agreed to let him go to the doujinshi convention; even if he explained clearly that they were taken by mistake, it still wouldn't look good.
After dinner, Kaede returned to his bedroom, turned on his computer, and began his work for the day.
Tomorrow, besides going to the doujinshi convention again, he also had to go to Fushikawa Bunko to submit the new volume of his light novel.
That's right, since he was a transmigrator, being a "copy-paste author" was also very necessary. Kaede had many hobbies, especially games. Although his family didn't restrict his hobbies, Kaede also hoped to buy things with his own money.
However, to become a light novel author, he had also put in a lot of effort.
After all, he said he wanted to be a "copy-paste author", but he didn't have photographic memory. If he only had a general outline, he wouldn't be able to write a complete work.
Therefore, he started reading various books to accumulate knowledge from elementary school, and only began writing after junior high. He finally made a successful debut in February of this year.
As for his debut work, it was a piece he loved in his previous life, "Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!", abbreviated as konosuba.
Isekai (another world) transmigration is a theme that will never go out of style. Plus, as long as the story is interesting, not too cliché, and the character designs are well-done, sales generally won't be too bad, let alone for konosuba.
Although he didn't remember the story too clearly, he did remember some parts. After all, as a lighthearted and humorous work, many of its scenes were deeply etched into his DNA.
Relying on his faint memories and his years of accumulation, Kaede finally wrote a new konosuba, successfully submitted it, and after gaining the editor's favor, it was successfully published, and sales were quite good.
And with a stable source of income, Kaede's life gradually became easier, allowing him to try various things he was interested in.
"Sigh, writing really is tiring."
Biting on a Pocky stick, Kaede's hands tapped on the keyboard, estimating how much more he could write before going to bed.
Then, at 11 o'clock, he went to bed on time. He had encountered many things today, so he wouldn't play games.
And just as Kaede fell asleep, in another luxurious villa in Tokyo, a young girl looked at the stack of doujinshi laid out in front of her, grabbed her hair with both hands, and shouted loudly.
"Ah!!! I messed up!!!!"
...
The next day, because it was a holiday, Kaede slept in a bit longer. After getting up, eating some breakfast, and telling his parents, he left the house.
His primary goal, of course, was to go to the doujinshi convention first.
On the way to the station, he passed a convenience store. After thinking for a moment, he walked in, intending to buy a drink for the road.
After browsing, he finally chose the "fat otaku happy water" (cola), and it was an iced one.
Drinking iced cola in winter, double the happiness!
Humming a tune, Kaede prepared to pay. Then, at the checkout counter, he saw an interesting scene.
A guy in casual clothes, about his height, was also paying with his wallet. But Kaede noticed that the cashier on the other side was extremely nervous, even trembling slightly.
When receiving money and giving change, his hands were noticeably trembling.
After receiving the change, the boy picked up his bag, thought for a moment, and said, "Hey, I say..."
"I'm so sorry for being so slow!!!"
"..."
Finally, with a sigh, the boy could only turn and walk out of the convenience store.
Watching this scene unfold with interest, Kaede then walked over to pay.
Handing over a 1,000 yen bill, Kaede asked, "Was that person just now a thug?"
The cashier was clearly still scared and desperately needed someone to confide in, so she said directly, "I don't know if he was a thug or not, but that person had very fierce eyes and kept sneering. Luckily, he didn't extort me..."
This cashier is a bit too timid, isn't she? In this day and age, what delinquent would dare to extort someone in public? Are they tired of living?
Shaking his head, Kaede took his change and left with his cola.
However, that boy just now, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before in my memory, where could it have been?
Never mind, let's go to the doujinshi event first. Although Kaede, after waking up in the morning, felt that the unknown girl was unlikely to come looking for him after hearing the broadcast, and might not even come again.
And indeed, the reality was as Kaede had expected; no one showed up.
There was no other way; he could only spend more money to buy another copy of everything he could get.
After quickly finishing his purchases and buying some small gifts, Kaede took the train to his next destination, Fushikawa Bunko.