Chapter 10: Called to be a laborer
The first week of school passed smoothly. Kaede's impression of high school life was quite good; he had met a few good friends and joined a rather interesting club.
"Ah... if I didn't have to go to the Bunko on the weekend, it would be even better."
Under the morning sun, Kaede boarded the train, embarking on his journey to the Bunko.
Originally, for a perfectly good weekend, Kaede had planned to sleep in until noon, then leisurely play games at home after lunch. Who knew Editor Nakajima would call him and urge him out.
After getting off the train and eating two croquettes bought from a roadside stall, Kaede arrived at Fushikawa Bunko.
In the editorial department, Editor Nakajima was already waiting. Besides him, Kaede also saw a stack of about twenty of his light novels on his desk.
Seeing these konosuba Bunko editions, Kaede instantly had a bad premonition: "Editor Nakajima, I just started school a week ago. You wouldn't be looking for me to do grunt work at this time, would you?"
Editor Nakajima pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose and said with a smile, "You can't say that, Kurenai Momiji-sensei. Who told you that you didn't want to hold a signing event?"
"Sure enough, when he calls me by my pen name, it's never good news."
Pulling up a chair and sitting down, Kaede said with dead fish eyes, "Tell me, what is it exactly?"
Taking the latest volume of konosuba, Editor Nakajima placed it in front of Kaede and said, "Here, sign it. We're preparing a batch of your signed novels as a pre-release warm-up for the new volume, to be distributed to various partner bookstores across the country. Also, we'll use some as gifts for readers who write fan letters to you."
"You guys are quite creative."
As long as it wasn't asking him to hold a signing event, Kaede was generally not opposed to these marketing strategies.
"So, how many do you want me to sign?"
"Not many, just a thousand."
"A thousand? Not many?" Kaede raised his voice, looking at his editor in disbelief, "Are you trying to make my hand useless? I still want to play games when I get home!"
"You can't escape this time. If you don't agree today, then how about preparing for a signing event? At that point, it won't just be a thousand books."
Editor Nakajima looked at Kaede with a smile, but his words were incredibly frightening.
"..."
Kaede looked at Editor Nakajima expressionlessly. There was no other way, so he extended his hand and said, "Where's the pen? And hurry up and bring the books over; I'll leave as soon as I'm done signing."
Editor Nakajima had known Kaede for a long time and naturally wouldn't be intimidated by his appearance. He smiled and told someone to bring the books.
Then, under the gaze of the editors in the editorial department, Kaede began to sign his pen name on the inner pages of the books, one by one.
As he signed, Editor Nakajima kept saying, "Kaede, write neatly, okay? This is very important. You know, many readers have complaints because you don't hold signing events."
With a "pat," Kaede put down the signing pen and looked at Editor Nakajima expressionlessly, "Are you done talking? Don't waste my time."
"Alright, alright." Editor Nakajima nodded happily, "Kaede, what do you want for lunch? I'll arrange it for you."
Upon hearing this, Kaede knew he couldn't sneak away today, so he continued signing while saying, "It's not fast food, is it?"
"Of course not, I wouldn't exploit you that much."
"Then unagi don. You know which restaurant I'm talking about."
Editor Nakajima naturally agreed to Kaede's small request and immediately ordered food using his phone. Although the unagi don from that restaurant wasn't cheap, it was worth it to have Kaede quietly sign a thousand Bunko books here.
Signing a thousand books was an unprecedented challenge for Kaede.
However, a thousand books was still within his acceptable range. Because if, as Editor Nakajima said, he didn't sign these thousand books but instead held a signing event, it wouldn't just be a matter of a thousand books, and he would also have to endure being gawked at.
In the nearly one year since konosuba was published, Kaede had accumulated a large number of readers, and the novel's sales had been steadily climbing. Coupled with the mystery of his own identity, if he were to truly make an appearance at a signing event, it would be impossible not to cause a sensation.
So, there was no other way. To avoid becoming a giant panda to be gawked at, Kaede could only sign all thousand books in the editorial department.
Aside from an hour for lunch and a break, Kaede, giving his all, finally finished signing all thousand novels by two in the afternoon.
Rubbing his right hand, which was almost numb, Kaede let out a heavy sigh and said, "Done. There's nothing else for me, right?"
"That's all for today, Kaede. You've worked hard." Editor Nakajima patted Kaede's shoulder, smiling broadly.
Rolling his eyes, Kaede shook his hand, picked up his backpack, and said, "Alright, since I'm done, give me a good break. Can you give me more time for the manuscript of the next volume?"
"How long?"
"Not too long, half a month will do. I feel traumatized today."
Although Editor Nakajima didn't think Kaede's psychological endurance was that poor, he still nodded and agreed: "Okay, okay. How about I just extend it by a month?"
"???"
Kaede looked at his editor in disbelief and said, "Really? Are you serious? I'm taking you seriously!"
"Of course."
"Then it's a deal. I'll send the manuscript one month later than the original schedule. Don't contact me during this time; I want to enjoy my high school life."
After speaking, he didn't want to stay in the editorial department at all and left directly.
Machida Sonoko, who had been observing everything, only asked after Kaede left, "Senior Nakajima, did you really agree?"
"Why wouldn't I agree? This was already within the Editor-in-Chief's and my expectations." Editor Nakajima said with a profound smile, "Machida, there's no need to constantly pressure young and capable authors for manuscripts. Especially someone as soft-hearted as Kaede; give him some benefits appropriately, and then, a similar situation like today can happen again, right?"
"..."
Machida Sonoko felt she had truly learned a lesson, never expecting such a strategy.
But the next second, she also reacted and exclaimed, "Ah, I forgot! I wanted to tell Asakura-kun that the award-winning new author will be coming over soon! Both of them are from Toyosaki, and I wanted to introduce them!"
Kaede knew nothing of these things. At this moment, he was on his way to his usual game store, preparing to browse and relax.