Sawamura Spencer Eriri.
That was the name of the blonde twin-tailed girl sitting next to Machida.
At first glance, Jaden thought she was a tall elementary school student. But after Machida introduced her, he learned that she was actually a high school student.
The same age as him.
And this high school student had another name.
"This is also a relatively well-known artist in the industry," Machida said. "Teacher Eiri Kashiwagi."
Hearing that name, Jaden froze.
Eiri Kashiwagi.
For a moment, he wondered if he had heard it wrong.
His understanding of local otaku culture wasn't particularly deep, but even so, he had seen that name more than once.
Of course, that wasn't because he deliberately searched for those kinds of things.
It was simply because-
Eiri Kashiwagi was that super-famous R18 doujin artist.
Basically, if you had ever read doujinshi, you were guaranteed to have seen that name.
...Cough.
Actually, you'd probably know the name even if you hadn't.
When Jaden had seen Eiri Kashiwagi's works before, he had subconsciously assumed the artist must be some lewd, reclusive shut-in.
Or maybe a former playboy who had retreated into doing side jobs at home after provoking the wrong yandere.
But now-
They were telling him that Eiri Kashiwagi was the petite girl in front of him.
Natural blonde hair.
Clear blue eyes.
This-
Jaden was stunned for a long time.
Only after several seconds did he barely force out a smile.
A smile characteristic of the Hanma family.
"Teacher Kiryu..."
Eriri stared at him.
"That's an ugly smile."
Not only Eriri-Machida was startled as well.
Fortunately, Machida's professional instincts kicked in immediately, and she subtly reminded Jaden.
After that, Jaden finally calmed himself.
"In any case..."
He cleared his throat.
"Teacher Eiri Kashiwagi. You're the illustrator Fujikawa found for me?"
Hearing his question, the petite girl spoke for the first time.
"Yes."
She looked extremely nervous.
"Um... I've already read Teacher Kiryu's work. It's wonderful."
"And I've drawn some character designs already."
"Would you like to take a look?"
"Hm..."
To be honest, Jaden had originally planned to tell Machida today that she didn't need to arrange an illustrator for him.
After all, his Sign-In System was very modern.
The A Certain Magical Index it provided was the complete package.
Text.
Illustrations.
Covers.
Even some writing and drawing techniques were included when he received it.
His original plan was to write and illustrate the book himself.
After all-
He already had the illustrations.
But he hadn't expected Machida to have already found an illustrator.
And not only that-
Even though Eiri Kashiwagi looked nervous, she had already finished drawing.
At this point, it would be unreasonable not to look.
Seeing Jaden nod, Eriri quickly handed over the drawings.
Jaden took them and examined them one by one.
It had to be said-
Eiri Kashiwagi was Eiri Kashiwagi.
Her drawing skill was absolutely solid.
But...
After looking through everything, Jaden let out a quiet sigh.
Then he took out another set of illustrations he had prepared in advance.
Printed.
Neatly arranged.
He handed them to Machida and Eriri.
At first, both of them were confused.
But after looking-
They immediately understood.
Jaden had already found an illustrator.
On his own.
The atmosphere became awkward.
Especially when the illustrations Jaden provided clearly matched the characters more closely than Eriri's.
Eriri unconsciously pressed her lips together.
"Um... Teacher Kiryu..."
She hesitated.
"Your illustrator definitely understands your characters better than I do. But in terms of pure drawing skill, I'm confident that I-"
Before she could finish, Jaden raised a hand.
"I drew these myself."
...
For a moment, both Machida and Eriri were completely stunned.
An author who also illustrated their own work-
They had heard of such legends.
But actually encountering one-
Was a different matter.
Eriri sighed internally.
She probably understood.
She had failed to secure a long-term illustrator position again.
Machida thought the same.
From her perspective, using the famous Eiri Kashiwagi could have added an extra wave of publicity to Jaden, a rookie author.
But if Jaden insisted-
There was nothing she could do.
After all, Jaden wasn't like other rookies.
He was a friend of the chairman himself.
He had the right to be stubborn.
Just as both of them were thinking this-
Jaden took a slow breath.
"Teacher Eiri Kashiwagi?"
"Ah... yes."
Eriri looked up.
Jaden met her gaze and continued.
"Regarding the illustrations you drew earlier-they probably won't work."
"They don't quite match the character image in my mind."
He spoke calmly.
"But you've also seen the ones I drew."
"I think this overall direction is fine."
"However, my drawing skill is definitely inferior to yours."
"So I don't mind you serving as my illustrator."
He paused.
"But do you think there are any parts of the character image I provided that need adjustment?"
Drawing was a very personal thing.
An illustration was deeply tied to an artist's own aesthetic.
That was precisely why Jaden had been so shocked that Eiri Kashiwagi turned out to be a high school girl.
Setting that aside-
He thought carefully.
Doing both the writing and illustrating himself wasn't impossible.
But it would mean taking on all the illustrator's work as well.
He had the illustrations and covers.
But if promotional art or other materials were needed, he would have to design and draw everything himself.
After weighing it carefully-
There was no real downside to letting this skilled tool-
Cough.
Teacher Eiri Kashiwagi-
Handle the illustration work.
The only condition was that the character images couldn't deviate too far from his original impression.
That was his bottom line.
"No," Eriri replied quickly. "Mostly just small detail adjustments."
"The overall structure won't change."
She hadn't expected the situation to suddenly reverse like this.
Her eyes widened in excitement.
But even so, she answered carefully.
Although she didn't expect to become a full-fledged illustrator just by drawing for a rookie novelist-
She was extremely serious about her first long-term job.
Even if the novel's sales weren't great in the end-
It was still a meaningful starting point.
Seeing her attitude, Jaden nodded in satisfaction.
"In that case, let's go with this."
"Editor Machida knows more about illustrator payments than I do."
"I'll leave that to you and Fujikawa."
Jaden didn't plan to spend too much time on this.
Given his relationship with Ohya Ken, he wasn't worried about being shortchanged.
So after settling the main points, his part was essentially done.
Eriri was still immersed in the joy of securing the position and nodded repeatedly.
Machida also said she would handle the follow-up matters.
For Jaden, this whole thing felt more like a brief interlude.
It came.
And it went.
A side income-
No.
On second thought, this might become one of his main income sources in the future.
After exchanging email addresses with Machida and Eriri, Jaden said his goodbyes.
He thought the day was finally over.
Next, he would go home and lie down-
No.
He would calmly think about the upcoming Kengan match involving "The Wild Tiger."
But just as he stepped out of the café-
Erina called.
"Erina? What happened?"
"...Um."
Her voice was heavy.
"Jaden, do you remember what I told you earlier?"
"That Toyo Electric sent a chef to pressure Totsuki through Shokugeki?"
"I remember. Did something happen?"
"Yes..."
Erina held her phone, looking at Saiba Joichiro-
The Asura-
Who had just been completely defeated 5-0 by Saiba Asahi.
She let out a soft sigh.
"...Sigh. It seems we really do need you this time."
Because-
Erina narrowed her eyes.
She watched the opponent casually pick up Joichiro Saiba's knife.
Then she spoke again.
"The opponent also has a peculiar ability."
"'Cross-Blade.'"
"It allows him to master a chef's cooking skills simply by picking up their knife."
Which meant-
"I have to rely on you this time, Jaden."
Hearing this, Jaden slowly smiled.
"An ability that copies cooking skills through a knife..."
"Interesting."
"All right."
"Come pick me up at my place."
"I'll head over right now."
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