"Nayuta-sensei?"
A question mark seemed to appear above Sagiri's head.
"It's the notebook you looked at before."
Izumi Chihiro reminded her.
"So that's who it was! She's really amazing!"
Sagiri suddenly understood and immediately wasn't surprised by the treatment the other party received.
"By the way, Nayuta is a silver-haired beautiful girl, and she's very fond of Izumi-sensei."
Machida Sonoko suddenly had a mischievous thought.
"It's just because I helped Nayuta, so she's very grateful to me, nothing else."
Izumi Chihiro explained.
"Is that so?"
Machida Sonoko's red lips parted slightly, a half-smile playing on them.
"Sonoko, I think you've had too much to drink."
He glared at her.
"Sagiri?"
He turned to look at Sagiri.
The silver-haired loli sat blankly in her chair, still caught up in what Machida Sonoko had just said.
Silver hair? Likes Ni-san?
No, no, no! That's too much!
Could she be my replacement?
"Sagiri, snap out of it!"
Izumi Chihiro shook his sister's body to bring her back to her senses.
"Ni-san, boo hoo hoo, are you going to abandon me?"
Sagiri cried.
"Of course not, Sagiri is Sagiri, my lovely sister, how could I abandon Sagiri?"
Izumi Chihiro comforted Sagiri, but he sighed inwardly.
Elementary schoolers are so troublesome!
Do I have to coax her for this too?
But since she's my sister, it's only right to coax her.
Sagiri's expression softened slightly.
But there was still some resentment in her heart.
Ni-san has a woman outside!
And she even has the moe attribute of 'silver hair'.
"Eromanga-sensei, it's okay, it's clear that you're still more important in Izumi-sensei's eyes."
Machida Sonoko quickly tried to salvage the situation.
She hadn't expected her earlier words to be so destructive; she really was a complete brother complex!
Hearing this, Sagiri looked up at her brother, who nodded slightly, and her heart felt much more at ease.
That's right, she's just a woman he met outside!
It's not like the childhood friend relationship with Eriri, so there's nothing to worry about.
With her mind at ease, the celebratory feast returned to its previous atmosphere.
However, when ordering, Sagiri secretly ordered slightly more expensive grilled meat as her small act of revenge.
Machida Sonoko suffered a silent loss and couldn't say anything more, so she had to find a way to economize until her salary arrived this month.
...
Three days later, Fujikawa Bunko's official Twitter sent out a message specifically to celebrate demon slayer breaking 100,000 copies per volume.
It's worth mentioning that the comments below were far more numerous and interesting than those for other works.
["What! Even such an old-fashioned work can sell hundreds of thousands? Oh, I bought it too, so never mind…"]
["Congratulations to Old Thief on his debut work reaching new sales heights! Today I won't criticize you."]
["I didn't expect that in this era, such a work could sell. It must be the author's skill, right?"]
["It's alright, but compared to Senju Muramasa-sensei's fantasy demon blade chronicles, it's still far behind."]
["Congratulations! By the way, when will the final volume be released?"]
["I didn't expect so many people to share the same taste as me. I thought such purely passionate works couldn't sell anymore!"]
["Are so many people being pleasant? I thought it would be like under Old Thief's previous tweet…"]
["Izumi-sensei, keep it up! I will support you as always!"]
...
"Thank you to all my readers and fans for your strong support, and thank you to my editor and Fujikawa Bunko for their help! I will work even harder in the future to give demon slayer an ending that everyone will be satisfied with."
After Izumi Chihiro retweeted and commented on this tweet, he didn't pay any more attention to it but focused on his own work.
First, he planned to finish the final volume of demon slayer, and then use the buffer time after its completion to finish the game plot of white album and part of his new work.
Such a workload was nothing to him now; he could even manage working on two projects simultaneously.
Regarding the last volume of demon slayer, he had long thought of how to handle it. Now, all that remained was to write out the planned plot.
There was nothing much to say about the aftermath of Kokushibo's duel with everyone; he just needed to write it according to the previous pace.
The focus was on the subsequent flashback.
That was the key.
To portray Kokushibo's emotions at the time, he had actually thought of a method long ago.
Izumi Chihiro walked to the bookshelf and took out fantasy demon blade chronicles.
He hadn't read it since he bought it because he felt it wasn't the right time then.
But now, that time had come.
Let me fully experience the gap between you and me!
Let me be jealous!
Let me be angry!
Let me detest you!
Izumi Chihiro murmured in his heart, his gaze shifting, his expression distorted, as if he had sunk into that bottomless abyss.
If the difference between Izumi Masamune and Kani Nayuta was like the difference between rice that could fill your stomach and chocolate.
Then, the difference between Izumi Masamune and Senju Muramasa was like the difference between rice that could fill your stomach and delicious dishes.
It was still a gap, but the feeling of comparison wasn't as strong.
And now, facing Senju Muramasa's work, which was essentially an advanced version of his own, he experienced the most genuine feelings.
This time, he didn't suppress his emotions like before; instead, he spurred on the dark side within his heart, the original sin that humans could never erase.
He wanted to bring this most authentic side into his writing, using Kokushibo's memories as a vehicle.
I envy you, Yoriichi!
[I envy you, Senju Muramasa!]
Why are you the sun, and I can only be the moon?
[Why can a latecomer surpass me?]
Why were you born different?
[Why is your talent so much better than mine?]
Why, why!
...
"So I just wanted to be you!"
As Kokushibo's final dying words were left, Izumi Chihiro, who had been in a trance, gradually came to his senses.
"I think I've gone crazy."
He scratched the back of his head, muttering to himself.
When he came to, he realized that this scene had already been typed out on his keyboard.
But that state he was in just now was truly a bit terrifying; if others had seen it, he might have been sent to a mental hospital!
However...
He took a closer look at the words he had just written and instantly felt that none of it mattered.
----------
Some Power Stone Will Be Helpful