Chapter 76: The Old Thief Being Thought Of
Arriving in the classroom with panda eyes, his fingers pulling his eyelids open to keep them from closing, Izumi Chihiro immediately slumped onto his desk after class.
When his body's exhaustion reached its limit, the previous insomnia completely vanished; he only wanted to fall into a deep sleep now.
Unfortunately, the break time was too short. After catching up on this little bit of time, he found himself even more sleepy during the second class.
He rubbed his temples to try and focus a little, enduring until noon. After quickly finishing his bento, he finally fell into a deep sleep.
"Haaah…"
After yawning, Izumi Chihiro felt his spirits had finally recovered a little, enough to handle the upcoming lessons.
"Izumi-dono, you seem very sleepy."
Nishikino, who sat next to him, surprisingly initiated a conversation.
"Because I had some insomnia last night."
He turned his head, his eyes still heavy with sleep.
"By the way, may I ask what you plan to use those two songs for, Izumi-dono? You're not thinking of selling them to singers, are you?"
Nishikino Maki suddenly changed the subject.
She certainly wasn't worried about her deskmate's physical condition; this was her true objective.
After all, these were songs that were fully composed with her involvement, and their quality was not low, so she was very concerned about their destination.
"I see, Nishikino, that's what you wanted to ask! Well, I was planning to look for you later anyway, so let's take this opportunity to say it… Actually, these are two pieces of music I plan to use in a game I'm making."
Izumi Chihiro explained.
"A game? Izumi-dono is making a game?"
Nishikino Maki looked astonished.
Is my deskmate that amazing? Starting a business at this age!
"Strictly speaking, I'm involved in a part of it, but I can't reveal all the specific information to you, Nishikino… Also, after the game is finished, for the composer credit, do you think I should use Nishikino's real name? Or should you choose a stage name or something?"
Izumi Chihiro continued.
"…"
Nishikino Maki was stunned.
Leave her real name? Of course not!
Since she didn't plan to go down this path, she naturally didn't need to add to her troubles.
So, she shook her head and asked, "Can I remain uncredited?"
"If that's what you wish… But are you really going to let them go to waste, Nishikino? Although I contributed some effort, it was thanks to you that the music could be created."
Izumi Chihiro narrowed his eyes.
Nishikino Maki's gaze inevitably wavered.
The heart that loves music can never be completely suppressed.
"Then just use Nishikino."
Finally, she compromised.
"I understand."
Izumi Chihiro gave the girl a deep look.
A surname but no given name?
…
Time flew by like an arrow.
Amidst the daily sounds of reading, the release date of the final volume of demon slayer gradually approached.
Many readers were eagerly anticipating this day, rubbing their hands in excitement.
"Is it coming? The final volume, huh? I wonder how deep an impression Izumi-sensei will leave on me with his final performance?"
Senju Muramasa pressed her hand to her chest, a blush appearing on her face.
Although Izumi Masamune's "demon slayer" had left the deepest impression on her heart throughout her journey, it was an existence that no one else's work could compare to.
But she wanted more, much more…
She found that what she felt was always only a temporary satisfaction, so whenever a new volume was released, she always held onto that feeling from the first encounter, which was so captivating and enchanting to her.
"Tomorrow, come quickly…"
Senju Muramasa looked at the hour hand swinging on the clock, her eyes full of anticipation.
On the other side, Kani Nayuta, a super newcomer who debuted with "silver season" and was a fan of both great authors, also encountered a troubling matter.
"Please! Sonoko-san! Please tell me my senior's home address!"
"Nayuta-sensei, don't make it difficult for me. This is confidential information. Besides, if you want to know so badly, you can ask Izumi-sensei directly."
"Wuwuwu, my senior didn't even reply to my question!"
"Of course not. If he let you know, wouldn't you harass him at his home every day? If that happened, Izumi-sensei would be very annoyed."
"Nonsense! I wouldn't do that."
"Really?"
"Really… Well, not really."
"Let's stop here, Nayuta-sensei. I need to continue reviewing manuscripts. Recently, due to the encouragement of Nayuta-sensei and Senju Muramasa-sensei's deeds, more and more people are submitting works. It feels like the golden age of light novels is about to arrive…"
Kani Nayuta was not interested in Machida Sonoko's emotion, and decisively hung up the phone.
"Sigh… It seems I'll just have to rent a random apartment. It's a pity, I couldn't get my senior's address, so my idea of being neighbors fell through."
The Silver-haired Girl sighed, looking down.
Due to Fujikawa Bunko's vigorous promotion and her own strength, the first volume of "silver season" achieved an astonishing sales volume of over 50,000 in its first week, directly igniting the light novel industry and astounding everyone!
After that, due to word-of-mouth, it also sparked a trend of book recommendations, leading to an increase in sales rather than a decrease.
It should be noted that the last person to do this appeared not long ago, and that was Senju Muramasa.
The sudden emergence of the two has brought a trend of revitalization to the once declining industry.
After achieving such great success, Kani Nayuta's status also greatly improved. Fujikawa Bunko even regarded her as an equal to Senju Muramasa, becoming a beacon for Fujikawa Bunko's future ascent to the peak.
Because of this, the manuscript fees, which were originally to be settled after some time, had already been received in advance at Machida Sonoko's request.
Thus, Kani Nayuta's previous goal had already been achieved.
When the money arrived, she was still a little incredulous.
A problem that might have troubled her for a long time in the future was solved so quickly.
"All of this is because of my senior!"
Kani Nayuta let out a long sigh, then suddenly thought of something, a sweet smile appearing on her face.
Because that was the person who could make her feel at ease just by thinking of him.
Unfortunately, there was no way to see him every day.
How could such longing be resolved?
It could only be focused on things related to him.
"Is the final volume of 'demon slayer' coming soon? My senior's debut work is about to end. I hope it can have a better outcome."
Kani Nayuta looked forward to it, then edited a message of blessing and sent it.
The Old Thief finally got some decent recognition.