Ero Manga Sensei Volume 3 Chapter 3

Chapter 3[]

The second day of the trip.

Outside, the sun was about to rise.

I sat in front of my laptop at the desk, still working. Right now I was writing the novel that I promised Muramasa-senpai.

On another note, I had already given her “Izumi Masamune unpublished novels”. This is the afterstory of The Silver Wolf of reincarnation.

Since I returned from the Elves’ Forest, I had been working.

Of course I felt tired after a long day of playing, but after so many things happened I had a headache. Since I couldn’t sleep and I had some nice ideas, I tried writing in the meantime instead.

“Alright! Finished!”

I felt like I was playing a game that I enjoy very much, or reading a very interesting novel – it would be such a waste to go to sleep now. Even if I knew I had school tomorrow, that without enough sleep the next day would be terrible, I still couldn’t stop. Just a bit more. A little more. One more boss….and it continued until the night had pa.s.sed. You guys know that feeling, don’t you?

Right now that was how I felt.

I had been writing for a long time. Only now I did I realize that it was almost morning.

“Not to mention that….I probably won’t be able to wake up easily if I went to sleep now.

I turned on the printer that I borrowed from Chris-aniki.

If I bound this stack of A4 papers into one, I would have a ma.n.u.script.

Most of the time, a novelist’s work consisted of taking ma.n.u.scripts to a debate with his editor. Usually, during those meeting each of us would have a stack like that.

“Alright…alright…alright.”

I put on some clothes and went to the door which lead to the corridor, took a deep breath, calmed myself down and took a step out.

This mansion’s corridor was as good as any high-cla.s.s hotel, everything was so bright.

When I arrived at the main hall, I stopped.

“------------“

From where I stood, I could see Muramasa-senpai on the chair. She was wearing the same kimono as he was at our first meeting.

The orange light shone on her pure white neck. She had a dapper and decorous aura, which was easily able to charm people.

I found myself lost for words.

After some debate, I decided to greet her:

“Senpai.”

“……………”

No response. It looked like she was focus on reading.

….That looked like one of my unpublished novels. Sagiri once said that it was embarra.s.sing to see someone read your novel right in front of you.

….And it was even more embarra.s.sed when someone read them with that amount of focus.

Now that I think about it, Eromanga-sensei, who published all the steps of her drawings online really was a perverted girl. Maybe all ill.u.s.trators are perverts, to some degree.

I stepped inside and sat down in front of Muramasa-senpai, and took my ma.n.u.script out to read.

I should read it one more time before giving it to Muramasa-senpai – well, actually my past experience told me that I’ve never found any problem with my finished ma.n.u.scripts.

But for senpai, I have to do this.

….Much later…

“Ah~ it’s so good!”

A child-like voice came from in front of me.

I looked up and met Muramasa-senpai’s eyes while she was stretching her neck.

“------------“

Both of us feel silent for a moment.

“Eh? Ehhhh? --- Ah, ah, ---- Ma, Masamune?” She blushed and panicked.

“Why, why are you here?”

“I was reading my ma.n.u.script.”

“…Since, since when?”

“I don’t really know. It feel like a long time to me.”

“Why…didn’t you say…anything…”

“I did. But you didn’t seem to notice.”

“~~”

Muramasa-senpai’s whole body froze, she muttered to herself repeatedly.

“…I failed…failed…again….”

“It’s normal for people who are too focus on something to not know what’s going on around them, you don’t have to be embarra.s.sed….”

“No, no…it’s not….then….um….did I….make any strange expressions?”

“Nope, you didn’t.”

Or rather, you were so beautiful that I felt charmed.

“Phew…thank heavens…I was about to hide under a bed….”

I don’t know why Muramasa-senpai looked that way, but she seemed okay now. She slapped herself and said:

“Alright.”

The panicked expression disappeared, replaced by the usual cold and calm one.

“I’m alright…sorry for making you see me like that.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Eh, by the way…you woke up so early, huh?”

“I didn’t sleep at all. Sat.u.r.day is a day for me to work overnight, the perfect time to write.”

“I see…you work overnight on Sat.u.r.days too. Same here…I spent yesterday reading your unpublished novel. About that…after I fully understand them I will tell you my opinion."

“I’m glad to hear that.”

I tried to remain calm, but inside I felt so embarra.s.sed.

“Why didn’t your publisher publish such a good story?!”

“……”

Because no one will buy them.

She probably never checked the internet, never saw those comment who labeled me as a“Fake Muramasa” or a “Muramasa wannabe”

….I knew that…we….aside from sales, we were pretty similar…

I already had a guess about what she intended to say, thus I said:

“It’s the end of the week, sleeping is such a waste. I normally want to write, but I have to be awake for school tomorrow, so I wasn’t able to

“I know! Me too!”

An expected response.

“Since I don’t have any school on the weekends, it’s the best time to write! Really, why dohumans need to eat and sleep? Why can’t we live without sleep or food! Such a waste.”

Every time I spoke about work with Elf, our personalities clashed.

“I completely agree!”

She truly is someone so similar to me.

Someone who likes writing more than me, likes reading novel more than me ---

Someone who likes to spend time writing – much more than me.

That’s why every time we had a talk, we felt at ease.

Compared to my little sister, compared to the near perfect Elf, I felt that Muramasa-senpai is a more perfect, and more extreme version of myself.

“Alright…here.”

I smiled and gave her my new ma.n.u.script.

“This is….?”

“The story I promised yesterday. I just finished it.”

“Silver Wolf’s after story! Wah, so quick! Uwah! So long! Wonderful!”

Seeing how happy she was, I felt that it was worth me becoming a novelist.

“Having people reading one’s novel” is big happiness for any author.

From professional to amateur, everyone likes it when people are reading their story.

Only people who had experienced the feeling when no one read your web novel, when the ma.n.u.script that you spent so much time preparing meets its end from with a “We can’t publish that” could know how precious this simple thing truly was.

“Thank you, Masamune! I’m going to read it now!”

“That’s my line, I should be thanking you."

I thanked my only reader from the bottom of my heart.

“Why are you thanking me?”

If she said that, that means despite many similarities between us, at the core we are different.

During our talk, the sun had risen. We went to the dining room to grab a quick breakfast before I began to write another novel.

For now, I still had no idea about volume two of The cutest little sister in the world.

I should prepare something already, but somehow I felt very calm, like I knew for sure that when the time came, I would find more inspiration.

Aside from my little sister, one of the reason I agreed to take part in this trip is to prepare reference materials for this moment – so I intended to write things that I wanted to.

Not the second volume of The cutest little sister in the world, not the after story of Silver Wolf. It was a new story, something I just had an idea about.

I hoped this story could become the best novel in the world that Muramasa-senpai wanted.

A story for only one reader.

To me, this is another way to relax.

At this time ---

“Morning! Masamune! Get up!”

*Thud*The door was kicked open and Elf entered, wearing a yukata.

“Oh, I thought you were still sleeping. Morning.”

“Yeah yeah…good morning, Elf.”

My heart skipped a beat. How could I not!

"In the near future, you won’t love anyone but me…"

She said that!

Frankly speaking, the way she acted like nothing happened was much stranger!

“…..”

Was it all a dream? She, she was so cute yesterday – no, no! What am I thinking --- I shook my head.

Elf glanced at the laptop next to me.

“Why are you writing a novel during a trip?”

“…..This trip is called “A trip to get reference materials and co-operate”, isn’t it?”

“Eh? Ah ah – right right, you’re right.”

It’s just a simple name, how could you forget that?

“References….right, references…Alright, Masamune, get back to your bed and sleep.”

“….For what?”

“Of course for a scene from a romance novel! It’s reference material for me! In the morning, the female protagonist came to wake the protagonist up, but when she saw her lover sleeping her heart started to race --- like that!”

“Actually, I have been wondering since yesterday, does playing make-believe like this really have any benefits?”

“Of course not. Alright, let’s begin!”

“Hey!”

Ignoring my protest, Elf pushed me on to the bed. If someone entered the room now, we would have another weird misunderstanding. Hopefully Chris-aniki won’t see this.

“Alright, actor, begin to sleep.”

Elf forced me to lie down, threw the blanket over me and patted me a few times.

“Good. Okay, Masamune, close your eyes.”

“………………..I want to write a novel before the next meal….”

In the end, I gave up fighting and closed my eyes.

“Is this good enough?”

…I’m supposed to be sleeping now, what will she do next? Could it be that she will try to do…this and that?

After nothing happened after a while, I secretly opened my eyes a bit.

And then ---

“!!!”

I couldn’t move. Either physically or mentally.

The, the reason…was because Elf had slowly drawn her face closer to mine….our faces were almost touchingeach other’s.

Her belt was removed, the chest part of her yukata was nearly opened.

“…Um…get up…..Masamune…”

“….!”

I could almost feel her breath against my lips.

“Hurry ~ up…or I will keep teasing….”

…Wh, wh, what….

Is she…is she really playing make-believe?

Her face was a deep red color, Elf looked like she was truly in heat. She might really do it!

Just a bit more…then our lips will meet --- too close….!

Now…I have no way to avoid it….the smallest movement will cause….something to happen.

When I had already given up and prepared to meet my fate

*Bam!*A sharp sound suddenly appeared. Next was a *Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* that a girl really shouldn’t make.

“Wh, what is that?’

I quickly opened my eyes and saw Elf on the floor and Muramasa-senpai, wearing cooking clothes.

With eyes like a shrine maiden on her way to banish an evil spirit, Muramasa-senpai raised the spoon in her hands and loudly announced:

“Almost….you only escaped by a hair’s breadth, Masamune.”

What she said sounded like something straight out of a heroine from a fighting-genre novel.

“Actually, senpai….this is?”

“Um…I’m helping with the meal. I couldn’t allow this demi-human who is lying over here to keep making everything.”

Demi-human…

“Kuh ~~ why are you always standing in my way….! And call me Elf. I’m an elf, got it? Not a demi-human! Elf! Called me Elf ---!”

Elf’s eyes turned into ><, and="" she="" quickly="" covered="" her="" head="" from="" muramasa-senpai’s="">

To calm the mood, I quickly jumped out of bed:

“Senpai, so you can cook?”

“I can. Although I can’t make something like yesterday’s dinner, but if it is j.a.panese food I’m confident that I could handle this fight.”

Yesterday, the dinner Elf made was simply awesome – I believe that it ranked in the top ten meals that I had ever eaten. Even after eating a dinner like that, Muramasa-senpai still announced that she could handle a cooking fight. It looked like Muramasa-senpai’s cooking was much better than mine.

It seems like light novel authors, both male and female were really good at cooking.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Um. I’m almost done….come to the dining room.”

She said, still wearing her cooking clothes, as she left quickly.

Although normally, Muramasa-senpai looked cool and cold, but sometimes she turned into a normal girl like that.

…This sudden change in personality made my heart race.

“….Hm….this time…I almost….”

“What are you saying?”

“It’s nothing.”

Still…Elf really is calm. I started to think that yesterday was a dream.

Maybe this doubt made me unconsciously called her by her real name:

“….Emily.”

“Yes ♥”

An immediately reaction. Maybe because I called her, Elf’s entire face turned red, she looked at me without saying anything. Her shoulders was trembling slightly

Three seconds. Five seconds. Ten seconds.

“Y, yes, Ma…Masamune?”

Seeing her pure, moist eyes, I couldn’t help but answer:

“…I, I’m just calling you.”

“You….”

Elf’s jaw dropped, and then….

“You scared me to death! I will kill you!”

“You don’t have to be that angry!”

“I’m such an idiot! I, I I I thought that you were about to propose! I told you – yesterday – to use my real name for that! Only in that atmosphere! Yet you just call me that for nothing? Do you want to give me a heart attack?”

“Sorry. Seeing you so calm made me wonder if yesterday was a dream.”

“Dream my a.s.s! I was trying so hard yesterday! Don’t treat it like a dream! If I knew that you would reach a conclusion like that I would have taken that 10% chance and gone for it!”

Shaking her head like a dog getting out of bath, Elf said:

“Really…ok, calm down. I’m a girl…alright, next is the second round. After eating we will go to the beach to play again.”

“We played enough yesterday, today everyone planned to work together.”

"Hah? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~What the heck are you saying?"

Elf looked at me like she was asking “Are you for real?”

“Both you and Muramasa spent last night writing, didn’t you? That’s enough, let’s play.”

“Can you please work seriously for just a second?”

*shuffle*Elf showed me a circle-shaped paper that she somehow pulled from nowhere.

Looked like it was her plan for today.

8:00: Wake up

8:00~9:00: Breakfast.

9:00~12:00: Playing at the beach

12:00~13:00: Eating lunch (barbecue)

13:00~17:00: A walk in the Elves’ Forest

17:00~19:00: Dinner (A beautiful girl will cook♥)

19:00~22:00: Entertainment (Courage test, playing with fireworks)

22:00~8:00: Sleep (Boys and girls will draw straws to pair up)

Elf: Let’s play to our heart’s content! ♥

“How is that? Perfect isn't it?”

Behind her, somehow Chris-aniki had appeared and hit her head.

“Sorry for my little sister’s behavior.”

Today he wore a white s.h.i.+rt. He took the plan from Elf, he used his pen to cross out and modify something.

“That is my plan for the second day, how about it?”

8:00: Wake up

8:00~9:00: Breakfast.

9:00~12:00: Playing at the beach Work

12:00~13:00: Eating lunch (barbecue)

13:00~17:00: A walk in Elves’ Forest Yamada Elf-sensei’s work.

17:00~19:00: Dinner (A beautiful girl will cook♥)

19:00~22:00: Entertainment (Courage test, playing with fireworks) Yamada Elf-sensei’s work.

22:00~8:00: Sleep (Boys and girls will draw straw to pair up)

Elf: Let’s play to our heart’s content! ♥

“Ah, it’s fine.”

“Wait wait! It’s not! What is wrong with you two! Where’s my erotic playing at the sea? Where is my date in the forest with Elf-sensei?”

“As long as you finish your work I will happily help you with that.”

“Kuh…you are a bad guy! You did it on purpose!”

Facing a raging Elf, Chris-aniki simply said coldly in an editor-like tone:

“Hmm, what do you mean? Anyway, Yamada-sensei….since you didn’t work seriously, I’m going to lock you up until you finish your supervisor work of the next game’s story.”

As quick as a wink, Chris-aniki grabbed the back of Elf’s head and dragged her away.

“Alright, sensei. Let’s take a look at your work before breakfast.”

“It hurts it hurts it hurttttttsss! I don’t wanna! Why do I still have to work on a southern island? Help me Masamune! Fight this bad guy and save the princess! My pure heart is going to be corrupted! I’m going to be turned into a Dark Elf!”

I don’t get it. Elf-sensei’s heart should be already corrupted by now.

*Drag drag drag --- bam*The door was slammed shut, the room went back to its usual silence.

….Although she reaped what she sowed, it really sucked for her.

“…Well, at least we can work together.”

Thus, by the second day of the trip, the “co-operate” part began.

After eating Muramasa-senpai’s meal, we gathered at the main hall.

Some people might said it was such a waste, why should we work inside during a trip? But outside it was too bright, I couldn’t see the laptop’s screen, thus we ended up inside.

“♪”

In front of me, Muramasa-senpai was happily reading the after story of Silver Wolf. She had a happy, charming smile on her lips.

“Alright…I should begin to work too.”

I turned my laptop on and prepared to finish the novel I started writing this morning. Turned to my right, I saw s.h.i.+do-kun with a mini laptop in his hands.

“s.h.i.+do-kun, what is that? Isn't it too small for a laptop?”

“This is Sigmarion III, the best portable writing tool in the world.” 

He even went that far. s.h.i.+do-kun praised the machine and said:

“Although it’s an old model of Dokomo, but I’m used to it. I’ve used it since my debut, I’ve had it for a few years.”

"Ha…."

I couldn’t help but feel amazed at this mini-laptop, and at how quickly he typed despite that size.

Of course, my 「Let's note-chan 」- which could separate its screens and could show me the cutest little sister in the world was amazing too.

"People say that 「the sword is a swordsman’s soul 」, but for s.h.i.+dou-s.h.i.+, this must be your 「novelist's soul 」, isn't it?"

Muramasa-senpai interrupted us. She raised her head and looked at us.

"Since I always write my story with consumables like pen and paper, I have never had this feeling. I'm a bit jealous."

"You don’t write with a computer?"

"My handwriting is much faster….than typing."

As expected. Seeing how fast she wrote, I knew that she would be slow at typing.

"By the way, I read Masamune-kun's web novel with a Sigmarion III too."

"Really!?"

s.h.i.+do-kun looked very happy.

"Wonderful! It's the first time I’ve met someone who used a Sigmarion III too! I never thought that anyone still used it!"

"Since both of you use Sigmarion III, it's understandable that you will have a connection. How about you two go get married." To my left, Elf spoke.

Today she wasn’t wearing a yukata, but chose a sleeveless Lolita outfit.

So in your opinion, Sigmarion III turned into some sort of demon sword?

Seeing that they were about to fight again s.h.i.+do-kun said:

"That isn’t a bad choice, but it might be a bit difficult - Muramasa-san looks like she already likes someone else.'

"Ack?"

Muramasa-senpai froze, and began to panic:

"Wh, wh, wh, why are you teasing me too…."

"Why do you think that we don’t know?" "Why does senpai think that we don’t know?"

Both Elf and s.h.i.+do-said at the same time.

"The story that you submitted at the World light novel tournament was based on your real life situation with Masamune, wasn’t it? I only heard it from him, but I already understood from reading it. You are a naïve author who wrote everything without hiding your feelings -- what do you have to say?"

"Before I met you guys, I already had that feeling. After we met, I knew for sure."

"…………." "………"

Hearing what Elf and s.h.i.+do-kun said made not only Muramasa-senpai blush, but me as well. d.a.m.n it, why did the topic s.h.i.+ft from work equipment to love?

s.h.i.+do-kun looked at me and Muramasa-senpai:

"But…you two aren't dating, right?"

"Yeah…." I answered.

"Is that because…"

"I'm not gay!"

I must somehow solve this misunderstanding.

While I was talking with s.h.i.+do-kun, Muramasa-senpai dropped her head, and muttered:

"…How…how….could you know…does that mean…all my readers…also…."

Is this…the first time Senjyu Muramasa actually cared about her reader's opinions?

Probably thinking the same, Elf added happily:

"Of course they know! Muramasa-chan's pure first love will reach all the readers! I bet those teenager light novel readers will think 「Muramasa-sensei is amazing, confessing with a novel! So ~ cute~! 」"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….."

The more she heard, the redder Muramasa-senpai's face became.

"Actually, the topic 「find the one Muramasa-senpai loves」is pretty hot in the Internet! Ehehehe….I really like those kind of things!” Elf exclaimed.

"….Kuhhhhh."

Muramasa-senpai hid behind her hands.

Hey, that’s enough…she might die of embarra.s.sment!

At this time, s.h.i.+do-kun joined in:

"By the way, Toggetter also has a topic about 「Senjyu Muramasa-sensei's first love 」."

"I confess, I posted it! I also created the rumor that Muramasa was a beautiful girl!" Elf shouted.

"You’re too much! You did that on purpose didn’t you?!"

See! Muramasa-senpai's whole body was trembling!

"Uuuuuu…..uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's enough! I don’t care anymore!"

*Bam!*Suddenly Muramasa-senpai stopped moaning in embarra.s.sment, and stood up and shouted

"Fine! Revealed? Let it be revealed!"

She raised her well-developed b.r.e.a.s.t.s and looked directly at me:

"Everyone listen up! I, I! I like Masamune-kun the most!"

"Se, senpai!"

"I don’t care about any scrutiny! I don’t care about any rumors! I have nothing to hide! Everything is real! My love is true and I will have no shame about it!"

Senpai is so cool! But I'm about to die of embarra.s.sment, please stop! I beg you!

"Kukuku…..you can't hide it anymore. I really like to see girls who care about nothing like you panic when they are rejected! I really really like it!"

Ignoring Elf who was clearly having fun, Muramasa-senpai turned towards me and loudly announced:

"I will be clear! I went on this trip despite knowing that my writing time would be cut short not only because I knew that I could read Masamune-kun's unpublished novel!"

"Ehh….."

Yeah, I do remember that Elf said something about other conditions.

Muramasa-senpai pointed at Elf:

"Because she said I could sit next to Masamune-kun on the way….!"

"Just because of that?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Oh right. It was true that both in the plane and in the s.h.i.+p, I sat next to Muramasa-senpai.

Her momentum weakened, she muttered:

"The….she said on a trip we might have a chance to be alone…so…"

"…Ah…Er…"

Really, how much did she want to embarra.s.s me?

*Clap clap clap* Elf clapped her hands:

"Alright alright, sorry for interrupting you -- Masamune, don’t be fooled by how pitiful Muramasa is."

Elf glanced at both me and Muramasa-senpai, and said:

"I showed you before that she had some unknown A-cla.s.s skills! Ok, listen carefully: deep down, she is a female character like the electric guy from A ** ing Sp **derman 2 」."

"…Please use a reference that I can understand."

"I bet that when she is alone, she often has a talk with an imaginary-Masamune".

"Are you kidding me!!!?"

There is no way something that scary could be true! Right, Muramasa-senpai ?

Turning to Muramasa-senpai, I saw her with a terrified expression on her face.

"…You, how could you know…."

"….!"

…That…was…real?

I wiped my cold sweat. Elf's insight was better than I thought.

Seeing that I went pale, Muramasa-senpai asked with a gentle voice:

"…Can't…I?"

"Sorry, but please no."

Someone imagining a second person to have a talk with might be called moe, but if the person that was imagined was oneself then it's just creepy,

*Clang*Muramasa-senpai went as pale as a ghost. Then her body dropped on the sofa, her mouth opened slightly and half of her soul ran out.

At this time, a sound of hand clapping appeared, trying to cut us off.

It wasn’t Elf. It was from her elder brother, Chris-aniki.

"Sorry for interrupting your story, but I hope you could allow Yamada-sensei to focus on her work.'

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Both s.h.i.+do-kun and I lowered our heads.

"Then…Elf-san, Izumi-kun, let’s work."

"Wait, wait! I still want to escape from reality! My work is higher than a mountain and deeper than the sea, I don’t know how long I have to work on them."

"Just do it." I said.

She knew that she had a lot of work and still tried to fool around….In front of her were many stacks of papers, each as thick as a phonebook.

"Look! All of this is my work regarding supervising a game! I have to read all of them, fix any problems I find, check all the player’s choices! How could I do all of this!" Elf cried.

Yeah, I heard that her debut anime "DarkElf's Crimson Flame's Exclamation" was being planned to make a debut on portable console. So all of those phonebook-like stacks of papers are a part of the legendary "game supervisor".

"Being a game supervisor sure is hard."

Just looking at it gave me a headache.

"Your deadline is less than a week away. I hoped you could finish it during this trip." Chris-aniki said gently.

"…A week might be impossible, aniki."

I find it hard to do. There is a lot of work involved in checking all the character’s routes in a galge."

"Bandai Namco's game development department 「used only a week to finish checking story setting of Toradora」. Back then it wasn’t very clear, but I accepted anyway. Now I think that it might be impossible."

"You’re such an idiot."

No matter how good my condition is, doing this much work is impossible. Compared with others it’s a simple trick that uses a novelist's desire to win.

"You don’t have to say it so bluntly! It was my first time doing that kind of work too, I didn’t know it would be this much! I was tricked!"

Chris-aniki gently patted Elf's shoulder and said in dangerous tone:

"By the way, you need to take care of the work regarding your anime's story, the deadline is also coming. The novel whose anime is currently being broadcasted needs at least two more volumes, you should prepare them too."

"Where is justice!? Where is the law!? Why are all the deadlines coming at once? It's clear that I can’t do all of it.""

"I will keep forcing you to work until you finish. After this trip, you have a meeting about the original script, after the season recording, Blu-ray versions and special volumes for the games. Recently, fans have also asked for a longer novel. By the way, you need to check the manga based on your story too. Ah, about your seminar and exhibition…."

"Ohhhhh wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"

The worst things is when you found out that you have to do something that is "impossible to do". I will remember this lesson for as long as I live.

After that, we worked for about two hours. The main hall wasvery quiet, with only the occasional sound echoing down the corridors.

The sound of keyboard typing.

The sound of pen writing

*Hic - Hic* The sound of Elf-sensei crying.

On a southern island, in a cool and comfortable atmosphere that the air-conditioner made, work finished much easier than I expected. I was almost done.

Sometime later -- when I felt that my concentration was fading…

Suddenly I got the feeling that someone was watching, I looked up and saw Muramasa-senpai in front of me, smiling:

"Masamune-kun ♥ Is your newest novel done?"

She sounded like a little bird waiting for food. Silently apologizing for thinking that way, I answered:

"Almost. But have you finished reading my newest Silver Wolf that I wrote today?"

"Yes."

She held the Silver WolfAfter story to her chest, and said:

"Just like you said, it is a really good side-story."

"Hehe ~ is that so?"

Although I knew that she would smile like this, I couldn’t help but smile too.

Writing a novel then quickly knowing what the readers thought made me happy. And that happiness doubled because writing is my hobby too.

Although I declined her offer "become Senjyu Muramasa's personal novelist" - but now what I did wasn't really all that different.

"What is that side story about?"

Still with one palm on her face, Elf tiredly asked. I raised my finger and answered proudly:

"A story where all the characters in Silver Wolfare alive and live happily."

"What a c.r.a.ppy story."

Elf roared and smiled wryly:

"What a wet blanket. Should I say that you ruined your own novel or should I say that you ruined your ending….of course this couldn’t be published."

I knew it, people would rate it worthless. But I knew why I wrote it.

This was a story that I couldn’t let my fans read.

A story that even if I wanted to write, no one would like to read.

"But…you like it, don’t you?"

"Um" Muramasa-senpai hugged the ma.n.u.script to her chest "That was what I wanted to read."

I knew that she would respond this way.

Maybe there are some fans of mine that will love to read this story like Muramasa-senpai. But I couldn’t send this to them. And since I couldn’t, normally I wouldn't write it either.

"Thank you, senpai."

Somehow, I thought about "that person" who only talked with me via the Internet. The first one to give me opinions …if "that person" was here…they probably would enjoy this story too.

Suddenly --- I wanted to show this to Eromanga-sensei after I got home.

And then, after finis.h.i.+ng the short story for Muramasa-senpai, I began to work on volume two of The Cutest Little Sister in the World.

Muramasa-senpai went back to reading my new story without a care in the world.

Elf was working on her supervisor project, s.h.i.+do-kun was changing his short story he made for The World Light NovelTournament into a proper novel.

Everyone was working -- this is what "a trip to get reference materials and co-operate" should be.

At that time---

"Sorry, I have to go somewhere for thirty minutes."

Chris-aniki looked at his watch and stood up.

Elf's ears twitched a bit. Seeing that, Chris-aniki asked in an uncomfortable tone:

"….Don't fool around when I'm not here, alright?"

"Sure." Elf answered meekly.

"Don’t be lazy, alright? No playing games or going anywhere, got it?"

"Sure, Onii-sama ♪. I'm not going to be lazy."

Her eyes were sparkling. They had looked like a pair of dead eyes just seconds ago.

"………"

Chris-aniki ma.s.saged his temple and sighed:

"…Please take care of her for me."

Saying that, he hesitated then left.

*Click*The door closed. Elf waited a while to check if he really was gone before her mood skyrocketed, like her seal was broken.

"Alright! Let's play! Everyone, let's play."

*Click click*Chris-aniki returned.

"Did anyone say something?"

"Onii-sama, you are mistaken."

*Click*Chris-aniki left again.

"Phew…About scared me to death."

….What an interesting pair of siblings.

To tell the truth, I was jealous. If only Sagiri and I could speak to others this way.

"Alright…let's play."

Still sitting on the sofa, Elf suggested quietly like a thief.

"He asked us to take care of you."

"Elf-san, work properly."

"I don’t ~ wanna! That was two hours of forced labor. I need to play in order to recover my concentration! Please! Just a bit! Alright!? The bad guy is gone, please? Alright? Alright? Please ♥ "

Elf begged me and s.h.i.+do-kun.

Of course, Muramasa-senpai was still reading not caring about anything. She was someone who only cared about what she was interested in.

Since Elf was so troublesome which made it that we couldn’t work, we had no choice but to say:

"Just a bit, okay?"

"Thank you ♪ I like this gentle side of you!"

….That didn’t sound like a compliment.

s.h.i.+do-kun also smiled wryly:

"…So what will we play? We obviously couldn’t play outside, let's play something quick."

"We could only play this!"

*Shhhzzzz*Elf suddenly stood up and pushed the sofa back a few centimeters:

"King's game."

"You…you plan to play king's game?"

"The..the one that groups of friends usually…."

Both s.h.i.+do-kun and I trembled. Elf still remained calm and serious:

"Yes…King's game. One of the three games for building relations.h.i.+ps between boys and girls."

"But, but…!"

"Elf! Are you…serious? You really want to play this legendary game?"

"Of course. You two have probably never played it before, right?"

"No, never!" "Not a single time!" Both s.h.i.+do-kun and I said at the same time.

"Eh? s.h.i.+do-kun has never played it? But aren’t you already a university student?"

"Don’t, don’t make it sound like all university students are good at making friends!"

Well it's true. Even among middle age school girls there are bubbly and friendly girls like Megumi, pure and innocent girls like Sagiri, and perverted ones like Eromanga-sensei. So it's only natural that university students have a lot of types too.

But since s.h.i.+do-kun wasn't bad looking, and he had a decent, easy going personality, I thought he would be the type who liked to party.

"Actually…I did go to some parties and met some girls…but…"

"But you’ve never played king's game before?"

"…Maybe...”

Maybe? I’m asking you!

I put that matter aside and turned back to Elf:

"See, Elf!? Even a bright university student like s.h.i.+do-kun still has never played the king's game before. That meant games like Pocky or Twister only exist in the imagination!"

"That's why I want to play! It's a chance to play rare games and get valuable reference material!"

"Kuh…"

She’s got a point…

King's game doesn’t require anything special, so we quickly finished preparing. Elf pointed at Muramasa-senpai (who was still focusing on reading novel) and shouted:

"Muramasa! You’re going to join in too!"

"………."

"Listen to me d.a.m.n it!"

Finally, she noticed.

With a glare that said "I will kill you if you make any noise", she said:

"…What did you say?"

"Come and play king's game!"

"King's game? What’s that? I want to read…."

"Right right, I knew that would be your answer…come here for a sec."

Elf pulled Muramasa-senpai's shoulder and whispered something to her.

"….Muramasa-chan, king's game is…."

"…What does that mean?"

"That mean ---- ah, then Masamune…"

"What? Is it possible…oh….oh…."

….Did I just hear my name?

I had a bad feeling, but the two of them turned back to us. And then…

"Ma, Masamune-kun! Let's play king's game!"

She looked like she really want to play now. Her face was red, and full of excitement.

"..Elf, you are amazing. How did you convince her?"

"That's a secret. Handling Muramasa is a piece of cake."

Ah, that meant she tricked Muramasa-senpai into something.

"Let's hurry. First we use cards to draw straws"

Elf pulled four cards out of a stack of cards and put them faced down.

"The order is Ace, Two, Three and King. Ace means One, alright?"

Elf shuffled four cards.

"Now each of us will draw a card -- alright? Whoever gets the King card will become king and can order the rest to do anything -- good, Game Start. I'm King!"

Elf said like she already knew she was going to be King.

"Hey, why do you act like you knew that you will get King card?"

Where’s the justice? Before I could ask, queen Elf ignored me and glanced at her servants (us):

"Alright….what order should I start with ~"

"…!"

Muramasa-senpai blinked at Elf, like she was trying to signal something. Elf glanced at her then back to us.

"First is the appetizer! Number one ~~"

Number one is me.

"Kiss number two!"

"Pfffffffffffffffff"

I sent all of the water in my mouth flying.

Wh…wh…what? Kiss? What a perverted elf! There is girl in this game too and she still gave that order? Well, I should have expected that order….

Who could have thought that she would begin with that…

I blinked a few times before calming down.

Alright! Number two! Who is number Two? Could it be that Muramasa ----

When I was looking around for my target….

"!"

*Shhhhz!*Without saying anything, s.h.i.+do-kun fled outside.

"Ah! He’s running! After him Masamune! He’s number Two!"

"After him my a.s.s!"

I'm not crazy enough to try to force kiss a boy.

"What the heck! I even prepared a camera to take a picture!"

Do you want to kill me?

And why did I have the feeling that she knew I was number One?

---- In the end, s.h.i.+do-kun fled without coming back, the king's game's players were immediately reduced by one.

Muramasa-senpai glared at Elf:

"Elf…it wasn't our agreement…I had signaled you the number…."

"I told you this was just an appetizer. Just you wait."

"Hey, what are you two doing! How could we play king's game with only three people? All orders would be instantly clear right after it was made."

"You are right. Let's add one more."

Elf calmly said ----

「Eh? King's game? Really! Let's play! I want to play too! 」

She called "the worse person to play this game".

Right now, in the tablet on my chest was Eromanga-sensei. We had connected this place and the locked room via skype.

「Ah ~ although I'm in a good mood since I just finish a nice ill.u.s.tration ~ but king's game? I have to play! I have long wanted to play this legendary game! 」

Well, of course hikikomoris couldn’t play this game.

It looked like Eromanga-sensei liked this game too, same as the rest of us.

"But how could we play with one player in skype? Besides, if we want to play you two should stop working together!" I voiced my question to Elf.

"Then let's make Eromanga-sensei our king from now on."

That was a good suggestion. I had nothing to say.

"Wait, in that case how could I and Muramasa cheat?"

"So you two cheated?"

"No no. But if we did that will Eromanga-sensei be happy?"

Could it be that Elf wanted Sagiri to feel the same joy as us? But…!

"Is this really going to be okay?"

What if we gave birth to an evil overlord? I'm really worried now…

"Let's give it a try. How about that, Eromanga-sensei?"

「Fine. By the way, I don’t know someone with that name. 」

In the end…

Eromanga-sensei will be our king forever. The second round began.

「Then ~ anyway ~ I could order all of you, right? Like number One, do this and that…huh?"

"Yes -- good, now give us your order! We "Knights of the Round Table" await your order, "Great King Eromanga"."

「I, I don’t know someone with that dangerous sounding name! 」

That's enough. Otherwise we might get a complaint from DengekiDaiou.

Eromanga-sensei, no, Great King Eromanga coughed and gave her first order:

「Number One, undress one piece of clothing! 」

"I'm number One!"

Elf threw the Ace card down and quickly undressed. Her action was swift and quick -- wait a sec!

"You, you…! What kind of clothes is that?"

"Ahahaha, I have prepared myself since I accepted Eromanga-sensei's kings.h.i.+p."

Elf blushed slightly and smiled at me. Eromanga-sensei shouted:

「Ah, Elf-chan cheated! That is a bikini! 」

"Hmhm…I knew this would happened, thus I prepared…."

You knew that king's game will lead to a "stripping" order?

「Tantrums! Tantrums! But it's so cute! 」

My little sister has turned into Eromanga-sensei mode again.

….Forget it, as long as she is having fun.

"Alright, one round finished! Long live great king Eromanga!"

Since the king didn’t change, we only re-draw our card.

Great king Eromanga jumped up and down like a monkey and made a new order:

「Ahaha ~! This is so fun! Ok ~ next! Number One! 」

*Brr*Muramasa-senpai immediately jumped out of her seat.

….Seemed like she is number one.

In an instant, an evil light appeared in Great King Eromanga's eyes.

「You who wore the kimono, take off one piece of clothing! 」

"Yyyyy~!"

Muramasa-senpai's whole body turned red, she tried to run to the door. In a blink of eye, Elf had stopped her and locked the door.

"I'm not letting you get away Muramasa! Strip! Now!"

"I, I I I didn’t know that this game was so shameless!"

"Of course, I didn’t tell you."

"You, you! You tricked me! You told me that you will use king's order to give me a sweet memory!"

So they had a secret deal….

With moist eyes, her hands hugged to her chest, Muramasa-senpai turned into an embarra.s.sed girl. I couldn’t bear to watch, so I objected to Eromanga-sensei:

"Alright, Great King Eromanga! You can't order a girl to undress! Change that order!"

「Eh? 」

Although Great King Eromanga's voice sounded discontent, but surprisingly, she agreed.

「Okay, I will change it. If you aren't going to undress, then…. 」

"…Glup."

Great King Eromanga patted her chest and then gave her order to senpai:

「Tell me what kind of panties that you are wearing! 」

I knew that you would ask that question. It's sad that I got it right.

But…this order should be fine, right? Could it be that I think this way because of what happened between Eromanga-sensei and Megumi before?

"Er, senpai, don’t worry…I'm going to cover my ears ----"

It should be fine if only girls hear the answer, right? I glanced at her, trying to convey that thought ----

"……………………………."

Now she was much redder than when she was ordered to "undress". Her eyes looked down, her hands covered her lower half.

---- Eh? Is there something very embarra.s.sing about that last order? I myself thought that "undress" was more embarra.s.sing.

「What? Muramasa-chan, what are your panties like? 」

If this wasn’t a game, everything Eromanga-sensei said was a big s.e.xual hara.s.sment.

But she still keep her head down, like she was asked to do something very, very embarra.s.sing.

c.r.a.p…that…that meant….

……………….

……………………Cough! Could, could it be…..!

Right when I finally understood, Elf also shouted:

“Ah! I got it! Muramasa, are you perhaps –“

With a *swoop*, senpai reappeared behind Elf and covered her mouth.

“I will kill you if you say anything!”

“Ugmugm! Ugmugm!”

Although she stopped Elf from talking, Muramasa-senpai was still panicking. If this were a manga then her eyes would have turned into two spinning circle by now.

When I still unable to decide what to do, Eromanga-sensei coldly asked:

「No panties? 」

Did you have to say it?

“………………..”

All sound disappeared from the main hall., Elf, Muramasa-senpai and Eromanga-sensei, and I …no one said anything. It felt like time had stopped.

…………………………….

A few minutes later, when I was unable to bear this uncomfortable atmosphere anymore, I looked at Muramasa-senpai, asking “Really?” with my eyes.

“….!”

Her shoulders trembled – then she shot forward and grabbed the neck of my s.h.i.+rt.

“Because, because of the kimono…! Because of the kimono! Kimono, do you understand???”

“Fine, fine, I got it!”

With the most embarra.s.sing look on her face, Muramasa-senpai tried her best to explain to me “It’s not what it looks like!”

“Hey, Eromanga-sensei, because of you, we can’t play this game anymore.”

「….I, I was just curious. 」

Curious my a.s.s!

“…What now…”

Although Sagiri was back to Eromanga-sensei mode, she still tried to apologize to Muramasa-senpai:

“Sorry about that…um…If I give you the excellent ill.u.s.tration that I just drew, will you forgive me?”

“How could I forgive you?!”

Well, that’s understandable.

I think that Elf is the only who could forgive someone with just an ero ill.u.s.tration.

Senpai raised her head and said with tear filled eyes:

“Anyway! Let’s forget about this! Hurry up and forget it! I will…never play this game again! Elf! Just you wait!”

“So…what should we play next?” Elf tried to placate Muramasa-senpai.

At the same time, Chris-aniki and s.h.i.+do-kun returned.

“c.r.a.p!”

Elf pointed at s.h.i.+do-kun and shouted in terror:

“Kunimitsu, you betrayed us all! You told my brother how we were fooling around and playing king’s game, didn’t you!”

“…Eh? Nope, I didn’t say anything.”

“Eh?”

“I just met Chris-san by coincidence outside.”

“Ah, I see. Sorry for doubting you.”

Elf sighed in relieve. However…

“Hm…fooling around…and play king’s game huh?”

See, you just confessed everything to Chris-aniki.

“c.r.a.p!”

It was a bit late, but Elf realized her mistake. She quickly covered her mouth and went pale.

With an emotionless expression, Chris-aniki looked at his writer:

“I see I see I see, king’s game huh? King’s game, right?”

“Er…Onii-sama? It’s not what it look like.”

“Then I will be the next king. All authors here answer my question --- 「What have you done 」?”

He immediately lectured us. This wide-area-attack hit all of us. Well, since we did play with Elf, we were guilty too.

I glanced at the tablet’s screen and found out that skype had stopped.

…. Eromanga-sensei had fled…

Chris-aniki glanced at us all and slowly asked:

“First is s.h.i.+dou-sensei. What have you done?”

“Changing my short story into a proper novel! It’s mostly finished.”

“Good. Izumi-sensei.”

“I finished making an outline for volume two of my next novel!”

The truth is I hadn’t even begin, but any novelist had the skill to create an impression that we 「worked earnestly without being lazy」

Chris-aniki said “um”, and nodded and turned to his little sister. He spoke with a dangerously low tone:

“Yamada.”

“Yes!”

“What about your work?”

“Supervising the game’s script.”

“Yes – so where are your results? Why did you still play king’s game despite knowing this?”

“I just took a break.”

“Is that so? Have you rested enough?”

“A bit.”

“Good – today you aren’t allowed to sleep until you finish checking the three main heroines routes.”

“Wait wait! Wait! The efficiency of my work will drop if I need to sleep or I have to work late!”

“It’s not. Yamada Elf-sensei can only show her true ability not when her enthusiasm is at maximum – but only when sheis forced into a corner. As your editor, I know this better than anyone. This time the supervising will be a success – although we aren’t getting anything out of it.”

“De, demon! The one who gave me this job is a demon! I have to work like crazy and get nothing? I want to improve my work conditions!”

“You can say whatever you want, but for the sake of readers and players, I’m willing to become a demon.”

Chris-aniki cut off his author’s disagreement.

“So, lastly – Senjyu Muramasa-sensei.”

When he turned to Muramasa-senpai, his tone became much politer.

“I’m not worry about Senjyu-sensei. In this trip, you always strived to perfect your writing. I hope that a certain lazy novelist could learn from you.”

“Shut up! Leave me alone! I’m angry!”

Ignoring Elf, he continued:

“The Fantasy Blade was continued this September after stopped at volume twelve. Based on its current sales, it will make another record in the light novel industry. This is one of the hot topics at my company.”

A record in the light novel industry?

For real…? She’s amazing. And not to mention that this book was only released in September.

It’s clear that Senjyu Muramasa and Izumi Masamune’s fates will never cross.

Although I said that I don’t want to compare sales with others – but I still don’t like to be compared too.

“Senjyu-sensei, are you writing volume thirteen?”

Hearing his question, Muramasa-senpai slowly shook her head.

“I’m very sorry.”

She looked at my ma.n.u.script in the bag in front of her:

“I’m not going to write again.”

A simple line with unbelievable meaning.

The scene cut to outside of the mansion.

We picked a hill near the sea to eat lunch with barbecue. Above the iron net there was lot of food: shrimp, octopus, meat, fist – lots of seafood. All of us surrounded the table and ate while chatting.

At that time --

“What is the meaning of this?!” s.h.i.+do-kun roared.

He downed another and breathed out, his breathing smelled of alcohol.

“What did you say? I think you’ve had enough, are you okay?”

I looked at his expression.

“Just one cup, shut up.”

“…It’s clearly not good.”

s.h.i.+do-kun’s face was red, his eyes were unfocused – he was clearly drunk.

Chris-aniki said “I’m going to get some water” and run back to the mansion.

Since he said he finished his work, s.h.i.+do-kun asked for beer as a reward.

And the results…before we could notice, it had turned into this.

I thought he was a respectable man, but unexpectedly he his weaknesses. Not only could he not drink, he was very bad at drinking. So that was the reason he couldn’t remember any time he ate with his friends.

“Ah ~ it’s so hot! Why is it is so hot? What kind of summer is this?”

…It’s so depressing to see him like that.

“You should take a break.”

“I don’t need a break! Louder! Hey, what did Muramasa-san said? What is the meaning of this?”

Maybe due to the alcohol, he was speaking everything he thought….

Seeing that s.h.i.+do-kun was pointing at her, Muramasa-senpai’s eyes widened:

“I said? What?”

By the way, she had recovered from the 「no pants」incident.

“「I will not write again」! Are you serious?”

“I’m serious.”

"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!"

s.h.i.+do-kun’s eyes turned into ><, and="" he="" gritted="" his="">

Back then, when Muramasa-senpai said “I will not write again”, both Elf and I – maybe due to the same reason – had no reaction. Although Chris-aniki narrowed his eyes, he didn’t say anything either. Only s.h.i.+do-kun looked terrified.

Maybe the only reason he didn’t say anything back then was because he was afraid to ask. Now with the help of alcohol, he had no problem shouting it out.

Still with a twisted tone, he asked:

“Why..!? Why? Why?”

“I will tell you the reason, but why does s.h.i.+do-s.h.i.+ have to ask? Are you a fan of mine too?”

“For a novelist who could easily write masterpieces like you to say thatis so irresponsible! Do you know how gifted you are? How amazing you are? How much your readers are waiting for your story? And yet you just simply discard a masterpiece light novel! Even for a joke, it was too much! This is unforgiveable! You are being rude to the novel, and to its readers!”

After being drunk – s.h.i.+do-kun changed into a hot-blooded man.

But saying that to Muramasa-senpai is ----

“…I’m not joking. And I didn’t mean to discard my story, I only meant that I won’t write again.”

It’s useless. Muramasa-senpai pondered for a second before saying:

“But you were right. It was irresponsible and rude. People will get hurt if I don’t write again.”

“So…”

“But no mean no.”

“Wh..!?”

Although s.h.i.+do-kun was clearly surprised, I wasn’t. I knew her. Unless something very big happened, she won’t change her opinions.

Thinking back…Elf once told Muramasa-senpai “Why don’t you care about other media? You have to think about them too!”

Muramasa-senpai replied was “You’re right.” “I understand what you mean.” “You’ve got a point” – which all basically admitted that Elf was right, but she always added “But doing that will take time, time that I prefer writing, so forget it.”

People like her are very stubborn. Unless I could show her the best light novel in the world

“Why? Just why?” s.h.i.+do-kun shouted again.

Muramasa-senpai coldly replied:

“Because my dream has come true!”

“What?”

“No…not exactly come true, but so what? My dream is to 「write the best novel in the world to read 」- a story that I could read happily – but after this trip, now I know!”

She happily looked…at me. Then she spoke, like a girl talking about her dream:

“As long as Masamune writes short stories for me every day – it’s fine even if I don’t write anymore.”

“Nope, I’m not going to write for you every day.”

I took a big bite and calmly answered.

“Eh? Eh? Why?”

“Why? I’m not your personal novelist. Of course I would prioritize my own novel…”

Tch! This d.a.m.n senpai and the way she looked at me….grr….

I couldn’t bear to look at this crazy fan anymore and I said:

“If I have time, I will write something.”

“Thank you ♪”

Usually she is so cold, and yet now she showed such a warm smile – to think that my story could invoke such different feelings in people – I felt so happy.

Even when I knew that I already liked someone else.

Seeing my dazzled form, Elf teased:

“You are quite a Casanova, aren’t you Masamune?”

“Shut up! Don’t tell Sagiri that.”

“Alright alright. Well, an opposite gender fan just showed how much she likes your work – any novelist would act that way.”

The way she talked sounded like Elf meant something else too.

With a face that said “dream fulfilled”, Muramasa-senpai smiled and turned to s.h.i.+do-kun, coldly said:

“That is why I don’t need to write anymore. You got it?”

“Yeah….”

He didn’t sound convinced. By the way senpai, you made it sound like I needed to write a novel for you every week….Well if she asked, I doubt I could refuse.

s.h.i.+do-kun took a few more cup of alcohol and turned to me and Elf:

&ldquo