Kazuya's prediction was not wrong, in fact, when he heard Kirino say this, the expression of Yingli Pear beside him immediately became complicated, so, in the reception room of the Mystery Library, Kirino who was sitting on his lap was waiting for the appearance of the editor with some anxiety, and Kazuya and Yingli Li exchanged a somewhat helpless look with each other.

Since the last time I had a head-to-head confrontation with the editor of Machida, Kazuya has basically been prepared for a long confrontation with the other party, and this awareness is not only in terms of "competing" the main influence on Shiyu, in a sense, Kazuya, who may want to make his debut in light novels, will also face a certain degree of suppression from the other party.

However, if because of this complex competitive relationship between himself and Machida, Kirino who wanted to get his help was squeezed out by Machida instead, then Kazuya felt that he was too sorry for Kirino.

But fortunately, the editor who found Kirino in the Mystery Library should not be Machida, after all, when Kirino's novel was determined to be a physical book, Machida and Shiyu had not yet jumped to the side of the Mystery Library, but when Shiyu, who wore sunglasses like an idol, and a man with a bald head came to the three of them, Kirino still grew his mouth in surprise.

"May I ask Miss Takasaka, right? I'm the publishing editor after the physical book of your novel, Kimura. "With a bare head, a somewhat large silhouette, and a face that doesn't look so relatable, Kimura doesn't look like a library editor and more like a vicious thug.

However, Kirino can also be said to have seen all kinds of people on various occasions, so she quickly adjusted her initial moment of surprise and responded: "Hello Mr. Kimura, I'm Takasaka, uh, these two are, my brother and his girlfriend, well, my parents haven't had time lately, so I can only ask my brother to accompany me, is that okay?" ”

When Kirino introduced Kazuya and Eiri Pear, he still looked at Kimura Shiyu from behind him with some concern, although Kirino and Shiyu didn't meet much, but when they met a few times, the impression of Kasumigaoka Shiyu left a powerful impact on her, which still impressed Kirino deeply, so, a simple inexplicability can't hide Kirino's eyes.

And on the other hand,Kazuya and Yingli Pear, who had been mentally prepared for this result before,At this time, they also lowered their heads in embarrassment.,Although according to the plan,Kirino introduced Kazuya as his brother.,But for Shiyu, who is familiar with the relationship between these people,,This is somewhat a bit of a cover-up.。

However, after the initial surprise, Shiyu glanced at the three of them with interest, and hid her look and gaze with her sunglasses, and finally, under the surprise of Kazuya, who was embarrassed and almost on fire, she just smiled softly, and then chose to be silent.

Kimura on the other side didn't notice this, he just nodded and responded: "No problem, after all, today is just a meeting for the publication of your novel, we just want to communicate with you today about some problems and revisions that need to be revised after your novel is turned into a physical book, but your parents still have to appear when signing the contract." ”

"Well, then I'll be sorry for you, Mr. Kimura." Kirino nodded dignifiedly, and then, she continued to cast her somewhat surprised gaze on Shiyu behind Kimura, "Uh, and-"

"-Ah, this is what I mentioned before.,The current popular.,The beautiful girl light novel writer who has switched to our mystery library--Kasumi Shiko-sensei.,Miss Takasaka should have heard of Kasumi Shiko-sensei, right?" Kimura said to Kirino with some smugness, "Of course, the matter of Kasumiko-sensei's change of editorial office has not been officially announced, although it has basically been confirmed, but I still hope that Miss Takasaka and your family will not reveal it, and after today's negotiation, we also hope that you can sign a confidentiality agreement." ”

"Well, that's fine." Kirino's hesitant eyes fell on Kazuya, and after receiving the latter's affirmation, he nodded.

"So, Miss Kirino Takasaka, is she? Also, Miss Entakakaaka's older brother, Mr. Takasaka, hello, I'm Kasumi Shiko. Shiyu stood up and said in her usual cold voice when dealing with strangers, although Kazuya could clearly feel the corners of her mouth curl up when she said "Mr. Takasaka", but at least it proved that Shiyu had no hope of revealing her identity in this situation.

And this kind of Shiyu's somewhat cooperative performance also made Kazuya and others breathe a sigh of relief, although it was still a little embarrassing to communicate with Shiyu in this kind of businesslike way, but at least the two sides could eliminate the interference of some off-site factors and start to discuss it well.

Kazuya stood up, stretched out his hand to shake Shiyu, and said, "Well, Teacher Xia Shizi, I've always heard of your name before, and I'm sorry for you today." ”

Since the date a month ago, Kazuya had physical contact with Shiyu for the first time, so, when his hand held Shiyu's soft and cold hand, Kazuya's heart still fluttered involuntarily, especially when he felt the calluses on Shiyu's fingers due to long-term contact with the keyboard, although this has nothing to do with him, but he still has an indescribable reason.

"Uh, Aragaki - well, Mr. Takasaka? Have you been holding my hand for too long? Shi Yu took off her sunglasses and said with a chuckle.

"Ah, that's it, I'm sorry, well, I was a little distracted." Kazuya withdrew his hand a little embarrassed, and while sitting down, he also provoked a somewhat cold gaze from Ying Lili beside him.

Although everyone tried their best to cover it up, the audience still fell into a somewhat strange and awkward atmosphere, and at this time, Kimura, who was the only actual outsider, didn't know whether he was too good at observing the atmosphere or too bad at observing the atmosphere, he just clapped his hands vigorously and said, "Okay, since everyone has already introduced each other, then the discussion of our novel has begun, right?" This is just a small meeting before the formal meeting, so everyone can relax a little. ”

Although the timing of Kimura's words was indeed a little inappropriate, it objectively played a role in alleviating everyone's embarrassment, and after Kimura said this, everyone nodded and entered the discussion mode.

"Well, Editor Kimura, I have a question, it seems that this meeting is a little different from what I've heard," Kirino raised his hand first and asked, "When you contacted me last month, you told me that this meeting should be a more formal meeting. ”

"Well, Miss Takasaka, this is what I want to tell you, and there is a reason why this meeting has changed from a formal discussion organized by the editorial department to a small consultation meeting for a few of us." Kimura replied.

"Well, what's the reason?"

"Miss Takasaka, I'm very sorry, but the agreement we reached with you before that we will soon make your novel a physical book, and now we need to discuss it in detail." Kimura was very calm, but he confided in something that surprised everyone present.

"Can you explain that in detail? Mr. Kimura," Kazuya had already noticed that Kirino's face had become a little ugly, stood up, and asked, "You mean Kirino's novel won't be published as a physical book, do you?" ”

"Well, that's not the case, Mr. Takasaka," Kimura said, shaking his head a little awkwardly, "The process of making a physical book of Ms. Takasaka's novel is already being discussed, and of course, when I first discovered Ms. Takasaka's web novel, I was firmly in favor of making the book a physical book, and the editorial department basically recognized this point of view at that time, so we decided to contact Ms. Takasaka, and initially decided to hold a meeting with Ms. Takasaka this month, and at that time, we also reached a verbal agreement with Ms. Takasaka for publication. ”

"So, what is it that caused you to make such a change?" Kazuya asked, however, looking at Shiyu behind Kimura, Kazuya already understood a little in his heart.

"Well, after the New Year, a new editor-in-chief joined the department in charge of the new development of campus romance novels, and after reviewing the previous reservation plan, the editor-in-chief asked for a re-examination of the proposal to make Ms. Takasaka's "Sister Sora" a physical book."

When Kimura didn't finish saying this, Kazuya had a certain premonition in his heart, and sure enough, Kimura's words also confirmed his conjecture.

The new editor-in-chief must be Machida, although it is not known whether Machida did this because he felt that Kirino's novels did not fit the style of publication, or because he wanted to take revenge in private because he knew about Kirino's relationship with himself - Kazuya thinks that the former is more likely because Machida does not seem to be the kind of person who abjects the public for personal purposes - but it is certain that the current materialization of Kirino's online novels is now facing the mountain of Machida's editors. And Machida's style, Kazuya is already well understood, and can poke at the essence of a problem at any time, even if she has other ideas, she will hide this idea well under the core problem, so there is no point in discussing why Machida rejected the publication proposal of Kirino's novel, the key is how to solve this problem.

Kazuya glanced at Shiyu, who had been drinking tea gracefully since the conversation began, and couldn't help but have a trace of doubt in his heart: the current appearance of Kasumigaoka Shiha, and her relationship with Machida, plus her knowledge of Kirino, what role Shiba played in this process.

"But the editor-in-chief just asked for a re-examination of my novel, right?" Kirino's voice came, obviously, after the initial gaffe, Kirino had recovered, which also made Kazuya somewhat admire this girl's ability to self-adjust, "So, my novel, it's not completely rejected, is it?" ”

"That's right, that's right, because there are still many people in the editorial department who are still very optimistic about the prospects of Ms. Takasaka's novels, after all, there is a sufficient popularity base on the Internet, so the editor-in-chief Machida did not immediately cancel this project, but only asked Ms. Takasaka to revise her novel so that it can be published in a more reasonable way."

"Machida?" Eiri Riri, who heard the name, also reacted, she quietly pulled Kazuya's sleeve and said, "Is that the editor of Kasumigaoka Shiyu?" The one who has been against us before? ”

"Well, her previous position in the Fantastic Library was already the editor-in-chief.,But it seems that the shackles are too great.,That's why I jumped ship.,And brought Senior Sister Shiyu over.,If it's such a weighty person's job-hopping.,Then from the beginning, it's a bit overkill to become the general person in charge of the Mystery library in charge of campus romance novels.。 Kazuya nodded and said.

"So, that guy was deliberately embarrassed by Kirino because we fought against her for Kasumigaoka Shiyu before?"

"This shouldn't be.,Machida shouldn't know about Kirino and our connection.,In fact,Kirino is just familiar with me.,It has nothing to do with our community.,If Machida has a grudge against our community,,She still won't choose such a Kirino who has little to do with the club as an outlet.,So it's too much of a communiqué for her who just jumped ship.,Even if Myster Bunko attaches great importance to her.,I won't agree to such a person's nonsense, right?"

"So, this person really thinks there is something wrong with Kirino's novel, but it's too much of a coincidence, right? Why does she always like to go against the rest of our side? ”

"It's probably just a coincidence, right?" Kazuya glanced at Shiyu with a complicated expression, and said, "If you can, I can only hope to find Shiyu Senpai afterwards, and let her help persuade Machida to edit, about Kirino's novel, in fact, the plan for physical books has been going on for a while, and the library should also invest in a certain amount of publicity and preliminary preparations, if this project is stopped, it will also be a great loss for the Myster library, and you can start from this point to solve the problem for the time being." ”

Kazuya thinks so, but Kirino is obviously not the kind of person who tries to solve problems in this way, in fact, it can be seen from her practice of sprinting that this is a person who competes openly and sprints forward, so, after listening to Kimura's words before, she immediately stood up and said with a firm look in her eyes: "So, how do you change it?" ”

"As for how to change it, let me explain, shall we?" It wasn't Kimura who answered Kirino, Shiyu, who had been silent throughout the conversation, stood up at this time.