Tokyo: The Manga Begins with the Funeral of Frilian

"Hello!"

The sound came from the other side of the hall.

Kamiya Yuma subconsciously turned his head to look.

A man in a gray suit was standing in the smoking area.

She was probably around thirty-five or thirty-six years old.

The tie hung loosely around his neck.

He held a half-smoked cigarette between his left and a briefcase in his right.

His face was full of impatience; he must have just gotten off work.

"Just put the submission on the front desk and have someone pick it up tomorrow, right?"

He glanced at Yuma Kamiya.

Seeing Kamiya Yuuma's disheveled appearance, he spoke with even greater contempt.

"Do you even know what time it is? The receptionist needs to go home too, you jerk! Have you ever thought about how people are treated?"

"terribly sorry."

"I can't help it, I really arrived too late," Kamiya Yuma apologized.

At this moment, the receptionist immediately stood up and bowed.

"Editor Onodera, this gentleman said he was worried the mail wouldn't arrive in time, so he brought it over personally..."

"If you can't mail it in time, send it as soon as possible!"

Ryota Onodera put a cigarette in his mouth and reached out to grab the envelope on the front desk.

"The deadline is next Monday, and it's already Friday, yet it's only just been delivered. Do you think the editorial office mailbox will grow legs and run to the post office to pick it up over the weekend?"

He opened the envelope as he spoke, without consulting Yuma Kamiya at all.

"Let me see, what kind of hero fighting the demon king is this now..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

The first page.

Frilian stood on the vast grassland, the wind blowing through her hair.

The town in the distance stood quietly in the sunlight.

The scene is as clean as a poem.

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Ryota Onodera frowned slightly.

He turned to the second page.

Then the third page, the fourth page.

The page-turning speed is getting slower and slower.

Yuma Kamiya stood by the front desk.

I was so hungry I could barely stand.

He braced himself against the edge of the counter with one hand.

The latter's expression had gradually calmed down from its initial impatience.

The receptionist asked cautiously.

"Editor Onodera? Would you like me to put the manuscript away for you?"

Ryota Onodera did not answer.

He had already turned to page twentieth.

Simmel stood behind Frilian.

The warrior's rough fingers gently held a flower crown.

The wind blew the elf's hair up, the ends almost touching the hero's fingertips.

There is no dialogue.

There wasn't a single word of dialogue.

But Simmel's expression said, "I like you."

I've been saying that I've liked you for a long time.

Besides, it's been so long that I've forgotten when it even started.

Ryota Onodera's fingers froze.

The cigarette held between my fingers trembled slightly.

A stray cigarette ash landed on his suit trousers.

He didn't notice.

Keep staring at that double-page spread.

The cigarette butt was still burning.

A wisp of smoke rose from the pants.

The receptionist's eyes widened.

"Editor Onodera! Your pants!"

Ryota Onodera finally came to his senses.

Looking down, I saw that a hole the size of a fingernail had been burned into my expensive gray suit trousers.

The edges are still slightly red.

"Tsk."

He casually brushed the ash off his pants and stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray at the front desk.

Then he looked up and stared at Yuma Kamiya.

"Did you draw this?"

"I drew it."

Kamiya Yuma straightened up.

"What's your name?"

"Kamiya Yuuma."

"A newcomer?"

"Newcomer".

Ryota Onodera stared at him for several seconds.

Then he looked down and glanced at the original manuscript again.

"How long did it take you to draw this double-page spread?"

"About forty minutes."

"Forty minutes?"

Ryota Onodera's voice rose by half an octave.

"You only needed forty minutes to capture that Simmel gaze?"

"Because it went smoothly when I drew it, I didn't need to make many changes."

Yuma Kamiya answered honestly.

Ryota Onodera remained silent for a moment.

He pointed to the page where Simmel placed the flower crown on Frilian's head.

"here."

Ryota Onodera unfolded the page and turned to Yuma Kamiya.

Why isn't Simmel saying anything?

"Because he knew Frilian couldn't understand."

"So you won't speak if you don't understand?"

"Whether or not one speaks is one thing, whether or not one understands is another. Simmel chose not to speak, not because he was afraid of being rejected."

Kamiya Yuma thought for a moment, then continued.

"It's because he didn't want to put Frilian in a difficult position. Frilian doesn't understand human emotions yet, and if Simmel said it, she would be confused and at a loss."

Simmel didn't want to overwhelm her.

After listening, Ryota Onodera did not speak immediately.

He turned to the last page of the manuscript.

Frilian stood before Simmel's grave.

"I want to know you a little more."

Ryota Onodera stared at this line of dialogue for a long time.

So in the end, I still didn't say it.

He said something to himself.

Then close the manuscript.

"I'll accept it."

Ryota Onodera put the manuscript into his briefcase.

It was as if they were handling something valuable.

"Kamiya Yuma, right? His contact information is written on it?"

"It's written on the last page."

Yuma Kamiya nodded.

"But that number belongs to my friend; my own phone is out of service due to unpaid bills. If you want to contact me, just call that number."

"Service suspended due to unpaid bills?"

Ryota Onodera glanced at him.

"How did you get here?"

"We walked here; taking the tram is too expensive."

Yuma Kamiya did not deny it.

Ryota Onodera remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he took out his wallet from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out three 10,000 yen bills.

"This is not charity."

He spoke before Kamiya Yuma could.

"You'll have to pay me back when you receive your newcomer award bonus."

Are you sure I can win the Best Newcomer Award?

"nonsense."

Ryota Onodera slapped the banknotes on the front desk and pushed them in front of him.

"I've been in this business for twelve years. I can tell what kind of newcomers will succeed just by turning to the first page. You better bring me a big prize, or my 30,000 yen pants will have been wasted."

The front desk staff's facial expressions have completely spiraled out of control.

She had worked here for three years and had never seen Editor Onodera look like this before.

Editor Onodera is known for being picky in the editorial department.

He often dismisses submissions from new authors, and even original manuscripts from serial authors as worthless.

"The perspective of the background on page 37 is off; redraw it."

"This dialogue is too wordy, cut half of it."

"What's wrong with the female lead's expression? Did she get hit by a truck?"

The receptionist once overheard him scolding a cartoonist who had been in the industry for five years on the phone.

And now.

He not only accepted the submission.

He even lent the newcomer 30,000 yuan out of his own pocket.

Ryota Onodera picked up his briefcase and turned to walk towards the elevator.

He took two steps, then stopped and turned around.

"Kamiya."

"Um?"

"Come to the editorial office at nine o'clock on Monday morning. Whether you received a phone call or not, just come directly."

"Understood."

Ryota Onodera didn't say anything more and walked straight into the elevator.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Yuma Kamiya heard him mutter something again.

"To draw this kind of storyboard in forty minutes, what a monster..."

The receptionist turned to look at Yuma Kamiya.

"that......"