In crossover anime, who isn't a childhood friend?

After the first call from Kodansha ended, Chiyo Minamoto had no time to relax before the second call came in seamlessly.

It was still an unfamiliar number.

However, Yuan Qianye also understood that most of the calls he received during this period would probably be from unknown numbers.

Without thinking too much, he answered the call immediately.

The second call was from the Japan Mystery Writers Association.

That is, the association to which those judges who just announced his novel's award on live television and lavished praise on the novel in front of the camera are from.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the moment Minamoto Chiyo's novel won the Rampo Award, he was already a shoo-in for a membership in the Mystery Writers of Japan.

"Hello, this is a staff member from the Japan Mystery Writers Association. Are you Mr. Gen Chiya Gen?"

The opening remarks were similar, and the tone of respect was exactly the same, except that this time the voice on the other end of the phone was changed from that of a woman who sounded like she had a large bust to that of a middle-aged man.

Everyone in the living room was still watching the unfinished live awards ceremony.

At this moment, the judges are still praising the book "The Astrological Murder Mystery".

However, the focus of the praise shifted from the most important aspect of classic mystery novels—the plot twist—to other areas.

For example, the writing style is very good. The descriptions of some specific scenes and the expressions of many characters are very vivid and clear.

For example, the crime scene illustration sent along with the novel manuscript is also remarkable and quite exquisite.

There are more than one visual view of each crime scene, including two views from different angles: a frontal perspective and a top-down view, all meticulously color-coded!

Yes, that's right!

It's also colored, like a comic book, and paired with the original description from the novel, making it easy to understand at a glance!

As the novel progresses, certain items, such as murder weapons and other evidence, will emerge.

Similarly, the accompanying images are presented from multiple perspectives, making them exceptionally clear.

Kasumigaoka Utaha and Sawamura Eriri were both watching the TV screen and laughing more and more happily.

Eriri was overjoyed!

His efforts paid off, successfully enhancing Qianye's novel and providing assistance, just as Qianye had helped him in the past.

She finally found an opportunity to reciprocate, instead of just being taken care of by him unilaterally. How could she not be happy!

It was worth it for her to work so hard on those illustrations recently, meticulously refining even the slightest flaw, almost ruining her liver in the process.

Everything is worth it!

Yuan Qianye answered the phone softly, left behind the sofa, changed into slippers, and came to the courtyard, where he wouldn't have to worry about disturbing them.

The reason for the call from the Japan Writers' Mystery Association was quite simple.

The association has a long-standing tradition of inviting the winning authors to appear in person after the winning entries are announced on television for an offline promotional event.

At the same time, a banquet will be held, and many relevant people will attend.

Reporters will also be invited to the event for a brief interview, where they can talk about the inspiration and insights they gained while writing the novel, their specific journey from the moment they started writing to winning the award, and who they want to thank for their help, etc.

It's no surprise that a large number of industry leaders will be invited to this banquet hosted by the Reasoning Association.

As the absolute protagonist who won the Rampo Award this year, there's no doubt that this is a great opportunity for Gen Chiya to show off and steal the spotlight.

This would also enhance his fame and social status, and most importantly, it might allow him to meet many writers in the mystery novel circle, broaden his social circle, and build good relationships. There was no reason for Yuan Qianye not to go.

After agreeing to these terms amicably, Yuan Qianye hung up the second phone call.

Then immediately afterwards—

The third phone call was from a staff member of the Asahi Shimbun, who wanted to conduct an exclusive interview with the award-winning teacher, Mr. Yuan.

The fourth phone call was from TV Tokyo, with the same purpose as above...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The live broadcast on the television screen was still going on, but the most important part had ended.

Now, the host has returned to the stage, accompanied by a mystery novelist, to discuss the trends in the mystery novel genre in recent years.

It feels like the live stream is almost over.

After everyone calmed down a bit from their euphoria, they saw that Yuan Qianye was taking a phone call in the courtyard and didn't think of disturbing him.

After confirming that their beloved Onii-chan had indeed won the championship, the content of the live stream became unimportant.

Liuhua took out her phone and sent messages to her parents and sister to tell them the wonderful news.

Then, she casually opened various messaging apps.

Then I discovered that the trending search rankings and the trending search suggestions below the search bar were all talking about the winning works of this year's Edogawa Rampo Award.

"Ahhh! Qianye is trending again!"

Her face flushed with excitement, and she quickly called the others to come and see.

Eriri Saeko Utaha leaned closer.

That's right. On various video, short video, and news apps, you don't even need to search for them; you can see relevant news just by opening them.

All the platforms were independently promoting the award-winning "Astrological Murder Mystery".

This scene is just as exciting as when Yuan Qianye defeated forty-seven people in a row at the Jade Dragon Flag Tournament.

Meanwhile, some people have already begun to notice that something is amiss.

They discovered that the author's name for this year's Edogawa Rampo Award is exactly the same as the name of that kendo prodigy from back then!

However, there is currently no definitive solution.

Because the live broadcast just now only announced the winning works, and although the authors' names were mentioned, the authors themselves did not appear, so it was impossible to confirm their identities.

The Liuhuadian open source Qianye personal account was instantly flooded with messages in the background.

Most of the questions are from his fans trying to confirm whether the novel that won the Rampo Award was actually written by Chiyo Minamoto himself, or if it's just a novel with the same title.

"Ding dong ding dong ding dong... ding ding ding ding ding ding!!!"

The software's notification sounds were coming so fast and so frequently that the phone felt like it was about to freeze at any moment.

"Whoa—" Rikka exclaimed in surprise, looking at the dense private messages asking her questions. She turned to the others and asked, "Do you think I should post a message now to answer this question?"

Saeko immediately shook her head in rejection: "There's no need to rush. Just close the app and leave it alone. It's better to let Chiya decide for himself after he finishes his call, since it's his own account after all."

Utaha and Eriri nodded in agreement at the same time.

Rikka nodded, agreeing.

Just then, Eriri's phone rang.

She took it out of her pocket and looked at it, and her face immediately lit up with joy.

It was Yukino calling.

They do chat often, but they talk on the phone very rarely.

Eriri immediately spoke up as soon as the call connected: "Yukino, the results of the Edogawa Ranpo Award have just been announced, and Chiya won the award!"

Yukino on the other end of the phone didn't seem surprised. After a few soft replies, she said, "Eri, you're with Chiya now, aren't you?"

"correct."

Eriri and Yukino are inseparable. After all, they made a promise to each other for the rest of their lives on Christmas Day when they were very young.

She had told Yukino about her schedule for today in advance while chatting with her.

She stood up, holding her phone, and looked towards the courtyard.

"Everyone came over together. We were planning to treat everyone to a good celebration for Qianye later. It's just a pity you're not in the country. You don't know, ever since we confirmed that Qianye's novel won the award, his phone has been ringing non-stop. People have been calling him constantly. It seems like he's going to be busy again for a while, just like when he won the Jade Dragon Flag competition."

So that's why he didn't reply to my message for over ten minutes...

Yukino understood.

I suddenly started to regret my own slowness.

Come to think of it, his novel won an award, so all sorts of things will definitely come knocking on his door, leaving him with no time to think about his own news.

Why did I have such a jumble of random thoughts just now...?

Eriri didn't notice Yukino's unexpected phone call. She was unusually quiet, overwhelmed by joy, and continued talking to herself.

"I was thinking that it was late for you, Yukino, and you were probably already asleep, so I didn't call you. I didn't expect you to still be awake. Let's have a video call after all this time. Saeko Rikka is here, and Chiya is having a great time. She's taking the call in the backyard of her house."

"No need, Eriri. Please say hello to everyone for me and congratulate Chiya for me. It's getting late, so I need to get some rest. Let's have a proper get-together next time I come back."

"okay!"

Eriri readily agreed, full of energy.

After hanging up the phone, Yukino once again recalled the various chaotic thoughts that had been running through her mind as she stared at the "unread" messages on her phone screen.

I left my phone locked to the side and buried my face in the blankets in shame.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Congratulations on winning the Edogawa Rampo Award."

"That was a real surprise."

"Ok?"

"I thought you were usually very busy at this time."

"It is indeed very busy. The young lady's current schedule is equestrian practice. Although there are professional instructors providing guidance, I still have to stay by her side at all times to prevent any unexpected situations from occurring."

"Under these circumstances, how did you find out that I won the award?"

"Just enter the live stream on your phone and put on your headphones."

"I see, I've learned something new."

"Congratulations again, Teacher Qianye."

"It's fine with other people, but please don't use that kind of address, it feels really weird..."

The maid stood on the vast grassland, watching the young lady clumsily controlling the horse. She didn't say anything, but a clear smile appeared on her face.

The person she knew well hadn't changed despite winning a prestigious literary award.