All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

Chapter 107: Summer Vacation, The Visit of Megumi and Eriri

The acquisition of the publishing company was actually quite easy.

The light novel industry was thriving.

Many people were rushing to establish new publishing houses.

But the few publishing companies that truly managed to survive were just a handful of well-known names.

Finding a publishing house with decent potential and offering a slightly higher price would make it easy for them to agree.

In the early morning, Yukima Azuma discussed this with Yukino.

By the afternoon, Yukino informed Yukima Azuma that the publishing company had been acquired.

It was a third-rate publishing house called Dengeki Bunko.

As for Machida Sonoko, she had also begun the process of resigning.

Kasumigaoka Utaha had signed an exclusive contract for The Metronome in Love with the Fujikawa Publishing House.

But fortunately, the rights for The Metronome in Love had not been sold yet.

Moreover, because Fujikawa Publishing House had previously not regarded The Metronome in Love—a romance novel—highly, the penalty for breaching the exclusive contract was not very high.

On the other hand, the profit-sharing terms were extremely strict.

As long as a fine was paid, Kasumigaoka Utaha could withdraw from the contract.

But for now...

The urgent matter was to find an illustrator.

Yukima Azuma's novel still had no one responsible for the illustrations.

If willing to spend money, there would certainly be many illustrators willing to take the job.

But illustrators with real renown wouldn't work just for money.

Like Eriri.

Although Kashiwagi Eri was only a well-known R18 artist, she carried a huge allure with her.

When selecting works to collaborate on, Eriri was always extremely picky.

So, finding a talented illustrator wasn't easy.

Yukima Azuma felt a headache coming on.

As for Eriri, it seemed she was still busy finishing her artbook.

Yesterday, she had even complained on Line.

Apart from Eriri, Yukima Azuma didn't know any other illustrators who could measure up to that level.

Using a regular illustrator for his novel was not something Yukima Azuma was willing to accept.

"Right, an online selection contest."

Finally, Yukima Azuma came up with this idea.

If he wanted to find an excellent illustrator...

He first needed to make the work accessible to them.

The best way to promote a light novel was actually through the Internet.

Yukima Azuma typed in a series of web addresses and logged into one.

Let's Become a Novelist! (note: Shōsetsuka ni Narō)

This was a Japanese website that hosted online novels, where the largest number of original works were published as light novels.

Quite a few works had been adapted into anime from here.

It could be said that this was the cradle of many light novel authors.

Many works that didn't win awards or weren't officially published found a second chance here.

This was also the most popular light novel website in Japan.

Yukima Azuma accessed the author section and registered for an account.

When it came to the pen name, Yukima Azuma hesitated for a moment.

He had the intention of using a pen name familiar from his memories.

For example, Takatsuki Sen.

But upon further thought, he worry about one day he might be "found out" by the real person and be questioned.

So, he abandoned that idea.

After thinking for a while, Yukima Azuma slightly modified his name.

He used the name Yukimi Azuma, changing only one character, as his pen name.

After completing the registration, Yukima Azuma uploaded the first 13 chapters of Saekano. (note: abbreviation used because the full title is too long)

About 100 pages.

For promotional purposes, this was enough.

After uploading the work, Yukima Azuma wrote in the introduction that he was looking for an illustrator and left his Line account.

Then, he contacted more than a dozen light novel bloggers, paying them to promote it online.

Waiting for readers to find the work and rate it, he didn't have time for that.

Isn't earning money for spending it?

In short, now he just needed to wait.

If the deadline came and there were still no illustrators up to standard contacting him, Yukima Azuma would have no choice but to... well, "bully" Eriri a little.

Putting down his phone, Yukima Azuma stretched.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"At this time, who could it be?"

Muttering to himself, Yukima Azuma walked to the entrance.

He opened the door.

Standing at the door were two girls.

One had a light scent of tuberose flowers, the other had the faint sweetness of pears.

"Sorry to disturb you, Azuma-san, I came to visit Shiratamaru."

Today, Kato Megumi looked like an innocent first love, wearing a pure white dress, along with a white beret that seemed like a part of her.

"The digital drawing tablet I usually use is here, so I came... to meet the deadline."

Eriri turned her face away, her yellow pigtails swaying slightly. She was wearing a youthful white shirt paired with a pleated skirt.

And then...

Bang!

Yukima Azuma slammed the door shut.

The two girls were stunned, their faces full of confusion.

"What's going on?"

Eriri looked at Kato Megumi in bewilderment.

Kato Megumi also shook her head in suspicion.

At this moment, inside the apartment...

Yukima Azuma ran straight to his room.

He hid the printed manuscript of Saekano under the mattress.

He hadn't expected Kato Megumi to show up so suddenly today.

If the manuscript of Saekano had been exposed right now, it would have been a disaster.

Only when this novel had been acknowledged by countless people, then showing it to Kato Megumi would achieve the effect Yukima Azuma desired.

"What are you hiding, Lonely-kun?"

Kasumigaoka's suspicious voice rang out.

She had heard the doorbell, so she came downstairs to check.

But in the end, she only saw Yukima Azuma rush into his room.

There was no one at the door.

"Uhm... adult magazines?"

Yukima Azuma chose a lie that would make him incredibly embarrassed, but also relatively believable.

After all, this was Utaha-senpai.

The senpai who was always "driving," and running over others without hesitation.

Upon hearing "adult magazines," Kasumigaoka Utaha just blinked, clearly skeptical.

Had she not "helped" him too little lately?

Making Lonely-kun so upset?

Well... next time, she might try using her mouth.

Yukima Azuma didn't know what Kasumigaoka Utaha was thinking at the moment, but he quickly walked to the front door.

He opened the door again.

"What are you doing!?"

Eriri flashed her small, cute fang.

Kato Megumi didn't say anything, just tilted her head in confusion.

"Just now... Shiratamaru was right outside the door, and it was about to run out when the door opened."

"So, I had to close the door first, then bring Shiratamaru back to my room, and only after that did I come back to open the door for you two."

Yukima Azuma silently apologized to Shiratamaru in his heart.

'I'll treat you to a nice meal tonight. Brother'

The two girls heard this and turned their heads to look at Shiratamaru, who had just run out of his room, seemingly ready to welcome guests.

Umu, that makes sense.

Both of them entered Yukima's house.

Then, they changed into indoor slippers.

Kato Megumi walked over and picked up Shiratamaru.

She gently petted Shiratamaru's head.

"Don't run away, okay? If you become a stray cat, Azuma-san and I might not be able to find you again."

Eriri also walked over.

She poked Shiratamaru's behind.

"That's right, if you go outside, in no time, you'll turn into a piece of charcoal. By then, we won't even recognize you."

Shiratamaru: Nyan nyan nyan??

Being held in mistress arms, Shiratamaru looked confused, not understanding what was going on.

What is happening?

Poor Shiratamaru, unable to speak a word of human language, couldn't argue back.

....

The three girls sat down on the sofa one by one.

This time, because Kato Megumi was holding Shiratamaru, she took the seat in the middle.

She was sandwiched between Kasumigaoka and Eriri.

Eriri casually grabbed the remote control from the table and turned on the TV.

"Sawamura-san, what exactly did you come here for?"

Kasumigaoka glanced at Eriri.

This girl was saying she was rushing to finish her manuscript.

But the moment she sat down, she turned on the TV.

And she also said something about the drawing tablet being here.

Clearly, she still had a pile of drawing tablets at home.

"Hmph, illustrators have a tough job, of course, they need to balance work and rest!"

Eriri tilted her head back and started making excuses for herself.

"Megumi, would you like something to drink?"

Yukima Azuma stood behind the sofa and asked.

"Orange juice would be fine for me. Do you need any help?"

Kato Megumi turned her head back, about to stand up to help Yukima Azuma prepare the drinks.

Yukima Azuma waved his hand.

"What about you, senpai? It's rare for you to have a break today, don't drink coffee."

Kasumigaoka Utaha thought for a moment after hearing this.

"Then I'll have red tea, please, Azuma-kun."

Yukima Azuma nodded, then headed for the kitchen.

A big exclamation mark appeared above Eriri's head.

What's this!?

Why ask them but not me?

Am I just an unimportant character?

Eriri stuck her head out from behind the sofa, pouting slightly, and asked:

"Why didn't Azuma ask me?"

As soon as Eriri voiced this question, she realized that both Kasumigaoka and Kato Megumi were looking at her with strange expressions.

"Sawamura-san is such an idiot."

"Ah, so Sawamura-san is the kind of character who's slow on the uptake?"

Eriri pointed at herself, looking completely bewildered.

At that moment, Yukima Azuma's voice echoed from the kitchen.

"Is it necessary to ask Eriri?"

Eriri gritted her teeth, revealing her small fangs.

"Of course it's necessary!"

"Then, what would Eriri like to drink? I'll count down from three, two, one, and then you can say it. Three, two, one."

Under pressure, Eriri reflexively blurted out the choice in her mind.

""I want lemonade, but not Lipton, because it feels exactly like red tea when I drink it.""

Eriri's voice and Yukima Azuma's voice from the kitchen echoed together.

Every word was synchronized perfectly.

Yukima Azuma stepped out of the kitchen, holding red tea, orange juice, and lemonade.

Eriri's eyes widened.

"Eh? How did Azuma know!? Eh!?"

"You drink it all the time, except when you can't get it. Have you ever drunk anything else?"

The truth was clear—Eriri was indeed a bit of an Aho Baka.

Slowly pulling her head back behind the sofa, Eriri raised her hand to cover her face.

After placing the drinks on the coffee table, Yukima Azuma was initially unsure where to sit.

On the left side of the sofa, next to senpai?

Or on the right side, next to Eriri?

But now, it was clear.

No need to choose anymore.

Yukima Azuma decisively sat next to Kasumigaoka Utaha.

Umu, Baka-riri deserved it.

Taking the remote, Eriri absentmindedly searched for an interesting channel.

While scrolling, Eriri accidentally passed a very terrifying horror program.

Immediately, her channel-switching speed increased dramatically.

Eriri pressed the remote button frantically, nearly making it smoke.

After switching through a few channels, she stopped.

"Huh? This one looks interesting. Let's watch the dating show."

Eriri stopped at a variety show.

The other three of them looked up at the screen.

The title of the show was: From today, fall in love seriously!

It turned out that this was the fifth season of the program.

A new season had arrived, and it was time for the love season.

The show was an unscripted reality dating show, featuring six teenage boys and girls from the entertainment industry as guests.

In short, it was a show where fans could "ship" different couples.