II. Assistant -1?!! – part 2

The tension started to rise at Fred’s studio. At their so-called small meeting table at the middle of the room, the three-man team sat at its single side.

“Uwaaaah… This really is nerve-wacking, isn’t it, Kyrie?”

“Err… Yeah—? I guess…”

Kyrie’s laptop was in front of them. A certain site was loaded on the browser they were looking at.

A regular-basis meeting had been a routine to them. Every once in a while they would be gathering to have a meeting on their checklists and tasks to complete.

But aside from that they’ve recently added another portion of their meeting agendas: tracking Maou Spence-sensei’s ranking on the monthly charts. For an author, he could try to let other minor things pass, but not the rankings. That determines how much of the volumes will sell. He was getting a big portion of his motivation from seeing his work hit the top charts, knowing that at the least, if his manga sells, he could sustain his current life and status on Earth.

“Hmmmm. Let’s see if I managed to climb the charts, unlike last month’s release.”

“Humu. Certainly, I’m one of your assistants, of course it’s normal if you’ll be on at least top 10.”

“Uwaaaaah… This really gets me excited.”

Fred might just be managing to keep his composure, but deep inside, he’s quite excited upon checking the results of his hard work.

Fred’s got used to release chapters every month because he was initially assigned to the monthly release section. Aside from having enough time to produce a chapter which he’s proud to present to his editor, it gives his assistants enough time to do stuff on their own too. It’s the scenario that’s mostly beneficial for him. As long as they meet their deadlines and provide a good chapter, that’s all that matters. Besides, with regards to the pay, his assistants we’re pretty low-cost so he didn’t really need to rely on a weekly release for higher volume sales.

In short, they’re just a team that as long as they could release monthly, they’re happy.

“Uwaaaah… Still not up?”

Ara(imouto) was going crazy already and she was even more nervous than the actual author.

“There! It’s already up!!” –Fred shouted in relief.

The three of them looked at the result on the screen.

My Prideful Soloist – Maou Spence

“Tcheh! 14. What a letdown.”

“Did you just scoffed at my best?!!”

“Yaaay!! At least we went up on the rankings!!”

“Humu. That’s nice to know, Ara. But you actually have it in the opposite.”

“We went down two spots, huh?”

“Humu. Even with all my guidance. So that’s the best the ‘Prideful Maou of Planet Mytherion’ could offer, huh?”

“EeeeEEEHHHH?? Some nerve to say, but all you did was just a yes/no on the drafts I’ve been making?!! And you still have the pride to talk like that. After all that bragging about having me make a manga that would win against Anemone!”

Fred busted a fuse on Kyrie’s talking.

“Humu. That’s what you get for writing a shoujo. We’re talking about fanbase here. With your preferences here, that’s the best I could do. Besides, you are the author. All you need is guidance, not spoon-feeding.”

“YOOOOUUU!!!”

“Okay okay, calm down Fred. Aren’t you just happy that at least you were on the top 20.”

It was true that for a shoujo story to climb the monthly charts was a great feat already. Unless an author really had the blessing to create a story and an art that would be a sustained clickbait then climbing the top 10 would just be a breeze. But at Fred’s case, due to angering the irresponsible God, he was really transported as a normal human with just a retained muscle memory for drawing.

Nobody other than him knew his own limitations. But it was also true that Kyrie was pushing facts to him frankly and that’s what was getting him upset. Still, an experience lets a person grow stronger.

“Humu. I said I was going to help, but when I thought about it again, if I spoon-fed everything to you, then that would leave Aunt Seria with nothing more to do. Besides, she knew I was up to something. I really couldn’t outsmart her.”

“Hmp. Well… Yeah, it’s no use getting upset over something like this. But still…”

“Yeah. I already had the feeling but seeing this results… She was not just an award-winner for nothing.”

“Humu. Well, that’s my junior for you.”

Love, Violence, Vices, Virtues (LVVV) – Anemone

An utter defeat.

“Well, that’s the trend nowadays. It might just be that the reader body just got tired of too many shounen and shoujo mangas that just keeps on popping up. Why not suddenly kill either of your main characters for a change?”

“LIKE HELL I’LL DO THAT!!”

“Uwaaaah~~ Fred no Shouting pleeeease!!”

“Still, I think I could do better. Look, with this, I see a lot of space in my room for improvement. It’s just that…”

“That?—”

DUUUUUN!!

“HA HA HA HA!!! WITNESS AN UTTER DEFEAT, FORMERLY MAOU BANISHED FROM YOUR OWN PLANET!! I, THE QUEEN OF DARKNESS mkII* HAVE DESCENDED FROM HER LAIR OF DARKNESS TO BRING THE SADDEST NEWS THAT WOULD DEFINITELY BRING YOU BACK TO YOUR PARENTS CRYING!!”

Just like them, Anemone was waiting for the results to come out. After confirming her victory, she rushed over the next next door to pick on her former idol now rival Fred.

Fred anticipated it already yet he couldn’t come up of something to rebut Anemone’s upcoming barrage of mean words.

“Siiiigh… Get out. I’m not in the mood to play your chuuni games.”

“FU FU FU!! HA HA HA HA!!! SUCH A LOO—”

THUD!!

A backup came.

“Step aside, I couldn’t enter.”

The three were shocked about what Ingrid did to her. Anemone was hit at the back of her head with a clay pot containing close to boiling beef stew. She lost her trance for a few seconds before fully recovering.

“Lady Landlady!! You can’t do that!”

“No, I’m the only one here who’s allowed to use that catch phrase. I’ll kick you out if you use that again. If you understand that, then step out of the way. The next thing that will hit your head will be the contents of this hot pot.”

She was still wearing her kitchen mittens while holding a smoking hot pot. Anemone knew that she was not joking when she said it. She switched to her normal Annette Monica mode before getting her face burned of newly-cooked lunch and made way for Ingrid.

After being able to enter the studio, Ingrid looked at her who was still afraid, waiting at the door.

“What are you waiting for? Come inside, I’ve cooked enough for you too. I know you haven’t had your breakfast yet.”

Grumble…

She couldn’t hide that fact.

---

The smell of the stew filled the room as the 5 human beings of Ingrid’s apartment complex gathered at the single studio-unit after having brunch.

“Fu Fu Fu! Now bow down before my might, you mortal.”

“Heh, don’t get too cocky. That would be the last time you’ll have a score against me.”

The proud Queen Anemone of the Chuuni Family stood at the side of their small table after they have eaten, bragging every inch of her victory against Fred.

“Uuuu.. Fred, stop fighting already. This is really a losing battle. Why do you keep on fighting even if you know the chances of winning is slim?” –Ara said, clinging onto his right arm.

Fred looked at him with a dignified face of those protagonists he read on some shounen mangas.

“It is because this is the only thing I know. If you’re going to remove fighting from me then what is it I’m living for?”

WHACK!

He got hit again with Kyrie’s precious harisen.

“Hmmmm. Hmmmmmmmmm.”

Fred placed his hand to his chin and went on with his usual thinking state.

“Hmm?”

“Well I got a general idea, but I can’t put it up on a story yet, so basically no.”

He actually thought about it, but not that much. What he really did was to remember how Anemone’s chapters were well-drawn and laid out for a great story. He had to sum it up to the simplest answer.

“Humu. Well there you have it Anemone-chan. Seems like you’ll also win the third round. Are you still on for this?”

Anemone turned to Fred and gave a “Heh, bring it on, Peasant.”

“Wait, what?!!”

And that’s as far as it went for their discussion of the monthly results and their chart rankings. It made Fred participate another ‘losing battle’ of who’s chapter will rank better next month.

He sighed his way out of the topic and brooded over the most recent cringe decisions in his life on Earth, which was to take confidently the bait of a retarded chuuni’s provocation and lose afterwards. Now he had another full-pledged life regret that he just want to escape and forget. Everyone else at that room felt Fred’s feelings and took sympathy over his pitiful state.

“SIIIIGH… Look at you. And here I thought you’ll be releasing something that could be compared to your award-winning piece. Where did that spark go?”

The very first to spoke was surprisingly his rival, Anemone.

“Such a peon. Looking at you disgust me even more than we were back at the Palace of Darkness. I never imagined you would fall down so low. It makes me want to regret idolizing you for a moment there, former Maou from another world. Such a disappointment. I guess this will be where we part ways. I do my own thing and you do yours. Very well then, I’ll be excusing myself. Oh Lady Landlady, thanks for the fine dining.”

Anemone gave a speech, and went out of the room disappointed.

“Anemone-chaaaaan…”

“Hmp. Well that’s a very harsh way to give a lesson, but… sorry Fred, I’ll give this one to your rival.”

“Humu. No objections.”

“Come on guys, are you really on my side? Especially you, Ingrid! Gosh I can’t believe you.”

“Wow… That’s… Uhhhh… Th—! Mmmmmm… Mmmm’kay! You win. I’ll help you as much as I can defeat that kid. But at least learn your lesson from this.”

Ingrid immediately turned away, to hide her embarrassment from the others. She then turned back to clean the dishes at the small table at front. She looked at Fred, who was gawking at her.

“What? Don’t stare that much I’m going to increase your rent by 20% if you keep on doing that.”

“Anything but that!!”

Thud!.. Ingrid knocked his forehead softly and went on with a “I-Idiot…”

Ingrid almost finished cleaned up and was about to go to Fred’s unit to use his kitchen and wash the dishes when Fred spoke up to her.

“Ah, by the way, Ingrid, I think this is the right time to discuss ‘it’ to them.”

“Ah… I see… Okay, I’ll be washing there right next door then. Goodluck.”

“…Yeah…”

Ingrid stood up and headed towards Fred’s unit while carrying the dishes to clean. After shutting the door, Fred turned to the two.

---

Ara was dumbfounded, but Kyrie was might be just trying to hide her awareness with looking like Ara too.

“Okay. Let me head straight to the point. But first, I won’t be able to talk this with your imouto-mode Ara. Come out aneki.”

“Hooooh. I’m surprised. I’m so popular these. I couldn’t even rest well with all these requests for appearances.”

Ara(aneki) immediately responded to Fred’s summons easily. She must have felt that eventually, Fred would approach her and talk to her about the predicament she was facing.

“So, I suppose you’ve caught the wind already about my previous work.”

“Yes, it’s really about time we discuss about this. You won’t have any objections with Kyrie here, right?”

“Yeah. I wanted to hide it as much but I know she’s also got the gist of the situation too. Can’t underestimate her information gathering network.”

“Humu.”

“Okay then. Let me get straight to the point. What are you planning to do with the calls you’re getting from your previous work?”

Fred first met Ara some few time after his awarding ceremony.

It was those times that his oneshot had been featured on several magazines that sold around the whole region. Due to its genre being popular with the female readers between ages mid to late teens, the oneshot spread like wildfire especially on schools and establishments with mostly woman employee population.

Maou Spence-sensei’s population skyrocketed at that point of time due to the number of hits and views of his oneshot. One of the fans that time was Ara.

One night after Ara finished her shift and was about to go home, she stumbled upon some guys that wanted to hit on him. There Fred came in like a knight and shining armor and saved her even when unneeded. Events happened which made Ara gave her idol a critical roundhouse kick.

She was very shocked upon learning about Fred’s identity and due to his good nature, they still managed to be Friends, and even more, Ara decided to apply as his assistant.

Those were the events that led to Ara resigning to her current work as a hostess.

“Hmmm. So you knew. Well, what shall I do with it, I wonder?”

Ara subconsciously avoided the topic. It might be because the other two entities inside her was subconsciously preventing her to discuss it as much with Fred and the others, but there was nothing they could really do about it at that point. Aneki-mode took a slim chance on slipping away from the topic.

But Fred wouldn’t let her.

“Sheesh. I’m your new employer, of course I need to stick my nose in this issue.”

Fred went on like a father, opening up for a life lesson towards her daughter after committing a life-changing mistake.

“Is it really the only way?”

“Yes. It’s only natural.”

“Besides, I already had a hunch after our very first meeting… the nature of your previous work, I mean.”

Kyrie was just silent. As knowledgeable as Fred, she too, have the idea of what they were talking about. She was the second tenant of Ingrid’s Apartment Complex, and she had been under the same roof with Ara for a long time even before Fred arrived. She also had her ways to acquire information so it’s not new if she wouldn’t be surprised and already knew what the two was talking about.

“Hmmm. But personally, I think it’s fine to leave it that way. I already resigned, so there would be no merit for me to go back now.”

“But the calls you’re getting, aren’t they even more frequent these days?”

“Ugk…”

Ara’s reaction gave her away. Now the chances of evading the topic had gotten even slimmer. That’s very unbecoming of her aneki-mode.

“So what’s with it? Why are you getting calls from your manager?”

Ara had no chance of getting away. Even if she switches back to Imouto-mode or the Ara-Ara mode, she knew she would just be bugged again and again by both her previous manager, and Fred who was now bugging her to pick among them.

“…”

That was the very first time Kyrie and Fred saw the look at Ara(aneki)’s face. It was a mix of worry and melancholy for some reason. It was the look of somebody being conflicted on choosing the right decision. That was the very first for her.

She clicked her tongue, letting them know that she’s ready to talk, and was just somehow getting the best way to express it in words.

“Fine, fine… It’s about my previous work. My manager called. He was asking me if I’d be interested in training under him so I could manage the club after him.”

Fred’s jaw dropped, but not because he was surprised about it. It was actually because that moment he realized that Ara might finally be having her break, while he was just sitting on a steady boat, letting fate decide what would happen to him.

He shown a ‘seriously?’ face.

But he immediately regained composure and tried to think of what to answer next.

“O-Oh… So that’s how it is.”

“Yeah. But don’t worry. I’m currently employed to you so I’m not considering the offer.”

“Not yet?”

“Yeah… Not ye—”

Ara realized she got tricked. Fred cleverly pulled one against her.

“Hmp!”

“Well, considering your reaction, there’s still something within the issue. Circumstances we know nothing of. I… We won’t force you if you really can’t talk about it yet. But at least if it’s bothering you, then you could always talk it out with us. Then I think we could figure something out.”

While Ara was flustered, Fred took advantage of the situation to showcase a little bit of a hierarchy between them. He’s a superior and his juniors could always count on him in case of any problems.

Ara looked down to think.

Fred and Kyrie wondered what was she to react after hearing what Fred had to say at the matter.

Suddenly she jumped out towards Fred’s back and hugged him. She did her usual aneki thing afterwards.

“Gosh look at you, acting so strong all of a sudden. You really think you could get too cocky against me? My my… That’s so not very you. Just return to your old bashful self and let me handle this, okay? Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to talk to you about this again once I’ve settled things with my manager, okay?”

That’s just her front.

Despite being flustered a while ago, Ara kept a strong front and finally avoided the topic. Fred stopped chasing any further and respected Ara’s answer.

“Well the very least I could do to help is give you a little more time to think about it. You can always approach me if you want to talk about it again.”

That response made her feel safe.

All the worries she had a while ago vanished. She could already kid around them like there weren’t any big issues discussed a while ago.

But then her phone rang.

The two looked at her phone at the desk and must have read who the call was coming from.

‘Manager-san’

Ara immediately took the phone and looked at Fred with an ‘excuse me for a bit, I need to answer this’ look at her face and Fred nodded.

Ara took the route towards the main door. She knew Ingrid might be right the door towards Fred’s unit, eavesdropping on their discussion.

Before she stepped out, she looked back on Fred and bowed down at her humblest form.

“Well then if you’d excuse me.”

She left the studio.