IV. All you need for guidance is a crazy editor

Modern Earth, 20xx+3

Tweet, tweet, tweet…

Fred could hear the birds chirping outside the window of his room at the second floor of Seria’s cabin. The room had a perfect view of the open lot outside which had a single tree near his window. The branches of the tree were also a perfect spot for the birds to build their nest.

At the same time, it was also a perfect spot to escape from the whole cabin which he considered as a polished prison cell.

He was not being treated as a prisoner. He spent his first night and slept comfortably at the room Seria prepared to him. Rather than a prisoner, the better term was a VIP. There was also a mini bathroom connected to the room so he wouldn’t have any problem heading downstairs to pee during the night. It was really a spacious room for him. As long as he would be able to produce the chapter needed to be released for the month, he would continue being one.

After cleaning up after waking, he the opened the window and looked at the great scenery spanning from his sight.

INHALES…

EXHALES…

The branch of the tree was not that far. He could make it if he jumped with all the energy he gained from sleeping. He was more prepared to escape.

The most effective way to cross a hanging bridge is not to look down. People with fear of heights should not look down when they were at high places. That’s a golden rule for them. Still, Fred looked down and gulped.

“LIKE HELL I WOULD?!!!”

But he didn’t have any fear of heights, nor it’s not that high as he was just at the second floor.

There were sharp bamboo pikes planted on the ground below.

“That crazy bitch. Why the hell would she think that I’d be brave enough to jump even without these? Am I a protagonist at some holocaust or survival setting story or something?!!”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. You opened the window so there’s an attempt. Also those poles have been set up there for as long as I could remember.”

“I won’t jump! Do you think I’ll have any courage to do so? I don’t want to get impaled! I still have a lot to do.”

“Oh so you know that? Now get your ass working and produce something, so we could get back earlier.”

“You’re crazy! At least remove them I won’t try to escape! Also, won’t they find you at your office?!”

“This is considered work, so we could spend as much time as we want here and we could still get paid.”

“WHICH PART OF WORK IS LOCKING UP YOUR ASSIGNED AUTHOR?!”

“Blah blah blah blah. Get your ass downstairs, have breakfast, and work.”

“You demon…”

That was as far as his expectations could go. Even before his day start, he was reminded that he couldn’t actually escape Seria’s cabin until he delivers her requirements, no matter what he does, no matter how much he think.

---

After washing up, he headed downstairs and saw two sets of breakfast at the table. The sets were recently cooked and they were still hot.

“Hmmm. I can’t believe you could do stuff like this too.”

“Next time you say that I’m going to press your cheeks on the frying pan… recently used on frying your breakfast.”

Fred always wondered if she’s already married, and is living with her family. But every time he opens the topic Seria easily dodges them by resorting to her seniority and authority. A curious young boy just wanted to know. Fred really saw no reason for her to dodge the topic. That’s why he always insisted them.

But in exchange for preparing the breakfast, he let her off the hook.

“Let us eat then.”

“What do you mean? I’ve already eaten.”

“But there are two sets here.”

“I’ve literally meant to serve it for you. Finish the meal. You’ve got a long day ahead of you.”

Fred paled slightly.

He always knew he was not really a heavy breakfast eater. There were also times that a cup of coffee could fill his empty stomach. But the sight of the meal… it scares him.

“Uhm… Seria?”

“Yes you will eat that. I accept no leftovers. Failure is not an option.”

“You see, I really appreciate the effort to cook, but isn’t this too much? I… You know I always eat less. You know that right?”

“Of course I know.”

“Then why?”

“You’ve got a long morning ahead of you. You need to get those gears going. You might regret not being able to have a full meal.”

Fred then again looked at the meal. It was composed of 2 eggs, 4 strips of bacon, 2 slices of bread and butter, and a cup of coffee. Just a typical lineup of a good healthy breakfast. Each.

A typical person with an above average appetite could take the breakfast challenge. But not him. Especially after seeing that dreadful sight a while ago. He already lost enough appetite to have breakfast. All he needed was a single cup of coffee. Not two.

“Can… Can I take the other set at the workshop? I’ll eat it there whenever needed. Promise.”

Seria continued to wash the dishes that she used without saying anything anymore. Fred took it as a yes then he started eating.

At that moment Fred started focusing his mind at one thing:

I need to get back, fast.

He went deep diving to his thoughts again.

Ingrid’s long vacation leave had come to a finish and she started coming to her office work again. Regarding her apartment complex, there was really nothing much to do, unless there were sudden issues like plumbing, fixes, and emergency stuff with tenants so she actually employed herself to a regular office work at the town center. It really looked like the opposite and being a landlady was just a sideline. It had made Fred wonder where she was putting her excess money.

But Ingrid was already a given. Besides her who would be super worried with him being gone for a few to several days, he also left his two assistants there. Both of them without anything to do for the following days to come. Without Ingrid there at the apartment complex, the two of them would die out of boredom.

Fred already accepted the fact that he’s being treated as an object to alleviate boredom. All he needed to do was to play the role and everything would be at perfect harmony.

“Don’t worry about your assistants, I’ve asked Old man to have them help anemone for a while.”

Seria seemed to caught on with what he was thinking and cleared his worries.

“Tsk. Traitors.” –but Fred wasn’t pleased to hear it.

“It’s only temporary. It seemed like Anemone agreed to pay them for the days they would be helping her.”

“Then why hadn’t you brought them here with me. I could use their help a lot.”

“That kills the purpose of bringing you here alone. You still don’t know why I brought you here, huh?”

That made Fred stopped to think.

Distractions.

Seria was trying to tell Fred that the slump he was currently in was due to the distractions being brought to him by a very rowdy house and work environment he was in. It took a little more time for it to kick in with his mind.

Part of the reason he needed excess nutrition would be because he would be doing things done by three people alone.

Being decided, he continued to eat. He realized that he was already halfway his second serving so he just finished the food he was supposed to bring at the workshop.

“I could fetch you a third serving if you still want to eat.”

“No, it would already destroy my appetite this afternoon.”

“Good then. You don’t need to help me here with the dished, just focus on what you should be doing.”

---

Fredericus, my son. You don’t need to do that. You should let the maids and butlers do their respective jobs. You should head to your proctor. That’s what you should be doing.

No ill-will was intended with her mother’s order.

He was a son of a royal bloodline, first in line with succeeding the calling of being the ‘Maou’ of the entire demon race. He should not be concerning himself with the task of his personal butlers.

---

Fred felt the nostalgia. It was just a quick flash on a memory with his mother, but the memory was the very first one that popped up after Seria said those things to him.

“You know you kinda’ remind me of my mother.”

FWOOOSH!!

Clang!!

Then a spatula almost flew straight to his face. Fred felt the wind created by the very fast object that flew past him. Fred looked behind him. He had good reflexes due to the breakfast he had.

“Gulp…”

“I intentionally missed.”

Seria then walked towards where the spatula flew and picked it up. She followed up with a proper statement. For a moment Fred felt something behind Seria’s unyielding expression. But it was really faint that he thought it was just his imagination.

“Fine, fine I won’t do it again. Just don’t make me feel my life is endangered while I stay here.”

“If you miss your parents that much then why won’t you pay them a visit. It will help you unwind for a while. You might be able to get over your slump too.”

Fred couldn’t answer. Seria won’t be another one he could share his deepest secrets with. He’s decided that it will be and only be Ingrid.

“I… I will. I will, after I proved myself here.”

He wondered how Seria would react by the way he put it in. Being the ‘I ran away from home because I wanted to prove something’ guy should fit his persona even more on that situation; than the even truer Fred who was a former Maou from another world, only to be found on Earth’s fantasy fictions.

And the alibi was a success. Instead of pressing any further Seria picked up his used dishes and returned to the kitchen to continue her chores.

“W-well… I’ll be heading upstairs.”

“Better have actual progress by the time I check you there.”

“Yeees.”

---

The whole cabin consisted of three floors, each of them had their own function:

>The first floor, divided by for the living and dining rooms, the kitchen, and the bathroom

>The second floor which was divided into 4 separate rooms,

>and the third floor which was solely for the studio.

The studio section was a lot more spacious than Fred’s current one. That’s to be expected for the whole third floor of Seria’s cabin. The spacious area could give Fred and his team their own respective areas where they could work on their own, rather than their usual setup. It really seemed like the whole place was built for a huge team of up to 6 people.

Several shelves had been lined up at a single section, those shelves contained nothing but manga volumes. There were lots of complete series. There were some that had spaces too. They were ongoing serializations. They had enough space maybe to house the several remaining volumes they would go.

They were arranged in a way you could easily locate it per demographic. Seria still had enough time to maintain the place despite her tight schedule as an editor. That thought alone made Fred wonder even more.

Fred explored the whole room.

Brushing all unneeded thoughts aside, he approached the section where all romance and shoujos are placed. He grabbed a few starter volumes, and headed to the single desk that was nearest to the window.

There he sat and looked outside.

A big stump was outside at the open area, beside it lay some logs that were chopped off, being used into household needs. There was electricity, and the kitchen used electric stove. Fred wondered what the firewood were really being used for.

“Maybe for heating the bath tub, huh? Pretty classic.”

At this point in time I won’t be surprised seeing her walking towards there carrying an axe.

And his expectations weren’t betrayed. He saw Seria walking towards the big stump while swinging her axe just like a muscular barbarian, all with ease.

“Well seeing it directly lit up something inside me. I really think this day will be productive if I started reading.”

…

…

“I CAN’T COME UP WITH SOMETHING!! HOLY FUCK!!”

It was a random burst. But that burst had pulled him from his immersed reading. He didn’t realize it was already late afternoon until his outburst.

The pile of volumes in front of him increased significantly each hour that it already formed a mountain of books that almost covered him.

“Quick, what time is it?! I have to make it look like I’ve done something already before she gets back here.”

He looked outside the window and found nobody outside. Of course it had been long since Seria went out. He thought she must have been cooking dinner already.

But instead, she was comfortably lying at the couch near the shelves, reading a volume like he was doing too.

“Too late, I’ve already heard you.”

“WHOAH!”

He least expected Seria to be already inside the room.

“You could’ve continued your reading. You were already at the right path, gathering references is a good start if you’re really in a slump. It’s quite admirable already. But you really spoiled it with what you just said.”

“AS IF I’D SHOW IT TO YOU DIRECTLY?!”

“Now I know you’re the type of person that would do everything to escape being scolded.”

Fred clicked his tongue as he looked away.

The huge pile of manga volumes that were on the table needed to be put back to their respective spots but Fred might still be needing them for the near future. Nevertheless, he stood up and tried to group them by series.

“I’ll be putting these back. Can you help me?”

“Why? You’re the one that got them. Also you’re not in the position to boss me around.”

“Sigh… Okay, fine.”

But before Fred could grab a bunch of them and start cleaning up,

“So… Do you feel like drawing something now?”

It was a routine check.

Seria tasked him of doing something. It was his responsibility. He really had no intentions of not getting over his slump. He had to resort to his previous experiences first before trying something new. Having references would be a good start. But the fact that he couldn’t answer immediately, meant that he still got nothing on his plate.

Seria knew immediately the moment Fred went silent.

“Well, I won’t pressure you any further.”

But the fire has already been lit. Even though Seria told not to, Fred had become even more pressured that he was.

“We-well… It’s just the first day. I’ll be giving you all the time you need as long as were here. Your pace you know, your pace.”

“Yeah… I know…”

Fred then started carrying the arranged manga volumes and started putting them back. And before the heat of the conversation finally cools down, he followed up something.

“As if I’d let myself get locked up here for any longer than you’d expect. I’d finish this in just three days.”

“Oh really? The least I expect from you would be six days.”

“Heh, we’ll see about that.”

---

“Congratulations on your first week here Fred!! HA HA HA!!”

Fred had already resolved himself to get over his slump as soon as possible. But reality wouldn’t let it happen.

It had already been seven days since Seria confined Fred at her cabin to help him on his current crisis. He was offered with everything: healthy meals, sufficient resources, comfortable resting place. The isolation should have helped being a trigger to something within him.

But the days have passed with the same happenings. He would wake up, eat his breakfast, then proceed to the studio upstairs. Sometimes he would go down and eat lunch. Otherwise, he would just spend the whole time camping at the studio reading several volumes of manga. There were days that he would push himself up late night. Seria would just lend him a blanket as he pull an all-nighter at the studio, yet still produce tons of crumpled papers.

And to commemorate his seventh day at the cabin, Seria had been laughing around him for almost thirty minutes already. But it’s not because he was a candidate for the longest tenureship. He was being made fun of because he placed a bet, and lost.

“HEY HEY!! WHAT IS IT THAT YOU’RE SAYING SEVEN DAYS AGO? SPEAK UP! HA HA HA!!!”

“Quit it. I was almost there.”

Fred couldn’t deny it. The confidence he had a week ago turned 180 the moment he lost the bet. It was the price he had to pay for being an incompetent author and not meeting his self-declared deadline.

“So. Seven days. Not only you didn’t meet your deadline, but you’ve also exceeded my expectations. I’ll give you a proper commendation once we get back.”

“I won’t take another bet. Any more and I would be losing all of my pride already.”

“HA HA HA!! Whatever you say, you already lost.”

Fred tried not to budge an inch. He steeled his resolve to get over his slump. He wouldn’t let himself get distracted anymore. But the way Seria kept bugging him really gets to his nerves. So he tried to distract her from asking something related to his situation seriously.

“Hey, I know it’s already been too late to ask this, but… like… what was the longest stay of an author here?”

What Fred asked was something normal. Perhaps he was still hoping that he wouldn’t beat a record holder of the longest slump ever in Seria’s recorded work history.

“What a silly question. I’m going to tell you this. Some authors go under slump for months. I’ve housed somebody here for three, that’s the worst. For you, a week might just be a start. If you could consistently keep up your current state, it could last for years at worst. I’m going to tell you that.”

“No don’t jinx it! Don’t you dare!! The folks back at Ingrid’s will already issue a search and rescue operation for me by then.”

“Hahaha!! Fine, fine. So, mind telling me what’s bugging your mind? I might be able to do something. I mean… regarding your slump.”

“…That’s the problem… Even I don’t know the reason why.”

Seria looked at Fred, which was looking like a helpless kid that’s worrying over an unfinished assignment. He looked like he was about to lose his sanity anytime. A week’s worth of immersing himself onto activities and try to get over his slump seemed to have backfired at him.

She was already exhausting her options.

At that moment she took a chance onto something. It was out of a whim, and she hadn’t really resorted to it even for the previous authors she had brought. Each of them had their own circumstances. But usually after a certain amount of time they managed to get over their slumps, one by one. But Fred was different. He really was getting nowhere.

Seria pulled out something on her pocket. It was an item that she snagged from Fred had been keeping for a week already.

“Heads up! Catch!”

She threw it towards Fred. He almost missed it and dropped it. But he managed to joggle it with his two hands until he finally got ahold of it.

It was a phone. It was his phone.

Dumbfounded, Fred looked at Seria. He saw her at the front of the door already, planning to go out of the room.

“Two hours.”

Seria gave Fred a time limit. It was not really a deadline of him getting over his slump. All she gave him was two hours of using his phone. She didn’t say anything, nor did she limit his usage of it. She just gave it to him. Whatever he does, she wouldn’t stop him or anything.

“Hey Seria.”

“…”

“Thanks. I won’t let this chance slip.”