Raize timed his arrival to match his appointment with the editor. After killing a few ghouls and saving an innocent girl, he walked into the agreed-upon café.
The café was called Rabbit Café. When Raize entered, he had thought he might see a cute little girl with bunny ears.
Unfortunately, there was no such adorable loli at all.
The interior was quiet and elegant, clearly arranged with care. The order and atmosphere were excellent.
"Welcome! How many in your party?"
Seeing Raize enter, a polite female attendant—who looked like a high school student—asked courteously from near the entrance.
"I'm meeting someone."
Raize nodded politely, then glanced around while checking his phone and quickly spotted the person he was meeting.
How should he put it? To him, she looked like someone with a fanatical smile on her face, her appearance resembling Reine from Date A Live, with a voluptuous and alluring figure—except that her slightly unhinged smile was nothing like Reine's.
"You must be Dugu-sensei, correct? I'm Hiiragi Suzuna, chief editor in charge of online publishing at Shorinsha Publishing House. I came today to discuss the publication of your novels, Warhammer and Divine Throne of All Phenomena."
Suzuna introduced herself with a faintly fanatical smile, her tone extremely respectful toward Raize. Her attitude was warm and courteous, even using honorific language despite his youth.
However, Raize could tell that she was suppressing turbulent emotions.
"Ms. Hiiragi, you flatter me. When there was no response for so long, I thought my two novels hadn't caught your interest. I didn't expect both to be accepted."
Raize sat across from her, maintaining a polite smile as he spoke.
"How could we not be interested! If I let these two masterpieces slip away, I'd regret it so much my heart would explode!!"
At his words, Suzuna could no longer restrain herself. Her pink-purple eyes burned with fanatic enthusiasm as she stared at the young man across from her.
That blazing intensity made Raize inwardly sweat. Was it really that exaggerated?
"I've read your two works several times with deep admiration. The ideas inside are incredibly bold and far ahead of their time. I'm already your devoted fan!"
"And the complete word counts you sent us—there's no way you weren't prepared in advance. You've definitely already planned the follow-ups, right? The story after Warhammer, and the fourth Heaven of Divine Throne of All Phenomena—you must already have them ready!!!"
As she talked about his novels, the female editor had completely stopped holding back. Like a fervent believer, she stared intensely at Raize, questioning him excitedly.
She was certain her guess was correct. Someone who could submit so much content at once couldn't possibly be unprepared.
And with so many plot threads left open, sequels were inevitable.
"Cough… Thank you very much for your appreciation, Ms. Hiiragi. You're right—I have indeed prepared the follow-ups."
Raize felt slightly uncomfortable with her flame-like enthusiasm and cleared his throat. After all, he was just stitching together stories from his memories. The praise didn't truly belong to him.
Besides, he was only writing novels to pave the way for himself.
After getting the answer she wanted, Suzuna noticed the young man's awkward expression and realized she had been a bit too intense. Afraid of leaving a bad impression on her author, she took a deep breath and smiled.
"That's wonderful."
"Then next, Dugu-sensei, we should discuss the follow-up arrangements for your two works."
Suzuna took a document from her bag and handed it to Raize, continuing, "I've read your works carefully. They are truly one-in-a-million masterpieces. This is the publishing contract our company drafted based on the conditions you mentioned when you contacted me earlier."
"All rights to games, animation, and merchandise will not be sold, and you'll handle the illustrations yourself—those terms are all acceptable. I believe you already made thorough preparations, and on that point, I trust you completely."
"Additionally, your promotional resources will be top-tier. I hope you can send the illustrations as soon as possible. If your two works exceed one million copies within half a year, the contract terms and revenue share will be increased, and promotional efforts will be further strengthened."
After saying all of this in one breath, Suzuna—without even blushing—maintained a gentle smile as she looked at Raize.
Raize, however, keenly sensed her quickened heartbeat and clenched hands. Clearly, she was far from as calm as she appeared.
After carefully reviewing the contract and finding no major issues, Raize said, "Thank you for valuing a new author like me. This treatment is truly excellent."
"Th-then…Dugu-sensei, does that mean you agree?!"
Her breathing quickened as Suzuna's lips curved upward, delight shining in her eyes.
Raize didn't immediately agree. Instead, he looked at her seriously and said, "But giving this level of treatment to a new author—are you sure it's no problem for a large company?"
"Hehe~ it's not easy, that's true. But I have great faith in your two works, and I trust my own judgment."
"And you're definitely someone who prepares thoroughly—I wasn't wrong about that either!"
A confident gleam flashed in Suzuna's eyes as a powerful aura radiated from her, locking onto Raize.
She already had Akiyama-sensei under her wing. While Raize wasn't quite the same type, he was clearly someone who came fully prepared.
How could she, Suzuna, not seize the opportunity to cooperate with someone like that?
If she missed out on Raize because of her own mistake, she'd regret it for the rest of her life.
Seeing her confidence, Raize had no further questions. This woman clearly wasn't someone to mess with—and she would be an excellent partner.
He took the pen and signed his name on the contract. The moment he finished, Suzuna eagerly took it back, examined it closely, and finally revealed a relieved and happy smile.
Suzuna wore a friendly smile as she stood up, slightly bowed, and extended her hand.
"Dugu-sensei, from now on I'll be your editor in charge. I look forward to working with you—happy cooperation!"
Raize also stood up solemnly, slightly bowed, and reached across the table to shake Suzuna's hand.
"Happy cooperation, Editor Hiiragi."
The two exchanged smiles and began chatting afterward, naturally discussing the future content of Raize's novels.
Raize also revealed part of the material he had already prepared in advance. Once he started talking, Suzuna's gaze and expression looked as if she wanted to swallow him whole.
Her overly enthusiastic personality was honestly a bit too much for Raize. After chatting for a while, Suzuna even wanted to drag him out for a meal together.
However, Raize politely declined, saying he still had things to do. This wasn't an excuse—he genuinely had matters to take care of.
"Then, Dugu-sensei, time waits for no one. I'll head back right away to make arrangements for your novels. I'm very much looking forward to your future content."
After settling the follow-up details and paying the bill, Suzuna prepared to leave.
Raize likewise planned to depart, intending to leave the café together with her.
At this moment, from another nearby semi-private seating area, two beautiful women also stood up and walked out along with Suzuna.
One of them was a short-haired beauty dressed in professional attire, mature and charming. Beside her was a very young yet precocious girl with a tall figure.
Her body possessed a level of mature sexiness far beyond her age, with full, voluptuous curves. She wore a white headband, and her black hair—similar to Yukino's—fell down her back. Her eyes were dark red, and her appearance was calm and dignified.
When the short-haired woman in business attire spotted Suzuna, her eyes widened slightly.
"Hiiragi? It's you!"
She spoke up upon recognizing her. Hearing a somewhat familiar voice call her name, Suzuna raised an eyebrow and looked over, only to see the person addressing her.
"So it's you. I didn't expect to run into you here too, Sonoko."
After sizing her up, Suzuna remembered who she was.
A colleague—also an editor—named Machida Sonoko.
They weren't friends, but they were acquainted. After all, people in the same line of work were either rivals or enemies.
"You know each other, Sonoko?"
"Miss Hiiragi, you know each other?"
Standing beside their respective editors, Kasumigaoka Utaha and Raize asked at the same time. After speaking in unison, the two glanced at each other calmly, and a subtle ripple passed through their gazes.
Raize and Utaha also knew each other. They attended the same school, had heard of each other, and had seen one another before, though they'd never interacted.
Running into a schoolmate here surprised them both.
"Utaha, this person is a colleague of mine—also an editor," Sonoko said while cautiously sizing up Suzuna. Then, without any restraint, she turned to the author she managed and said, "But she's dangerous. Utaha, you'd better not have any dealings with this woman."
The words were blunt enough to be considered rude, yet Suzuna merely smiled indifferently, showing no sign of anger at all.
She smiled gently and warmly toward Raize.
"Dugu-sensei, this is a colleague of mine. We're editors from different publishing libraries. She's from the Fujikawa Shoten, and the person beside her should be the author she's in charge of."
Raize nodded in understanding. He knew the characters from Saekano, but he hadn't expected his editor to be acquainted with them.
Judging by appearances, the two sides didn't get along very well. As colleagues, that naturally made them competitors.
Poor relations were perfectly normal.
Sonoko herself was wary and cautious of Suzuna. As mentioned before, Suzuna was the kind of person who would resort to even illegal means if it helped an author write better—making her a dangerous individual.
Sonoko had personally experienced her ruthlessness, which was why she was particularly guarded against and disliked her.
Hearing Suzuna's friendly and enthusiastic tone, Sonoko's eyes widened slightly. She knew this woman's personality well—abnormally fanatical, especially toward authors she approved of.
And her fanaticism came in levels. The more outstanding and satisfactory an author was, the more intensely obsessed Suzuna would become.
Not to mention that she had just heard Suzuna address this boy as "Dugu-sensei." It seemed clear that Suzuna was his editor in charge.
"So you're all colleagues, huh…"
Utaha also picked up on the nuance. A playful smile appeared on her pretty face as she sized up Raize and Suzuna. It seemed that not only were their editors colleagues—she and Raize were colleagues too, both being authors.
She hadn't expected that one of the school's well-known figures, Yotsuki Raize, was also a novelist like herself. That struck her as rather interesting.
It felt like she had found someone of her own kind.
"Ladies, I still have urgent matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first."
Raize nodded politely to Sonoko and Utaha, then exchanged a brief farewell with Suzuna before departing.
Although Utaha was an anime heroine from his past life's memories, after actually seeing her, Raize felt no particular emotion.
To him, she was simply a familiar yet distant schoolmate.
"Then I'll take my leave as well, Sonoko—and this young author."
After watching Raize's departing figure disappear, Suzuna politely smiled at the two women and then followed after him, vanishing from their sight.
Sonoko watched Suzuna's retreating back with a complicated expression and muttered to herself,
"Looks like that crazy woman has found a treasure."
"A treasure?"
Utaha didn't quite understand and looked at Sonoko with a questioning gaze.
Sonoko didn't hide anything, telling her everything she knew and reminding her to stay far away from that crazy woman.
Yes—crazy woman was indeed an apt description.
After learning about Suzuna's dangerous nature, Utaha nodded in understanding.
Still, she couldn't help but think of that calm-faced, handsome boy—also one of the school's well-known figures, someone she was only passingly familiar with.
She hadn't expected him to be an author too, and with such a peculiar editor. If he ever missed deadlines, wouldn't that be extremely dangerous?
With that thought, Utaha glanced at the comparatively easygoing editor beside her. She had a pretty good relationship with her.
Yes, this one was much easier to deal with and placate. Even if she procrastinated on writing in the future, she'd feel more confident.