In Katakura Hayabusa’s illustration, the main background was Ukiyo-e. The girl in a maid miniskirt, with wine-red eyes and wearing red high heels, stepped on the waves, holding a finely crafted flame-shaped dagger as if riding the wind and waves, pointing the dagger at an aristocrat who was pale, haggard, yet unusually carefree.
On that ancient nobleman’s table lay elf ears and a glass of red wine as viscous as blood.
“I still remember this scene…”
Gao Sijin certainly remembered. As a chronicler of another world, he had naturally seen the maid protagonist pierce the heart of the nobleman who fed on elf ears with her dagger. He felt that Katakura Hayabusa had almost perfectly recreated that scene.
The yandere maid’s waist-length high ponytail fluttered in the wind. Her peerlessly beautiful face was crystal clear—her willow-leaf eyebrows slightly curved like amber, her bewitching wine-red pupils resembling a soul-reaping ghost, her silvery teeth like crushed jade slowly biting her crimson lips. A contemptuous yet noble smile emerged at the corner of her mouth, a smile that was unattainable.
Graceful in every gesture, radiant and charming, yet not excessively pandering to otaku tastes.
That nobleman who fed on elf ears also possessed the pride and elegance of a true old-school aristocrat.
Although this was only a static image, it felt as if one could see the next movements of both figures.
They had come alive.
Gao Sijin turned back to look at the paintings of the other three female artists. The Kuroki Nao they had depicted was also very beautiful. Purely in terms of appearance, the female lead painted by Sakurada Nao matched the heroine’s yandere and wild temperament the most—but it lacked the majestic, sweeping grandeur of Katakura Hayabusa’s work. It was truly a pity. Though Kuroki Nao was a yandere and wild maid, her personality was more than that. Her yandere nature was a gradual process of blackening, not something there from the beginning. And at the story’s end, her possessiveness was replaced by genuine love, turning her into a person with conscience and character.
On this point, none of them had grasped it.
“Gao-kun, have you already decided which painter you want to choose?”
Gao Sijin nodded, walked straight up to Katakura Hayabusa, and bowed deeply.
Katakura Hayabusa seemed not to have expected Gao Sijin to choose him either, because when he had first arrived at the Dengeki Bunko editorial department, he had called Gao Sijin’s work a pile of garbage. That was his honest thought, because in that cowardly male lead, he saw his own reflection—the self who, as a child, dared not fight against his father and only knew how to swallow grievances to keep the peace.
“I’m not short on money,” Katakura Hayabusa said coldly.
“I believe you understand my heroine better than anyone else.”
After Gao Sijin spoke, Yu Qingxue translated on his behalf.
Katakura Hayabusa still wore a cold, haughty expression.
The other three female painters also seemed to realize that Gao Sijin valued Katakura Hayabusa more. Aware that their precious job opportunity was about to slip away, their expressions carried a hint of regret. The three female painters were far more famous than Katakura Hayabusa in character and scene illustration, while Katakura Hayabusa was just a seventeen-year-old newcomer.
After Tsukiyuki Rio whispered a few words into Yu Qingxue’s ear, Yu Qingxue spoke to Katakura Hayabusa: “We can grant your wish.”
“Do you know what my wish is?” Katakura Hayabusa stood up, asking with a ghastly smile.
“We know. To us, you have no secrets. As long as you are willing to draw illustrations for Gao Sijin, you will be able to witness that man’s final destination.”
“What is the name of that man you speak of? I want to hear his name.”
“Katakura Yuuta.”
Katakura Hayabusa laughed sinisterly, walked up to Yu Qingxue, and said slowly and emphatically: “If you really can do it, go ahead. Rather, I’m begging you—please let me butcher that man with my own hands. That damned man has lived for far too long.”
Gao Sijin was completely baffled, unable to understand what they were talking about, only feeling that their exchange was no ordinary conversation. Although Yu Qingxue’s expression was quite relaxed, Hayabusa’s eyes looked somewhat manic.
In the end, Katakura Hayabusa still chose to shake hands with Gao Sijin.
He truly wasn’t short on money, but some things simply couldn’t be settled by money alone.
After leaving the editorial department building, Katakura Hayabusa picked up a metal baseball bat, mounted that modified motorcycle, and disappeared from sight in a flash, promising to finish the illustrations for the first volume in the shortest time possible.
“Truly a happy ending, Teacher Gao Sijin.”
Mishima Kaoru walked up to Gao Sijin and cheerfully began congratulating him.
The other three female painters also shook hands with Gao Sijin. Although they felt some regret at not being chosen, they held no grudge over it—after all, this was also part of the job.
“If Teacher Gao Sijin has a new work in the future, please be sure to let us try.”
“I’ll contact you when the time comes.”
Though he said that, Gao Sijin hadn’t actually obtained their contact information at all. Even Katakura Hayabusa’s contact details had been saved by Yu Qingxue into her own phone. Aside from playing some mobile games, Gao Sijin’s phone had virtually no social communication functions.
After the trip ended, Gao Sijin and Tsukiyuki Rio got into the Mercedes-Benz.
Yu Qingxue conversed with Tsukiyuki Rio in Japanese. Gao Sijin was completely at a loss, unable to understand a single word.
“Young Miss, what exactly is Katakura Yuuta’s identity? Why does Katakura Hayabusa want to kill him?”
“Katakura Yuuta is just an old monster who resurrected by borrowing a corpse.” Tsukiyuki Rio leaned lazily against Gao Sijin’s embrace, speaking slowly. “Katakura Yuuta is Katakura Hayabusa’s biological father.”
“Why would he want to kill his own father?”
“I think any person with a conscience would want to kill that monster. Katakura Yuuta has been engaged in a nauseating job—human trafficking.”
“Human trafficking?”
“Especially trafficking children under fourteen. Those strictly selected children often had high value. For example, making those children believe they weren’t human but animals like dogs. Some children were born with psychic or supernatural abilities, and after being conditioned, they could be auctioned off at high prices.”
Upon hearing this profession, Yu Qingxue’s face immediately turned pale. She didn’t consider herself a good person, but she still had a conscience.
The two had been communicating in Japanese the whole time, and Gao Sijin couldn’t understand a single word.
“What on earth are you two talking about?”
“Nothing, Gao-kun. We were talking about you. After we get home, please do your best to write ten thousand words, okay? Otherwise, Gao-kun won’t escape a calamity today.” Tsukiyuki Rio smiled, wrapping her arms around Gao Sijin’s neck.
If Gao Sijin could witness the so-called darkness with his own eyes, then he could write something even more real.
Thus, the final fate of that human trafficker would be staged as a magnificent theater before Gao Sijin’s eyes.
