362 Is This Really Alright? (1/2)

”Sensei, we're grateful that you accepted the job and worked hard on the artwork for Brother Monogatari, and that you finished an insert art so quickly.” Saki lifted her head and looked directly at Tanaka. ”My next request will be quite rude, but…”

”Allow me, Editor Yoshizawa.” Seiji spoke up. ”Demon Soldier Sensei, I personally made this visit in order to request that you give up the right to draw for Brother Monogatari.”

Tanaka widened his eyes in surprise at hearing this.

”Give up…”

”Yes, please give up on this job request. And, Sensei, for the drawing that you've already completed, I shall pay you for it… No, I shall even pay for all the drawings that you should have done and didn't complete yet.”

”…Why?”

”Because I would like to personally draw the artwork for this story,” Seiji told him honestly.

A moment of silence fell between them.

”You want to personally draw for your own story… If you had this ability in the first place, why did you send out a job request for an artist?” Tanaka furrowed his brows.

”Because I didn't intend to do so until yesterday,” Seiji explained. ”This story called Brother Monogatari actually wasn't written by myself alone. I cooperated together with one other person in writing it. Yesterday, during the Winter Snow Festival, I gave that person a present of the main characters' drawing that I personally drew myself. After that person saw my drawing, she felt that I could completely be up to the task of drawing for Brother Monogatari, and expressed a wish for me to do so. I agreed, which was why I contacted Editor Yoshizawa this morning and made my request.”

”Editor Yoshizawa told me that she had already hired an artist who was working hard on the art for my story, which would be you, Demon Soldier Sensei. She let me know that it would be very rude to have you stop in the middle.”

”However, I continued to insist, and showed my own drawing to Editor Yoshizawa, and she recognized that I had sufficient artistic talent for the task.”

”Finally, I have to convince Demon Soldier Sensei to give up on this job for the final part, which is why I'm here today.”

Tanaka felt indescribable emotions within himself at hearing these words.

Being able to draw for Brother Monogatari was a job that he considered quite lucky to have received, and he wanted to do his best on it… But he never expected to hear a request like this.

Asking an artist for a job but then having only one side cancel on the job was something incredibly disrespectful within the industry, and would be quite ill received if others heard about it. However, if both sides agreed to cancel the job, then there wouldn't be any problems.

Tanaka knew that he could be proactive here. He could complain, act forceful, and request even more compensation from them… but this wasn't what he wanted.

Of course, there was also the factor where he expected Brother Monogatari would become a bestseller, and he wanted to obtain some extra fame through this, but the main reason was still because he liked this novel.

This novel excited him and gave him so much inspiration for his own stories and art as well, helping him to recall the joy and passion that he used to receive from drawing, which was why he wanted to do his best on this job.

After a moment of silence, Tanaka slowly spoke up.

”I like this story named Brother Monogatari, and want to be able to draw for it.

”Even if you were the one who wrote this story, and your artwork received the editor's recognition, I still haven't seen it yet, and can't be certain if your art is worthy of this story.

”Please allow me to see your artwork. If I think it's not good enough, I… I won't give up on this job.”

He was extremely nervous as he said this.

Tanaka couldn't even recall the last time that he had acted so defiant.

He wasn't someone particularly brave to begin with, and after being worn out by all his successive failures and impacts received over the past few years, he had almost no courage left remaining.

However, this novel had helped him to recover some of his former passion, and his former courage returned slightly to him as well, but it was in order to resist against the author of this very story.

'I really apologize…' Tanaka said in his mind.

Seiji looked at him for a while, before taking out the drawing that he had done himself and placing it on Tanaka's table.

”This is my drawing that I drew myself.”

Tanaka looked at the drawing on the table.