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In the meeting room.
"Hmm, it's almost the agreed-upon time. Please wait a little longer, Izumi."
Machida Sonoko glanced at the watch on her wrist, then said, "And thank you so much for your help earlier, Izumi! I'm sure Kasumigaoka Utaha will have a clearer understanding of her future and reach a higher level… she might even become your competitor, you know."
"I don't care about that."
Izumi Chihiro's tone was casual.
Although doing this might lead to her achieving greater success than he remembered, he didn't even worry about Nayuta, so why would he fear a mere Kasumigaoka Utaha?
"I'll go pour some tea and get ready."
Machida Sonoko smiled and turned around.
"By the way, Sonoko, you deliberately planned this, didn't you?"
Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind.
Machida Sonoko's body trembled, then she awkwardly turned her head and said, "How could that be? It's just a coincidence~"
Izumi Chihiro's expression remained unchanged.
Coming here today and coincidentally meeting Kasumigaoka Utaha, then being asked for help, of course, this wasn't an accident.
"Oh dear, how should I put it? It's probably because I thought Izumi could provide more help to Kasumigaoka Utaha…"
Machida Sonoko clapped her hands and showed a fawning smile.
"If Izumi is angry, I'll treat Izumi to a big meal sometime!"
"It's not anger, just a little curious…"
Izumi Chihiro was about to ask, but was suddenly interrupted.
"Oh, what did I hear? Miss Machida actually invited such a young child on a date? Can I interpret that as sexual harassment? Even if it's a woman towards a boy, it's still a criminal act, right…"
The door opened, and a blonde girl, dressed in a red Lolita-style dress and looking about 15 years old, appeared before them.
Although she looked very young, as a 'tax evasion expert' and with her unique, charming voice, her actual age was clearly not as young as her appearance suggested.
"Miss Oono, don't talk nonsense. Izumi and I have a pure relationship… don't we, Izumi?"
Machida Sonoko turned and gave him an ambiguous look.
As expected of a workplace elite, she easily took the bait and, in a coordinated effort, shifted the focus onto him.
If it were a normal student, they would have long been blushing from these two charming older women.
Izumi Chihiro maintained his strong composure and asked, without changing his expression, "This is…?"
"Let me introduce myself, Oono Ashley. I'm a tax accountant, please take care of me."
Oono Ashley said with a smile.
"Please take care of me."
He nodded.
"Tap."
Machida Sonoko put down the three teacups and said, "Miss Oono is a professional in this area. If all goes well, Izumi will be able to recover a lot of taxes this time."
"That depends on whether you can cooperate, Izumi."
Oono Ashley rested her chin on one hand, looking over with an amused gaze.
"Of course."
Izumi Chihiro replied.
"Alright, let me see the publisher's payment records first…"
Oono Ashley extended her right hand.
"Wait a moment."
Machida Sonoko walked out of the meeting room and retrieved the documents from her office.
After all, Izumi Chihiro hadn't paid attention to these matters before, so he hadn't kept his own records.
"Ah, these are all very ordinary expenses, nothing interesting to see."
Oono Ashley said with a frown as she flipped through them.
If it was this clean, it would be difficult for her to work her magic!
So she asked, "As an author, you should have some special hobbies for writing, right? To increase inspiration or something."
"I've bought quite a few light novels, manga, and galgames."
Izumi Chihiro thought for a moment and said.
"Yes, that's it."
Oono Ashley showed a 'teachable' look, lightly tapped her chin, made a few strokes in her notebook, and continued, "Later, give me the specific data, the more the better. Don't worry about revealing your privacy, even if it's doujinshi or AV discs, it doesn't matter…"
'Doujinshi is fine, but what are AV discs?'
After hearing this, Izumi Chihiro couldn't help but inwardly complain.
What era is this, still watching that kind of thing!
Some selfies are even higher quality, right?
"Besides that, are there any other things, anything you've consumed, even if it's going out to eat, drink, and have fun…"
Oono Ashley continued to raise the stakes.
"Is that even possible? They're completely unrelated."
Izumi Chihiro looked at her with suspicion.
Could it really be that arbitrary?
"Izumi, think about it. If you don't eat well, or you're not happy playing, it can easily affect the quality of the author's work. A decline in work quality will reduce sales, and reduced sales will mean less tax revenue. Do you still think these things are unrelated?"
Oono Ashley raised her slender fingers and spoke with conviction.
"Uh."
Izumi Chihiro's expression froze.
Teacher Oono, I understand!
About ten more minutes passed, and with continuous questioning, a few more lines appeared in the notebook.
"Alright, that should be enough… It's a pity we met here. If it were at Izumi's home, I could probably calculate it more thoroughly."
Oono Ashley put down the paper and sighed.
"I'm already very satisfied."
Izumi Chihiro glanced at the notebook and said.
If he could really get a successful tax refund, it would be enough to buy quite a few figures.
For him, this money was essentially free, so how could he not be happy?
"Then I'll be going. I hope our next meeting can be at Izumi's home for observation, so we can discuss things in more detail and more thoroughly. Perhaps we could get back even more tax money."
Oono Ashley shook her head to herself, her expression regretful.
It was rare to meet such an interesting young man; it would be such a shame not to fully indulge her own amusement~
…
"Well, Miss Sonoko, I should head back too."
After she left, Izumi Chihiro also stood up, preparing to leave.
"Oh, by the way, Teacher Izumi, regarding that question earlier, what exactly did you want to ask me?"
Machida Sonoko suddenly asked.
Izumi Chihiro was startled.
He had completely forgotten about it.
"Actually, it's nothing much. I just felt that Miss Sonoko seemed particularly concerned about Teacher Kasumigaoka Utaha?"
He asked the question he hadn't asked earlier.
"Hmm? Oh, so that's what it was… If I had to say, it's probably because I feel Teacher Kasumigaoka Utaha is quite similar to how I used to be? At the time, I also planned to become a light novel author, but unfortunately, I wasn't skilled enough and had to give up on that idea, eventually becoming an editor."
Twirling her chin with a jade-like finger, a hint of reminiscence flashed in Machida Sonoko's eyes.
"I see."
Izumi Chihiro suddenly understood.