--That is the general situation.
...
After hearing Hisashi explain the sequence of events, Kazuhiko couldn't help but fall into a long silence.
A serialized Manga Artist who found time to write a light novel with hundreds of thousands of words?
And it's in the same series as the manga currently being serialized?
He was already starting to get a headache.
After a long silence, he asked:
"...What's up with that kid? Does he have a lot of free time?"
Hisashi:
"He only needs two days to draw one chapter of manga."
"...Every week?"
"At least so far, every week. This is his normal creative pace."
"..."
I have to ask, where is the 'normal' in that?
However, Kazuhiko suddenly remembered that Hisashi seemed to have mentioned this before, but his brain didn't seem to want to believe it, so he subconsciously ignored it.
In his many years in the industry, it wasn't that he hadn't seen such creative speed before.
But most of the time, it was extreme work that Manga Artists could only barely achieve when facing a submission deadline, with a posture of almost burning their lives away, giving it their all.
This situation rarely happens, but every time it does, it almost costs the Manga Artist half their life.
But now someone is telling him that this is just Akira's normal creative pace?
Kazuhiko opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again, falling into silence once more.
More importantly, under this creative pace, the quality of the content did not suffer.
For the first four chapters of 'Fate/stay night', shōsei's performance was in the top three, and the upcoming fifth and sixth chapters will usher in a small climax in the plot, so the ranking will likely only get higher if nothing unexpected happens.
Thinking of this, Kazuhiko couldn't help but sigh softly:
"Geniuses, they really are unreasonable."
Of course, no matter how much he laments now, it's useless; what's important is solving the problem.
First of all, punishment is definitely out of the question.
After all, the other party hasn't committed any principled errors; it's just that due to their high talent, they have made some unprecedented moves.
And as a treasure of their Shonen Jump, what else can they do but spoil him?
But just letting it be is definitely not okay either.
Thus, Kazuhiko thought for a moment and looked back at Hisashi:
"Since you came to me to talk about this, you must already have an idea, right?"
The implication was: if you haven't considered anything and just want to dump the trouble on me, you're dead.
Hisashi knew this old guy's personality, and fortunately, he had come prepared.
"Of course."
"Here is what I'm thinking..."
After hearing Hisashi's plan, Kazuhiko pondered for a moment, then nodded and said:
"That sounds pretty good."
Then, he made the decision:
"Then let's do that for now. I'll help make the contact."
"Yes!"
Hisashi smiled upon hearing this; this was the best win-win plan he could think of.
"--However,"
Just then, Kazuhiko suddenly changed the subject and pointed out a problem:
"The method you just mentioned only solves the light novel issue this time, but the most critical problem hasn't been solved yet, right?"
Hearing this, the smile on Hisashi's face stiffened:
"You mean...?"
Kazuhiko tapped his index finger gently on the office desk and snorted with some dissatisfaction:
"That brat, I've never seen a Manga Artist as idle as him!"
Only needing to work two days a week—let alone Manga Artists, even his own rest time is far less than the other's; it's just too enviable!
...Ahem!
Anyway, putting aside the accidentally revealed true feelings, in his opinion, Akira's biggest problem right now is indeed that he is too idle.
Because he has too much free time, that's why he comes up with these shenanigans.
Must find a way to keep him busy.
However, he can't really remove the restrictions and let him bury himself in drawing manga...
No, wait.
Kazuhiko suddenly had an idea and couldn't help but smile:
"Come to think of it, I remember that kid's ability to draw short-form manga is pretty good, right?"
"That short-form manga submitted to the Tezuka Award, I remember it's called 'Emiya Kiritsugu', right? The judges' evaluations of it seem quite good."
Although the selection for the Tezuka Award hasn't ended yet, the acclaim 'Emiya Kiritsugu' has received far exceeds other entries, and winning is a certainty.
Perhaps he might even take the 'Selected', which has been vacant for several years.
Thinking of this, he had to sigh again at Akira's terrifying manga talent.
This is probably hard to describe with just the word 'genius'; 'monster' would be more accurate.
In short, it's already far from the realm of humanity.
Back to the point.
Hearing Kazuhiko's statement, Hisashi roughly understood his meaning, and his eyes lit up immediately.
"In other words, have him draw short-form manga?"
"Exactly."
Kazuhiko smiled:
"Anyway, he has so much free time; rather than letting him spend that time on other miscellaneous things, it's better to have him draw more manga."
For them, compared to letting him create light novels, drawing short-form manga is definitely better.
At least the short-form manga he draws can be published in their magazine.
"Indeed."
Hisashi also thought this was a very good idea, but then he worried:
"But if that happens, what if it drags down the serialization of 'Fate/stay night'..."
"Then we'll still prioritize the serialized manga."
Kazuhiko showed a sly smile and explained:
"We'll solicit short-form manga from him, but we won't set a specific deadline, and we don't even have to limit the subject matter."
"Just making him aware of this is enough."
In this way, there's no need to worry that he will delay the Fsn serialization because he's thinking about creating short-form manga.
The essential purpose of them doing this isn't really hoping that Akira will draw short-form manga, but to occupy his free time so he doesn't have time to do other miscellaneous things.
And if, in the process, he actually manages to create a few excellent short-form manga, then that would be even better.
"I understand."
After hearing Kazuhiko's explanation, Hisashi couldn't help but reveal a similar treacherous smile.
The two exchanged a 'hehe' smile, tacitly understanding each other, almost like a criminal gang secretly organizing some evil plan.
Meanwhile, Hisashi sighed in his heart:
No wonder he could become the editor-in-chief; he sure has a lot of devious ideas.
However...
Hehehe!
You detestable genius problematic Manga Artist—Akira, your good days are about to end!