Clara, who had witnessed everything from the corner, ran out in a panic.
“Miss Nangong got shot dead!!”
What exactly is the relationship between an author and an editor?
Meeting and then sending each other back to the Abyss?!
Clara, who had never been officially published, had always thought they were partners supporting each other, working together to create a great work…
“Don’t worry, the taser is a non-lethal weapon.”
Nyx comforted her, then added:
“Hey, if you don’t go out now, you’ll miss your chance to appear, you know?”
Just then, the basement door swung fully open, and a young girl with blue hair emerged, trying to drag Nangong Xiwang inside from the doorway. But the girl’s strength was clearly not that great, so she was pulling with a lot of effort.
As she dragged, she ground her teeth and said:
“Trying to compete with me? You’re still a hundred years too early!”
That was… Beast Fox Bell?
A person completely different from what Clara had imagined—she’d even gotten the gender wrong.
However, on that water-blue hair perched a pair of rather conspicuous pointed ears, not like cat ears, not like rabbit ears, with a tuft of white fur on top.
So there really existed a beast-eared girl in the flesh.
“Want me to help?”
“Whoa! Who’s that?”
Clara’s sudden voice startled the blue-haired girl, making her fall to the floor.
But at that moment, Nangong Xiwang, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly sprang up and pinned the blue-haired girl to the floor.
The beast-eared girl cursed:
“You woman can’t even be taken down by a stun gun?! You beast!”
Nangong Xiwang didn’t let go and retorted:
“What are you saying! You’re the beast here! Let go already! My injuries haven’t healed yet!”
“Then hand over this week’s manuscript!”
While restraining the struggling fox girl beneath her, Nangong Xiwang said to Clara:
“Clara, close the door quickly!”
Only then did Clara take a good look around the basement.
Unlike the impression of darkness and dampness outside, the inside, aside from having no windows, was about the same as Nangong Xiwang’s rented apartment…
No, even better.
She could hear the sound of a fan through the pipes overhead, indicating the climate control system was running, so there was no worry about mold or moisture.
But there wasn’t even a projection window here, and the long-term lack of light in the dim environment gave the beast-eared girl a pale complexion and a frail, lackluster stamina.
No matter how you looked at it, this lifestyle was too unhealthy.
Still, it was kept quite clean—in that regard, it was far better than Nangong Xiwang’s place.
“Miss Nangong, is she really Beast Fox Bell Sensei?”
At Clara’s question, Nangong Xiwang, still using her body size to keep the beast-eared girl pressed against the hard floor—no matter how the latter struggled, she couldn’t escape those clutches—replied:
“It’s beyond just surprising—I couldn’t make the connection at all.”
“Yeah, it’s surprising, right?”
Nangong Xiwang didn’t seem bothered and said:
“Hmph, when I first saw you, I never imagined you were that Zhenjian Yingxiong. In that sense, you two are pretty similar…”
“Let me go! You insolent woman!”
Beast Fox Bell was still struggling:
“And this time you even brought an assistant! That’s no martial morality!”
“First of all, she’s not my assistant—she’s also a manga artist, and she even admires you a bit. At least keep up some image in front of your own fans, okay?”
“Secondly, even without her, I could handle you alone. Or if Nangong Xiwang lost, then this week’s Heroes of the Flock would have to suspend serialization.”
But as the magazine’s flagship work, Qun Lan had never suspended serialization.
So far, Nangong Xiwang’s record against Beast Fox Bell was a perfect win streak.
Clearly, she really didn’t need Clara’s help. The strong current from the stun gun was just a momentary shock to her—she regained consciousness soon after falling and was just pretending to be unconscious…
Since she hadn’t transformed, it had nothing to do with Magical Girl powers; her body was just naturally tougher than normal people.
“I’m going to complain to the manufacturer of this stun gun!”
Nangong Xiwang stood up, grabbed Beast Fox Bell under the armpits, lifted her, and placed her on the sofa.
“Fox, got any alcohol?”
“…I don’t share my alcohol with enemies.”
“I’m your editor, alright?”
“In the study upstairs, in the small fridge. Go get it yourself.”
Nangong Xiwang licked her lips and went upstairs, leaving Clara and Beast Fox Bell in an awkward silence. The other party seemed bad at socializing, so Clara took the initiative to break the ice.
“Ahem, hello, Sensei. My name is… Clara.”
“Huh? Clara?”
The beast-eared girl pursed her lips and widened her eyes in surprise:
“The new Magical Girl?”
“…Yeah.”
“A professional Hero on top of being a manga artist—struggling between ideals and reality?”
“Magical Girl Clara has already been decided to be used as a promotional manga.”
“Well… it’s not completely unrelated…”
Clara sat with her legs together, her upper body stiff and straight.
Beast Fox Bell, on the other hand, relaxed and said:
“Don’t be so tense. I’m not going to eat you… So, you’re also a manga artist handled by that woman?”
“How should I put it? I’m not an author under the editorial department—I haven’t been officially published yet. I’m just creating under her guidance…”
“That woman only knows how to nag for manuscripts; does she even give advice?”
“That’s because you don’t need any advice, Sensei, right?”
Clara dropped her relaxed shoulders.
“The work I drew myself failed the editorial department’s review several times, so Miss Nangong suggested I publish online first, and then… I came with her to see how other manga artists work… Qun Lan is a fantastic work! I really love it—that’s not just flattery!”
Hearing Clara’s praise, Beast Fox Bell averted her eyes and sighed.
“Hmph, I’ve wanted to end it for a long time!”
“Huh? End it?”
“End Qun Lan! Just because it’s doing well, they keep demanding I continue writing—what kind of torment is that… Mm, you haven’t officially started serialization, so you probably don’t understand, right?”
Come to think of it, she didn’t look much older than Clara now, yet Qun Lan had been running continuously for nearly ten years…
“Beast Fox Bell Sensei… if I may ask…”
“Seventeen.”
“Huh?”
“I know what you’re going to ask. Everyone who finds out I’m the author of Qun Lan asks that question, but I’ll only tell you seventeen. Don’t ask if that’s the right answer—I’m eternally seventeen!”
Not just seventeen.
Just then, footsteps came from upstairs as Nangong Xiwang descended.
A woman’s age is a secret, but Beast Fox Bell, saying that, was definitely not just seventeen.
“Fox! Where’s your manuscript?”
Nangong Xiwang asked, holding a white porcelain wine flask.
“Haven’t drawn it yet!”
Beast Fox Bell crossed her arms and said defiantly:
“You beat me into the hospital, and I’ve only been out for three days! I’m definitely suspending serialization this week—write the reason as ‘violence from the editor’!”
“Huh? Beat into the hospital?”
Clara recalled the email Nangong Xiwang had sent her earlier.
So it wasn’t Miss Nangong who ended up in the hospital, but the manga artist she was in charge of?
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