Nangong Xiwang was drinking during work hours, sitting on the sofa next to Clara as she explained.
“First off, I didn’t lay a hand on her.”
Her other hand was gripping Beast Fox Bell by the scruff of her neck. The fox-girl with weak, drooping eyes was now glaring angrily, her blue fur bristling and a threatening growl rumbling in her throat.
“That day, this old fox struck first. She came at me with a baseball bat, trying to knock me out, but when she swung at my shoulder, the bat bounced back and cracked her own skull open.”
“Huh?”
Just imagining it made Clara picture a head full of tomato sauce.
“Then… Miss Nangong, is the spot where you were hit okay?”
“Huh? It’s fine. Thanks for worrying.”
Nangong Xiwang rotated the shoulder that had been hit, saying with a hint of self-deprecation.
“I don’t have many merits, I’m just a bit tougher than the average person.”
Beast Fox Bell added, “Anyway, I really don’t have time to finish this week’s manga… so let’s just suspend the serialization? Give the readers a nine-day holiday!”
“We’ve persisted for so many years, how can we suspend serialization for a reason like that… If it really can’t be done, just put up the completed sketches, even if there are fewer…”
“That won’t do!”
Clara interrupted loudly.
“How can you put up sketches! Putting up unfinished work is way too irresponsible!”
The fox-eared girl nodded in agreement beside her.
Clara then said to her, “I’m very skilled! As your assistant, whether it’s drawing backgrounds or applying screentones, I can do it all! Beast Fox Bell Sensei! If you don’t mind, could you let me help?”
“Huh?!”
She hadn’t expected Clara to make such a request.
“At this point, even with an assistant, it’s too late… Besides, I use a computer to create backgrounds and screentones, you know? In this day and age… I’m surprised you still apply screentones by hand…”
Clara realized she was even more old-fashioned than an author who had been serializing for ten years.
However, as a reader of the “Qun Lan Hero Chronicles,” she didn’t give up.
“How do you know you can’t do it if you don’t try?”
Ten small tentacles coiled around pen shafts emerged from Clara’s hair.
“Let me warn you, my drawing speed is quite fast! That said, when I draw, I have to let Nyx take over.”
“Ha! So Clara isn’t an ordinary person either?”
Beast Fox Bell wiggled her hips as she spoke, revealing three fluffy but useless fox tails from behind, and pressed a small, fair hand against her proud chest.
“I am a fox immortal who came from the earth.”
“A fox immortal?”
Nangong Xiwang exposed the truth: “Wasn’t there a record in the past of ordinary animals turning into animal girls on a large scale? She became one at that time.”
“As long as one can accept human common sense and social systems, they can be considered ‘human.’ That’s when humans began to accept non-human intelligent life.”
“Huh? That happened centuries ago?!”
Clara exclaimed.
“Yeah, she’s lived for hundreds of years, that’s why she dares to call herself a fox immortal. And yet she still claims to be seventeen?”
But that raised a question.
“Even though she’s a fox immortal who’s lived for centuries, she can’t beat you, an ordinary person?”
“She’s very weak. Maybe all her stat points went into lifespan.”
“I told you, I’m seventeen!”
Beast Fox Bell angrily swung her fists, pounding on Nangong Xiwang, but Clara could almost see a string of “No Damage” popping up above the latter’s head.
She really was weak.
Nangong Xiwang reached out and ruffled Clara’s head.
“But, Clara, I’m really glad you’re willing to help~ Don’t worry, I won’t let you work for free. I’ll get the publisher to approve a salary for you, like a temporary job… If it doesn’t go through, I’ll pay out of my own pocket.”
“Hmph, since she’s my assistant, why would you need to pay?”
Beast Fox Bell also hugged Clara, rubbing her cheek against hers.
“Since you’re going to be my assistant, first let me see what you’ve got… Come, follow me upstairs.”
The basement was tall enough to be divided into two floors. The second floor was Beast Fox Bell’s usual studio.
There were various art supplies, tools, printers, computers, scanners, digital screens, and more. It was this environment that truly made Clara envious.
There was even a professional camera used for background reference, but it had gathered dust, giving away how long Beast Fox Bell had been without leaving this basement studio.
The fox-eared girl brought a paper and pen for Clara.
“Then just draw something random, let me see what you can do~”
Clara thought for a moment, then pulled out a carefully rolled piece of drawing paper from her small bag and spread it on the table. The content surprised even Nangong Xiwang.
“Clara, this is…”
“I spent two days at work drawing this. But I hadn’t touched a pen for a while, so I was a bit rusty. I drew this as a practice piece to get back into shape.”
“…Why is your practice piece of me? And in a swimsuit?”
The pencil drawing on the paper was a swimsuit version of Nangong Xiwang.
It was quite realistic, without any exaggeration or showing off, conveying a pure beauty.
The background—the beach, palm trees, and sea—all came from Clara’s memory of the Yuehai Resort. The drawing did not rely on Nyx’s help; Clara drew it entirely by hand, yet it was incredibly detailed.
After all, it had taken her from yesterday to this morning.
“I-I originally thought the person who was hospitalized was you, so this is… as a get-well gift… I didn’t bring any souvenirs from the resort… Anyway, this is for you, Miss Nangong. I hope you don’t mind…”
“You really have a lot of free time at work… but, thank you.”
Whether it was from the tipsiness of alcohol or genuine shyness, Nangong Xiwang’s cheeks flushed slightly, unlike her usual demeanor.
“Oh my? You’ve really shown me something interesting.”
Beast Fox Bell just squinted her narrow eyes and snickered on the side.
“You pass, assistant little sister.”
Clara and Nyx (the small tentacles) started helping Beast Fox Bell draw backgrounds and effects.
Beast Fox Bell only needed to draw the characters, then hand them over to Clara for further processing. Since there were existing sketches, it didn’t require much thought or personal interpretation—just pure repetitive labor.
However…
Clara herself, combined with her ten tentacles, had a drawing speed that completely surpassed Beast Fox Bell.
The latter, who only needed to draw the characters, instead felt pressured and couldn’t help but complain:
“This is too efficient. Are you a human printer?”
If it weren’t for the pride of a manga artist, handing over all the drawing to Clara might have made things faster? But if she did that, it wouldn’t be considered “her own manga.”
This was the one line Beast Fox Bell would never cross.
Clara scratched her head and explained, “W-Well, I have ten tentacles to mobilize, while a normal person only has one hand to draw. I won’t say ten times faster, but a few times faster is no problem.”
With Nyx’s cooperation, Clara could control several pens on the same paper to draw multiple lines simultaneously.
Each pen had her well-trained brushstrokes, with a consistent and detailed style. How could that compare to Beast Fox Bell’s single pen?
She looked at Clara’s small tentacles with some envy and sighed:
“And your brushwork is very mature, not like an amateur manga artist who hasn’t debuted yet. I really don’t know where Nangong found you.”
Nangong Xiwang was drinking on the side and suggested:
“How about letting Clara draw the background first, freeing up space for you to draw the characters?”
“Oh, editor-in-chief, who draws the background before the characters? Doing that would easily overwhelm the main subject and affect my performance…”
“Then do you have a good idea?”
At Nangong Xiwang’s question, Beast Fox Bell propped her chubby cheeks on her hands and thought, while her three fluffy tails swayed left and right behind her.
“How about this~ You two go eat dinner first, give me some time. After you eat, come back to help. That way Clara can handle my manuscript all at once.”
Beast Fox Bell glanced at the clock.
“With her enviable efficiency, I think it won’t take too long.”