Chapter 263: Encounter

Five days had passed since I had been alternating conversations with Velvet-san and Rose-san.

I hadn’t been told how their relationship had developed, but I had noticed them secretly meeting, so there was no doubt that things had improved between them.

Today, Rose-san would be leaving, so I wanted to hear from both of them before she went.

Since I had also been secretly meeting with Rose-san, Isabella-san had been giving me a disapproving look.

So today, I had to be careful of prying eyes while trying to meet both Velvet-san and Rose-san at the same time.

“Fwaaah. Something you want to talk about before work… wait, Rose!?”

“…Good morning, Velvet. I was called by Sato too.”

I had called them to the recreation room early in the morning, but more than Velvet-san’s surprise, I was startled by the way the two of them spoke.

Somehow, they were on a first-name basis, and their speech had become casual.

I had expected them to become friends, but I hadn’t imagined they’d gotten this close.

“So you two are calling each other by first names now?”

“…Yeah. Velvet suggested we speak casually, and that’s how we’ve been talking since.”

“That’s not important! Why did you call me and Rose here together?”

“I just wanted to hear from both of you. Rose-san, you’ll be leaving this evening, right?”

“…Yeah. But I’ll come back to visit soon.”

“What do you want to talk about? Nothing has really progressed yet, you know?”

“…Eh? About the collaboration between me and Velvet—”

Before Rose-san could finish, Velvet-san hurriedly covered her mouth, flustered.

She was a little late, though, so I caught enough to understand what she was saying.

“Eh!? A collaboration between Velvet-san and Rose-san!? And… Velvet-san, you told Rose-san that you draw manga!?”

I couldn’t help but exclaim at the surprising news, and Velvet-san buried her face in her hands, clearly thinking, oops.

From that gesture, it was obvious that the collaboration was real.

“Yeah. I just ended up saying it in the flow of things. I didn’t want to say it because of what I told Sato, but… Rose spoke first.”

“…Was that bad? I thought it would be okay to tell Sato… sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. It was my decision; I just wanted her to read it after it was completed.”

Despite all the surprises, I was happy that they had confided in each other.

And if it’s a collaboration, there might even be a chance to read it as a serialized work.

“I’m glad you came out about it. Of course, it’s good for you to have someone other than me to talk to. So… this collaboration—is it a continuation of the manga Velvet-san drew last time?”

“The contents are a secret. Although, I think there aren’t many other options anyway.”

“…I don’t want to keep secrets from you, Sato, but I hope you’ll look forward to it until it’s complete.”

Hmm. They’ve shared this much, yet still keep the details hidden—frustrating.

But it wouldn’t be right to pry, so I had no choice but to wait.

“Understood. I’ll look forward to its completion. One thing I’m curious about—will you be able to keep in touch? The Elf country and the royal capital are quite far apart, right?”

“That’s fine. We’ve already scheduled the next time we’ll come here, and Rose has a magic creature that can deliver letters. That’s how we’ll communicate.”

“…I see. I went ahead and arranged for you to meet here, but was that okay?”

“Yes, of course. If you wish, I can even prepare rooms for both of you.”

“Really? I want a manga-making room! It’s hard to work secretly otherwise.”

Just the fact that I could read interesting manga makes a dedicated manga room worthwhile.

But I had one condition.

“Then, I’ll have it made. But I have one condition: someday, I want your manga to be shared with the world.”

“Shared with the world? Not just displayed here in the recreation room?”

“Yes. I want it to be released nationwide. Just as you two read books, I want many people who don’t know you to be able to read your manga.”

“No way! Absolutely not! It’s too embarrassing, I’d die!”

“…I might not like it either. I don’t have the confidence to release it to the world yet.”

Their reaction was extremely negative.

I had wanted to release the collaboration immediately, but if I insisted on that condition, they might refuse the manga room entirely.

So I decided to relax the condition a little.

“I’m not saying immediately. Once you’re both satisfied with your work, I want it to be shared nationwide.”

“But what if we never make something we’re satisfied with?”

“That’s fine. I believe you two can do it. More than anything, I want more people to read your manga. And just as you were inspired to draw manga yourselves, wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone else unknown to us started drawing manga too?”

I clenched my fists and passionately explained this to the two hesitant girls.

At first, their reaction was poor, but as they imagined their work spreading to the world, a spark seemed to light in their eyes.

“It’d be great if we could create something that moves people… but I can’t think that far yet.”

“…Same here. While we’re still embarrassed, it’s difficult.”

“Understood. But at least keep it in the back of your minds.”

With that, the discussion among the three of us ended.

There are still many hurdles before nationwide release, but this was a major step forward in their manga work.

Looking forward to the completion of Velvet-san and Rose-san’s collaborative manga, I turned my attention back to farm work.