The Shocking Eunuch, Reborn as a Literary Girl

Chapter 48: Illustrations for a Masterpiece!
The next afternoon, a strange man came to the Umehara family.

At first, the editor said, "I've already arranged an appointment with an artist for you today. She said she'll need to meet with you to discuss the details, and I've given her your contact information."

However, Chiya Umehara is not a veteran light novel author, and she is not quite sure how much illustrations affect the sales of light novels.

She still follows the same thinking as online novelists: "good writing can be broken," and doesn't care too much about the book's cover illustration.

So she just gave a perfunctory "okay" and then forgot about it.

As a result, by the afternoon of that day...
"You must be Ms. Arisa Yuuki! I've heard so much about you!"

"Yes, it's me, hello. May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Chishima, the illustrator for your work. Nice to meet you!"

What catches the eye is a pretty girl whose attire suggests she's a homebody, yet also exudes a trendy vibe, giving off a slightly quirky feel.

When Chiya Umehara saw her, her first thought was: "This girl is not normal."

What happened afterward undoubtedly confirmed her suspicions.

Please come in.

After welcoming the girl into the house, she originally thought that it would be a businesslike discussion between the two sides about how to draw and to confirm the specific details of the cooperation.

As soon as the other person entered the room, they began to bombard her with questions like a storm.

"How will the story unfold afterward? Will it be the same as the web version? Or will there be some changes? Although it's fine if it's not changed, after watching the web version, I feel that my anticipation has decreased a lot. Wouldn't it be better to adjust the subsequent plot? That way, there would be more anticipation."

"Forehead"

"Will the character Irelia, who appeared in the web version, reappear in the light novel version? Or will she be dropped altogether? Logically, she should appear, but with the younger sister's outstanding performance in the light novel version, her reappearance would be a bit annoying, wouldn't it? It would feel like she's stealing the spotlight from the younger sister."

"Um"

"If possible, we should definitely continue with the current light novel version's style and give the younger sister more screen time, right? Iria and all that are completely unimportant, right???"

"Eh"

"So, how will things develop from here? I'm so excited! If only..."

After being bombarded with questions for quite some time without being able to get a word in edgewise, Chiya Umehara finally lost her patience and interrupted her.

"Didn't you come here to talk to me about illustration? Will asking these questions help you with your future work?"

After being rebuffed, Ruriko Chishima realized that she had just lost her composure.

"No, it's just that I was so excited to meet the artist, because he's so interesting." She laughed awkwardly, coughed twice, and then changed the subject, "Um... do you have any custom requests for my future artwork?"

"For example, I noticed that you didn't mention the characters' hair color or appearance in your novel. Do you have any requirements in this regard? Or what other specific characteristics do you want to depict in the characters you're drawing?"

Chiya Umehara replied nonchalantly, "Just do as you please. I'm not an expert in this area, so I can't offer much advice."

Upon hearing this, Chishima Ruriko became even more excited: "Ohhhhhhh!!!!! Free rein, huh! Is this your complete trust in my abilities?! In that case! I'll definitely do my best!!!"

Chiya Umehara looked at her helplessly: "Then, is there anything else you want to say?"

The other person shook their head repeatedly: "No, no, no! I won't disturb your creation any longer, so I'll take my leave!" "I also need to go back and quickly create an illustration worthy of such a work!"

"By the way, it would be even better if you could show me the next volume before it's finished!"

"Then, farewell!"

After saying this, Chishima Ruriko fled the house at lightning speed.

Only a completely bewildered Chiya Umehara was left behind.

Watching the other person's departing figure, she muttered, "This guy doesn't seem very normal."

Although I felt the other person was acting a bit strange.
However, in Chiya Umehara's view, novels are primarily about written content, with illustrations merely serving as embellishments.
Therefore, she didn't take it too seriously.

But what she didn't know was that the influence of illustrations on the light novel industry was not as simple as she thought.

She'll only find out about this in the future.
-
After returning home, Ruriko Chishima immediately began creating at full speed.

Chiya Umehara's words about "free rein" fueled her already high enthusiasm, making it burn even more fiercely.

She can draw the stories she likes and define the "orthodox image" of the characters in the stories entirely according to her own preferences and ideas.

Is there anything more joyful than this?
Now, she is brimming with culinary skills.

Generally speaking, she will communicate with the document library first when she receives a job.

Which characters need illustrations, which characters need character portraits, and which important plot points require special illustrations?
The two parties need to agree on the specific number of drawings before discussing what to draw and how much to pay, based on the actual situation.

But now, she doesn't care about all that anymore.

She plans to create character designs for all the important characters who have a significant role in the first volume of the book, and provide corresponding character illustrations.

Then, she would add special illustrations to all the plot points in the article that she felt were important.

For example, when the protagonist earns money for the first time, he buys meat and makes stew at home with his sister.
For example, when the protagonist buys a magic wand for his sister, and the sister happily hugs him.
And then there was the prophecy that "your family will all die in three days."
She wanted to draw all the scenes that she considered important.

Of course, most importantly, we need to draw a really beautiful cover illustration for the first volume, featuring the younger sister as the main character.

That's right, she wants everyone to like the younger sister character.

It's not just about the plot, but also about the character art!

As for the question of "what if the bookstore doesn't want to pay that much money after I've drawn so many on my own," she had considered that as well.
The conclusion reached is
She'll just consider it a donation for charity!

The document library will ask you how many images you want to order and how much money you want to pay, and you will accept the payment.

She considers any extra contributions as free contributions made out of love! Public service contributions, no money required!
She had a gut feeling that this novel would definitely cause a huge sensation in Japan.

And I must dedicate my own contribution to this already captivating masterpiece.
The highest level of creation.

Ruriko Senshima, unleashing her full power!

　P.S.: I'm going out today, so I'll post two chapters of my drafts early.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)