Tokyo Mystery Writers

Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, in front of Otowa Town Kodansha.

As a red BMW M1 pulled up in front of the building, Maijo Kyosuke and Erome Miri got out of the car with joyful expressions and rushed into the Kodansha building.

Jiang Liumei took out her office key from her waist, opened the cabinet where the manuscripts were stored, and took out the well-preserved "A Bellflower".

Although Jiang Liu Meili knew that Mai Shiro Kyosuke's manuscripts would be of immeasurable value in the future, as long as Mai Shiro Kyosuke was alive, he could continue to produce manuscripts and autographs.

No matter how much speculation there is, the value of a living person's manuscript and autograph can never exceed 20 million yen. Therefore, exchanging it for a top-quality manuscript of "Mr. Ultraman's Hands" is almost a sure-fire way to make a profit!

Thinking of all this, Jiang Liu Meili winked at Mai Cheng Jingjie with her almond-shaped eyes.

The two smiled at each other, then held hands and walked towards the gate of Kodansha.

Just as the two were about to leave the Kodansha building, a shout suddenly came from behind them.

"Ms. Maishiro! Miss Jiang Liu!"

Jiang Liumei heard the voice and felt it was very familiar, so she stopped and looked behind her. She then realized that the person who had called her was none other than Gonda Manji, a well-known Japanese mystery critic.

"So it's Mr. Gonda!"

Jiang Liu Meili smiled and nodded at Gonda Manji. Only then did she realize that although Gonda Manji had seen Maishiro Kyosuke at the Edogawa Ranpo Ryusho, this was the first time Maishiro Kyosuke had met Gonda Manji.

Thinking of all this, Jiang Liumei introduced Wu Chengjingjie to Jiang Liumei:

"Mr. Maishiro, this is Mr. Manji Gonda, a master of mystery commentary. Last time, Mr. Manji Gonda wrote a review for your novel 'A Bellflower' in the magazine 'Top Hat'."

Kyosuke Maijo was extremely familiar with the name Manji Gonda!

Although Maijo Kyosuke was unaware of Gonda Manji's current status in Japan.

But in my previous life, if you wanted to understand the history of Japanese mystery fiction, anecdotes about Japanese mystery writers, or theories about Japanese mystery writers, you basically couldn't avoid the famous name of Manji Gonda.

It can be said that Manji Gonda is an encyclopedia of Japanese mystery fiction. Although he cannot be called a mystery writer, if you want to understand Japanese mystery writers, you must read his works!

Maishiro Kyosuke and Gonda Manji shook hands politely.

Jiang Liumei, standing to the side, asked curiously:

"Mr. Gonda, is there anything I can do for you here?"

"Could it be... another new book about the mystery genre is about to be released? This time, will it be about Sakai Fumiki-sensei or Oshita Utau-sensei?"

Although Gonda Manji was over forty, he was much healthier than Uyama Hideomi, that drunkard. Hearing Jiang Liu's beautiful words, he simply smiled elegantly.

"How could that be? I'm not your teacher, Wu Cheng, who can write a 20,000-word short story in one night. How could I possibly write another one before the last book was even published?"

Gonda Manji glanced at Maishiro Kyosuke beside him, then at Eri Miri, and sighed:

"To be honest, I'm here today to talk about Dansha to help Motohiko Izawa."

"Although I know that Motohiko Izawa's 'Vanity Fairy Sarumaru' and Ms. Maishiro's 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders' were once rivals."

"This made things a bit unpleasant between me and Miss Jiang Liu back then."

"But as Mr. Maishiro said on the Edogawa Ranpo Ryu-soo award stage, Japanese mystery fiction cannot be sustained by one person alone."

"Whether it's Edogawa-sensei, Yokomizo-sensei, or Matsumoto-sensei, they can only represent an era, but they cannot represent the entire world of mystery fiction."

"Therefore, I still plan to try to get Motohiko Izawa's 'Sarumaru Gensei' into the 26th Edogawa Rampo Award."

After Gonda Manji finished speaking, he noticed that Maishiro Kyosuke and Eruru Miri were both looking at him, so he quickly waved his hand and said:

"Mr. Maishiro, Ms. Jiang Liu, please don't misunderstand. I haven't taken any money from Motohiko Izawa, nor have I accepted any gifts of any kind."

"I just feel it's a real shame that historical mystery fiction ended with this generation. I want to give historical mystery fiction a chance to continue to flourish in Japan."

Maijo Kyosuke was somewhat moved by what Gonda Manji said:

"Mr. Gonda, although Izawa Motohiko and I were once rivals, under those circumstances, we had to compete for first place."

"But I know that it is precisely because of critics like Mr. Gonda who love mystery and have been dedicated to promoting Japanese mystery that the Japanese mystery world has gradually become a force to be reckoned with, on par with Western mystery. So I can understand your feelings, Mr. Gonda."

Upon hearing how well Maishiro Kyosuke understood him, Gonda Manji's impression of Maishiro Kyosuke improved significantly.

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Mai, but I'm not as great as you make me out to be. I just want to do what I can."

"Also, stop talking about me, tell me what you two are doing?"

"Could it be... that they're secretly going on a date?"

Gonda Manji's gaze was fixed on the interlocked hands of Jiang Liu Meili and Mai Shiro Jingjie, a smile on his face:

"Dating is normal, but you two should be careful lately."

"The buzz that Ms. Maishiro has generated in the literary world is greater than I expected. Many news media in Japan are worried about not having anything to report on. If you two are accidentally photographed, you might be reported by newspapers all over Tokyo the next day."

When Jiang Liu Meili heard what Quan Tian Wanzhi said, she realized that her hand and Mai Shiro Jingjie's hand had been tightly clasped together the whole time, as if the two of them had long been used to this gesture.

Thinking of this, Jiang Liu Meili hurriedly released Mai Shiro Kyosuke's hand, took out a manuscript from her briefcase, and said to Gonda Manji:

"Mr. Gonda, what are you thinking...?"

"Mr. Maishiro and I aren't on a date! We're going to Jimbocho to exchange manuscripts."

Upon hearing Jiang Liumei's words, Quan Tianmanji gave her an "I understand" look.

This forced Jiang Liumei to continue explaining:

"Mr. Gonda, I'm telling the truth. Mr. Maishiro and I found a very rare manuscript in Jimbocho, but the shop owner actually asked for 50 million yen!"

"Later, after the shop owner learned about my and Teacher Wucheng's identities, he was willing to cooperate with Teacher Wucheng, exchanging the manuscript and all the autographed copies that followed for that manuscript."

In addition to his work, Manji Gonda is also a collector, with countless autographed copies and manuscripts in his home. But this is the first time he has heard of someone offering a sky-high price of 50 million yen for a manuscript!

Jiang Liumei's words aroused the curiosity of Quan Tianmanji, after all, Conan Doyle's manuscript was worth at most 30 million yen.

Thinking of all this, Gonda Manji raised his hand to look at his watch, and a pleading expression appeared on his face:

"Mr. Wucheng, Miss Jiangliu?"

"Could you take me to see that manuscript?"

"I want to see what kind of manuscript could fetch such a sky-high price of fifty million yen."

"By the way... I can also help you with the appraisal."

Maishiro Kyosuke and Eri Miri exchanged a glance, then smiled and nodded at Gonda Manji.

After all, Gonda Manji is knowledgeable and experienced, and bringing him along can help verify the authenticity.

With these thoughts in mind, the three of them set off together in a car, heading towards Jimbocho.

As an encyclopedia of Japanese mystery fiction, Gonda Manji greatly admires Maijo Kyosuke's writing ability. On the way, he learns that Maijo Kyosuke will be signing a contract with Kodansha's president, Noma Genjiro, in forty minutes.

They didn't treat Maishiro Kyosuke and Eri Ryumi as outsiders.

On the way, he began to dictate to the two of them the current landscape of the Japanese mystery fiction industry, the open and covert struggles among Japanese publishers, and how Maijo Kyosuke should negotiate to ultimately gain the greatest benefit...