Living with a magical girl, but a weirdo cadre

　Completely unaware that something was wrong, Cong Yu turned off her phone screen and closed her eyes again... She'd just sleep for another hour.

　However, Cong Yu's eyes hadn't been closed for even three minutes.

　“Ding-ling-ling!!!”

　"..."

　"Ugh……"

　With a sigh, Cong Yu answered the phone and heard a young woman's voice on the other end: "Moshi Moshi?"

　Hmm, why is it a woman?

　Cong Yu remembers very clearly that her editor was a man.

　You dialed the wrong number.

　After saying this briefly, Cong Yu hung up the phone again and closed her eyes once more... but she was wide awake now.

　"Ring ring ring!!!"

　As the phone rang again, Cong Yu glanced at it and saw it was "Editor" again. He sighed and answered the call.

　"Moshi Moshi, are you Teacher CY?"

　The woman's voice said this, and although Cong Yu really wanted to say "no," he refrained from making things up to avoid misunderstanding: "Yes, I am."

　The voice visibly relaxed after hearing Cong Yu's reply.

　She had heard from her colleagues that Teacher CY was very difficult to deal with, and she was wondering what kind of strange person she was.

　When I called today, I was immediately given a hard time.

　I hung up on her twice.

　"I am an editor at Grass Flower Publishing House. The editor who was previously in charge of liaising with you, CY, has left the company, and I will now be in charge of your comics."

　The woman's voice continued, then added, "I heard he resigned because his cartoonists were always late with their manuscripts, leading the publisher to believe he wasn't capable enough. Do you have any leads, teacher?"

　While the person on the other end was saying this, Cong Yu was reminiscing about the editor who was always urging her to submit her manuscripts, and sighed, "Ah, editors really have it tough. Nowadays, cartoonists really don't understand the difficulties editors face at all."

　"..." The other side did not respond, seemingly shocked by Cong Yu's shamelessness and feigned ignorance.

　"So, CY, you're not planning to release your artwork... no, your artwork from last month?"

　The female editor's tone was full of emotion: "Not to mention that our physical book work is difficult to carry out, our readers on the official website are also full of complaints while waiting for your electronic version."

　That's true. Cong Yu's current serialized novel, "Magical Girl Connect: Re," has a large number of readers urging her to update, and some have even threatened to send her razor blades.

　The room was filled with cries of despair: "[One update a month is bad enough, but how come there's a break?!]" and "[I wait for updates every day, but there are never any?!]"

　If this were the world before, Cong Yu wouldn't be worried at all, but in this world... if someone says they'll send a knife, they really will.

　So Cong Yu decided to stop updating while worrying, and to remain completely unmoved by reason.

　"Well... um, I'm gathering material right now."

　As Cong Yu spoke, recalling her previous progress, she said, "Currently, I've almost completed half of it."

　To this, a skeptical voice came from the other end of the phone: "Oh? What are the specifics? A dozen pages or just a few?"

　A standard chapter has 24 pages, so half of that is twelve pages.

　But Cong Yu said "more or less," which made her a little suspicious. Could it be that it was seven or eight pages long, and then they claimed it was half?

　However, she never expected that Cong Yu's answer would be, "No, you misunderstood. I actually meant half of a page."

　That is, half a page.

　"..."

　"You and I……"

　Judging from the other person's voice, it seemed like they were on the verge of a stroke: "Teacher CY, how exactly did you manage to complete only half a page in two months?"

　Actually, it hasn't been two months yet; it's only been a month and a half.

　Thinking this, Cong Yu sighed helplessly when asked, "I've been busy moving lately, I'm sorry."

　Now that you mention it, the editor does remember.

　Indeed, a magical girl agency contacted them and discussed a contract with CY-sensei regarding housing and endorsement promotion.

　Because they received a cut, it's still a vivid memory for me.

　It seems that Teacher CY's behavior wasn't just slacking off, but rather had its own extenuating circumstances.

　(Cong Yu)

　Yes, yes, that must be it.

　"Okay, then teacher, you must remember to finish the drawing before the end of this month... otherwise our subsequent work will not be able to continue."

　Cong Yu hesitated for a moment in response to the other party's advice, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Haha, actually I'm living with a magical girl now, editor, do you know? It's about this batch of housing."

　Just kidding, it might not be possible to finish in half a month, but that would be too tiring... Besides, school would have started by then, so of course I would take the opportunity to rest.

　"The magical girl is bothering me every day, making it impossible for me to concentrate on my work. Editor, please understand. I will definitely submit the manuscript by the month after next."

　The editor, who wasn't very familiar with magical girl housing, immediately dismissed Congyu's assurances as a delaying tactic.

　Although this is indeed the case.

　"Teacher CY, you don't sound very old, so don't try to fool an adult like me... and don't fantasize about living with a magical girl."

　The editor spoke earnestly, then gave Cong Yu an ultimatum: "By the end of this month, is that alright?"

　"Otherwise, I'll be questioned by my boss, just like Fujitani-san who resigned before. I have children and elderly people to support at home. Please, CY-sensei! I'm begging you!"

　"Beep beep..."

　"..." Cong Yu: "..."

　Although Cong Yu often says things like, "How can you bear to watch me do XXX?"

　But it seems this new female editor is also adept at moral blackmail.

　Hesitating for a moment, Cong Yu turned on her computer and looked at the "half-page" of artwork she had completed... Yes, half a page.

　Well, I drew half a page, but only colored a little bit. So claiming that I drew half a page isn't entirely unfounded.

　"Hmm, should I just draw this in black and white? No, or maybe... I should just post the line art?"

　As she asked herself this question, it seemed as if two little people flew out of Cong Yu's head, one an angel and the other a devil.

　The angel said: Just post the line art.

　The devil said: Sigh, let's talk about it next month.

　"..." Aren't these two just giving me the runaround?!

　Cong Yu banished the two thoughts from her mind, then took a deep breath and looked at the screen: "Quack, it's just a comic!"

　"Wow! It can be done in a day!"

　Chapter Twenty-Two: The Power of Starting School (Sad)

　Good morning! This is Fuuto Radio Station, and this is your neighbor, Sugisaki Hideo, bringing you a refreshing morning greeting.

　[Next up is music time...]

　【---】

　Was the music you just heard cheerful and uplifting enough? Today is the first day of school; I hope all students can face school life with enthusiasm!

　According to reliable sources, Magical Girl Blue Sky☆Chan initially operated in Central City, but...

　Next up is yesterday's...

　[Crack--]

　"..." Cong Yu turned off the radio listlessly and ate the egg burger on the table for breakfast... Yesterday, he rushed to finish the manuscript.

　A long time ago, after the editor issued the final ultimatum, Cong Yu did work hard and made a lot of progress.

　But then he went back to slacking off.

　This is just how it is.

　Every time Yaochuan Guang received a notice to go out and eliminate monsters, Congyu and Lantian Zhu would stay at home and slack off.

　Cong Yu was slacking off while drawing comics, while Lan Tianzhu was slacking off while working as a magical girl, but their situations were different.

　The reason why Lan Tianzhu doesn't go out is that her contract is still with the agency in Central City. Every time she goes out, the agency needs to pay for her original agency, which is a large sum of money.

　Cong Yu, on the other hand, is simply lazy.

　Until yesterday, he managed to upload the manuscript at an alarming speed, just before the deadline, causing a huge uproar.

　Amidst cheers of "[CY-sensei has updated!]" in countless comic exchange groups, the number of simultaneous viewers of his comics almost broke records.

　Of course, this was followed by a lot of angry insults.

　However, Cong Yu has never cared about haters, or even fans... He has always believed that comics are a way to make money.

　Perhaps this is a common problem among cartoonists?

　If they were novelists, they would definitely love novels and care a great deal about their fans.

　There is no doubt about that.

　"..."

　"Hmph hmph hmph-hmph hmph hmph—"

　Watching Yaochuan Guang humming a song softly as he prepared his backpack, Cong Yu stared with sleepy, dead fish eyes, completely baffled as to why this guy was happy about going to school.

　Isn't this a bit ridiculous? Who actually likes going to school?

　Sighing like this, Cong Yu, who hadn't slept well at all because of rushing to finish her manuscript last night, almost fell asleep leaning against her plate.

　"Congyu-chan! If you've finished eating, let's go to school together!"

　Yao Chuan Guang smiled, made a "yeah" gesture, and said with satisfaction, "We live very close to the school, we can just walk there!"

　What else? Are you going to wear roller skates, or jump over the rooftops? Or try to fly there?

　Cong Yu sighed, glancing at Yao Chuanguang's bulging backpack, and sensed something was wrong: "Wait, you enrolled..."

　What did you carry in your bag on the first day?

　She had never been to school, and hadn't even been given textbooks.

　In response to Cong Yu's question, Yao Chuan Guang opened his bag and proudly introduced, "These are the snacks I shared with my classmates, and this is my gift to the teacher... I'm a transfer student, so I need to find a way to fit in."

　"These are napkins, these are facial tissues, this is medicine for external injuries, this is oral liquid for colds and fevers, this is a stomach ailment prescription prepared by the agency... These will be given to the school leaders later, so that they can leave the school at any time to fight against monsters."

　Aren't you being a little too thorough in your preparations? And you've even prepared gifts to build rapport...

　"You might become president."

　Cong Yu gave a brief evaluation, then picked up her empty bag and went straight out the door to go to school.

　There were no homework or textbooks in the bag... The textbooks were at school, and no holiday homework had been assigned at all.

　Even in Japan, a place where "happy education" is prevalent, the school spirit of Fuuto High School is certainly one of happiness.

　Yao Chuan Guang paused for a moment, quickly locked his backpack, and hurried after her, calling out, "Cong Yu-chan! Wait for me!"

　After running a few steps, she turned back to look at Lan Tianzhu, who was still slowly eating: "Xiao Lan, I'm going out!"

　Lan Tianzhu swallowed a mouthful of breakfast and casually replied, "Take care, have a safe trip."

　Then, watching Yaochuan Guang hurriedly run away, Lantian Zhu couldn't help but laugh... because that conversation was too strange.

　It was as if they weren't just work colleagues, but real family.

　-

　"Cong Yu! Cong Yu, why are you walking so fast?"

　Yaochuan Guang caught up with her in a few steps, and walked side by side with Cong Yu: "Ugh, time to go to school, ugh... Cong Yu, what about you?"

　Cong Yu glanced at her.

　This guy doesn't look like someone you dislike at all.

　"I don't like going to school... because I have to get up early."