After I Rescued a Beautiful Woman From a Stalker, She Started Spoiling Me and Turning Me Into a No-Good Freeloader - Chapter 9 - Editor’s POV 1

Chapter 9 – Editor’s POV 1

[Editor’s POV]

“Please listen to me, Senpai!”

“Oh my, oh my, what’s wrong, my junior?”

“It’s about Ijichi-sensei, who I took over from Senpai.”

“Ah~ I see.”

Ijichi-sensei debuted as a high school manga artist and is now in her eleventh year as a mid-level manga artist.

As a label, she’s quite profitable, so we’ve been accommodating in various ways.

She’s one of those profitable manga artists, but dealing with her mood swings can be challenging. 

During her early days, the current editor-in-chief was Ijichi-sensei’s editor in charge.

He guided her when she was still young, and had her draw manga while protecting her self-indulgent high school life by hiring her veteran assistants.

I took over as her editor as the second generation, in charge for about five years.

I remember Ijichi-sensei being quite troublesome.

And this year, the person who took over was my junior.

“What? Did she get into a fight with Himoda-san again, firing him~? I took over from the editor-in-chief, but you can’t let Himoda-san go.”

That’s right, he’s a lifeline for Ijichi-sensei.

The assistant Himoda is crucial.

Ijichi-sensei is unfortunately unable to interact with people due to her communication disorder.

For generations, editors have been told to choose assistants for manga artists based on their understanding of the artist’s communication ability.

It’s important to keep the artist in a good mood.

“T-that’s… Ahahaha, Himoda-san has gone missing.”

“Hah?!! Seriously?!”

“Y-yes. B-but it’s only been one day.”

“One day? How many hours to be exact?”

“Eh, what? Um, I think it’s almost 24 hours?”

“That’s bad! What about Ijichi-sensei?”

“I just received a call saying that she would like to go on a hiatus.”

“That’s no good!! I’m heading out for a bit! You should follow me too!”

“Y-yes!”

I hurried to Ijichi-sensei.

As expected, there was no assistant present.

In the room that was used as a workplace, Sensei was sitting on a chair and hugging her knees.

“Sensei!”

“Ah, Editor-san. It’s been a while.”

“It’s been a while! Are you okay?!”

“Eh? What are you…? Ah, the hiatus? I’m sorry. I missed the deadline.”

“That’s fine. Sensei is always working hard, so it’s fine for you to take time off. Even if we tell you to take a break, you won’t unless it’s a serious illness. Rest is also important.”

Ijichi-sensei has a communication disorder and she has no hobbies, so she has no interest in anything other than work.

No, she’s very sensitive to various trends. But it’s all for the sake of manga. Once she starts drawing, that’s all she focuses on.

Sensei’s a genius. She can’t stop when she gets an idea.

“Rather than that, Himoda-san, he…”

When I mentioned Himoda-san, Sensei’s shoulders trembled.

“I-I fired him, and he took off with all his stuff, even leaving his phone.”

Ah, I knew it.

Sensei was dependent on Himoda-san.

Sensei was a genius manga artist, but Himoda-san was a hard-working artist.

At first, he could only draw using techniques he learned in art school, and I honestly thought he might be useless.

However, he rapidly improved his drawing skills, becoming such a convincing assistant that the editor-in-chief and I had to persuade him not to quit.

Moreover, he had a very nice personality.

Even when Sensei yelled at him, he remained calm and confidently returned to work the next day.

He didn’t waver even when told to quit or his skills were criticized.

He just calmly did his job and carried out what he absorbed from Ijichi-sensei.

He was a true professional.

He once drew a four-panel manga.

Ijichi-sensei dismissed it as not interesting, but that’s not the case.

It had a surreal sense of fun and was well received.

The four-panel manga captured the characteristics of the characters so well that I wanted to include it at the end of the serialization.

However, I couldn’t say that because I thought it would upset Ijichi-sensei if I did.

“This time, it seems serious. Understood. We’ll look for Himoda-san, but for now, we’ll bring in another assistant. It might increase your workload, Sensei, but please continue with the serialization. If it’s too much, it’s okay to take another hiatus.”

I contacted the editor-in-chief and had him assign Ijichi-sensei another assistant.

It might be difficult for a newcomer editor, but coming from a mid-level position editor like me, it’s not that hard.

“I… I fired him…”

It seems that Sensei’s heart was broken because she didn’t have any other assistants, and I, who she had known since the beginning, came.

She suddenly started crying.

Ijichi-sensei is a woman who, at the age of twenty-eight, can’t confess to the man she likes and drove him away. It’s truly pitiful.

“Sensei, let’s go to the shopping mall for a change of pace. For women, shopping is a good way to change your mood. You have a lot of money, so it’s no good if you don’t have a distraction at times like this.”

I helped Sensei change into clothes from the room next to the office and instructed the junior I had brought with me to find an assistant who could come as soon as possible starting tomorrow. Then, I took Ijichi-sensei out.

After buying clothes and eating good food, Sensei must have felt somewhat better. She started talking about Himoda-san without thinking of the public.

“Why!”

Sensei, who had been feeling depressed, seemed to be getting angry now that she had relieved her mood.

“Ijichi-sensei, please calm down. Didn’t you come out here for a change of scenery?”

“Hmph, I am calm. But why hasn’t he come back?”

“Isn’t that because Sensei fired him?”

“Still, he should be back by now!”

Considering it was the fifth time, and because Himoda-san is a good person, I think he gave up on Ijichi-sensei. Understanding Sensei’s temperament, I felt this was also the right time.

“This is the fifth time, and he left his smartphone behind as well. I’m afraid he won’t come back. Sensei should give up and look for another assistant.”

I have to keep Sensei calm in case we can’t find Himoda-san.

“There can’t be anyone to replace him. He’s the only one who can draw my background. Do you think I’ll be satisfied with the background drawn by someone else?”

“We’ll have to find a way to make you satisfied. Although we gave you a break this week, we need the manuscript by next week. There are many readers eagerly waiting for your work, Sensei.”

If you acknowledge Himoda-san that much, then you shouldn’t have fired him.

After that, I was able to calm Sensei down and get her to change her mood, and I managed to get her to return to work.

It was exhausting, but if Himoda-san has the determination to become an illustrator or manga artist, I want to support him.

After all, he has that much talent.