Chapter 101: Zaimokuza's Manuscript!
What kind of strange wording was "granting wishes"?
Yukino might have the resolve to become Yukinoshita-emon, but Luke had no intention of becoming Nova Shenron.
As for Yui…
Mm. Yui was still an adorable idiot.
In short…
"If you're talking about granting wishes, that's probably impossible. That only exists in fantasy works."
After hearing Zaimokuza Yoshiteru's words, Luke hurriedly corrected what Hiratsuka Shizuka had apparently told him.
"Eh?"
Yoshiteru looked somewhat confused and did not quite understand what he meant.
"In short, can I take a look first?"
Luke pointed at the novel manuscript in Yoshiteru's hands.
Because he had once spent so much effort exorcising spirits, and because he also had school, his usual entertainment mostly consisted of watching TV, playing on his phone, or reading manga, things that did not require too much focus. He rarely had the chance to settle down and read text, even modern light novels meant for entertainment and relaxation.
However, he was still quite willing to try reading light novels that were popular among students, especially the newest manuscript from a novice writer.
"O-of course!"
Yoshiteru instantly abandoned Hachiman and quickly shoved the entire manuscript into Luke's hands.
A stack of printed pages landed in his hands. With one glance, his eyes were filled with dense lines of text, pressing toward him in a dark mass.
"You can take it back and read it… The manuscript is on my phone, so I can print a few more copies."
Yoshiteru spoke with great enthusiasm.
"This is the first volume. Although the process was rocky, I completed it with all my effort."
"I'll take a look first. Though I haven't really read many light novels."
Yoshiteru dismissed that without concern.
"No matter. Those who have not read light novels can offer the most sincere evaluations."
After placing a tissue underneath himself, Luke sat on the steps and began gently flipping through one page after another.
He read very quickly, and before long, he had swept through the opening setup and story.
The general content was about…
Mm.
He forgot.
Because people were always unwilling to recall painful memories.
Luke put down the manuscript after reading less than half of it and helplessly rubbed his forehead. He suddenly felt a headache over his earlier request to read Yoshiteru's manuscript.
If he had to describe the plot, it was a story about high school students saving the world in a modern urban setting.
However, to him, the writing in this light novel was truly difficult and obscure to read.
"How is it?!"
Yoshiteru looked forward to his comments. He puffed out his chest and raised his head, ready to welcome Luke's evaluation.
"To be honest, reading it felt the same as not reading it. It was so tiring to read. Why is there such a long passage of narration?"
Luke said bluntly.
"It really isn't necessary."
At the same time, his finger tapped on the manuscript. There was a long string of text there that almost occupied one-fifth of the page. These huge blocks of text, mixed with typos and obscure words, made his head hurt even more.
According to what others said, reading light novels was supposed to be a fairly relaxing pastime.
But Yoshiteru's writing only made him feel pain.
"Ugh."
Yoshiteru hurriedly clutched his heart.
"If there's more narration, it sh-should help readers understand the content better. Besides—"
"It doesn't."
Luke said directly.
Yoshiteru let out a tragic cry at being interrupted.
"Also, why does the female character suddenly start taking off her clothes at some inexplicable point? Is this some established light novel convention?"
Luke asked in confusion.
"Th-that's a feature of recent novels… It, it makes them more marketable."
Yoshiteru lowered his head and spoke quietly.
"I've barely read light novels, so… is that really how it is?"
Luke frowned and asked Hachiman beside him.
"That kind of feature does exist… There are stories like that, but in ordinary novels of that type, the process is usually more natural. They also pair it with illustrations. Of course, novels like that are generally more like buying the illustrations and getting the text as a bonus."
Hikigaya Hachiman, who had been constantly receiving the pages Luke finished reading and helping read through them as well, said that.
"Well, after all, the important part of that kind of scene is the illustration. You don't need to care too much about the content."
Hachiman left a bit of mercy and did not utter the highly destructive spell of "buying illustrations and getting toilet paper as a bonus."
"B-but I can't draw."
Yoshiteru crouched on the ground and painfully pressed his hands into the dirt, desperately wanting to find a crack to crawl into.
But still holding onto his last sliver of hope, he raised his head and looked at Hachiman.
"H-Hachiman…"
"Mm. Do you need me to evaluate it?"
Hachiman looked at him.
Yoshiteru nodded with difficulty.
"I'll be direct. Which work did you plagiarize?"
"Uwaaa! Guh, guih… ihihihi…"
And so, Yoshiteru writhed on the ground in pain, constantly letting out wails, showing no fear of the dust and filth on the ground.
It seemed that Hachiman's words had truly dealt him a severe critical hit.
"Uh? It really is plagiarized? Was the work he plagiarized not good enough?"
Luke expressed his confusion toward Yoshiteru, who did not deny it.
"Uwaaa!!!"
And so, Yoshiteru let out an even more painful wail, his round body rolling around on the ground.
"Don't strike him any further."
Hachiman looked at Yoshiteru, who was almost literally burrowing underground, and said that to Luke.
"Mm."
Luke lightly nodded. While fanning away the dust that had risen in front of his nose, he said to Yoshiteru on the ground, "Hurry and recover a little. You're getting too dirty."
"Ugh."
Yoshiteru stared blankly at the sky. Only after a long while did he slowly climb up from the ground.
"You don't need to mind it too much. I'm not a real light novel writer, so what I said might not be right."
Luke said that to Yoshiteru.
"Oh, right. Why don't you just post the novel on a website and let online readers take a look? They might be able to give you better suggestions."
After thinking for a moment, he still did not suggest that Yoshiteru go to the Service Club and hand it to Yukino for review.
He estimated that, in that situation, Yukino's merciless evaluation, which would be somewhat lacking in human warmth, might deal Yoshiteru an even greater blow.
"The way they speak is too ruthless. I might die even harder."
Yoshiteru said weakly. He lightly patted the dust from his coat and encouraged himself.
"In any case, thank you for reading my work. I'll keep working hard and start over!"
"Then this?"
Luke waved the unread manuscript in his hand.
"Leave it to me."
Yoshiteru took back the novel manuscript.
"…I'll revise it properly and try again! This time, I have gained much. I will surely put it to use next time!"
"You're still going to keep writing?"
Hachiman asked him in confusion.
"Of course. Although receiving criticism is painful, letting others read the work you wrote because you love it, and then listening to their thoughts, is also an extremely joyful thing."
…
The Service Club's activity room.
Even though this place had changed from having one person to now having three, it still seemed rather quiet. At least when it came to club activities, it felt rather quiet.
After all, most of the people who found this place did so because they had received information from Hiratsuka-sensei, the teacher in charge of student-life guidance.
And most students who received that information and wanted to solve their problems would retreat after hearing about the unrealistic club activity of "helping others grant their wishes."
After all, solving problems was not simple.
Running away from problems, however, was not difficult.
So only people who had made up their minds, like Yui and Saika, would come here.
Luke held his phone and exchanged messages with Kasumizuki while lightly writing in his notebook.
[Tasks: Resolve an evil god alone, improve English grades, change fate.]
[Task situation:
For resolving an evil god, I can consider forcibly calling an evil spirit an evil god and see whether that works.
For changing fate, no ideas for now.
Improving English grades: cheat or study properly.]
[Other situation:
Exorcist career mission route completed. Method to obtain a new career card: unknown.
A Maiden's Prayer: Yui, Yumiko, and Yukino show no abnormalities. Leaning toward Yotsuya Miko.]
Looking at the organized thoughts, Luke stretched, then gently picked up the warm black tea Yukino had brewed beside him and took a sip.
The flavor was as good as ever.
The afterglow of the setting sun fell through the window. Because the clubroom was located at the innermost part of the special building, the room had a dead stillness like stone.
Luke looked at Yui and Yukino, who were equally quiet.
The two of them were still continuing the math tutoring that had lasted for several days. The goal was for Yui to reach a passing score on the next test.
As usual, Yui had her head lowered and kept drawing aimless circles on the scratch paper with her pen.
Today, her dejected state had already lasted for a long time, because she had been stuck on one math problem for a full twenty minutes.
Yukino stood beside her, holding a book and reading. From time to time, she shifted her gaze away to see whether Yui had made any progress.
The two of them looked like a parent watching over a child's studies.
For some reason, Luke always felt that Yui and Yukino inexplicably looked a little like mother and daughter.
Yuigahama Yui looked at the problem in her notebook. Again and again, she used her pencil to draw auxiliary lines, and again and again, she erased them.
Her thoughts were still stuck far back in the past, while the silent Yukino beside her gave her more and more pressure.
"Yukinon, am I really stupid? I've clearly done so many problems of this type, but when I get a new one, I still don't know how to solve it."
Yui finally could not hold back anymore. She spoke in a low, pained voice.
Looking at Yui's appearance, Yukino closed her book, lightly sighed, and comforted her.
"Yuigahama-san, you don't need to worry about that kind of thing. You need to understand that starting anything from the beginning is very difficult."
"You only need to know this: even one poor at swimming can learn to swim through diligent practice."
"What you need to do now is slowly familiarize yourself with mathematical formulas and the world of mathematics. After that, it will become easier."
Luke looked over and continued sipping his black tea.
"But I'm afraid I'm wasting your time…"
Yui continued softly.
"This is not wasting time. I understand the principle that teaching benefits both teacher and student. I'm also quite willing to discover my own shortcomings while tutoring others…"
Yukino stood with her body straight.
"In that case, can we continue, Yuigahama-san?"
"Oh."
Hearing the sound, Yukino turned her head.
"Club member over there, do you have a question?"
"No question. I just think that in some ways, you're actually pretty amazing, President Yukinoshita."
He said that sincerely.
"Hehe."
A slight smile rose on Yukino's face.
"Acknowledging others is a noble virtue. It seems you are not completely useless after all."
Feeling that something was strangely off, Luke thought about it for a moment.
Was that praise or mockery?
Unable to figure it out, Luke did not ask. Instead, he asked Yukino about something else.
"Right, Yukinoshita, do you have any good ways to improve English?"
Yukino had not reacted yet, but Yui, who had been lowering her head and looking at the math problem and her own nails, quickly raised her head. Her eyes sparkled as she said:
"Are you going to study for the next test? Then join the tutoring too! Join us!"
Yui wanted to drag him into the sea of suffering known as studying.
"Mm, something like that."
Considering his Student career mission, he accepted Yui's answer.
"So, do you have any good experience? Yukinoshita."
"English?"
Needless to say, Yukino, who had experience studying abroad, naturally had strong English skills.
Using ordinary answer sheets as reference, she thought for a moment.
"Deficiencies in English generally come down to two reasons: knowledge points not being memorized firmly enough, and insufficient vocabulary."
"If it is only for tests, then focused study should be enough."
"But isn't insufficient vocabulary usually the reason?"
Yui, speaking from her own experience, hurriedly said, "Memorizing words is really painful. I always end up eating snacks and swallowing the words along with them."
…
Seriously, Yui being able to get into this high school was a miracle.
"Don't get distracted. Continue solving the problem."
Yukino pointed at Yui.
"Oh."
Yui obediently lowered her head.
Yukino looked back at Luke.
"In that case, I suggest starting with vocabulary. First, memorize five pages of words from the current English textbook."
"…Huh?"
"…Is there a problem?"
Luke fell silent for a while.
"Isn't that a little much?"
"Much?"
Yukino looked slightly surprised.
"Do you have something after school?"
"No."
After calculating the time, Yukino said, "Then after you return home, finish dinner and wash up, it will be around seven. If you go to bed at eleven, you still have a full four hours. How is that much?"
"Furthermore…"
"As a language subject, English will not show results unless you put in long-term effort. If you want to improve, the only way is to persistently memorize."
That was true.
He could not refute it.
But to him, English was like math to Yui.
A very painful thing.
"Can't it be a little less?"
Yukino said calmly, "If you keep that kind of barely-getting-by attitude, the final result will only be uselessness."
"Who said that? With the same barely-getting-by attitude, my math is clearly very high."
"Heh. Is that so…? The weak only keep praising their own strengths, while the strong constantly make up for their weaknesses."
…
Luke looked speechlessly at Yukino.
How did this girl always have a response waiting for him?
Was it really suitable for someone like her to go out alone?
He should not have hoped to get normal words from her mouth.
"Haa, I understand. After all, what you said does make sense."
And so, Luke cracked his fingers, revealing the same smile he had once used when facing Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"But, Yukinoshita, do you think you're strong or weak?"
Yukino thought seriously for a moment and reached her answer.
"From every perspective, I am strong."
"Then, I'll study English, Yui will study math, and as for Yukinoshita… how about exercising your body?"
…
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