Uproar at the Fan Signing (2)
The fan signing continued without a hitch. First, I signed so many books that my wrist started to hurt. I never wrote this much even when working on manuscripts. Was it because I kept writing the same characters over and over? These readers were something else, threatening the wrist of a saint and aspiring hero.
“Does your wrist hurt, Author-nim?”
“No, it’s fine. No problem at all.”
After all, this saint’s power would take care of it. But from a little while ago the crowd had been unusually restless. I wondered if someone important had arrived, and sure enough, the next person in line wore a strangely familiar emblem on their chest—a sword engraved on a shield. That was the Holpert family crest.
Could it really be someone from the Holpert family? Well, I had wondered if maybe one of them was a fan of mine, but seeing it in person was another matter entirely.
“Please sign here.”
“Hmm?”
This face… I was sure I had seen it in the descriptions. The unusually round, puppy-faced man from the Holpert family. That plagiarist author had left a description of him. Oh, then there was only one possibility.
“Is there something on my face? It’s embarrassing to be stared at like that.”
Why was the eldest son of the Holpert family here? The next heir to that detestable house stood right in front of me. His name was Jeo, right?
Unexpectedly, he was a fan of my work? Come to think of it, this was rather strange. From the Holperts’ perspective, I was nothing but an annoying author. Or was he a genuine fan in the purest sense? In that case, I could at least give him a signature. Here I was author K and he was simply a reader. Of course, I fully intended to laugh my head off later at the sight of those Holpert bastards begging for a signature from the Milene they had exiled.
“Here you are.”
“Thank you. I pray my lady continues to write with a steady hand.”
It was hilarious watching that face accept my signature with gratitude. I wondered what he would do when he eventually learned my true identity. Rip it to shreds? Tremble with rage? Either reaction would be entertaining.
“Thank you. I wish the Holpert family endless glory as well.”
Right, time to get back to signing diligently.
Aside from running into Jeo, everything had been proceeding smoothly. Yes, it should have stayed that way.
But then the lights suddenly went out and the entire venue plunged into darkness in the blink of an eye. At least until right before the lights died I had been signing like a ship running before a fair wind. What on earth was happening?
Because the fan signing had been held in the afternoon, killing the lights now made it almost impossible to see. In the pitch-black gloom the readers fell into chaos.
“Why did the lights go out all of a sudden?”
Even Yugo looked clueless, so something serious must have gone wrong. Was it a building maintenance issue? If they were going to host an event like this they should have prepared proper lighting.
“President, is this going to be okay?”
“Uh, why did the lights… It seems there’s been a problem.”
That was when something blade-like flashed in front of my eyes. Thanks to Decaron I already possessed senses beyond human limits. I detected the intruder through hearing and smell rather than sight.
What the hell was that? What was happening in the middle of this venue?
That blade-like object was making dangerous sounds right beside me. Then someone clamped a hand over my mouth.
“Mmph?”
“We’re taking her just like this.”
Taking who, exactly? The thing that had been clinking unpleasantly was now pressed against my neck. It was definitely a knife.
Wait, was this a kidnapping? They were kidnapping me right now?
I had thought things were going too smoothly. There had to be some scheme behind this. Yeah, this reeked of ulterior motives. It might be connected to Sophia or that fool Schwald. No—Schwald was under house arrest and being cautious, so the only answer was Sophia. Or could it be the Holperts?
“Hehehe, you’d better stay quiet. You never know what might happen otherwise.”
“Taking her and having some fun is also an option.”
Classic kidnapper mentality. But there was one thing these idiots didn’t know: that I was none other than the Sword Saint’s disciple. They seemed to think I was just a weak author who could only write books. As if this level of threat could do anything to me.
Besides, my eyes had adjusted to the darkness. I couldn’t see everything, but I could make out their shapes. Through the faint light coming from the windows I spotted the rope. So they planned to tie me up.
I wasn’t the old me anymore. In the space of a single breath I kicked the kidnapper slowly approaching me.
Thwack!
He flew back easily, which told me their skills were pathetic.
“This bitch! I was trying to take you nicely—!”
“Die—urk!”
The moment the kidnappers tried to rush me, I forced their sword hands open, snatched the weapons, beat the rest of them down, and pressed a blade to one’s throat. The intruders were subdued in seconds.
Soon afterward the lights came back on. It was magical lighting, but it amounted to the same thing so I let it slide.
“What? What the hell just happened?”
“Oh, the lights are back! Huh? What’s going on over there?”
“Author K is surrounded by weird guys!”
“No, look closely—they’re all on the ground!”
“Author K caught the kidnappers!”
The fans who had fallen into panic quickly regained their composure. Of course. Whose fans were they? They had to manage at least this much.
The problem was these kidnappers; they had passed out after just a few hits.
“Author-nim, are you all right?”
“Who the hell are these people?”
Yugo and Jerry were urgently asking for an explanation.
“Yes. It seems someone was targeting me.”
“Who on earth? Perhaps someone who knows your real identity?”
No, that probably wasn’t it. Not many people knew my identity, and among those who did, none had reason to retaliate against me. So the target had to be “K” the author.
“If they knew, they would have spread the information openly and tried to ruin me. This feels like they were simply trying to catch ‘K.’”
“Does Author K have any enemies?”
“People who would hold a grudge against me… Well, it’s not like there aren’t any.”
While living as K I rarely went out except to exercise. It was partly to hide my identity as subtly as possible.
“Who is it?”
“Who else? How many people would be upset about a novelist holding a fan signing event?”
“Ah.”
I had packaged it as bold targeting at a public fan signing, but the plan was stupid, lacked any real strategy, and relied on hiring neighborhood thugs with mediocre skills. There was only one person who would pull something like this.
It was Sophia. I felt almost certain.
Why? In the current situation, who else but that woman would harass me? Prince Schwald was under house arrest, and Sophia seemed to have avoided it thanks to her status as the Holpert young lady. So she would naturally vent her anger on the easy target—me. She had no way to find Milene right now, so when she heard about the fan signing she had targeted me.
“Ah, you really do have a nasty younger sister.”
“Tell me about it.”
I was going to die from annoyance because of Sophia. Of course the exact culprit hadn’t been confirmed yet, but interrogating these kidnappers would surely produce results. In effect, our dear Sophia had just self-destructed.
First, should I report these kidnappers directly to the king? No—before that, I had to wrap up this fan signing quickly so they couldn’t prepare countermeasures. Incidents like this needed to be released through the media immediately.
It seemed people in this era weren’t familiar with that approach, so I would give Holpert a proper modern-style slap in the face. Besides, I already had an incredible connection named Yugo.
“President, can you publicize this incident on a large scale?”
“There are many nobles here just for this fan signing. It should be entirely possible. But are you sure you’re all right? You’re the victim, after all.”
“Pardon?”
“Well… as a woman, experiencing something like this…”
Ah, normally people would react with fear and trauma. But I was MK2 Milene K edition, carrying the spirit of a strong Korean man. So that didn’t matter at all. Rather, it would be good if my name spread widely.
“You know I’m the Sword Saint’s disciple, right? This much is nothing.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“This will also serve as promotion. Think about it. The author personally repelled the kidnappers. Add the title of beautiful and strong author on top of that?”
In short, this was a kind of author-raising project. The writer named K would gain all sorts of titles. It would create a sufficiently powerful image.
“Oh. That makes sense. The number of adventurer readers will increase. Looks like I’m the one who should be bowing to you, Author-nim. Still, the fans are very worried, so perhaps you should say a few words.”
Right. That was exactly what I planned to do.
There were already sharp-eyed nobles present, along with commoners who had come to the fan signing without knowing anything. The nobles would realize this incident involved the Holpert young lady or at least someone connected to them, and the commoners would be swept along and reach the same conclusion. In other words, this showcased the heroic side of author K overcoming external pressure.
I stood confidently before the fans who were demanding an explanation.
“Everyone, I am safe!”
“Ooooooh!”
“As expected of Author K! I believed in you!”
So this was unavoidable.
“Look! Some high-and-mighty people who disapprove of my novels have gone so far as to resort to violence against me! However, as an author who will never abandon her convictions even under external pressure, I will continue moving forward!”
“Amazing! Author K!”
And so the fan signing ended successfully.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t angry, but the fact that they had seen me as an ordinary woman would become a painful mistake for that woman. On the contrary, this incident would spread my name even further. I would gain even greater fame as a beautiful author who was also skilled in combat.
# Holpert
Around this time, Sophia was stomping her feet in frustration. Using every excuse she could think of—unlike Schwald—she had managed to slip out of the palace and return to the Holpert main residence. But then she heard that the author K who had driven her into this miserable state was holding a fan signing event. Burning with rage, she had secretly spent money to commission people from an assassination guild to kidnap her. She had no idea whether it had succeeded. If it had gone well it would be fantastic, but if it hadn’t…
“They say no news is good news, but maybe it failed?”
She had paid them a hefty sum. They must have carried it out properly. If they hadn’t, that would be an insult to the Holpert name.
She wanted to capture that K bitch quickly and subject her to every humiliation imaginable.
At that moment the door suddenly burst open.
“Sophia.”
“J-Jeo oppa? What brings you here?”
Jeo oppa suddenly coming to find her. What could it be? His face looked extremely angry. Had something happened? His tone was unusually cold today. What on earth was going on that he would show his lovely younger sister such a face?
“Father wishes to see you.”
“Oh, but what about Sein oppa…”
“He’s busy dealing with what you’ve done.”
What she had done? Was there something? She didn’t think she had done anything in particular. She racked her brain but nothing came to mind. Still, the atmosphere felt strange, so she smiled as brightly as possible and entered her father’s office.
Yet Duke Holpert himself seemed off—clearly suppressing fury. He held a newspaper in his hand, trembling violently.
“What the hell have you done?”
“F-Father?”
For her father to be this angry… What on earth had happened?
As Sophia cautiously approached, the duke threw the newspaper at her.
“Look at this. What did you do that caused a woman named author K to be attacked during her fan signing event?”
Sophia felt that something had gone terribly wrong.