The Gloomy Young Lady's Training, 000 Days Later (3)
“Huu...”
Crack, crack.
I rolled my stiff shoulders as I stepped out of the publishing house.
I'd come here because of a letter from the publishing director saying we needed to buy more printing presses and hire extra staff...
'Looks like it went way better than expected, though?'
Back in the day, we'd have haggled forever over the price of a single press...
But thanks to the exclusive printing rights for Childhood Friend Rape, workshops everywhere were begging us to use their presses.
In the end, I snagged the latest model for basically cost price, and renegotiated the ink and paper deals at massive discounts.
And that's not all.
Feast your eyes on this glorious sight!
Murmur, murmur—
“Ludwig Publishing, release Childhood Friend Rape!!”
“When's the next stock coming in?! People are dying out here!!”
The street in front of the publishing house was packed with folks chanting the title.
Just a few months ago, no one could've imagined Ludwig Publishing—the place scraping by printing Holy Scriptures a bit cheaper than market rate—drawing a crowd like this.
'This is selling way better than in my past life.'
My old smut stories sold decently back then, sure... but nothing like this.
Not surprising, really. —I'm the only one in this world who can write erotica.
I was the sole smut author in a world where the very concept of naughty tales didn't exist.
Zing! Zing!
Watching people go wild for Childhood Friend Rape flooded my brain with dopamine. 'Alright, time to head home and crank out some more writing...'
Just as I finished farming my dopamine high and turned toward the mansion—
Glance—
At the mouth of an alley, someone in a black robe was crouched down, trembling.
'.....'
By my own reckoning, I'm objectively just your average guy—not particularly good or bad.
Normally, I'd pretend not to notice and keep walking...
But...
Shiver, shiver—
She was shaking so violently it was impossible to ignore.
'...Panic attack?'
Hands clamped over her ears, face buried in her knees.
Her shoulders heaved like she couldn't catch her breath...
But everyone else was too busy lining up at the publishing house to even glance her way.
Step—
“You okay?”
I approached and spoke up. Thankfully, she seemed conscious—a hooded head slowly lifted from within the robe.
“...Hic...hic?”
Snow-white skin contrasting pitch-black hair and eyes. Like someone had painted a person using only black and white.
And above all—
'Whoa... those tits...'
My gaze drifted downward on its own.
Topaz's rack was impressive without clothes, but these? They were jaw-dropping even fully dressed.
Gulp!
Of course, I knew I should look away out of politeness.
I knew, but...
Was this the pull of universal titty gravity?
Those massive repositories of divine power kept dragging my eyes back.
'Honestly, is it even legal for tits like that to exist on a human body? Wait, not the time for that...'
Whoosh—
Mustering superhuman willpower, I finally tore my gaze away and tried speaking again.
“Ahem, are you feeling unwell or something?”
“N-No!... P-Pub... publishing... h-house... I c-came... f-for... b-business!!... J-Just... t-too... m-many... p-people... I'm f-fine!!”
Her stammering made it take a second to parse.
'...Business at the publishing house?'
For a split second, Childhood Friend Rape flashed through my mind.
Whoosh—
'Nah, no way.'
I shook my head.
You shouldn't judge by appearances, but...
That plain black robe screamed novice church nun.
We hadn't taken any other printing jobs lately thanks to Childhood Friend Rape, so she must be here for that. Like I said, Ludwig Publishing used to get by on Holy Scripture commissions.
“Judging by your outfit, I'm guessing it's about printing scriptures... Sorry, but we're booked solid with other novels right now, so you'll have to go elsewhere... Oh, if it's a money issue, I could—”
“...N-No... th-that's... n-not it... I m-mean... ahh!”
Thud—
The robed girl flailed her hand wildly, and something tumbled from her pocket...
Whoosh—
I snatched it up reflexively.
“....”
“....”
It was Childhood Friend Rape.
'...What the?'
And not just any copy—it looked heavily used.
Whoosh—
I glanced at the robed girl. Her face was beet red, lips trembling silently.
“....”
Did this girl really read Childhood Friend Rape?
'The condition says she didn't just read it—she devoured it.'
Especially the scene where the protagonist downs the Orc Aphrodisiac and "thanks" his childhood friend with a rape? That page was practically shredded.
Sniff, sniff—
And...
A familiar scent wafting from the book.
'...This smell?'
I identified it immediately.
I always caught a whiff of something similar from Topaz, after all.
Of course, it wasn't identical to Topaz's aroma.
Sniff—
Topaz smelled like sun-dried linen, soft and fresh...
This girl's was tuberose blooming under a full moon—darker, more intoxicating.
'Stop!'
Shake, shake—
I shook my head hard to clear the stray thoughts.
“...Th-This...!!... I m-mean!... Th-This...!!... I-Isn't... m-mine...!”
Finally snapping out of it, the robed girl babbled excuses...
But the scent on the book matched her body odor too perfectly to buy that.
Whoosh—
'Can't be helped.'
A reader who'd loved the book to pieces deserved a reward!
As her author, how could I not?
“Mind waiting here a sec?”
“Y-Yes?... Wh-Why... where... are you... g-going... E-Eh?... W-Wait...!”
Something mumbled behind me, but...
I tucked her precious book safely into my coat and headed back inside the publishing house.
Clatter!
The director must've spotted me returning—he came rushing over, panting.
“Huff... huff... R-Rian?! I thought you'd gone home... D-Did you forget something...?”
He was usually pretty composed, but the recent influx had turned him half-feral.
“Nah, nothing like that. Director, you haven't released the editions with the author's name on Childhood Friend Rape yet, right?”
“Not yet! We're printing them as fast as we can, but this batch goes out nameless. Starting next week, we'll have ones labeled 'Nakadashi'.”
“Perfect. Can you pull one with the name for me?”
“Of course! Hey! Get a 'Nakadashi' edition of Childhood Friend Rape over here!!”
A few seconds later, I had a fresh copy in hand.
'So this is what power tastes like?'
Snagging something people were rioting for with one word? Felt pretty damn good.
“Thanks, Director.”
“No need! Without you, this publishing house wouldn't exist! Your grace will live in our hearts forever—”
“Yeah, take care.”
“Got it! Safe travels, Rian!!”
Spotting the praise dragging on, I nodded and cut it short.
Whoosh—
Back outside, I pulled a pen from my pocket and opened the first page of Childhood Friend Rape.
Then scrawled four letters in the margin.
Nakadashi
My first-ever autograph, across two lifetimes.
Step, step—
“.....!!”
Back at the alley, the robed girl was still sitting there, waiting.
She looked much steadier now—no more hands over ears or shaking.
But the second she saw me, she shot to her feet and started babbling.
“A-Ah... um...! Th-The...! B-Book!!”
The noisy crowd made it hard to hear, but she clearly wanted her book back.
Obviously, I would.
But—
“Sorry if I startled you... That copy looked pretty beat-up, so I know someone at the publishing house and swapped it for a new one.”
“...Eh?”
Her half-open mouth hung as her eyes darted between the new book and my face.
“If I overstepped, my bad. I'll go fetch the original.”
I spoke with pure goodwill, utterly devoid of any desire to reclaim and hoard the book this gloomy big-titted beauty had used as a pocket pussy.
“N-No...! Th-This... i-is... f-fine...”
Did she sense my sincerity? She nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Glad to hear it. Here you go.”
The moment I handed over the new book—
Squeeze—
She clutched it to her chest and bowed her head deeply.
'...Huh?'
I waited, but no response.
At least she wasn't panicking anymore...
'Good enough. Time to head home.'
Step, step—
Better get back quick before she changed her mind—and stash the book in the preservation-magic safe.
****
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Kidian buried her face, clutching the new book tight.
'...Wh-What...?... Why's... he... b-being... n-nice... to me?'
She couldn't make sense of it.
She'd worn a plain robe to hide her Necroport heritage.
Yet that man from earlier had approached her anyway, crouched and trembling in the alley.
He hadn't mocked her terror, her stammering speech.
And most of all...
He'd swapped her worn-out Childhood Friend Rape for a pristine new copy. For free.
'Wh-Why?'
Squeeze—
She knew how impossible it was to get a fresh copy—she'd tried buying one herself. No way would anyone hand one over to a stranger!
'Act friendly with Kidian. Money flows.'
Since that day, she'd assumed every act of kindness from others had strings attached...
'...No idea.'
But this time, no answers came. What profit could he gain from swapping an old book for new?
“....”
One thing was certain, though.
He hadn't reached out because she was a 'Necroport.'
He'd helped the 'Kidian' shivering in the alley.
That was enough for her.
“...Th-Thank... you... Huh?”
Snapping back to reality, she tried to express her gratitude—but he was already gone.
Look, look—
Scanning the crowd out front, no sign of red hair.
'...A dream?'
It felt too surreal to be real.
Squeeze—
Yet the new Childhood Friend Rape in her hands proved it wasn't.