Chapter 20 [A Mysterious Photo of a Child-sized Kitsune Humanoid]

Koto got a phone call from Honoka, informing her of the new release that she was thinking about as she was just about to get back to her apartment.

An Isekai, huh? Now that's a mainstream genre.

Koto thought, already knowing the genre well enough to give Honoka some roughly-sketched character designs that she had drawn and saved on her smartphone via e-mail in a short period after the call had ended with the message "If you're looking for some inspiration..."

That should help her.

With a smug expression, she hastily unlocked the door to her apartment.

As the door was opened, a sight of online order packages are cleanly piled in the middle of the doorway. It was apparent that she has not had the time to open any of them.

After quickly realizing this, she quickly shut the door behind herself and quickly started to move the aforementioned packages into her living room to start opening them.

Rustle...

All the packaging material that she had removed was the only thing that she could her as she slowly sliced them open inside of her 2LDK apartment.

I really shouldn't let these pile-up.

She thought, as she opened the last package that contained a new processor for her computer, along with a new graphics card that looked very expensive.

About the time that I finally upgrade my PC... it started slowing down lately, after all...

When she finished, she saw the pile of packaging material that had accumulated and quickly got the urge to quickly put them in the trash to not see them anymore due to how it made her apartment look.

That's better...

With a satisfied grin on her face, she sat down on the sofa for some needed relaxation.

I wonder what will happen to the current series now that she's planning on a new one... Will it end? or Will this new one be a oneshot?

Koto started think about Honoka's light novel and what will happen to it, now that she has started to plan another one.

She hasn't been informed about who the illustrator for it was either...

She became somewhat attached to the characters since she has read the series briefly in the past when she was informed that she was going to be the illustrator that was going to work on the manga version of it to understand the story enough that she is able to portray the story as accurately as possible.

I doubt that they'll suddenly cancel or put it on hiatus temporarily if it's just a quick oneshot.

She noded to herself, reassuring herself.

...

"New Oneshot Announcement."

Was what Koto had found upon checking Honoka's publisher's website after an hour of rest on the sofa from the long day that she just had.

It had Honoka's pen name: "Saku" on the page along with a synopsis of the upcoming one-shot, with the illustator's name on it.

I wasn't Koto this time, it was someone else-- someone that Koto did not recognize.

It had seemed a little surprised that she didn't recognize the illustrator that was on the article. She knew most of the currently active illustrators since has used their work as inspiration when she was still a newbie.

"Is this person new?" Koto quickly looked up the said name, wondering if her guess had been correct.

The first search result that she stumbled across had the title: "Middle School Kid Wins First Prize at Amateur Illustrator Competition."

When she clicked on it, A picture of the person that had the name that was on the publisher's website loaded up.

It was a girl that wore glasses and had long white hair, she also had fox-like ears and a tail. She was wearing her school's uniform, it looked like it was the uniform of a high-class school-- one that only the rich elites could get into.

What the hell...? The child's face looked awfully familiar to Koto, she zoomed into the photo on her 24 inch computer monitor. She noticed that the child resembled someone that she had met in the past.

With the child's gold-colored eyes, there was no doubt about it....

The Fox Humanoid resembled her friend Yui, a defendant of Tamamo-no-Mae.

It's been a quite while ever since she met up with Yui due to both of their busy schedules.

The last time they had met, Yui told her that she had been taken in by a Shinto priest and that they made a deal with the terms: "for as long as you help us, we won't hunt you down and kill you."

She did not know the child in question, nor did they have any way of communication. Koto couldn't use any magic so communication with it is pointless nor does Yui own a smartphone.

However, she has heard a rumor about Yui gaining some allies a few months ago, but that was pretty much it. She did not hear anything else about what was going on with Yui.

I wonder what she's been doing lately... I should meet up with her again soon to catch up. And to also ask if she's in any way related to that kid.

She took a look at the photo again after reminiscing about when the two of them first met.

That was when she noticed that the gold eyes of the fox child had changed to the same crystal-like blue eyes that her friend Yui has.

"What the..." Koto was now confused, seeing the child's eye color

change in front of her-- it was like it had some kind of magic spell casted on it.

She rubbed her eyes, attempting to confirm what she just witnessed in front of her to be reality and not some kind of hallucination.

The image did not change.

The child still had the blue eyes that she watched turn from another color.

"Am I dreaming... or something?" Koto pinched herself on the cheek to confirm that this was not a dream.

"Ouch! Yup, I'm awake."

Is it even possible to alter a photo on a computer with magic? She pondered, trying to examine the photo more closely.

"Photo being altered by magic? Are you sure that you aren't dreaming or something?" Koto heard a laugh from the other side of the call, she called a longtime friend that knew a lot about magic.

"No, I even pinched myself to make sure."

"But wouldn't that be pretty lit if it was a real thing?"

"Well, too bad it isn't. And? Do you know about what just happened to that photo?" Koto shot down the person that she was talking to, feeling upset after being laughed at when she was serious.

"Nah, I really don't. All I know is the closest magic to this is the illusion spell."

"I see... well, thanks for looking into it." Koto dropped the call, disappointed that it was probably an illusion.

An illusion spell, huh? Sounds plausible enough, I guess. Koto accepted.