Great Mangaka

In the early morning, Osaka International Airport was filled with fog.

Yang, the head of Kanto Manga Company in Osaka, walked back and forth at the exit, looking nervous.

"Why hasn't Duke Anthony come out yet? Will there be an accident?" he thought worriedly. A secretary ran over: "Minister, minister, I just received news that His Excellency the Duke has left the airport."

"What?" Yang stopped and said angrily: "Impossible, I've been watching; how could he have left?"

"I don't know that...". The secretary wiped his sweat: "But from the surveillance images, Duke Anthony did leave the airport; he evaded us."

"Why evade us!"

After asking, Yang felt he had asked a stupid question. Kanto Manga Company invited Duke Anthony to come to deal with Mirai-sensei, but the Duke obviously had his own ideas and paid no attention to Kanto.

"Forget it; go find him."

Yang shook his head. In any case, Duke Anthony's identity was too sensitive. If any accident occurred, all of Kanto would be embroiled in trouble.

However, just as both were worried, Anthony, the person involved, walked down the street in Osaka.

"Duke... Master, the hotel is ready. You've had a long journey. Do you want to go back and rest?"

Behind Anthony walked a blonde woman in her fifties, with a respectful gaze. This woman was his housekeeper and maid. She wanted to call him His Excellency the Duke, but to avoid being seen by passersby, she changed to "Master."

There were also several white bodyguards in plain clothes. They were tall. But as they walked down the street, except for an occasional glance, they didn't cause much reaction.

"Osaka, the capital of immigrants, lives up to its name,"

Anthony sighed. In addition to Japanese people, there were also white and black people on the street. Even some merchants were white. The people of this city seemed accustomed to other skin colors. If Anthony had not been accompanied by several bodyguards, perhaps no one would have noticed them.

"Annie, I'm not tired." Anthony ordered the blonde woman: "Find out where there's a bookstore nearby. I want to go take a look."

"Okay, Master," Annie replied in standard Japanese. She called on her mobile phone. A few minutes later, she was handed a map with information.

"Please come this way." Annie skillfully guided Anthony. They had barely taken two steps when Anthony suddenly stopped and his gaze fixed on a poster in the glass door of a pastry shop.

"1,000,000 sales, not to be missed. The hardcover edition of Five Centimeters Per Second is about to be released;"

that is the title of the poster. Below the title is a scene of a cherry blossom tree in bloom, with petals blowing in the wind, a man and a woman standing on either side, their backs turned, filled with an indescribable beauty and sadness.

"The most realistic and touching love manga in history, Mirai-sensei's masterpiece."

Anthony frowned slightly as he examined the phrase in the lower right corner of the image: "Mirai-sensei?"

Mirai-sensei was the objective of his visit this time. He hadn't expected that, in addition to drawing detective manga, he would also be good at love manga...

"1,000,000 sales!" Annie saw the figure on the poster and couldn't help but exclaim: "My God, his manga sales have reached this level! Even Ander from the United States has to lose to him!"

"No...",

Anthony shook his head.

"Japan's population is different. 1,000,000 sales are equivalent to our 100,000. There's no comparison." His eyes sparkled and he said: "Besides manga, Ander is also good at sports and music. He's our young people's idol. He should be better than Mirai-sensei."

"There aren't thousands of people in the world who can do what Ander did." Anthony turned around and said: "Let's go to the bookstore."

They found a nearby bookstore called Sakura Garden Bookstore, a medium-sized bookstore.

Annie asked the bookseller, and she was surprised: "Do you want to buy all of Mirai-sensei's works, in addition to Weekly Shōnen and Weekly Shōjo Manga magazines, which haven't been published in individual volumes yet? I'm sorry... We don't have that many copies."

The bookseller was almost dizzy. Mirai-sensei's works have always been popular, and Osaka has the best supply, but no bookstore can sell Mirai-sensei's collections. The customer's demand this time is excessive.

"If you want all the manga, we can collect them from our partners." The bookseller calmed down, thought for a moment, and replied: "But for Weekly Shōnen and Weekly Shōjo Manga, the truth is, we can't do anything."

After the broadcast of NHK news, Mirai-sensei's manga were reprinted. Although Sakura Garden Bookstore didn't have all the books, they could replenish them through other channels. Unfortunately, the two weekly manga magazines didn't get the reprint preference. Once they sold out, they disappeared forever.

"Master, what do we do?"

Annie asked, turning to Anthony.

"Buy the volume and have someone look for the two magazines. How many are there?" Anthony didn't care, looked up and asked: "Do you have any volumes of The Detective Sherlock?"

This time, the bookseller's eyes lit up: "We have them all, old man. The Detective Sherlock finished yesterday. Do you want to buy the complete collection?"

"Okay." Anthony nodded: "Prepare a collection for me."

"No problem...". The bookseller was excited. Although the old man's request was strange, he was generous. The complete collection of Mirai-sensei's works, plus the complete collection of The Detective Sherlock, added up to almost 40,000 yen.

"Wait a moment, I'll arrange access to the VIP area for you...". The bookseller didn't dare to neglect it and said: "You can have tea there first. We'll have to collect Mirai-sensei's volumes in half an hour."

She arranged for Anthony and the others to sit and rest in the VIP area. After leaving, Annie asked confusedly.

"You came to Osaka to see Mirai-sensei's true strength, Sensei... Why don't you trust Kanto Manga Company? With just one word, they'll surely prepare everything. Why do you have to do it yourself?"

Anthony took a sip of coffee and frowned slightly. He didn't like the taste of cheap coffee, so he put it down.

"Compared to the information others gave me, I trust the results of my own investigation more,"

Anthony replied as he took out The Detective Sherlock manga.

Kanto Manga Company had other intentions. Anthony didn't want to rely on the information they provided, as it would easily affect his judgment.

He observed The Detective Sherlock in silence. Being the original work of the novel, Anthony had no interest in reading the manga version after learning that it had been defeated, but this time, he made an unexpected discovery.

"This manga is not bad..."

The Detective Sherlock manga are not as bad as he imagined. On the contrary, their drawing is very good. The original story is relatively cold, but the manga style tends to be bright, which is more suitable for the market.

'Did such a manga lose to Mirai-sensei, who had just debuted?'

"Perhaps I still underestimated him..."

thought Anthony, and at that moment, Annie's voice sounded a little surprised: "Duke... oh no, Master, look at the poster on the wall!"

She pointed to the poster on one side of the VIP area.

Anthony looked up and saw the poster of a teenager. As a Westerner, Anthony felt that it was difficult to distinguish the details of Japanese people's appearance, but this teenager conveyed a different feeling to him.

"A gentleman is like jade... so that's it, I finally understand why they use jade to describe men." He exclaimed: "Is that the Japanese star? He has a very delicate face."

That is the unique delicacy of Orientals. In Anthony's opinion, the boy in the poster has a touch of mystery and elegance, but that's all...

"What's so strange about that poster?" He looked at it twice and found nothing special: "Isn't it just a poster of a celebrity?"

It's very normal for celebrity posters to appear in bookstores. Thousands of books rely on celebrity promotion. Anthony doesn't know why Annie is making such a fuss.

"No, Master...". Annie swallowed: "This poster has no label; they took it secretly. I just heard other guests talking; the boy in it is Mirai-sensei, the one you're looking for."

"Mirai-sensei?"

Anthony, stunned, turned his head and looked at the poster on the wall, frowning. 'Mirai-sensei was so handsome.'

"Is there really anyone in the world who can surpass Ander?"

His interest in Mirai-sensei grew more and more.

- - - - - -

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