Chapter 426 - A few days passed… (Patreon)

I arrived at the Hostess of Fertility together with Bella, and the place was packed with adventurers. As soon as we entered, everyone looked at the two of us. Bella was so tired that she didn't care about the stares; normally, she would have been embarrassed.

Fortunately, even though most people were looking at me, they didn't approach us to bother me. We sat down together, and then one of the waitresses at the restaurant came to serve us.

“Would you like something to drink before you place your order?”

“Bring me a beer, please. And you, Bella?”

“Hm? Oh, a beer for me too.”

I was surprised.

The waitress then said, “I'll go get your drinks. Would you like to order your food now?”

“Bella?”

“Oh, yes, please.” Bella then placed her order, and afterward, I placed mine. The woman wrote down our orders and then brought us our drinks. While we waited for our food, Bella said, “I'm sorry. It's just that I want to go home soon.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“We ordered too early. We could have stayed a little longer. Talked about work and stuff.”

“It's okay. I'm a little tired too, and that's saying something since I rarely get tired.” I laughed.

“Hahaha, you look perfectly fine to me. Just look at my face. I'm definitely going to have dark circles under my eyes and a terrible expression.”

Yes, she had dark circles under her eyes, but she actually looked as beautiful as always.

“Actually, your expression looks great. You look beautiful as always.”

“...” Bella heard my words, and her face turned slightly red. “Ahem… Ahem…” She cleared her throat and then took a few sips of her beer. Her glass was already almost empty; she was drinking faster than I was.

“I didn't know you liked drinking so much.”

“And I don't… It tastes a little bitter… Bleh…”

“You must have a low tolerance for alcohol, then. Be careful not to drink too much.”

“Don't worry, I'll finish this glass.”

So I changed the subject and started talking about Naruto. I asked Bella what it was like working with me and what she thought about the experience of drawing a “manga.”

“Hmmm… Working with you is great. You have a lot of talent, and you're very good at drawing, so I'm learning a lot from you. But, to be honest… It's really tiring… Hahaha.”

“Even so, it's fun, isn't it?”

“Yes, it's fun. I'm really enjoying what we're doing. I can't wait to see the first volume finished.”

As soon as Bella said those words, someone appeared right behind me.

“Excuse me. I was listening to the conversation between the two of you. Are you planning a new story, by any chance?” It was a woman wearing armor with a muscular appearance. She had an incredibly cute face, which didn't quite match her body.

“And who are you?”

“Oh, it's nice to meet you. My name is Lina, and I'm a huge fan of yours. I'm sorry for listening to your conversation. I'm sitting right behind you and…”

“It's okay.” I smiled. “As for your question, yes, I'm preparing a new volume of a new story. However, it's a completely different project from an ordinary book. Unfortunately, I can't give you many details.”

“That's okay! Oh, and you're Bella, aren't you? The artist who works on the books.”

“Yes, that's me.” Bella's eyes began to sparkle because she had just been recognized. Apparently, that rarely happened.

“I'm a huge fan of your drawings. I started drawing because of you. Unfortunately, I don't have much talent… Hehehe.”

“Thank you. I'm happy to hear that. I hope you keep drawing. Don't give up.”

“Don't worry, I won't give up! One day, I'll draw a cover for one of your books.” She said this while looking at me.

“I'm looking forward to it.”

“All right, I'll leave you two alone now. But before I go, could you sign this?”

The woman took a volume of Re:Zero out of her bag.

Of course, the two of us signed it with smiles on our faces.

####

As soon as we left the restaurant, I touched Bella's hand and teleported her home.

When we arrived at the door of her house, Bella said, “Thank you for today. I'm looking forward to continuing our work tomorrow, even though it's really tiring.”

“Me too. See you tomorrow, Bella. Sleep well.”

“See you tomorrow.”

As soon as Bella entered her house, I let out a sigh and then teleported home. As soon as I arrived in my room, it was empty. It's actually a little lonely. Normally, whenever I teleport to my room, someone is here.

Especially Mikoto.

“The laptop isn't here. She must have taken it to her room.”

I went to my bathroom, took a shower, and then threw myself onto the bed.

Being more tired than usual, I ended up falling asleep quickly.

When I woke up the next day, breakfast was already ready, and it had been prepared by Hestia. As we sat at the table, she asked, “What did you do all day yesterday? Were you with Hephaestus, by any chance?”

“Of course not. I told you, didn't I? That I was going to start a new project. A manga.”

“Ah, that's right. You talked about it during dinner. You spent the day with that girl named Bella, didn't you? Don't tell me that…” Lili said.

I sighed and said, “Nothing happened. We spent the day working, and we're going to do it again today.”

“I see. But are you interested in her?”

I didn't answer Lili's question and continued eating.

When I finished breakfast, I said goodbye to the girls and teleported to the room in the bookstore. As soon as Elma saw me, she said, “Bella hasn't arrived yet.”

“Oh, right. Do we have any tea? I'll stay here and wait for her.”

“Of course. I'll be right back.”

Elma brought tea for the two of us and sat down with me.

“Did you finish a lot of pages yesterday?”

“Are you curious to see the result?”

“Hahaha, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't.”

I took out the pages we had worked on and placed them on the table. “Here they are. Take a look and tell me what you think.”

Elma quickly analyzed all the pages. When she finished, she broke into a big smile.

“This is going to sell more than any book.”

And then, a few days passed…