"Editor-in-Chief Akiyama, the first week's sales figures for Volume 2 of the 'Fate/Zero' novel have been compiled. They're truly astonishing. It may very well be the best-performing light novel our imprint has seen in years—or perhaps even the best in the past decade. Judging by Director Kamiyā's writing speed, if he keeps releasing one volume every month, he might even break the annual sales record for light novels!" A staff member from Chiyo Bookstore's light novel division entered the editorial office with a delighted expression and handed the sales report for 'Fate/Zero' to Editor-in-Chief Akiyama Gojō.
Sitting in his office, Akiyama Gojō adjusted his rimless glasses with his right hand. After taking the report and scanning it for a few moments, he smiled as if he had expected this all along.
"It really has exceeded the normal range of sales figures. We've already done everything we could on our end to promote it. Director Kamiyā should be quite satisfied with these results."
"Exactly. Also, the inventory for Volume 1 is almost completely sold out. Some of the more popular bookstores have already run out of stock. Should we arrange another print run?"
"Of course. The 'Fate/Zero' anime has only reached Episode 7. With a total of twenty-four episodes planned, there's still plenty of room for its popularity to grow. Double the number we originally planned for the reprint. Judging from Volume 2's first-week sales, its inventory will probably be gone within another week as well, so begin reprinting Volume 2, too. I'll report it to upper management later. Just notify the printing department."
"Understood. I'll inform the printing department right away."
The staff member nodded and left the editorial office.
Only after he had gone did Akiyama Gojō look over the detailed sales report for 'Fate/Zero' more carefully.
This time, he wasn't viewing it as an editor, but as someone who had once been a light novel author himself.
When Volume 2 had first arrived on his desk, he had already read through it. He had been amazed by Kamiyā Yuu's ideas and craftsmanship. Although the story had only just begun, he felt that 'Fate/Zero' belonged more properly in the category of traditional fantasy literature than light novels.
"The Holy Grail War..."
Akiyama Gojō murmured while looking at the report. After a moment, he smiled again.
"I never imagined a story like this would become so popular among light novel readers. Is it the anime's influence? Director Kamiyā's own popularity? Or is the novel itself simply that outstanding as a light novel? It's impossible to tell..."
As he spoke, he opened his desk drawer and took out a yellowed novel. The curled corners showed that it had been read countless times.
'The World's End.'
It was the last light novel he had ever written.
Unfortunately, he had only completed about half of what he had originally planned before ending it in haste.
At the time, becoming a light novel author had been his dream.
Ironically, the practice novel he had written casually to hone his skills had become a tremendous success, while the one into which he had poured all of his passion and countless hours of effort performed worse and worse with each volume.
The disappointment had dealt a devastating blow to both his enthusiasm and confidence as a writer.
In the end, he had changed careers and become an editor, determined to uncover the true reason behind his novel's failure.
After so many years, he had finally found the answer.
Yet he no longer wished to continue pursuing the dream he had once cherished.
"If 'Fate/Zero' had existed back then, perhaps it would have given me the confidence to keep going."
Akiyama Gojō silently shook his head.
In truth, the original 'Fate/Zero' novel in Kamiyā Yuu's previous world had never sold particularly well—perhaps only a fraction of what this revised version was achieving.
That was because the original had essentially been a doujin novel, receiving neither the promotional support nor the marketing efforts afforded to ordinary commercial light novels.
Kamiyā Yuu's revised version, on the other hand, had already built up tremendous popularity through its extensively promoted side stories, benefited from the anime's ongoing broadcast, and enjoyed a first-rate commercial publishing strategy from the very beginning.
...
Inside the conference room of Yosuganosora Animation Studio.
"This is the complete background setting for the 'Type-Moon World.' Most of it probably won't be directly used. Much of it is simply background information that individual stories may never even touch upon. The reason the setting has been developed to this extent is so that Miss Kirigami can fully understand the world in which she'll be writing. The setting itself is open-ended. Aside from the core worldbuilding, you're free to use, alter, or expand it however you wish."
Kamiyā Yuu inserted the USB drive containing the complete 'Type-Moon World' setting into his laptop. Once the files had finished loading, he slid the laptop across the table toward Kirigami Ruri.
The quiet, doll-like young woman accepted it with a slight nod.
The moment she saw the contents displayed on the screen, a nearly imperceptible change flickered across her eyes.
She immediately began rapidly browsing through every file before opening a new document in her writing software and typing a short message. She then turned the laptop back toward Kamiyā Yuu.
"Setting? Two hundred thousand characters? All of it?"
A two-hundred-thousand-character setting document.
That alone was enough to qualify as a novel.
Yet this was merely the worldbuilding reference for a novel?
The usually expressionless girl's faint look of surprise gave Kamiyā Yuu a small sense of satisfaction.
He, too, felt rather proud of the two hundred thousand characters of worldbuilding he had painstakingly assembled.
Even so, his expression remained perfectly calm.
"Yes. It's intended to help Miss Kirigami fully understand the world in which she'll be writing."
Kirigami Ruri turned the laptop back around and carefully began reading through the 'Type-Moon World' setting.
There wasn't a single unnecessary detail.
Kamiyā Yuu had deliberately described everything using the simplest language and the clearest organization possible.
In other words, those two hundred thousand characters truly depicted an entire fantasy world.
The sheer amount of information was astonishing.
After giving it a quick overview, Kirigami Ruri turned and nodded slightly to the capable-looking young woman with a ponytail standing behind her.
She was Kirigami Ruri's assistant. Any commercial collaboration involving Kirigami Ruri normally requires her review before proceeding.
The young woman stepped forward and explained,
"My teacher believes this collaboration may proceed. Have you already prepared the contract? We'd like to confirm the specific terms of this cooperation."
"Of course."
Busujima Murasaki, who had been standing quietly beside Kamiyā Yuu, smiled gently.
With perfect understanding, she picked up the prepared contract from the nearby table and handed it to Kirigami Ruri.
"Thank you."
Kirigami Ruri typed the words on her laptop before carefully reviewing the contract's terms.
She was fairly satisfied with Kamiyā Yuu's offered manuscript fee of one million yen per ten thousand characters, after which she passed the contract to her assistant for a detailed legal review.
After more than an hour of examination, the assistant confirmed there were no issues.
Kirigami Ruri then typed a single response.
"Acceptable."
Throughout that hour, Kirigami Ruri had also been seriously studying the background setting Kamiyā Yuu had prepared.
From time to time, she used her writing software to ask detailed questions.
For example:
"How would a certain character react when faced with a particular situation?"
"What does a certain character's everyday life look like?"
"How should the so-called Root Consciousness be understood?"
And many other similarly detailed questions.