NOVEL WEB Chapter 20
“Phew… this book’s almost wrapped up!”
“Wow, has it already come to that?”
Just like the Betrayer Hero, I was planning on wrapping up Support Disbandment around volume 10, so I just had to tough it out for another three weeks.
“Support Disbandment ending…”
Belua, sitting next to me, looked all gloomy at the mention of ‘ending’, but sadly, I couldn’t delay it just because of that.
Forcing a story to stretch too long could ruin the whole thing.
‘But then…’
“I guess I gotta start thinking about my next project. Life.”
When I write fast, this becomes the issue.
Despite the impossible weekly serialization schedule that only I could manage for the readers, it’s also the reason why everything’s ending quickly, forcing me to keep on writing while trapped.
“Hmm… tough one.”
Should I use that idea I had when Rate took me out?
A protagonist who loses their memory in a dog café.
That’s actually a pretty appetizing theme.
Those girls who normally treated him like trash suddenly turn nice to the memory-loss protag.
Just thinking about it makes me hungry for ideas.
“Well, thanks to you, I’m a bit less worried about the next project.”
“What did I do?”
“Just by existing, you’re an inspiration on a whole other level.”
“Huh…?”
Rate tilted her head in confusion and went back to her drawing.
Relieved from my next project worries, I moved closer to admire her drawing.
Whoa, this is it.
The scene Rate was currently drawing depicted Luca and the novice nun Mari’s first encounter from volume 4 of Betrayer Hero.
Luca appeared as Mari faced death by an orc attack, defeating the orcs and extending a hand to her as she lay unconscious.
The halo from the sun behind Luca was beautifully captured, making it a lovely sight.
“The Hero truly improves every day. Your drawing skills are growing beautifully, and so quickly too.”
“Haha, it’s nothing special.”
Unlike me, who speeds things up with hypnosis to write fast for weekly serialization, Rate was pulling off that speed just with pure physical talent.
With her supreme body that doesn’t need sleep and no sign of mental fatigue, she keeps drawing until I wake up, even if I fall asleep writing.
“Every time I see it, I envy that physique.”
I muttered quietly while watching her hands move non-stop.
“Yeah, it really is an enviable physique…”
Belua added while gazing at the Hero’s chest.
…
‘What? I feel like that meant something different.’
Eh, not like it matters much.
“Oh, by the way, Hero.”
“Hmm?”
Belua stepped beside Rate, presenting a letter.
“I actually came to deliver this, but I got a bit distracted by your drawing skills. Here you go.”
“Ah, thanks. The sender is… Arthur?”
Rate, slow and confused by the unfamiliar name, grasped the letter paper and began to read.
“And Maxson, Johnson, Kilson, Carlson, Roxon, Jackson, Maxson, Colson… Hmm? Why are there so many people? These are names I don’t even know…”
“Hold on, can you repeat that from the second name?”
“Maxson, Johnson, Kilson…”
Ah, those guys.
“Those are the bandits who kidnapped us.”
I don’t know who Arthur is, but they all end with ‘-son’, so I figured it out.
Maxson was the dumbest one, Johnson was the cook… wait a sec. Does that mean Arthur’s the leader’s name? Everyone else has names ending with ‘-son’, right?
I’ve been wondering why my bro took so long to deal with the leader, but now it sorta makes sense just from the names.
They said they left the village after it fell apart, and that village happened to be Rate’s hometown.
Hero Village + Name being Arthur, no wonder my bro had a tough time with that.
When you think about it, it makes my bro seem even cooler for having beaten them.
“Why don’t you read it? They’re from the same hometown as you, Hero.”
“What?”
“Oh, didn’t you know? They’re probably the last survivors from your village.”
“Is that so… There were survivors after all…”
Rate let out a sigh of relief before quickly opening the letter to read.
“Is that how it was… I’m really glad to hear they’re doing well.”
After finishing the letter, she carefully passed it over to Belua.
“Belua, can you find a suitable frame for this letter?”
“Ah, yes! That’s no problem at all!”
“Thanks. Please make it a nice one.”
Belua gingerly took the letter and walked out the door.
“From Hero’s reaction, it sounds like they’re doing well.”
“Yeah, apparently they’ve all snapped out of the Dark Mage’s mind control and are living well in Hypno Territory.”
“They made it all the way to our territory?”
That’s quite a distance, isn’t it?
“Some guy named Zech Hypno brought them.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
My bro’s got quite the connections.
“Among them, it seems Arthur is dating that Zech guy…”
“What the heck?!”
Of all things, that’s the one I’m really confused about!
“Is there a problem?”
“You’re telling me my bro is dating?!”
“Your bro? Ah, come to think of it, Zech Hypno and Zech are siblings. Right, that’s how it is…”
“Oh, for crying out loud…”
My bro’s smart, well-connected, tall, strong, polite, takes care of the garden, but when you’re together, you can bet he’s the absolute least fun guy ever!
He barely talks, can’t crack jokes, and he’s so buff that he attracts way too much attention while eating an ungodly amount of food, and now he’s dating someone!
With the bandit who almost killed me!
“…Well, think about it; they might actually suit each other.”
I should probably check the territory soon.
“If you do, Hero, will you come along? It’d be good to check if they’re okay too.”
“Is that fine?”
“Of course! What’s the reason to say no?”
“Thanks then. Let’s pick a date to go together.”
“In that case, let’s inform the palace. With Support Disbandment ending soon, we could take a break around that time.”
“Hehe, sounds good.”
***
After the release of Support Disbandment Volume 8, as the story’s atmosphere heated up, people began to worry quietly.
“Being volume 8, the end shouldn’t be too far, right?”
“Ugh, since Betrayer Hero ended at volume 10, I guess Support Disbandment will too. Kinda sad.”
The concern was over the conclusion of Support Disbandment.
Since Check Writer’s first work ended at ten volumes, readers had already expected that this installment would also wrap up at ten.
As much as I wanted to see more of the combat utilizing Marcus’s support and the chemistry with surrounding heroines…
“I hope Marcus finds happiness at the end…”
“Just like Luca ended up happy with Mari, Marcus should have a happy ending too, right?”
People knew.
No matter how much they wished for more, the story of Marcus’ party had to come to an end.
When Betrayer Hero wrapped up, countless fans begged Check Writer for an 11th volume, but Check Writer coldly rejected them.
‘Please let Luca and Mari go now.’
With that statement, people stopped asking him to write an 11th volume.
They asked for a new work instead.
It wasn’t until the palace locked him in the guest room after getting him engaged to the princess that they finally managed to squeeze out a new work.
However, even the newly released work was now heading towards a conclusion, so they once again found themselves waiting for the next work with the same mindset.
Asking Check Writer for Support Disbandment Volume 11 could make him genuinely declare he’d quit writing.
After all, in the past, messing with an artist’s beliefs came at a heavy price.
“It’s okay, Check Writer is bound to write another story.”
“Right? It only took him ten weeks to wrap up Support Disbandment. So, we’ll keep getting the next work, and the next work, and the next work!”
“When Elena, Charlotte, and Cassie were left in ruins after getting wrecked by Ricardo, how satisfying was it when they finally found Marcus! They’ve seen it all, and all that’s left is to deal with Ricardo, who’s now a devil by making a contract!”
“What? Did Ricardo make a contract with a devil?”
“I just read the last part of volume 8.”
“You jerk!”
In the process of anticipating a new work, someone’s head ended up taking a U-turn.
“Hehehe, it’s the special Luca cover edition – kyaaaaa! What is happening?”
Thanks to a saint who happened to be passing by, luckily, I was able to keep my life.