44. It Doesn't Go Well

2 days later, August 26th.

–A new arrival, A Legend of Sword, a novel written by Zhenyu. New manga volumes released today; One Piece (vol. 5), Dragon Ball (vol. 5), Food Wars: Shokugeki no Sōma (vol. 2)–

Ryūhei wrote them on the standing board. He put Xingqiu's novel on top of the new volume to announce that his shop was also selling novels. Perhaps, he was only selling a novel from Xingqiu for now, but likely, he would sell novels in the future.

And that morning, he saw Xiangling carrying an adventurer's backpack, indicating that she was going to Mondstadt while challenging the chefs to a cooking competition during the trip.

Xiangling herself found out that the second volume of the Shokugeki no Soma manga has been released. So before she left, she stopped by the manga shop.

Knowing that Xiangling would stop by to buy the Shokugeki no Sōma manga, Ryūhei went back into the shop to get the manga.

"Here! I hope I can taste your new dishes when you get back." Ryūhei handed the manga over to her while looking forward to the new dishes she would create during her trip.

Xiangling is a genius when it comes to cooking, and she is still quite young for a chef. If only that girl lived on earth, she would definitely get the award as the youngest chef recorded in history…Perhaps.

Xiangling looked at the cover which showed the heroine receiving a lot of dishes as if she was going to taste them all.

"Hey, Ryūhei. How about we have a cooking match?"

"Huh? I don't want to."

That was kinda sudden. Moreover, Ryūhei wasn't a chef. So, there was no reason for him to accept. And his reply couldn't be accepted by her.

"Eh, why? You have a lot of recipes in your head, right? That's why I bet you are talented at cooking. So, let's have a match!"

"I'm not good at cooking. You can find someone else instead."

"Liar! How can someone with knowledge of cooking not be able to cook? You look down on me, aren't you?"

Ryūhei sighed. It couldn't be helped, Xiangling didn't know where his knowledge came from. And not that he'd tell her in the future as well.

"Having knowledge doesn't mean you can do it. In the first place, I'm not a chef. If my cooking was better than yours or your father's, I would have run a restaurant instead. After all, I'm more gifted in art and music. You're not going to force me to change my profession, are you?" Ryūhei made excuses to make Xiangling back down in challenging him. He just let out what he could think as he lacked something like a concrete reason to refuse her.

"Uuu… but, it's weird for you to write this manga without having such a skill."

Ryūhei crossed his arms while thinking of someone. Then he said.

"Let me see. You know Mr. Zhongli, right?"

"Yep, the well-known consultant of the Wangsheng— Ah… I recall him giving me a pointer about my dish and him telling me that I could find the best ingredients to make my dish tastier."

As Xiangling took the bait, he said further.

"That's it. He is also knowledgeable in this aspect. But, would his dish be any better than yours if he was the one cooking it?"

"Ahh…" Xiangling understood now. Zhongli once told her that the food Xiangling made tasted better than his. Well… in truth, Zhongli could possibly make a better dish by using treasure and Adeptus Art. It was just, Xiangling didn't know Zhongli's identity. As she thought that Zhongli couldn't beat her in cooking even with the knowledge he had, she believed Ryūhei's statement earlier.

At that moment, a passerby exclaimed.

"Hey, look. New volumes released today."

"Really? Then what are you waiting for? Let's take a look!"

"Oi, there's a novel as well. And who is this Zhenyu?"

"Dunno. We can just ask the owner."

When one of the passers-by read what was written on the standing board, the people around started to notice that the new volume had been released, and that made people who were interested in manga immediately flock to the shop.

Seeing this, Xiangling let out a deep breath. She thought she could have a match against Ryūhei to gain experience. But it seemed he wasn't a person she thought of.

"There are a lot of customers. Even though I wanted to see how you cook, the timing isn't so good right now. I will ask you another time after I return from Mondstadt."

"I still refuse—" "Well then."

Before Ryūhei finished his words, Xiangling rushed out as the customers began to swarm his shop.

"Tsk, did this girl listen to me? I think not."

In the end, he cast aside the useless thing as he greeted the customers.

They began to ask about the novel he published today and who Zhenyu was.

"Oh, he's just a friend I met in the inn outside of Liyue Harbor."

"Oh, what kind of story is this?" One of the customers pointed at the novel.

"Well, something like betrayal, war, stratagems, or something along the lines. I've only read the prologue, so I can't give you an idea of what the story will be like."

"Haiya. I don't really interested in such a story. I guess I'll just buy the manga."

Ryūhei said nothing and handed him the manga as he also gave him the money.

"Thank you for your patronage."

The other customers also bought the manga. Some immediately left, and some stayed in the shop to read the manga. Unfortunately, no one touched the novel and there were less than 13 days left.

A few hours later, Xingqiu came to his shop while Ryūhei was drawing the manga.

*Knock* *knock*

"Boss, Young Master Xingqiu is looking for you."

"I know."

Ryūhei noticed Xingqiu's arrival due to the familiar energy within his body. He immediately stored his devices in his storage space before going down.

He could see Xingqiu on the reserved seat in the shop, but his face looked… how to phrase it? Haggard? Well, something like that. Maybe because the sales of the novel are not that good.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Usually, the new manga or the newest volume he put on the bookshelf would dwindle down rapidly within a few hours of its release. However, of the 30 copies he put on the bookshelf, only two were sold. Somehow, it was a bit too low to reach the target 13 days later.

Looks like he really has to use other ways in selling all the novels.

"Where should I go then? Sumeru? Fontaine? Or Mondstadt?"

He couldn't decide immediately. At least he needed to ask some foreigners' opinions. Or perhaps he should ask Zhongli's opinion, on which nations he should go to. After all, knowing how dangerous his home nation was, there was a possibility that the other nations were like that as well. Even Liyue Harbor couldn't escape danger since Zhongli planned to unseal the ancient god. Though, he just happened to understand Zhongli's reason why he wanted to do that and he also happened to be on his side.

However, this does not apply to other nations. He might be considered to be a protagonist in Liyue Harbor. But most likely he would become an antagonist in other nations.

Snezhnaya is the most dangerous nation because of the Fatui Harbingers and their minions. Moreover, he didn't expect that the main branch of the Adventurers' Guild was located in Snezhnaya. In other words, the Adventurers' Guild is the eyes and ears of Snezhnaya. Source: Zhongli.

He was lucky enough to not expose his trump card. Otherwise, it would be troublesome. Furthermore, after learning some Adeptus Arts, he didn't need to worry anymore. The reason was, a transformation art. As the name suggests, Ryūhei could use that technique to alter body structures, bones, and so on to completely change his appearance to that of another person. If something big happened, he just needed to transform into a character in the manga or something alike.

Ryūhei approached Xingqiu before asking.

"You look lethargic."

Xingqiu raised his head as he forced a smile.

"Well, seeing how you made a lot of copies, but many people don't even touch them, I'm a bit... lost."

Somehow, Ryūhei understood what Xingqiu felt.