A Mangaka's Letter

Cafe Tazza d'Oro.

This is a coffee shop near the Pantheon that serves croissants for breakfast.

Because the Pantheon is where the princess and the reporter first met in "Roman Holiday," these small shops have benefited.

The food is not bad, but it's definitely not as amazing as tourists make it out to be.

The only thing they're hyping up is the croissants.

Dejan Lu tossed the travel guide aside and complained, "You can tell a female author wrote this, equating food with love throughout."

"At least this is the capital," Roberto Mancini said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Vialli, holding a newspaper, said, "Maradona and some others are talking about you. Maradona says you're good, but he's better."

"That's so Maradona," Dejan Lu said nonchalantly.

He wouldn't even be happy if his idol, Pelé, were in front of him.

The Football King doesn't have that kind of status yet.

"That Juventus player from last time also commented on you. His point was that the loss wasn't Juventus's fault, but that you play too well," Vialli continued.

Dejan Lu took the newspaper and looked closely, then remembered it was Nicola Napoli.

As a player, he probably didn't have much to say. If he played well, he would have been famous, but his coaching career was legendary.

He had coached Universitatea Craiova in Romania's top league nine times. The seventh time he went, fans were already blocking the airport, telling him to get lost and stop wasting the club's time. It was surprising he coached nine times.

Juventus truly is a powerhouse.

Even their cast-offs are not simple.

The Football King somewhat approved.

This guy is practically a god of employment, getting rehired so many times after being fired.

When Dejan Lu first heard this story, he was stunned.

Next time they play Juventus, he absolutely had to have a good chat with him.

He needed to learn some advanced employment strategies. Even though he hadn't retired yet, he should have plenty of experience in the working world.

"It also says Marion Ravenwood watched the game in Rome yesterday. She's probably here on vacation. Maybe she'll like me," Roberto Mancini said, also holding a newspaper.

He had always been a fan of treasure hunting, spy, and detective films.

"Well, good luck with that," Dejan Lu said.

Actually, when Dejan Lu was younger, he didn't think Karen Allen was that good-looking. Now, her prime has probably passed.

"Rome and Milan always have celebrities appearing, but Genoa has fewer," Vialli said with some regret. "I wonder when I'll get to meet Sylvester Stallone."

Stallone was all the rage right now. The craze for "Rocky" and "First Blood" hadn't died down yet.

"That guy doesn't seem Italian at all. He's been assimilated by the Americans," Roberto Mancini grumbled.

"His mother is a French astrologer with Jewish ancestry," Dejan Lu said.

He had seen related information on online forums before.

"Ha!" Roberto Mancini said, holding up his cup. "See, I told you that guy wasn't a good person. French, Jewish, fortune-telling... maybe he's even of Gypsy descent. I can't even imagine what a terrible person he is."

Vialli didn't argue.

Italians didn't like the French, and they disliked Jews and Gypsies even more.

The three of them sat there leisurely drinking coffee, mainly because their bus wasn't scheduled to depart until after ten in the morning.

"Seriously, are you really inviting that kid to play for Sampdoria?" Roberto Mancini asked.

"He's very talented," Dejan Lu said.

"He's the most annoying young man I've ever met," Roberto Mancini complained.

"You should really look in the mirror more often," Vialli said with a laugh.

Roberto Mancini realized what Vialli meant, and the two started playfully brawling again.

Dejan Lu got up to pay. As he walked out, he heard a roaring sound.

"An airplane! And two of them!!!" Vialli shouted excitedly. The three of them stood there watching the planes do their aerial maneuvers.

After the planes were out of sight, Roberto Mancini said, "What's the big deal? Two planes aren't that unusual."

Hmph.

Dejan Lu smiled and shook his head.

"Why don't you ask your American daddy if two planes are scary or not?"

Once on the bus, many people were excited.

The high from yesterday's win hadn't worn off yet.

Chiesa took out a CD player and started discussing it with Lanna.

Sony WALKMANs were quite popular worldwide; Japanese products were truly in their golden age.

"We should have a picnic together sometime, Paolo really wants to discuss some things with you," Verchowod said, turning back.

"After a match one day."

Dejan Lu said.

The Tsar's eldest son was quite interesting.

It's just that he would experience many setbacks in the future.

Hungary had already dismantled its border barbed wire, and East Germans could now travel from Hungary to Austria.

German reunification was just around the corner.

Upon returning home, Dejan Lu wasn't surprised to see the person squatting by the door.

"Kumatani, how about hiring you as my house security from now on?"

Dejan Lu joked.

This guy was constantly GANKing the Football King, which was a bit much.

"Teacher, you're too funny. I just came to see if there was anything I could help you with. Creators need to eat and drink too; I can make you some tea,"

Kumatani Gensuke said.

He was already used to Dejan Lu's sarcastic remarks.

Compared to other manga artists, Dejan Lu was quite easygoing.

Some people were truly impossible to deal with.

"Oh, right, Teacher, I have a letter here from another manga artist for you,"

Kumatani Gensuke said, taking out the letter from his briefcase.

Upon seeing the name on it, Dejan Lu immediately became serious. This person was truly a staunch supporter of the party.

"Tetsujin 28" was very famous and a renowned anti-war work.

He had even created a manga version of the "Long March."

This person greatly admired Chinese history and had created many related manga.

Yokoyama Mitsuteru wrote in the letter with a brush: "I heard recently about an ideologically advanced children's work. Upon verification, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Lu-kun is actually Chinese. Please continue to guide children correctly with your excellent works. I implore you."

"I've always admired Teacher Yokoyama. I heard he draws 600 pages of original manuscript every month and never misses a deadline," Kumatani Gensuke whispered beside him.

Dejan Lu: ...

Who the hell are you calling out?

Dejan Lu put down his teacup and stared at Kumatani Gensuke.

He suspected that this brat had specifically asked his colleagues in Japan to help him find Yokoyama Mitsuteru to write a letter to motivate the Football King.

This kind of effortless favor was something the Japanese loved to do.

Was this to bully the Football King because he had a good temper?

Wait until you meet Yoshihiro Togashi, then you'll know what a missed deadline is.

Several hours later.

Kumatani Gensuke looked at the manuscript and asked curiously, "Teacher, has your recent work become a bit... a bit simpler in its ideological depth?"

"Can't always be so profound. Being warm is also good,"

Dejan Lu said.

When the economy was good, of course, he could impart values to them.

But Japan was starting to decline, so he had to use heartwarming stories to retain readers.

"But that issue where Ogawa used force to reason, the reader response was very strong!" Kumatani Gensuke said.

"Female readers, right?"

Dejan Lu retorted.

Kumatani Gensuke was a bit embarrassed.

Indeed, there were more objections, but his colleagues at the magazine thought it was drawn very well.

"Don't worry about it. They are only a minority, but they can make more noise. If you truly listen to them, you won't end up well."

"No, I mean letting Ogawa teach us some ways to protect ourselves."

Kumatani Gensuke spoke cryptically, but Dejan Lu understood.

It was about how to deal with them.

Even without experiencing it, he could imagine the situation.

Dejan Lu pursed his lips. This sort of thing was like priests against fairies. They said Eve tempted Adam, and you really couldn't argue with that.

But this approach wouldn't work well in Japan. The warning about having children was useless because they only liked young boys.