Ms. Latia's Doctor-Bag Living Doll

[Part 1 · Bestselling or Not]

Editor-in-chief Green interrupted my story—

—I wasn't angry. I just stared at his guilty, shifty eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Victor, but I'm afraid this story can't be published in the paper either."

Editor-in-chief Green had a point. He'd nearly convinced me.

"Especially the second short story. It practically abandons all the underground residents who were born in North America."

I didn't care. "I think everyone will just take it as a joke."

"You're Austrian, Mr. Victor. You don't understand." Old Green wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looking flustered and nervous. "You can poke fun at the American president, but you can't say there's something wrong with their ideology—you can joke about anything, but race..."

"I understand." I continued, "This story will be hard to sell, right?"

Editor-in-chief Green breathed a sigh of relief. "Right."

I went on, "Then is there any point in discussing Ben Rickert's ending?"

Editor-in-chief Green thought it over, then looked at Kotana—

—Kotana nodded too.

"Mr. Ben will be sent to the Arcane Library to recuperate sometime around December this year. The human world can't accommodate him. But the underground world might. He's only in his thirties, so it's not too late—he's a good police officer. Perhaps Ming De will treat him kindly."

Old Green let out a sigh of relief.

"Anything else, Mr. Victor?"

I asked in return, "Anything else? What else?"

"Like a story more people would enjoy? What's gotten into you? Why have you suddenly started digging these old stories out of your doctor's bag?" Editor-in-chief Green complained. "It's bad for my heart."

"I'm terribly sorry." I straightened up the second journal and put all the records back in the doctor's bag. It was the last shred of dignity I had left as Latia Morian.