Writing Light Novels in Teyvat

Chapter 7: Aether

“It was me!” Editor Kuroda said.

Editor Shigeru, who had just enthusiastically recommended The Oni Slayer, finally remembered Kuroda.

Kuroda was normally responsible for sales at Yae Publishing House.

Shigeru really could not remember what outstanding work had been in that particular bundle of manuscripts that could have allowed Kuroda, who usually barely had a presence among the editors, to obtain a submission that had caught Lady Guuji’s attention.

There was neither a famous author nor any particularly novel setting. Perhaps the submission was simply so terrible that it had caught Yae Miko’s attention.

Editor Shigeru shook his head.

At the end of the day, light novels still had to be sold to readers and the market. Although novels focused on fight scenes were becoming outdated, past experience had repeatedly told him that as long as they followed the path their predecessors had taken, even if they could not become the leader, they could at least get a share of the profits.

What was more, The Oni Slayer had innovatively combined oni, warriors, and supernatural abilities into its setting. It could at least become one of Yae Publishing House’s mainstays in the future.

Making it the main promotional title definitely would not be a loss.

Yae Miko wore a faintly amused expression as her gaze swept across the seven or eight people below. The shrine maiden beside her refilled both her tea and theirs.

“You’ve argued enough, haven’t you? You’ve already made the strengths and weaknesses of the works you recommended quite clear. Now, take a look at this one.”

The editors immediately fell silent.

Yae Miko held absolute authority at Yae Publishing House. Although she also had to manage the Grand Narukami Shrine, the editors respected her completely.

They took the light novel from Yae’s hands and passed it around, reading it one after another.

Among these editors, Shigeru, Aratani, and Fukumoto were the three most senior.

“This...” Editor Aratani hesitated as she looked toward Kuroda.

She preferred imaginative authors and stories. This light novel was extremely innovative in terms of its format, and although she appreciated it greatly, its direction was focused on making readers feel a sense of reality.

She had never thought readers came to light novels looking for reality.

Wasn’t that ridiculous?

Wasn’t everyone already getting enough reality in their everyday lives?

Editor Fukumoto was sharing the same copy with Aratani, and she already looked like the story was giving her a headache.

“I think it should be a good piece, but it’s so serious. It doesn’t seem ‘light’ enough.”

Editor Shigeru also took a copy.

He had initially been somewhat nervous because of Yae Miko’s reaction, which had not seemed particularly negative. But after seeing the reactions of the two editors, he felt he had a pretty good idea of the situation.

At first glance, he immediately understood why Fukumoto and Aratani had been hesitating.

This was an extremely standard-format academic paper.

It was a light novel written in the form of a research paper!

Shigeru, who deeply understood the market, knew very well that innovation in genre could be both a good thing and a bad thing.

It all depended on the author’s writing ability.

Would they turn the new format into something obscure and difficult to read, or would they become the pioneering author who created something fresh and unprecedented?

The answer became clear before long.

The author smoothly and skillfully stuffed one new term after another into the readers’ minds, while also borrowing the Seven Archons system that actually existed in the world.

Shigeru was certain that unless someone lived deep in the mountains and never interacted with other people, as long as the divine rule of the reader’s own nation remained stable, there would be no one who could not understand it.

Compared with a setting based on supernatural abilities, it was much closer to the readers’ lives, lowered the barrier to understanding, and added an even greater sense of historical weight and epic grandeur.

After finishing the tens of thousands of words, Shigeru let out a long breath.

“What do you think?”

Yae Miko asked while sipping her tea.

Fukumoto had already given her opinion, while the other editors were also waiting to hear what Aratani and Shigeru thought.

Aratani did not hesitate for long before voicing her concern.

“Stories are inspired by reality but transcend reality. This one is too down-to-earth. It feels less like a novel and more like documentary literature. Even omnipotent gods are shackled by ideals and destined to lose the people they love. If that’s the case, what is there left for readers to yearn for?”

Editor Kuroda said, “That is also its innovation and strength. King Deshret and the Goddess of Flowers in the novel both existed in Sumeru, which could also arouse the curiosity of more people.”

Shigeru let out a long sigh and, upholding his professional ethics as an editor, gave a relatively impartial assessment.

“I think it’s decent, but being too innovative also means there’s too much uncertainty.”

The other editors also began voicing their opinions one after another.

Seeing that another round of arguments seemed about to begin, Yae Miko yawned.

“It seems you can’t reach a consensus.”

Yae Miko looked at her subordinates and said, “As long as a novel is entertaining, I’ve never worried about whether it will have an audience. For now, what we need to do is create a good gimmick for the light novel competition.

“Let’s change the format this time. We won’t just hold an internal vote at Yae Publishing House. After you’ve all read the works selected by the editors, vote for the top fifteen. We’ll publish them together in a special light novel competition anthology.

“Include ballots inside the anthology so that readers can vote as well. That way, readers will feel like they’re participating too. We should also extend the competition period to several months, laying the groundwork for the upcoming Hina Matsuri.”

As soon as she said this, the editors could not help exchanging glances.

Aratani looked particularly troubled.

In previous years, the final rankings of the light novel competition had always been determined by the editors. Lady Yae had casually suggested changing the competition format, which undoubtedly meant that many of the procedures would have to be changed as well.

“But this one should receive the highest level of promotional resources overseas.”

Yae Miko picked up A Study on the Mystery of King Deshret Amun’s Death.

“Why?” Editor Shigeru asked in great surprise.

The other editors were confused as well.

Yae Miko said, “Most of the submissions for this light novel competition still come from Inazuma and Liyue. I won’t mention the circumstances in the other nations for now, but Sumeru is the only one where we have been unable to break into the market despite its enormous potential.

“To put it in the words of the people of Sumeru, using knowledge as bait... perhaps this kind of light novel could be another way in.”

“During this period, remember to find Sumeru scholars who have come to Inazuma for research and ask them to leave their opinions after reading this novel. If the response is positive, we can use those comments in our publicity campaign in Sumeru.

“The effect of scholars recommending a novel in Sumeru would be no less than Miss Hina recommending one.”

“This novel is the sharpest sword we have in our hands.”

As the Raiden Shogun’s retainer, Yae Miko was young even among long-lived beings. She looked like a beautiful, alluring woman in her twenties, but her thoughts extended much farther into the future than those of ordinary people.

Seeing the editors’ stunned expressions, Yae smiled.

“You all should learn more. Inazuma is no longer pursuing a policy of isolation. You should also stop keeping your eyes only on Inazuma and the neighboring nations and start looking toward places much farther away and much larger.”

In the past, the main markets for Inazuma’s light novels had been aimed at Inazuma itself and Liyue.

Other nations only received scattered copies carried away by merchant fleets, and Yae Publishing House had never paid much attention to them.

The main reason was Inazuma’s former policies.

Under the Raiden Shogun’s rule, no one dared to disobey.

But now...

“Miko, so you really are here!”

A lively and adorable voice came from the torii gate.

Paimon happily waved at Yae Miko and the group of editors.

Behind Paimon was the blond Traveler, Aether, who had stirred up quite a storm in Inazuma some time ago and ultimately influenced the Raiden Shogun to change her national policies.

“Why have you two come here?” Yae Miko asked.

The discussion was more or less finished, so she waved her hand, signaling that the editors and shrine maidens could get back to work.

Aether felt as though they had interrupted their work, but they happened to have come for the same reason.

“We heard that you recently organized a light novel competition, so we came over to see if there was anything we could help with.”

“Oh my, so that’s what this is about,” Yae Miko said. “In that case, that’s wonderful.”

Yae Miko said to the Traveler and Paimon, “As it happens, we’re about to conduct the internal voting for the light novels. If you’re interested, you can lend us a hand.”

“We can participate in the voting too?!” Paimon asked in surprise.

Aether stroked his chin.

“I’m guessing they want us to supervise the vote counting.”

“Smart.”

Yae Miko confirmed Aether’s guess.

“If you two help with this, I can save two shrine maidens from having to handle things at the printing house. You know, producing all the materials is quite troublesome too.”

Seeing this, Paimon joked, “Then we’re going to ask for a little more payment!”

“Plenty of payment. And plenty of food too.”

Yae Miko smiled.

The evaluation process that followed was conducted at a furious pace.

Aether and Paimon chatted with the editors present, and before they knew it, they noticed the light novel that the editors seemed particularly concerned about.

“Such a long and difficult-to-pronounce title.”

Paimon scratched her head.

“It’s so hard to understand... It’s a little intimidating. But it looks like it has something to do with Sumeru.”

“Our next destination is Sumeru anyway. Why don’t we take a look at it while the editors are voting?”

Aether did not object to the suggestion.

During the wait, he picked up the light novel signed simply as “The Author.”

About ten minutes later, the two of them finally finished reading it.

Aether flipped through it several more times.

“I feel like this is a lot like... some records we might find during our adventures.”

Paimon sniffed.

“You mean like a traveler’s diary? It doesn’t look like one at all. It actually looks much more like the things those Akademiya scholars read.”

It was hardly unusual for scholars from the Akademiya to travel throughout the seven nations of the continent.

Paimon and Aether had encountered several of them in Mondstadt, their first destination, and Liyue, their second. There were quite a few in Inazuma as well.

Aether did not dwell on the matter too much.

“Then I guess I was mistaken. But you and Miko said that the god of Sumeru is the Little Lucky Grass Lord. Why isn’t she mentioned here?”

Paimon let out an “Oh.”

“You mean that? The Little Lucky Grass Lord was a newly born successor who became the Dendro Archon five hundred years ago. The previous Dendro Archon was Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The Little Lucky Grass Lord obviously couldn’t have existed during the era described in this novel!”

Aether understood.

Paimon was still immersed in what they had just read.

“Ah, why is that? But I don’t know much about Sumeru’s history either. If we can find some Akademiya scholars when we get to Sumeru and ask them whether the events in this novel are real, that would be great.”

As they spoke, one of the editors had already brought over a completed anonymous ballot.

Aether and Paimon immediately became busy.

However, Paimon’s words had still left a seed in Aether’s heart.