A week later, Aito arrived at Levy’s house with his latest work.
“Naruto…
ninja?
Aito, did you write this yourself?” Levy picked up the notebook.
Written across the cover was Naruto—The Legendary Tale of Eastern Mages, and her face was filled with surprise.
“Yep.
It’s a little experiment.
Can you two help me see whether it’s good enough to submit to a newspaper?” “Little Aito, you’re amazing!
So that’s what you’ve been hiding away and scribbling all week?
You were writing a novel?!
Let me see!” Cana was equally shocked and immediately crowded beside Levy to read.
“It’s a fantasy story set in the mysterious East.
Of course, I don’t actually know much about that place, so everything is fictional.” “I’ve only written ten chapters so far.
Do you think people would like it?” “Don’t worry!
Your big sisters will give it a proper review!” At first, Cana and Levy read with playful smiles.
Gradually, however, their expressions became serious.
Eventually, the entire room fell silent except for the sound of turning pages.
Half an hour later, both girls suddenly sat upright and trapped Aito between them.
“Where’s the rest?!
I want the next chapter!
Did Naruto and Sasuke pass Kakashi-sensei’s test?!” “This is seriously interesting!
Little Aito, are you actually a genius?!” Once Levy started talking, she couldn’t seem to stop.
“Your setting is so interesting!
Centuries ago, the Eastern magic world was constantly at war, with family-based Magic Guilds fighting each other and suffering terrible losses.” “Then two incredibly powerful Saint Mages joined forces and finally brought the chaotic age to an end.” “To reduce the influence Mages had on ordinary people, they abandoned the title of Mage and chose to live in the shadows instead.” “They called themselves ninja!” “Each nation was left with only one guild—no, one Ninja Village—and every job in the country would be distributed through that village…” Levy stared at Aito in disbelief.
“It’s incredible that a six-year-old could come up with something like this!” “Levy, that’s what you’re focused on?!” Cana grabbed Aito’s shoulders.
“I just want to know what happens next!
Little Aito, hurry up and spoil it for me!” Seeing their reactions, Aito finally relaxed.
‘Looks like people in this world are pretty open to unfamiliar ideas.’ ‘Good thing I put some effort into adapting the setting.’ Speaking of which, Aito had accomplished quite a lot during the past week.
[Script Magic LV1, 987/10000] He had devoted the entire week to mastering Script Magic without spending any Inspiration Points.
At LV1, Script Magic possessed virtually no offensive ability.
It allowed Aito to inject Magic Power into written characters while writing, causing those words to visibly manifest.
Beyond that, it didn’t seem capable of much else.
But that didn’t mean it was useless.
Quite the opposite.
After obtaining [Script Magic LV1], Aito’s overall understanding of magic had improved dramatically.
He could clearly feel himself gaining experience faster whenever he studied other forms of magic.
Before, one full day of practicing Fire Magic gave him fewer than 300 experience points.
Now, spending the same amount of time earned him almost 500.
His Fire Magic had already reached— [Fire Magic LV0, 888/1000] He was close to mastering it.
Script Magic was essentially an “EXP Gain UP↑” buff.
That single effect was more useful to Aito than learning a dozen random spells.
He had also begun studying Solid Script under Levy, which led to another interesting discovery.
Two skills now appeared side by side on his System Panel.
[Script Magic LV1, 987/10000] [Solid Script LV0, 36/1000] Solid Script appeared directly after Script Magic rather than receiving a completely separate entry.
‘Maybe it’s because they’re the same category of magic?’ Aito still hadn’t figured out the exact reason.
Solid Script’s experience bar was also painfully difficult to raise, much harder than ordinary magic.
Script Magic, however, was incredibly easy to grind.
All Aito had to do was inject Magic Power into his writing while working on his novel.
In just a few days, he’d accumulated nearly a thousand experience points.
At this rate, if he worked hard, he could probably reach LV2 within two or three weeks.
His earlier idea had been completely correct.
He really could practice magic while making money at the same time.
That exciting realization alone had given him nearly a thousand Inspiration Points.
It felt like he’d discovered a self-feeding loop that let him keep climbing higher and higher.
Now he only needed to confirm that his borrowed stories could actually make money.
If they did, Aito could practically coast through life.
“Hold on.
Before you demand more chapters, do you think this draft still needs improvement?” “If I submit it, do you think they’ll actually pay me?” Cana immediately raised a thumbs-up.
“Absolutely!
I’m already one of your fans!
Do you have more chapters?!” “I think it’s really good too!” Levy tapped the manuscript thoughtfully.
“Your prose and vocabulary are pretty simple, but the story itself is interesting enough to make up for that.” “Hmm…
I can suggest better wording and grammar in a few places, but honestly, I think you could submit it as it is.” Levy was right.
Aito hadn’t known this world’s language for very long.
Its Common Script and spoken language were very similar to English, but there were still plenty of differences.
Naturally, he’d used the simplest sentence structures possible when writing.
And since he was adapting a manga into novel form, his prose was…
Well.
Elementary-school level.
Perfectly appropriate for his supposed age.
“Then where do you think I should submit it?” “Sorcerer Magazine?” “I think the Fiore Kingdom Daily would be better.
Sorcerer Magazine’s audience is mostly Mages.” “Yeah, Levy’s right.” After thinking for a moment, Levy added another suggestion.
“Actually, you should probably ask your Guild Master to handle the negotiations.” “Why?” “Master Makarov is one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
He has a lot of status in this country, so if he represents you, he should be able to negotiate better terms.” “Submitting it to a newspaper would only cover serialization, right?
If the story gets popular, you’ll definitely want to publish it as a book later.” “If the contract isn’t handled properly, the newspaper might claim the publishing rights for itself.
You’d lose a lot of money.” “Wow, Levy.
You know so much!” “Hehe.
My family owns a bookstore.
I’ve heard plenty of scandals involving publishers and newspapers.” Aito nodded.
He was still a little kid.
Trying to negotiate directly with a newspaper would probably create endless problems.
Better to trouble his dear Guild Master instead.
“Hehe!
Then why don’t you use this chance to join Fairy Tail too, Levy?
Master will definitely accept you!” “Huh?
B-But…
I’m still not able to use Solid Script properly…” “Who cares?” Cana waved dismissively.
“I couldn’t use any magic when I joined!
I just hung around the guild eating and drinking every day.” “Master noticed I had a lot of Magic Power and let me join anyway.” ‘Although the only reason I stayed there was because of that stupid father of mine.’ Aito glanced at Cana a few extra times before guiltily looking away.
He wondered whether it had anything to do with what he’d told her about his travels with Gildarts.
During those few days, Gildarts had slept with a different woman in practically every town and village they passed through.
Then there was Cana’s belief that Aito was another of Gildarts’s illegitimate children whom he’d simply dumped at Fairy Tail before disappearing again.
As a result, Gildarts’s reputation in Cana’s mind had taken a devastating hit.
His standing as a father had dropped considerably.
‘Then again…
I didn’t exactly slander him.’ Aito hadn’t lied about anything.
Most of Cana’s conclusions were things she’d imagined on her own without ever bothering to confirm them.
Even if Aito wanted to correct her, he had no idea where to begin.
‘Hmm…
Whatever.
It’s all Gildarts’s fault!’ Afterward, the three returned to Fairy Tail with the manuscript.
Levy joined the guild without any trouble.
Makarov was full of praise for Aito’s novel and confidently promised that he’d contact a newspaper on his behalf.
At this rate, a serialized version of Naruto would probably appear in this world’s newspapers very soon.
Aito had mixed feelings about that.
Still, excitement outweighed everything else.
No matter how he’d obtained the original idea, he’d still put real work into adapting it.
‘And fanfiction doesn’t count as plagiarizing the original…
right?’ More than anything, Aito was curious about what kind of effect a story like Naruto might have on another world.
The thought of Mages someday shouting— “Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” —was strangely hilarious.
[Inspiration Points +233] ‘Ah…’ ‘This really is delightful.’ …