Caladria Design Story: Caladria Design Story, #1

By Feinerine

Kaede Takatsuki is a writer who comes up with stories on his own but illustrated by his childhood friend, Ayaka Sakurano. At one point in their lives, the two of them decide to make their own visual novel together. The two of them hire various workers and bond more with them, doing their best to produce great content altogether.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Feinerine
• Release date: Dec 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215414088

Book preview

Chapter 1

The planet of Caladria held many fantastical elements, but so too did its people. Many Caladrians were given the ability to use magical powers at birth, varying from elemental magic to others like healing or creating barriers, with a level system ranging from one to nine in strength. Though some weren’t born with magic, they were able to buy potions that would give them that respective ability.

The following tale is an account of two people, one born with magic and one born without, and the friendship that tied them together.

* * *

Friendship. Kaede couldn’t help but grin at the word as imagery of Ayaka flicked through his head. The two had formed a tight bond due to their mutual interests in manga and light novels. Despite his quiet nature, she had still reached out to him, and he eventually defrosted to let her grow close to him.

He was a writer; she was an artist. Though they didn’t share the same major hobby, they were hand-in-hand with to creating fiction and would share ideas with each other, making them come to life. Kaede liked to invent with stories and utilise worldbuilding; he specialised in describing vivid situations with his prose and writing engaging characters. Meanwhile, Ayaka’s art style featured characters with eyes that didn’t take over a large portion of the face, and a variety of body types.

Kaede’s intriguing scenarios and how his characters felt excited Ayaka, while he expressed interest in her art style due to it not being too cutesy, which was common at times in the creative industry.

As for their appearances, Ayaka had an above-average height with a curvy figure, and possessed dark blue locks that reached her lower back; her eyes were aqua. Kaede, with his vivid pink eyes, was taller than her to a degree—ideal for giving Ayaka piggyback rides when she wanted them—and his short hairstyle was dark purple.

Ayaka’s energy and charisma charmed Kaede. He found himself being unable to express most of his thoughts at times, occasionally prompting Ayaka to speak out for him. He was more on the shy side.

When the two noticed that they liked how the other expressed their feelings and thoughts using their favourite hobbies, they found themselves drawn together, forming a duo that was steadily improving as they continued practising their skills.

They had been friends for fifteen years, since they were around five, and every year that passed, they grew at their crafts. They had started their first novel together when they were eleven. Kaede, with his fondness for worldbuilding, was interested in fantasy and sci-fi, while Ayaka’s skill in expressing his ideas using her visuals proved that the two had a successful path ahead of them.

* * *

I think I can keep this up… Kaede mused to himself after saving a writing prompt he’d typed onto his laptop. His home computer was fairly small, but the compactness allowed him to travel to various places within Dreilune and type up what he had in mind at the time.

He had gotten into the habit of completing a daily word count prompt to keep his writing skills sharp. This prompt was meant to be about friendship, but he ended up writing a small profile about Ayaka and himself, along with their childhood meeting.

With anyone apart from his family or Ayaka, he found it difficult to express his thoughts. Kaede felt a strong sense of security when talking to his best friend; her usual nature was truly attractive in his eyes, and knowing that she would do her best not to make him anxious was lovely. They’d been friends for so long that the thought of them growing distant was something he couldn’t imagine.

He had always been protective of her. Since he was a level two in light magic, and she possessed no such abilities, he considered himself her guardian. Once, when they were still in school, he had accidentally blinded another student who was attacking Ayaka; since then, he’d had to be particularly careful with his magical abilities. Even when it came to keeping Ayaka safe.

He decided to send her a message.

Kaede: Hey Ayaka, I worked on another writing prompt today. I wrote about the two of us, hahaha…

Ayaka: Hi Kaede! That’s really sweet of you, I hope it’s a positive one!

While she seemed to enjoy most of the things he wrote, he usually aimed to impress her because he loved that feeling of a dear friend enjoying his work. He sent the file over while taking a sip of green tea. After a few moments, Ayaka responded.

Ayaka: I’m touched that you felt this way about our friendship! You know, we should do something to celebrate that you’ve completed a writing prompt!

caladria_01

She was the type who liked to enjoy eating food, but sadly to him, she wasn’t the best at cooking. Her house was also messy in various rooms—her own and the lounge room in particular—since she spent a lot of time in them. When she wanted to eat, she usually ordered takeout or bought a large number of microwavable meals.

Kaede: Yeah? Let me guess, you want the two of us to eat pizza or order something together?

Ayaka: Hahaha, you got me! Well, it helps that we live fairly close to each other, but it wouldn’t help to indulge ourselves a little, don’t you think?

Kaede: Hmm, I’m also assuming you want to eat at my place, so I don’t lecture you over how clean your place is…

Ayaka: You’ve known me for so long, Kaede! Ehehe. But seriously, I was also thinking I could reward you by drawing a character of yours?

Kaede: Yeah, sure. You can bring your drawing tablet over and I’ll watch you draw while we both eat pizza. We’re only getting two flavours though, yeah?

Ayaka: Sure, sure—I’ll be there in a bit!

Kaede found himself getting dressed neatly like someone might if they were to go on a date with the one they liked. Maybe it was because he didn’t want Ayaka to see him as a slob, but he also liked fancy clothing such as suits and tuxedos.

After around fifteen minutes, Ayaka arrived. She was wearing a regular white shirt along with dark blue shorts, then ordinary white socks with black sneakers, her usual style.

Hey, Ayaka, he greeted her. Glad you liked my writing prompt about friendship.

She nodded eagerly in return. Of course! I really like your writing, even if I’m unable to give proper criticism for that! Sorry.

It’s fine, I…I’m just glad I can please you in that way.

Their cheeks turned a bright red once they complimented each other, then Ayaka brought out her tablet to change the subject.

I’ll happily draw whatever you like! Is there a character of yours you want me to sketch? You know I’m a slow artist, so I’ll have to finish it after I go back home.

Kaede was thinking about who he wanted her to draw. He had a lot of characters, and she’d drawn a fair few of them so far. At that moment, he decided to make a design on the spot that he could possibly include in a future story.

Hmm, could you please sketch a girl with two blonde ringlet ponytails and the rest of her hair going down to her lower back? She would also have a spiky fringe, similar to yours.

Ayaka nodded eagerly, giving him a thumbs-up before sitting down on the large couch in the lounge room. Kaede’s place wasn’t the fanciest, but it was fitting for someone who wasn’t rich. He had a few tables—one for dining and the other in front of the couch. He also had a large television, and for décor, some vases filled with daisies and roses.

Ayaka started to work on drawing the character he made up on the spot. It took a few hours for her to complete the coloured sketch.

Kaede, the drawing is complete! she called after some time had passed.

Thanks, Ayaka, I appreciate the work. You know, there was something I had in mind for the future…

No problem, I’m glad you liked it! What did you have in mind?

Do you think we could work on a larger scale project compared to the ones we’ve completed before? Like a visual novel or light novel.

Ayaka tapped her chin using the pen of her drawing tablet.

A light novel would probably be easier, but we haven’t made a visual novel yet, have we? I don’t mind giving it a go. I’ll come up with concept art when you need me to.

He grinned widely and nodded. Yay! Thanks, I’ll make sure it’s something we’ll both enjoy!

She made her way back to her house soon after, and Kaede began to come up with ideas for the novel’s premise.

Chapter 2

There are a lot of sounds out in the world—the resonance of animals chirping, meowing, and whining, along with objects clinking against each other or onto surfaces. Cats meow, dogs bark, and birds chirp. Usually, those sounds made by animals were signs of happiness or affection. There were also roosters going Cock-a-doodle-doo! to alert others as to whether the morning sun had yet risen.

But what Kaede generally found to be most pleasurable was listening to music in its multiple forms.

As previous decades had passed by, music advanced rapidly into a plethora of genres. There was primarily classical music around the time Caladria was starting to turn into its own unique society, moving musical notes of pianos and violins into complete songs that were able to affect the listener in a positive or negative manner.

While classical music was popular for its usage of various instruments, there was also the country genre, which mainly made use of the guitar. Some songs were slow, others were fast paced, and there were even ones that managed to play at medium speed as well. They were usually known for being on the sappy side.

Of course, there was also the music made by humans and other species—voices. Some voices were nasal, others were high-pitched, and some were deep, like Kaede’s—though his was not booming like some out there. And above all, there was the delicate, high-pitched voice of Ayaka. With her sweet giggle and positive energy, there was only happiness when Kaede listened to her.

It was only Ayaka’s voice that he largely paid attention to most of the time, attempting to prevent her from being aware of a secret he concealed deep inside of his heart.

* * *

After Ayaka and Kaede talked about the story that the two wanted to come up with, it was time for them to brainstorm. They sat in their individual homes and messaged back and forth with their thoughts. There were a variety of stories Kaede wanted to tell since being able to write successful projects was a dream of his, and Ayaka understood this ambition.

Hmm, he pondered. We could go with a fluffy slice of life story, or a really action-oriented game…

The former was usually considered to be on the safe side when making a story, while the latter was the type of thing more popular companies would