Balsa the spearwoman is a wandering warrior, who takes on the task of saving lives, in atonement for a past sin. On her journey, she happens to save a prince, and is tasked with becoming his bodyguard. And he is going to need one, for his own father, the emperor, wants him dead.... more>>

Batchelder Award Winner <<less

After the world was recreated countless times, a world that would not be destroyed was created. This marked the beginning of the City era.... more>>

From Berlin to Detroit, this series tells the stories of the unique cities that came to be in that world.

It was Kawakami's debut series and it takes place in the final era of Kawakami's light novels, which include Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon and Owari no Chronicle. <<less

It started when my weirdo classmate, Chiba, tried to save me from a runway truck and got us both killed instead. Idiot. Then we got... more>> transported to another world, which I guess is like an otaku dream come true, or something? Chiba ends up with cheat abilities, and what do I get? Nothing! Lucky me, I get to be a s*x worker instead. Gotta earn some money somehow - but since I have to do it, I'm gonna kick ass at it. This world treats women even worse than the one we came from, so things get...rough. Still, I've made friends with some of the girls, and if I can juggle Chiba's idiocy and Sumo the virg*n's emotions on top of all the various kinks my customers throw at me, things will be alright...won't they? <<less

A scientist who lost his wife in an unforeseen accident.... more>>

He set out to create a clone of his wife because of loneliness.

But just before the birth of the clone, he was converted and the clone was discarded.

But then for a while. Scientists who are subjected to guilt will receive unexpected punishment.

The runaway of the science which does not stop. The sci-fi short short of two men who are crazy for love, depicting their sins and punishments. <<less

"I expect a fox to come down this evening."... more>>

I, who spend my daily life working in a factory, saw a woman standing alone on a deserted mountain pass and called out to her without thinking.
She shakes her hair tied in one knot and turns her head to look at me. I was puzzled by her unrealistic words, but I felt nostalgic for her face and decided to wait for the fox to fall with her.

"Um, have we met before?"
"――――, I was sure you'll remember me."

《I》 traced my memories one by one as if I was counting them with my fingers.

A town in the countryside. The noisy sound of cicadas and the choking smell of grass. The summer festival at the shrine and the red and scarlet sleeves of the yukata. The "Fox Fireworks" that the two of us lit on fire together - those days when a new summer came around every year. <<less

The mountain was once home to a dragon with fiery red eyes and a red mane.... more>>

Its breath scorched the forest, its claws cut through the rocky skin of giants, and its fangs devoured even devils with horns and wings.

One night, the soul of a sobbing child wandered to the dragon and settled on it.

The dragon, with its power approaching that of a god, is undaunted and will not yield to anyone.

However, the red dragon knew nothing of how to protect those who were much weaker than it, or how to hold on to the life that was dying. <<less

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the gaming industry has seen an explosion in popularity. One of the most popular games ever released is Mystery Maker, a VR RPG where players can create baffling puzzles in a virtual space and challenge other players to solve them.... more>>

As a promotional stunt for the game's upcoming sequel, eight real life great detectives have been hand chosen by Kurata Chikage, executive director of MegalodonSoft, to challenge each other to a match in a demo of Mystery Maker 2. Among them are Kamo Touma, a magazine contributor well known for his investigative work overturning false convictions, and his wife's cousin Ryuuzen Yuki, a recently debuted mystery novelist.

However, on the day of the demo event, the detectives are all drugged. When they awaken, they find their smartwatches are locked to their wrists and they are shown videos of their families and loved ones being held hostage. They are contacted by a Gamemaster, who tells them that if they wish to save themselves and their families, they must play a death game called "Delicious Death for Detectives".

As scheduled, the eight of them will play Mystery Maker 2's demo, and the Detectives will challenge the mu*der puzzles created by the mu*derer. If the Detectives are not able to reveal the mu*derer and their tricks before the time limit, all players will be killed. However, if the mu*derer is exposed, both they and their hostages will be killed. And if a Detective makes an accusation but gets even the tiniest detail wrong, they will be mu*dered by the Gamemaster's secret accomplice, the Executioner.

Now the only way for the eight detectives to survive is to expose the mu*derer and Executioner lurking among them, even if they must risk their lives and those of their compatriots to do so.

Which is an especially big problem for Kamo, because he's the one who's been chosen as the mu*derer! <<less

This world is the world before the true savior “The Hero” appeared.... more>>

In this world, there are “Three Hopes.

The “Hero Licht,” the “Saint Milka,” and the “Sage Jamil” exist as the most powerful human beings fighting against the demons.

And…

*The title spoils the story… but there are no heroes in this world yet.

Therefore, unfortunately, there are many beings among the demons that cannot be defeated by them.

This story is not the cool story of the “heroes” you know, but the story before that. <<less

A young man walks alone through frozen land covered in snow and ice as far as the eye can see. Not for himself, not because... more>> he cares about his hometown, but in order to return to the only woman he loves - a fragile human fighting against a harsh environment. The extreme north of physical expression. <<less

The once wealthy and powerful Ryuuzen clan has been all but destroyed. Their misfortune began in 1960, when a majority of the family was wiped out when their vacation villa was buried under a landslide. However, search and rescue teams discovered something even more shocking: A majority of the bodies they discovered showed obvious signs of having been mu*dered before the landslide.... more>>

As though it were a trigger, what came to be known as "The Curse of the Ryuuzen Clan" spread throughout the descendants of the family's only survivor. By mu*der, by su*cide, by accident... it seemed none who held the name "Ryuuzen" could live to see the age of 35, and now, the family has been reduced to a single woman, lying in a hospital bed, days away from death.

Kamo Touma was once just another of the endless parade of sleazy tabloid journalists looking to exploit a prominent family's tragedy to sell magazines, but Ryuuzen Rena's kindness melted his frozen heart, driving him to quit his old job and become an investigative journalist specializing in overturning cases of false arrest. Eventually, he and Rena were married, but now, the curse threatens to steal away their happiness.

Kamo prays for a miracle, and his prayers are answered by the Hourglass of Miracles, an artifact spoken of in rumors and urban legends, said to grant one wish to anyone who obtains it.

"Meister Hora", a guide for those who obtain the hourglass, tells Kamo there is only one way to break the curse and save Rena: He must travel back in time to the year 1960 and catch the culprit of the original Ryuuzen Family massacre.

Who was the culprit of the mu*ders that took place almost 60 years ago? Why did they steal away the lives of the Ryuuzen clan? What is the true nature of the "Curse of the Ryuuzen Clan?" And perhaps most mysteriously of all... What is Meister Hora's goal in all this?

Winner of the 29th annual Ayukawa Tetsuya Award. <<less

Physically confronting your abusive superior might be cool and satisfying when it happens in a drama, but, as Kazuo Sugishita is learning, it's less cool when you're sitting at home afterwards, terrified to learn how you'll be punished when you return to work the next day. The sentence he faces sounds surprisingly lenient - just a temporary reassignment to the company's entertainment department while things blow over. But he changes his mind when he gets the specifics: Kazuo has been assigned as manager-in-training (read "servant") to Shiro Hoshizono, the "Star Watcher": A pompous, showoff-y, completely insufferable talent with no actual talents except using his sickeningly sweet words and foreign model looks to seduce lonely middle... more>> aged women into paying for the privilege of hearing him speak.

The day after his new assignment, Kazuo and Hoshizono leave for Saitama Prefecture, where Hoshizono has been recruited to become an image character for a campground in the mountains, alongside a group of other colorful characters, including a romance novelist with the looks of Cleopatra but the personality of someone's grandpa and a UFO obsessed conspiracy theorist.

But the morning after their arrival, their host is found strangled to death in his lodge, the road back is buried in an avalanche, and... you can probably see where this is going.

Turns out, despite how he comes across normally, Hoshizono is actually a genius detective!

The novel features a unique chapter naming scheme where each chapter is titled as a three to four sentence summary of its own contents, focused upon what information about the case is discovered and what evidence appears, for ease of reference.

A nominee for the 50th annual Mystery Writers Association of Japan Award, long story category. <<less