episode_0073

“Identity verified.”

The Imperial Academy was a cradle for the talents who would lead the future, so it was thoroughly guarded.

First of all, a protective shield was in operation 24 hours a day to prevent external attacks or terrorism, and there was no magic transmission circle inside to prevent the entry of suspicious persons.

Because of that, I had to use a dedicated transporter installed outside the academy to commute to and from work, but it was less inconvenient because it was installed right nearby.

Of course, there were often those who found even that cumbersome and simply lived within the academy.

Rupert never wanted to create a living within the Academy.

First of all, I wanted to minimize the time I spent at the academy, which is like a time bomb that could explode at any moment, and above all,

“Come quickly! Ada, I’m hungry!!!”

It was hard to leave Ada alone, waiting at the gate of the mansion as if she had been waiting for Rupert to return.

There was also Count Bradley in the mansion, as well as a maid to look after him and Sena to play with him.

Rupert was still Ada’s most sought-after person.

Ada runs towards Rupert, urging him on as he returns from work.

In Ada’s hand was a long branch.

‘Where did you pick that up?’

Recently, a black magician has appeared in the territory, causing chaos, so Ada has been prevented from going outside.

This time, Rupert was working as an academy professor, so he felt sorry for Ada who would be lonely while he was away, so he gave her permission again.

This was possible because the Somerset estate had already been thoroughly investigated by royal personnel, and no significant danger remained.

“Ada, what the hell is that?”

“This is Ada’s treasure.”

The long branch would have been too heavy for Ada to hold with one hand, but she held Rupert’s hand tightly with one hand and held the branch tightly with the other, shaking it as if it were a treasure.

Even at the dinner table, he was holding the branch tightly in one hand and eating with only one hand, so I tried to take it away from him.

‘Blindfold!!!’

Ada looks at Rupert, who is trying to snatch the branch away, with a look of horror on her face.

In the end, both the Earl and Rupert had no choice but to give in.

Even after eating, Ada wanders around the mansion swinging a tree branch here and there with her small body, wondering what’s so good about it.

“What on earth are you carrying around so preciously?”

“The neighborhood kid must have been jealous of the branch he found.”

Rupert heard the full story of the incident from Krun, whom he encountered in the workshop.

A child in the neighborhood said that he found a branch that looked cool and that he had been desperately wanting to have it recently.

“Did you steal it?”

“No, he asked me to make him a Pinocchio doll. I guess I gave him that in return.”

Rupert burst out laughing because it was so ridiculous. If it was a Pinocchio figure made by Kroon himself, it would be a rare item that hasn’t even been released yet, so if it were to be auctioned off, it would be worth a lot.

You’re exchanging that for a branch?

There was no doubt that Ada was a true alchemist.

“By the way, I keep researching this film, but it’s definitely very difficult.”

“You can take it slow. I didn’t think it would be easy anyway.”

“The chemicals you mentioned seem to be something alchemists have a grasp of… but where on earth can I get this gelatin element?”

What made Krun worry was not, surprisingly, the complex chemical formula or manufacturing method.

“Can’t gelatin be extracted from pigs?”

Rupert asked back as if that was a problem. Of course, there was gelatin in this world, so he thought it would be an easy problem to solve.

“The amount of gelatin that can be obtained that way is too small.”

After hearing Krun’s answer, I realized I had missed that part.

Rupert’s animation business required large quantities of film, but gelatin was in short supply naturally.

The easiest way would be to extract it from pig skin, but it was inefficient to use pigs that were not even eaten to make gelatin.

It is not easy to purchase pigs in such large quantities.

The completion of the film was bound to be a source of concern for Rupert, as it would have important implications not only for animation but also for the comic book business.

Up until now, things like background lines and emotional lines had to be done manually, but if film is developed.

Since we could use screen tones, which are essential in modern comics, the amount of work could be drastically reduced.

After talking more with Krun about development, Rupert decided to leave it up to him and went up to his studio on the third floor, as there was no significant progress.

There, despite it being evening, Saint and Senna were busy drawing something.

“St. C. Are you still here? Sena, you haven’t gone yet?”

“Oh… Oh no, it’s already this much time, hehe.”

“I… I was about to go too!”

The two of them were startled by Rupert’s appearance, as if they were doing something bad, and answered while hiding the things on the desk.

Rupert, who had recently experienced a crisis related to his own survival, had naturally developed intuition and a keen sense of smell, so there was no way he could miss those unnatural appearances.

Rupert quickly approaches Saint and Senna’s desk to check the identity of the items they are hiding.

I desperately tried to reach out to stop Rupert, but Rupert’s hands were a little faster.

“Conti?”

What Rupert saw were the storyboards of their own comics that Saint and Senna had been drawing in their spare time when Rupert was away.

“Why did you hide this?”

“Well… It’s not even finished yet… .”

Saint and Senna hesitate in response to Rupert’s question, seemingly embarrassed.

Rupert knew their hearts well. When they first created a piece, they were filled with enthusiasm and passion, and even the time spent working was very enjoyable.

When I actually show it to others, I feel like a death row inmate.

The overall problems with the work, from why didn’t they pay a little more attention to this part, to minor mistakes, start to catch your eye.

You will know exactly what it feels like to be mentally torn apart when other people react indifferently to something you find funny.

Saint was a renowned painter, so it was inevitable that he would be even more afraid of his first attempt at drawing cartoons.

Rupert understood better than anyone that since this was Sena’s first work, she must have been afraid of what others would think of her.

Still, the work is completed by showing it to others.

‘Because the work doesn’t belong to the author alone.’

No matter how great a masterpiece it is, no matter how much the times change, it is an immortal masterpiece.

It cannot be a work of art if it is left in a desk drawer.

Since everyone who wants to become a writer has to go through this process, Rupert wanted to be their first reader.

Although I can’t comment entirely from the reader’s perspective, the person who knows the most about comics in this world is Rupert, no matter what anyone says.

It was the perfect personnel choice to distinguish between blame and criticism.

While Rupert read the manuscripts of both of them in turn, Saint and Senna watched him anxiously, holding their breath.

However, Rupert, whose facial expression rarely changed, simply focused on reading the storyboard, which made the two of them even more anxious.

‘Hey! That’s the scene of my conversion? Why is there no reaction…?’

‘You seem to be frowning a little now… Is there something you don’t like?’

The two were more focused on creating the piece than on giving meaning to each of Rupert’s movements.

The moment Rupert finally finished reading the storyboards for both of them, they held their breath and waited for a response.

“What the heck!”

The reply I got was an expression I had never heard before.

***

‘Are these the people who are truly geniuses?’

Rupert was truly impressed.

Saint was originally known as the best painter in the empire, so it was only natural that he would have great talent.

I couldn’t help but worry because there were many differences between talent for drawing and talent for cartooning.

It was such an interesting and excellent story that any such concerns flew away in an instant.

‘Draw the process of a machine becoming human.’

This work was not just ahead of its time, it was ahead of the world.

A cartoon with a subject that would be suitable for viewing on modern Earth.

You could tell right away that he was probably influenced by Pinocchio.

However, , like a fairy tale, depicts the process of becoming human through seemingly obvious things like sacrifice and courage.

Saint was dealing with a slightly more advanced discourse.

‘That’s why it’s a bit, no, quite heavy for a cartoon.’

It’s not that there aren’t any heavy comics, but in some ways, those works are extremely manic.

Since comics are not an easy genre even on Earth where the genre is deeply rooted, it seemed like it would be good to lighten up this part a little.

And Sena’s work is-.

‘Isn’t this totally ‘Sleeping Beauty’?’

It was a fairy tale-like cartoon about a princess who fell into an eternal sleep after being cursed by a witch.

Of course, the details were a little different, but the theme that runs through their core was so similar that Rupert couldn’t hide his surprise the whole time he was watching.

‘Now that I think about it, Sena’s favorite fairy tale book was Snow White.’

It seemed that Senna, like Saint, was greatly influenced by Snow White.

In fact, fairy tales are a genre of books that exist all over the world in modern times.

If you look closely, there were fairy tales with similar content.

For example, the Western fairy tale Cinderella and the Korean fairy tale Kongjwi and Patjwi have many similarities.

From the story of good triumphing over evil to the story of one shoe turning your life upside down.

Of course, if you look at the original, you can see that there isn’t much difference in what people feel, considering that it is exactly the same, even down to the brutality.

“They are both really great. They really could be published as is.”

-Of course, we need to change it little by little.

Saint and Senna look at each other with bright smiles on their faces as if they were never nervous about Rupert’s praise.

Rupert wasn’t just talking nonsense to set them apart.

I really wanted to show both works to the people of this other world.

‘Should I publish this separately? No, then… .’

After Rupert started publishing children’s books and comic books, other works began to appear, but most of them disappeared without a sound.

Fun aside, it was an incident that happened because everyone was only looking for Rupert’s stuff.

It couldn’t be said that there was no possibility of that happening if the two works were released independently.

Because the value of the name was an element that could not be ignored.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Rupert.

‘magazine!’

It seemed like a perfect place to introduce their works to the world, since comic magazines existed in the comic powerhouses of the United States and Japan, and even existed in Korea at one point.

If you, Saint, and Sena publish their work in a serialized form in a magazine rather than in a single volume format.

I am confident that both of their works will be able to shine as they will be able to generate enough buzz.

‘But three works is not enough. There needs to be at least five works.’

Even though it would be impossible to have more than 10 works like in Earth’s comic magazines, there had to be at least five works to be serialized in the magazine.

Rupert’s worries deepened.