episode_0023

“Please listen to me one more time.”

Xenia, a red-haired girl, earnestly asked a man who read a community comic book to the village.

“What? It’s already the 5th time. My throat is about to split.”

“Please, please.”

The man sighed at Xenia’s pitiful expression and then started reading the comic book from the beginning again.

It seemed like only yesterday that everyone in the village would gather together to read public comic books, but now almost every household had purchased a copy of the book.

So the village’s public comic books were almost exclusively for Xenia’s use.

‘It’s so pretty.’

I was shocked to see that it was a comic book created by the author of the children’s books I was obsessed with.

I knew that the children’s book I had read was a poor counterfeit, but I had no idea there would be this much of a difference.

The artist’s drawings in the comic books that the princess distributed for the people of the empire immediately fascinated Xenia.

‘They say the writer is a noble master… .’

Both the children’s book and this comic book seemed to comfort me.

How can a high-ranking person like you, a noble master, draw works that comfort people in the same situation as yourself?

Erza from looked just like herself.

‘Xenia, your abilities should never be shown in front of others!’

His own special ability that his parents told him not to reveal before they passed away.

Erza was also cursed by the Ice Witch and had to live with her powers hidden.

But in the end, he became a hero who saved the kingdom with that ability.

Xenia thinks she can do that too? I’ve been imagining this thought lately.

The man finally finished reading his fifth comic book and returned home.

Xenia remained alone in the village square and looked at a comic book.

Xenia started reading the comic book again on her own because she could already roughly understand what the letters in the comic book meant because she had already heard it dozens of times.

While re-reading, my favorite scene came out. A fight scene where Erza reaches out and freezes an evil villain.

Although Xenia had already seen the scene several times, she was excited and stretched out her hand like Erza.

If Erza freezes, she can burn herself.

I looked around and saw no one. Xenia slowly stretched out her hand and glared into empty space.

Then a fireball appeared in the air. If I continued it for a long time, my body would get tired quickly, so I turned it off soon.

Watching the scene, Xenia let her imagination run wild.

He shouldn’t do that, but if a monster attacks the village, he uses this ability to save everyone.

It felt thrilling to think of people admiring the monster that fell at the touch of their hand.

‘Xenia, you are the hero of our village!’

The village people and my uncle’s family who ignored me because I had no parents.

It was fun to imagine them clapping their hands and cheering.

“You know how to manipulate mana?”

But Xenia’s sweet delusion was shattered.

I thought there was no one there, but when I heard a voice from behind me, I turned around and saw an old man standing there with his whole body covered in a robe.

“Ah… Ah.”

Xenia felt like her world was falling apart. I can’t believe that someone else is aware of this ability that my parents told me to hide.

I didn’t know what to do and couldn’t even speak properly.

“Don’t worry too much, red-haired child. I don’t mean to harm you.”

The old man’s hand touched Xenia’s head. Xenia closed her eyes tightly in fear.

But nothing special happened, I just felt a slight soft energy hovering around my head.

“Huh, it really was there. The person who inherited the bloodline of the ‘El Dor’ clan.”

Eldor? Xenia didn’t understand what the old man was saying, but she relaxed slightly because it seemed like he didn’t mean to harm her.

“Do you have any parents?”

“… .”

Xenia just shook her head in response to the old man’s question.

“I am a person called ‘Justaf’. Even after all this, he’s a pretty famous wizard.”

The old man held up a finger in front of Xenia.

And a blue flame extends from the tip of the finger.

Xenia’s eyes widened. There was someone else with strange abilities besides himself.

“Will you follow me?”

Xenia’s hair turned gray at the old man’s question.

My parents’ story about never following someone I didn’t know and the horrible uncle’s house I had to return to collided in my head.

and

“… If I go, can I become a hero too?”

“Hero?”

Hearing Xenia’s words, the eyes of the old man who identified himself as Eustav turned to the comic book the girl was holding.

I’ve seen it once because it’s a book that’s become a hot topic recently.

If you’re a hero, does that mean you want to be like the princess from that movie?

The old man was amazed and stroked Xenia’s head.

The environment is important for a person who is born with strong magical power or can use magic in a primitive way.

No matter how you look at Xenia, it doesn’t seem like it was a good environment.

Not only that my parents have passed away, but the clothes I am wearing are all worn out.

His hands are all over the place, so he looks like he’s had a hard time.

Then, people usually go astray. However, I was proud that this child said he wanted to be like a hero in a comic book.

He was a good-hearted child.

Yustav nodded slightly in response to Xenia, and then held out his hand.

Xenia held his hand without saying a word.

***

“This is nobility.”

Recently, dining tables are becoming more colorful day by day.

The soup had so many ingredients that it could be a meal on its own, and the bread was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, so it was delicious even without anything to dip it in.

Above all, the different types of meat served every day.

Yesterday, a menu featuring roasted chicken was introduced, and today, veal tenderloin was served as a steak.

Not only me, but also my father and Ada had recently been gaining weight by overeating during meal times.

Actually, I thought it was really cute that Ada was getting rounder and rounder.

‘Miss, you can’t get any more fat than this. ‘You must control yourself!’

It seems that the maid taking care of Ada didn’t look like it. Well, I’ve been eating snacks non-stop these days. But originally, the chubbier the children and animals, the cuter they are.

There was a time when I was caught and scolded while feeding Ada a dessert from the capital that I had obtained with great difficulty, while avoiding the eyes of the maid.

When I was tired from working, I would touch Ada’s chin and cheeks and the fatigue would go away, but it would be a shame if they disappeared.

“Oh, come to think of it, Rupert. Are you really planning on not going to the academy?”

While I was thinking about random things while looking at Ada eating bread, her father suddenly brought up a story about the academy.

“Yes, I thought about it, but I didn’t have enough time.”

My father seemed dissatisfied with my answer and told me to reconsider, but there was no room for me to change my mind.

I had originally planned to go to the academy, but now there is no need to go.

‘Imperial Academy’

It is a cradle of imperial talent where not only the empire’s nobles but also commoners can enroll if they have talent.

To enter such an academy, you had to have exceptional talent in one field or another.

‘Rupert passed the exam for art.’

Even if you have talent in the drawing field, which is looked down on, if you have this level of skill, you will definitely pass.

They gather these talented people, regardless of their status, and train them through classes from the best instructors in the empire to turn them into talented people.

Because of that, admission is difficult, but graduation is also not easy, so there are many places that accept you just because you are a graduate of the academy.

Knowing my family’s situation, I also thought about graduating from the academy if I wanted to make a living, so I thought about enrolling.

Now that I was making money through my business, there was no need to go.

Rather, it only reduces the time to draw comics.

Additionally, the Imperial Academy is the setting of the original novel.

Starting with the Third Prince and Amelia, who will enter school this spring, the main characters gather together, and there is no need to rush to the place where various events occur.

‘It’s been dangerous these days since we’ve been getting involved with the imperial family and the Bluewell duchy.’

I would like to meet the main characters of the original at least once, but I don’t want to become friends with them.

When my father asked me to think again, I answered that I understood and left.

Since I wasn’t going anyway, I headed straight to the studio with the intention of starting to plan my next project.

‘Master, you are so weak right now. You should do at least some physical training.’

Suddenly, I remember what Sir Mullers, the family’s only knight, said when he saw me locked in my studio every day.

It’s definitely right to take care of your health in advance.

If I break my back later, I might end up like a certain writer in my past life.

Although he deserves the title of Mansin, he is a nobleman who takes time off every year as if it were a meal.

Fans thought it was because he was playing a game, but when they found out that he was in fact unable to work because his back was broken, tears came to his eyes.

To begin with, the profession of a cartoonist is one in which 3D and the body are the assets.

Going through such hardships in this world to create comics is ultimately about eating well and living well, but it is only by compromising one’s health that one’s true message is conveyed.

“Okay, let’s exercise starting tomorrow!”

Since Lord Mullers asked me to train my physical strength, it is right to use this opportunity to improve my physical strength.

The knights of this world have amazing abilities that rival those of superhumans, and if you follow the same skills, you will be able to draw comics for the rest of your life without worrying about your health.

Of course, it’s a bit hard to start from today, so starting tomorrow, basically, everything starts from tomorrow.

“Now, what should I choose as my next project?”

After the huge hit of , I talked to Sang-ju San about a new work.

Sang Sang-ju suggested republishing the 3-piece Disney set that had previously been published as a children’s book as a comic book, but honestly, I wasn’t interested in that idea.

Children’s books and comic books are not hierarchical. The reality is that making a comic book unconditionally does not make it more interesting or popular.

Cinderella, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid are all works without a single dynamic story, but that wouldn’t be the case if they were animations.

These are stories that are much more suitable for children’s books than comic books.

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t pick up just any comic.”

You can’t just import any popular comics.

It was clear that if it was a work that did not fit the setting of another world, it would feel awkward even if it were changed.

For example, if you spread a cyberpunk work to another world, would people really be able to understand the world view and setting?

Even after arriving at the studio, I continued to worry about what to do as a follow-up piece for a while.