episode_0105

‘This is a magic pen. Of course, I have confirmed its stability with the professor and even the principal.’

Rupert, sitting in his study, looked at his pen and thought about Amelia’s words.

When Rupert heard that the system could automatically draw the picture the user had in mind, he was truly amazed.

The surface of the magic pen he was holding now had a magic circle intricately engraved on it.

‘But this is a failure.’

I couldn’t understand what it meant for a magic pen that was supposed to draw whatever you imagined to be a failure, but after hearing Amelia’s explanation, I couldn’t help but agree.

-To increase safety, it will not activate at all unless the user’s mental power is above a certain level.

In actual usage experiments, students were unable to use it at all, and even professors from the Department of Magic were only able to use it briefly.

The only one who handled it properly was Yustav.

“Eustaff is a hurdle, isn’t it too high?”

Rupert was initially curious about how mental strength could be measured.

If it’s something like the amount of mana or physical ability, it might be possible to objectively measure it, but is it possible to judge something as uncertain as mental power?

Rupert, with some doubt, tried to use the pen as Amelia had shown him.

A simple method of activation by holding the two ends of the pen and turning them in opposite directions.

Pot!

As Rupert turned the pen, light began to leak out from the magic circle engraved on its surface.

“What? Is it okay?”

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed to work, so Rupert grabbed a pen and took out a piece of paper.

Following Amelia’s advice to just picture in his head what he wanted to draw, Rupert closed his eyes and pictured Ada.

The image of Ada, dressed in a Snow White costume and excitedly declaring herself to be Snow White, was quite memorable to Rupert, so it wasn’t hard to recall.

Sweep.

“Hey!”

As Rupert pictured Ada in his mind, he felt his own hands moving of their own accord.

To be exact, it feels like my hand is following the pen that moves on its own rather than my hand.

Only then did Rupert open his eyes and look at the scene before him. He realized that the image of Ada he had imagined was drawn on a white piece of paper.

“This much… .”

The speed at which the drawing was being done on paper was incredible.

The pen moved on its own to draw the picture as if it were printing paper on Earth, but even Rupert, who was known for his quick hands, couldn’t even imagine the speed at which it could do so.

However, he was not drawing roughly, but was drawing precisely the clear image that Rupert had in mind.

Has it been about a minute?

On the paper was a completed drawing of Ada, the image Rupert had in his head.

‘If we apply this to comics, or even animation, it would be really amazing, right?’

Rupert began to get excited at the thought that with just this pen he could solve countless things he had never dreamed of doing before.

‘I should try drawing cartoons sometime.’

I think it would be even more helpful since , which I am currently working on, has a lot of action scenes.

Sweep.

Rupert looks at the pre-drawn storyboard and divides the cuts in his head to visualize the finished picture.

Then the pen began to move on its own again and began to draw the picture Rupert had imagined.

After about a minute, just like before, the picture was completed.

but,

“There are quite a few parts missing in the middle?”

Unlike when I draw a picture, this time the result did not turn out as I had planned.

Perhaps it was his lack of concentration, or perhaps he judged that the pen had a limited capacity to remember and draw at one time, so this time he tried drawing one frame at a time rather than one page at a time.

Then, this time, Rupert was satisfied with the result, which was just as he had imagined.

“This is a miracle!”

He was so happy and didn’t know what to do because he had never expected such a great thing.

I was so excited that I kept drawing the manga with the magic pen, but after drawing the first volume of the 4-volume Manapia manga, I suddenly started feeling dizzy.

“Ugh… .”

It felt like I had been up all night, I started to get a headache and then I became so tired that I couldn’t think of anything and my whole body started to lose its strength.

-This pen is influenced by mental power.

Rupert clutched his temples, barely able to keep himself awake, and recalled Amelia’s words.

There was no way there would be no risk in using something with this kind of performance.

Since it was his first time using it, he should have adjusted it appropriately, but Rupert realized that he had been too excited and had pushed himself too hard. He barely made his way to the makeshift bed that had been prepared in one of the workrooms and lay down.

If I had pushed myself a little harder, I might have fainted like I did last time.

As soon as Rupert confirmed that he was lying on the bed, he lost consciousness and fell asleep.

***

“Ugh!!! Why isn’t this working!”

The next day, Rupert, who had just come to his senses, called all the writers into his studio.

Rupert, who couldn’t call Iolin in the palace, gave the magic pen he used yesterday to the other writers and had them use it.

‘I’m not in a hurry, actually, because I have some free time. But it would be a great help to other writers if they use this pen.’

Unlike Rupert, I thought it would be more helpful to other writers who were still struggling with the unfamiliar format of biweekly publishing, so I needed to give them a pen one by one and see if it would work.

But Sena and Ishmael couldn’t even get their pens to work.

The only one who managed to get it started was Dumas.

“Ugh… My head is pounding.”

“Already?”

“Actually, from the moment the pen started moving, I had a feeling that my head was going to get dizzy, and it got worse… .”

After drawing about a page, Dumas complained of a headache and abruptly stopped using it.

‘Are Sena and Ishmael mentally weak because they are still young?’

Now that I think about it, I remember Amelia’s words that even the students at the Academy couldn’t activate it.

It is said that only Yustav used it properly.

‘Then why was I able to use it normally?’

Even including his age before becoming a prince, Rupert was younger than Dumas is now.

Considering that Rupert had to use dozens of times more than Dumas before reaching his limit, it wasn’t simply a matter of age.

‘Because there is no standard for judging mental strength.’

Is there anything more difficult to judge than mental strength?

However, it was not entirely unexpected.

Rupert thought that it was his experience that enabled Dumas to get things started.

When I started working with him and talked about his work, I happened to hear stories about his past that were so heartbreaking that it made my teeth shiver.

Could it be that Dumas, who had experienced such a tragedy, had the mental strength to use the magic pen?

‘Is that so?’

Well, then I can guess to some extent.

The reason why he was able to use this magic pen.

“First of all, Mr. Dumas, don’t overdo it today and rest.”

Rupert left the workshop after ordering Sena and Ismael, who were feeling sorry for not being able to use it, and Dumas, who was still holding his head, to rest.

Now that the testing of the magic pen has been completed to some extent, Rupert begins to devise a new plan using it.

***

“Iolin, are you okay these days?”

“I am always safe and sound thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”

The emperor looked dissatisfied with Iolin’s answer.

Originally, the imperial family had extremely strict rules, so it was proper not to use the title of father even for the prince and princess.

However, Leonius allowed his only daughter, Iolin, to simply call him father, but Iolin still used the title of majesty.

“Do you need anything?”

“No. I’m worried because I already have more than enough.”

The emperor thought he had expected this from Iolin’s answer.

Iolin was a child who had a unique temperament since childhood.

One day he would be absorbed in music, another day in swordsmanship, and another day in his studies, and he would often stay in his room for days without coming out.

But none of that lasted long, and after she grew up to a certain extent, she lost interest in everything and always walked around with a bored expression.

The last time she came to see me with a lively face was when she came to suggest a comic book distribution business.

‘Father! This is for the people of the empire!’

The expression on the daughter’s face as she called herself father and suggested lowering the illiteracy rate among the people of the empire through the comic book business seemed extremely excited.

So at that time, I instructed them to provide full support without even checking the details properly.

Because it was a request from my precious daughter.

“Ahem… I’ve been reading comics in my free time recently.”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

“Of course. I’m reading a magazine called Manapia, which is said to have been created by Professor Rupert.”

Iolin’s eyes widened at the emperor’s words, and he waited with concentration for the next words.

“Among them all, I found the puppet show the most interesting.”

“Really? I like that piece too, Dad!”

“Heh heh! What a coincidence.”

It was no accident.

-Your Majesty, I think it would be good if you mentioned the princess’s work naturally and praised it in front of her.

The secret advice given by Ayton, the chief chamberlain of Iolin, was well-received.

“Haha! I didn’t know Your Majesty would read that comic. But, wasn’t Van Helsing more interesting than that?”

The crown prince, who had been listening to the conversation between the two women, spoke up, and at that moment the emperor glared at him with sharp eyes.

“Are you one of those ignorant people they talk about on the street these days?”

“No… That’s not it, it’s more like you’re a complete idiot.”

“It’s a popular saying these days. Are you in the position of the crown prince and don’t you even study the lives of the common people?!”

Alex was bewildered after being scolded by his father for the first time in a long time.

When on earth did your father read comics and learn words like that?

“Puppet show and Van Helsing are both good works, but if we are to judge the quality of the work, The Man of the Second Century is the best… .”

And even the Third Prince, Edric, who had been eating quietly, began to join the conversation.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

As things turned out this way, Prince William, who had been quiet all alone, just looked at the Emperor and his brothers who were talking excitedly about Iolin and the comics.

Then, when their eyes met with the current empress’s, the two quietly nodded their heads.

For the two of them, mealtime was once again difficult, separate from the previously bleak dining atmosphere.