Yustaf Heindel

With merchandise production and volume production both proceeding without a hitch, the only thing I needed to worry about now was making the work itself.

'For this picture book, it has to be this one.'

There was one incident after I came to this world that had shocked me deeply.

When we expanded the workforce at the merchandise factory and the book bindery, children had come in droves, begging to be hired.

Most of those children had come because they had no way to earn a living, and it was hard to believe the claim that our territory was comparatively better off.

War had produced countless tragedies on Earth too, and the most heartbreaking sight was always the orphans.

From children who lost their parents to the ravages of war to parents who abandoned their children because their homes were too poor.

In this world too, children were the first to be cast aside.

So when I finally had some breathing room, I proposed building a church that could care for these children, as well as an orphanage, within the territory.

I had undertaken it thinking of the happiness the authors of those picture books had wanted for children—the same picture books that had helped me prosper.

But that alone didn't seem to be enough.

So this time, I decided to make a more hard-hitting work.

A work that could sound an alarm in people's hearts.

'The season is winter, so it fits perfectly.'

The work I was going to draw this time was A Dog of Flanders.

Of all the fairy tales I remembered reading, it was the saddest.

"This time, I shouldn't make custom-ordered editions."

Since I had already given up on custom-ordered editions for the manga volumes due to the heavy workload, I no longer had the nerve to make custom-ordered editions for picture books either.

So this time I decided to use a unified character design, and I was deliberating over who to use as the model.

'Who should I use?'

While the protagonists of my picture books so far had mostly been girls, this work had a boy as the protagonist, so no suitable model came to mind.

If it were a girl, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I could just use my younger sister Ada as the model and it would be perfect.

For now, since the protagonist's character design didn't come to mind easily, I proceeded with other elements first, such as the grandfather character and the dog character.

At the same time, I also had to work on volume 2 of Iron-Blooded Alchemist, and I drew that with genuine excitement.

From the part where the Flame Alchemist, one of the key characters in the story's development, makes a cool entrance to the scene where the Artificial Humans, the main antagonists of the work, appear.

Moreover, although it doesn't appear in volume 2, 'that episode'—which was certain to plunge everyone into shock—was scheduled to begin.

Even while drafting the storyboards, I kept trembling with excitement.

'Hmm, I really can't use a real person as a model for this one.'

If I needed a child at least somewhat close in age to the character who would play a key role in the progression of 'that episode,' there was Ada, but she wasn't even a consideration from the start.

Not just Ada—if I used any real person as a model, that model's father might come to kill me.

So this time I decided to simply take the original work's model and modify it slightly, and for the alchemist character who creates chimeras, I drew him based on the face of one of the Empire's wanted criminals.

The reason I went this far was that the influence of my manga volumes was greater than I had expected.

Even in Korea, actors who played villains in morning dramas reportedly got cursed at or slapped on the back while eating at restaurants, and it would be worse here.

"Right, now that we have coffee."

While alternating between working on the picture book and the manga volume, I had been downing Vitality Potions as usual when coffee suddenly came to mind.

Buffs were supposed to be stacked to get their proper effect, after all.

I immediately asked Alain to bring me coffee.

Alain brought me the iced Americano I had ordered with an extremely uneasy expression, and I downed it in one go.

"Whoa, this is a whole new world."

Even for me, who had been injected with all sorts of caffeine and nutrient solutions back in Korea, the combination of a Vitality Potion and coffee drew an exclamation out of me involuntarily.

But even this incredible doping came with a time limit.

My body remembered that the Vitality Potion's side effects hit about 3 hours later.

So I sent a servant to Manuel, the monk at our territory's church, asking him to visit in 3 hours.

'When the side effects hit, one heal from the monk and I'm back to normal. A truly perfect plan.'

If I repeated this just twice or so, I could work an entire day without a single wink of sleep.

Of course, I couldn't keep this wonderful method to myself, so I recommended it to the artisans working with me, but they started having convulsions while holding their tools, so I had no choice but to back off.

I mean, what could be more fun than making books? Why did they all want to rest?

At least among the newly hired employees from last time, one named 'Jensen' followed my method.

His expression did look terrified, but he was an extremely excellent employee who always stepped up first whenever I suggested something.

This was why major corporations checked applicants' credentials.

No lover, bad relationship with family, hometown far away—I had liked those conditions from the start.

Other people disparaged him, asking if he was just a thug, but I saw his potential.

And seeing how he had proven them wrong and become such a diligent employee, my eye had been sharp.

I decided that from then on, whenever I hired ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠employees, I'd make sure they met those conditions.

***

"Thank you. You needn't have come out to greet me."

"Not at all. It is only proper."

The Goldpool Valley Magic Tower had recently been in an uproar.

It was because of the news that Yustaf Heindel, the Magic Tower's former tower master and current headmaster of the Imperial Academy, was coming to visit.

The Goldpool Valley region had once been famous for producing placer gold, but now no gold was found there, making it a region with no particular distinction.

There was no telling why he would suddenly visit such a place, but they could not afford to be negligent in their preparations.

And at last, Yustaf Heindel appeared through the Magic Tower's Teleportation Circle.

Beside him was a red-haired girl.

"Ah, this is my newly taken disciple, 'Xenia Heindel.'"

"I failed to recognize Yustaf's disciple. I'm Endol, branch head of the Goldpool Valley Magic Tower."

Endol, who had inadvertently stared because of her red hair, hastily introduced himself.

Yustaf's disciples were all wizards who made names for themselves across the Empire, and this girl would surely become the same later, so there was no harm in getting on her good side.

"...Hello."

Seeing Xenia hide behind Yustaf and answer in a very small voice, Endol worried whether he had made some mistake or perhaps stared too intently earlier.

"Hmm... The reason I visited here is that I have business at the Somerset Count's House. Could you assign someone to guide me there?"

"The Somerset Count's House? Then how about riding together in our carriage?"

"A carriage?"

"Yes, as it happens, House Somerset ordered a printing press from the Magic Tower, and we were just about to deliver it."

At Endol's words, Yustaf decided that would be better, and until the carriage's departure time, he drank tea and chatted in the branch head's office.

Of course, Xenia merely hid behind Yustaf as he conversed and quietly picked at the snacks.

***

'Yustaf Heindel? Why on earth would that old man come here?'

No matter how much Rupert racked his brain, he could not find any connection at all.

He had met several characters from the original novel so far, but each had a reasonably valid reason.

But this time, no matter how much Rupert racked his brain, someone with not the slightest connection to him had come looking for him, so he was extremely flustered.

And if the other party was the Archwizard Yustaf, who held the title of 'Human Dragon,' then of course he could only be flustered.

In the original novel, he appeared as the headmaster of the academy where the protagonist's party studied, rescuing them with overwhelming magic whenever a crisis struck.

Why had this literal human cheat code visited our family?

"Heh heh, I wonder if this old man has caused trouble by visiting so suddenly."

"Not at all. I have long heard of your great renown, so I had been wanting to meet you."

Although Rupert wished inwardly that Yustaf would leave at once, every word he spoke aloud was impeccably polite.

After all, Yustaf was the second son of the Heindel Viscount House, so in terms of status, he could be considered lower than Rupert.

But no one in the Empire treated Yustaf as merely a member of a viscount's family.

Was there anyone other than the imperial family who could speak down to him?

Even the Duke of Bluewell, the Empire's foremost noble, would treat Yustaf as at least an equal.

As Rupert hid his true feelings and treated Yustaf with impeccable outward courtesy, someone kept drifting in and out of his view.

"By the way, if you don't mind my asking, who is that?"

"Ah, I neglected to introduce her. This is my disciple, Xenia."

At Yustaf's introduction, Xenia carefully bowed her head.

Rupert looked at Xenia and sank briefly into thought.

Starting with her distinctive red hair, he had the feeling that he had heard the name Xenia somewhere before.

But just as staring any longer would have been rude, Yustaf appropriately continued the conversation.

"You must be curious why I came here so suddenly, so I shall get to the point."

"Yes, please speak."

"The Transmutation Circle that appeared in your manga volume Iron-Blooded Alchemist—where exactly did you see it?"

"Pardon?"

***

Yustaf quietly observed Rupert, who feigned ignorance, saying he had merely drawn it by referencing a book.

Unusually dark shadows under the eyes

An unusually gaunt-looking body

A figure that looked almost as if he were under a curse.

And what was that wound near his neck, as if he had been bitten by someone?

Yustaf thought Rupert was hiding something.

The Transmutation Circle he had happened to see in Iron-Blooded Alchemist was completely different from existing Transmutation Circles.

Probably even alchemists would not know exactly what it was.

It would have been difficult to notice unless one was as well versed in both magic and alchemy as he was.

This was clearly a new form of Transmutation Circle combining Rune Script and a Transmutation Circle.

Only someone like himself, who had been so surprised upon first discovering it that he had even conducted research, would be able to discern the meaning of this Transmutation Circle.

The connections had been deliberately misaligned in places so that copying it exactly would produce no effect, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but it was an elaborate Transmutation Circle designed so that rotating the circle just slightly, like the second hand of a clock, would make everything fit into place.

He wondered if the artist had deliberately made it incorrect.

That was plausible, because

'This Transmutation Circle would be difficult to activate with anything less than blood drawn from a living creature.'

It was a hybrid formula that blurred the line between a Transmutation Circle and a magic circle.

However, whereas an ordinary Transmutation Circle was constructed using metal powder or powder made from dried plants, driving this new Transmutation Circle required far stronger materials.

Thinking this method was extremely dangerous, he had come to find ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rupert, and it seemed his intuition had been correct.

'Even if I press him, it seems I won't get a truthful answer right now.'

He had behaved consistently with a cold expression and without a flinch, but the body did not lie.

Yustaf thought there might be a specific group threatening Rupert, or else the Somerset family.

And that Rupert had marked his new manga volume in this way to request help.

Clang!

"Ah... I apologize. I'm a bit tired right now, so I made a mistake."

As Rupert tried to set down the teacup, his grip seemed to fail and he dropped it. Watching him, Yustaf thought to himself.

'Is he nervous? He may be receiving some kind of threat.'

Good heavens, unless a young man had stayed awake for several nights straight, how could he lack even the strength to hold a teacup?

Yustaf thought he should investigate once he returned.

It was still only a suspicion, but something felt unsettling.