Xenia
Xenia
"Why did you suddenly show up and start spouting nonsense?"
Yustaf had been pressing me about where I had seen the Transmutation Circle.
I just told him the truth. That I had taken patterns from magic books and alchemy books and combined them into a design of my own.
But Yustaf, as if he had expected as much, studied me like I was a liar. Given who I was dealing with, I couldn't exactly argue, so I just gave up.
"Ah... I'm seriously seeing stars."
"Master Rupert, no matter how much you borrow the power of Divine Power, damaging your body like this could cause serious problems later."
Monk Manuel, who should have treated the side effects of the Vitality Potion and caffeine earlier, cast a belated heal and spoke to me.
'This is all because of that monster of an old man who showed up out of nowhere.'
Thanks to Yustaf visiting at the exact moment the side effects hit, I nearly collapsed.
I barely managed to finish dealing with the guest through superhuman endurance. A little longer and I might have actually passed out.
"I'll be fine for now."
This wasn't just empty talk. In my previous life, I had endured nearly a year of serializing a webtoon in that exhausted, aging body.
Compared to now, with Rupert's healthy body and the help of Divine Power that surpassed even modern medicine, I was certain I still had room to spare.
'Anyway, that red-haired one... Xenia, was it?'
I didn't know why, but she kept catching my eye. It felt as though I was overlooking something important.
Wait, red hair. Now that I thought about it, a good idea came to mind.
What if I made the protagonist of , which I was about to draw, a red-haired boy?
In this world, red hair was a target of persecution and contempt, so there was plenty of plausibility in the protagonist of a picture book suffering such pitiful trials.
And Xenia, who was apparently Yustaf's disciple, fit the model perfectly.
Maybe because she was still young, she had a slightly androgynous feel, with a thin, pitiful-looking build.
Yet her face was beautiful, making her suitable as the protagonist of a picture book.
Of course, since she was a girl, I would have to change her into a boy.
"Not every bad thing has to stay bad."
With inspiration for the protagonist character that had been blocking me now sparked, I immediately ran to my workshop.
***
Xenia felt like her heart was pounding so hard she might go crazy.
'To actually meet him in person!'
Taking the hand of her teacher, who had asked if she would follow him, had surely been a miracle that had come to her.
A miracle like the fairy appearing to Cinderella, or Snow White meeting the seven dwarves.
After following her teacher, her life had changed 180 degrees.
No longer did she receive looks of disregard or contempt, but looks of envy and respect. And at meals, she could eat fine food instead of leftovers.
Above all, she could now use magic like Elza from <Kingdom of Ice>.
The magic her teacher taught her seemed so easy and simple to her that it was nothing more than a fun game.
Yet even doing that easy thing made the people around her gasp in surprise.
"As expected of the last disciple Yustaf chose!"
"The other disciples were excellent too, but this is on another level..."
"Is she really a descendant of the legendary Eldor Clan?"
People who looked at her and called her a descendant of Eldor.
She hadn't even known what Eldor was, but she had recently learned while studying under her teacher.
The first Dragonean, 'Crassus Eldor,' said to have been born long ago from a dragon falling in love with a human.
He was said to have been the strongest wizard in history, unmatched among humans, simply by inheriting half a dragon's blood.
But it was a story so old that it was written off as legend. My teacher, however, said I was undoubtedly a descendant of Eldor.
A dragon heart inside my body that even I hadn't known about. He had been astonished, saying it was small but definitely a dragon heart.
'In the end, I couldn't even get an autograph....'
But more than such praise, the happiest thing for me had been seeing Sir Rupert Somerset, the creator who made the picture books and manga volumes, in person.
After all, the first thing I had done with the allowance I received after becoming my teacher's disciple was officially purchase the books he had made.
Beautiful pictures on a completely different level from the fake picture books I had seen before.
They were so beautiful that on the night after I saw a proper picture book, a fairy-tale world unfolded even in my dreams.
And when I finally had a manga volume of my own, rather than the village's shared copy, tears came to my eyes.
Now that I could read, his stories felt even more meaningful.
So when my teacher said he was visiting the Somerset Count's House, I begged him to let me come along no matter what.
When I saw him in person, I was truly startled.
'He looks exactly like the prince from The Little Mermaid!'
In my heart, I wanted to jump up and down and at least get autographs on the books I had brought.
But his expression was so dark and exhausted that I couldn't bring myself to speak to him.
Still, it was fine. Just seeing him in person was a great stroke of luck.
'If I work harder at learning magic, then with him....'
He was a noble so far above me that I couldn't even imagine it, but my teacher had said I would later become someone treated better than most nobles.
If, and only if, I became such a person.
Couldn't I also have a love like the heroine of a picture book with him?
***
"As expected of Yustaf. I never imagined you would decipher this Transmutation Circle."
"I was lucky. I had trouble verifying whether this was actually a working method, but it's certain. This is exactly as it appears in that manga volume."
"A Transmutation Circle that exchanges life force for something through Equivalent Exchange!"
At Yustaf's words, the expression of Harun, head of the Alchemy Guild, darkened.
He too had felt it while repeatedly researching after learning of it, but this was truly a dangerous formula.
The combination of magic and alchemy was not actually unprecedented.
But those attempts had always produced major problems, and the method had been discarded because no connecting link could be found.
This new form of Transmutation Circle that had appeared out of nowhere solved that connecting link with incredible simplicity.
"So what did the artist actually say?"
"He played dumb, saying it was just a coincidence."
Ridiculous. A coincidence, after drawing such an elaborate Transmutation Circle?
A dragon suddenly appearing in the imperial palace and breathing fire would be more realistic.
"His complexion looked rather unusual. I suspect he may have been cursed."
"A curse? You don't mean!"
"Yes, my thoughts even extended to the possibility that those vile dark wizards have appeared once again."
At Yustaf's words, Harun broke into a cold sweat. Hadn't the dark wizards been driven to extinction as enemies of the continent?
If those people were indeed involved, there was ample room for major problems to arise.
"No matter how I look at it, this seems like a problem we cannot resolve on our own."
"I think so as well. It seems we need the help of the imperial family...."
Yustaf's words could only trail off.
In truth, he had no clear evidence, so bringing this before the Emperor felt rather flimsy.
For the Emperor to issue a direct command, there needed to be sufficient justification and evidence, and that was lacking.
But it was too unsettling to simply let pass, so he couldn't help but worry.
"For now, how about you and I conduct research together?"
"By research... you mean finding out what their goal is?"
"Yes. Since we can't find evidence, we need to at least learn their objective before we can do anything."
Yustaf and Harun immediately picked up the manga volume and moved to the laboratory. It was the moment the empire's greatest wizard and alchemist joined forces.
***
"Edric, I never thought you were the kind of child to scheme something like this."
Iolin Bell's expression twisted.
The person she glared at with eyes burning with rage was none other than the Third Imperial Prince, Edric.
"I didn't want to go this far either."
"Then why...!!!"
"Exactly. You should have settled things when I only asked for the illustrations!"
Edric shouted with an expression that said he had no choice.
But Iolin, listening, could only feel dumbfounded.
"You're selling out your own sister for mere illustrations?!"
"I've already finished talking with Aiton. I'll be taking the limited-edition illustrations of you, Sister."
No sooner had Edric finished speaking than the imperial maids approached Iolin and carefully seized her arms.
"No! I won't allow it!!! Not that...."
Iolin tried with all her might to resist, but she couldn't shake off the maids. Other servants searched her room, confiscating the picture books and manga volumes she'd hidden here and there.
She could only watch helplessly as everything was taken—every kind of picture book, including various custom-made editions, and even the <Snow White> edition Rupert had personally made exclusively for the Imperial Princess.
"How can you do something so cruel...."
"Your Highness, why commit an offense that was bound to be discovered anyway?"
Iolin had already lost her spirit and could only watch her treasures disappear without even answering.
Aiton's words could no longer provoke any reaction from her.
"Ahem, and the promised item?"
Edric carefully spoke to Aiton with an awkward expression.
Aiton took a few carefully wrapped sheets of paper from his chest and handed them over.
"Ohh... so these are the limited-edition Kingdom of Ice illustrations!"
Edric quickly clutched them to his chest and hurried out of the Imperial Princess's palace. Watching him go, Aiton let out a sigh.
'Aiton, do you know how my sister secretly purchased this new manga volume?'
The Third Imperial Prince had come to him and secretly proposed a deal.
He had no choice but to accept the offer: Edric would tell Aiton how the Princess had secretly bought the manga volume, and Aiton would hand over the limited-edition illustrations.
Seeing the princess's vacant expression was pitiful, but he couldn't stand to watch things go further astray. So he too had taken all the books with a heart that felt like it was being carved out.
'Huh, now that I think of it, the Crown Prince's attendant was also said to have been there.'
The Crown Prince was not someone he served, so there was no reason to concern himself.
Still, he had a feeling that this plague of manga that had swept into the imperial palace was going to become quite a headache.