Chapter 61

I need to have a serious talk with Count Rupert about the holy painting, so please wait in the reception room.

Just the fact that the saintess and the noble young man were together in the reception room was already unsettling.

When they finished their conversation and came out, the saintess’s words that it would just be the two of them in the workshop left the bishop and the holy knight bewildered.

Of course, the saintess’s orders were absolute, so they had no choice but to follow, but it was hard for them to comprehend.

The voice of their mother could only be heard by the author, Rupert, which made them feel somewhat left out, even though they too were children of Mother Goddess.

However, they couldn’t harbor any complaints about the saintess’s words. Even the leader of the cult, the pope, couldn’t hear their mother’s words directly, while the saintess was the only being who could communicate with the goddess.

When the previous saintess returned to their mother’s embrace, another saintess would be reborn somewhere in the continent.

Accordingly, when the saintess turned seven, the reigning pope had a dream sent down by the goddess.

‘My daughter has been born and is growing somewhere in the continent; now, go bring her here.’

That was the content of the dream.

When the pope followed the command to find the place, he directly met the seven-year-old girl, marking the moment of the saintess’s birth.

The saintess born this way took on the role of occasionally conveying the goddess’s wishes to the characters of the cult.

Possessing divine power that surpassed even the pope, she was in a position equivalent to the pope, but in reality, she was the most important figure in the cult.

The goddess loved her creation, humanity, and regarded her as a precious existence akin to a fragment of herself.

There was no character within the cult who would dare to question the words of such a saintess.

And now, that saintess was passionately relaying the goddess’s will to Rupert in the workshop.

“Those veins in the forearm look fabulous, Brother.”

Despite it being mid-winter, Rupert was sweating profusely on his forehead while pouring all his energy into the drawing.

It was a scene where the main characters of the comic book Fullmetal Alchemist, Edmund Elric and Lloyd Cavallo, were embracing each other with solemn expressions.

The saintess was pointing out the arm of Lloyd Cavallo among them.

Cavallo’s shirt was rolled up to the elbows.

The crucial detail she kept emphasizing to Rupert was the pronounced veins in the forearm.

“Wow, Brother, you truly have a talent for this.”

As Rupert sketched the expression of Edmund biting his lip, the saintess’s expression brightened beyond measure.

It was a reaction as if she had witnessed the goddess herself.

However, despite such enthusiasm, Rupert felt like he might go mad.

‘What the hell is this…’

There was a time when he used to work as an illustrator before drawing the previous webtoon.

Suddenly, memories of all the various tasks he had completed back then came rushing back.

‘Are you saying to draw a cute girl with dog ears and a tail?’

‘No, I meant to draw a pretty dog!’

Horrific demands that shattered his common sense just by hearing the explanations.

Yet, those people always negotiated with large sums of money as collateral, making it hard for him to refuse, leaving behind bittersweet memories of the past.

However, there was one commission that Rupert had never accepted, despite accommodating all those requests.

‘I never thought I would be drawing BL.’

Even though he endured with furry themes, he felt that particular realm was like a forbidden something for him as a biological male, so he couldn’t bring himself to draw it.

Now he had no choice but to do it.

He thought the saintess would demand a holy painting, but instead, she mentioned illustrations of male characters.

In fact, he thought it was a modest fee compared to the price he had to pay to maintain his lie in front of the crown prince, so he had no particular complaints.

However, the saintess’s passionate reaction left him a bit frightened.

What if this drawing were to be discovered by the saintess later and the source questioned?

‘Count Rupert drew it for me as a gift.’

The cult members would surely not question the saintess, but Rupert worried that they might come after him with nails and hammers.

“Uh, saintess. I am honored to be able to draw for the daughter of Gaia, but I am worried that this drawing might put you in a difficult position…”

“Why would this drawing be a problem?”

“Well, that’s…”

He really couldn’t say to her, “Is it normal for two men to embrace in a drawing?” so Rupert’s lips trembled.

Yet, the saintess answered with indifference.

“This is a noble camaraderie among warriors.”

“Camaraderie?”

“Yes, look at them; they are comrades fighting with their own beliefs. How could you harbor any vain thoughts when seeing such two, Brother?”

Well, it seemed that her gaze was harboring some vain thoughts.

Rupert stifled the words that rose in his throat with superhuman patience and quietly began drawing again.

Finally, the drawing was completed.

The saintess took the artwork handed to her and admired it for a while, nodding in satisfaction, before carefully rolling it up.

Then she placed it inside a pocket that she thought was merely a decoration on her white frill.

“But what about the holy painting?”

“Oh, the holy painting was merely an excuse, Brother.”

“Excuse?”

“If I had money to make a holy painting, wouldn’t it be better to divide a dish among the impoverished people in the empire?”

She spoke, indicating that she never intended to create a holy painting in the first place, leaving Rupert at a loss for words.

Her goal had been a BL drawing from the very start, and the holy painting was just an excuse to meet him.

It was remarkable that everything had unfolded according to the saintess’s plan, but it even amazed Rupert how she boldly used variables that arose in the middle as means to achieve her goals.

If Rupert were to spread this fact around town, no one would believe him but instead laugh it off.

To discover even a glimpse of the true nature of the saintess, whom he had thought was purely benevolent and noble!

Though drawing such illustrations was indeed difficult, Rupert thought it was quite rewarding.

“I will mention that the holy painting will be difficult to proceed with for now, and we will wait for further revelations from Mother.”

“Yes, understood. But is it okay to lie saying it’s the goddess’s words?”

This place, a world from the novel, was one where deities clearly existed, unlike Earth.

Rupert felt a bit scared imagining what might happen if the goddess, who could be the being that caused him to reincarnate into this world, saw things as they were now and became enraged, sending down thunder.

However,

“Children always grow up by vexing their parents, so Mother will understand.”

Seeing her shamelessly say that, Rupert finally relaxed, letting out a chuckle.

Well, even though she was the daughter of the goddess, she was still human, so she must have her own desires.

With a slightly relieved mind, Rupert went out to meet the saintess as she left the mansion.

“What a really long day it was.”

The visit from the saintess, Amelia’s hospital visit.

And even the crown prince dropping by made for a quite exhausting day, but since everything seemed to resolve well, it felt like a memory he could cherish.

‘I’m glad I’ve been exercising lately.’

It wasn’t a joke; if he had faced today’s events in that state of fatigue and with the vitality potion coursing through him, his legs would probably have given out multiple times.

After the saintess left, the household staff, who seemed to finally relax, slumped down into their seats.

“Alright, you can all head home. Everyone’s worn out today, so don’t push yourselves any longer.”

Rupert ordered the workshop staff to leave early even though there was still time left in the day.

Even though the saintess had healed them, he thought it unwise to overwork those who had collapsed.

“Yes? You mean it’s still early?”

“Don’t push yourselves. There isn’t much work left anyway, is there?”

He spoke with a bright smile.

The artisans felt a mix of emotions watching Rupert—joy but also an uncomfortable feeling lingering in their hearts.

After Rupert had collapsed and recovered, his slogan became “Health equals Productivity!” and he began to get everyone to join in morning exercises, leading them to wonder what his intentions were.

Yet, really, from that day onward, overtime work vanished.

So, while the artisans were glad to get home early these days, they felt a bit unsettled.

Deep down, they couldn’t shake the strange feeling of, “Why isn’t there more work?”

Having been told not to work overtime, it made them want to work extra hours, and when they got home early, their wives chided them while the children wouldn’t even engage in conversation.

In the end, spending time with colleagues in the workshop felt oddly more comforting.

Rupert, unaware of the artisans’ conflicting emotions, hurried them to leave and headed to the workshop.

He had to start working on volume 5 of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Volume 4 had been released, but after his collapse, his work was momentarily paused; however, he had already completed the storyboard for volume 5.

In fact, with a clearer mind, the creative process flowed easily and the release wasn’t likely to be delayed significantly.

“Time to depict the scene where the protagonist brothers head north to find an ally.”

The protagonist, having come close to the truth through Mark Hughes’s dying message that stated, “The army is in danger,” needed to seek out the duke, known as the wall of the empire.

From there, many other characters would appear, making volume 5 a build-up for volume 6.

The villain, Kimball, an alchemist known for explosive alchemy, was also an essential character.

In addition, the identity of the hidden puppet master, Pride, from the artificial human group would also be revealed.

And with the appearance of the protagonist brothers’ father and “that being,” readers would surely face tremendous confusion.

‘Feels like I’m making millions of friends.’

Each time he showcased the stories he adapted and altered from the works he originally knew to the people of this world,

Rupert felt as if he were chatting about comic stories with friends.

Imagining numerous people reading the book he created and sharing similar feelings made his fatigue dissipate.

That’s why Rupert wanted to show volume 5 to the readers as quickly as possible.

He wanted to let them know that such a fun story exists and converse with them as if they were friends.

Of course, he knew he shouldn’t overdo it now, so he tried to refrain from all-nighters, but that was easier said than done.

‘Just let me off the hook today.’

As Rupert sat at his desk drawing the comic, his eyes sparkled with life.

The next chapter will be updated on September 4th at 11 PM.