The Former Prodigy Goes To An Art Class With His Little Sister

Two months after the disturbance in the Great Forest――

I lazed around from the bottom of my heart. Seriously, after working that hard, there was no way I could do anything else. I had even fought while bringing out a level of seriousness I had never shown before, so I think a break was necessary.

As for money, I had plenty of breathing room thanks to the money I earned from medicinal herbs.

Fuhahahahahahaha, if I am lazing around on money I earned myself, then I can lounge around with my head held high!

Besides, with the Great Forest in that condition, going out to gather medicinal herbs was honestly a pain too. At times like this, it is important not to push yourself and to rest.

This is what you call a just cause!

One day, while I was idling around like that, Arisa spoke to me.

“Hey, big brother, if you are free, then come with me somewhere, okay?”

“Hm? I do not mind, but where to?”

“How about trying an art class? Apparently they have a free trial course.”

Saying that, Arisa held out a flyer to me.

On it was written, “How about trying a painting trial course at the Bladra Art Class!? This is your chance to awaken your artistic talent!”

Painting, huh…

Not even one millimeter of interest was stirring in me.

I was not particularly fond of art in general.

Back in my student days, the teachers used to say, “Paint whatever you like, however you feel! Expression of the self! That is what art is!”

So that was why, at first, I painted exactly as I pleased, but the reception was truly terrible. My art teacher frowned and even said, “Ilvis-kun, are you making fun of this?”

Huh? I am painting exactly as I feel, though?

That was what I thought, but I immediately changed my thinking.

I see, then in that case, I will paint “the wonderful picture you people think is wonderful.”

So that was what I did. I painted realistic works in line with classical art, the kind the art teachers would surely like. If it was only imitation, then that was no trouble at all.

They said:

“Wonderful, Ilvis-kun! You are a genius!”

That was how I ended up receiving the highest marks in art as well, but since I had not painted what I actually liked, I never grew very fond of it.

I had no interest in it, but――

“Do you want to go, Arisa?”

“Yeah! I mean, a woman who understands art feels mature, does she not!?”

…I wonder about that. Well――

“…If you are going, Arisa, then I will come along too… I am free anyway.”

And so, on the next holiday, we took part in the painting trial course at the Bladra Art Class.

The Bladra Art Class was located in quite an impressive building in a prime area of the Imperial Capital.

“…This is more impressive than I expected. I was imagining something much smaller.”

“Well, of course. It is run by Black Dragon’s Fang.”

“What!?”

That giant clan in the Imperial Capital, the one I took the exam for!?

“…I see, well, of course they would have money…”

We went inside the building.

At reception, Arisa informed them that she had reserved places in the trial course. We were given temporary visitor passes, and together with a staff guide, we proceeded deeper into the building.

Along the way, I noticed a large poster displayed in the hallway.

Written across it in large letters were the words, “Bladra Grand Art Prize! Revolutionaries of the art world, come forth!”

“…What is this?”

A staff member serving as our guide responded to my idle murmur.

“It is a painting prize hosted mainly by the Bladra Art Class. It is a prestigious contest that gathers talent from all across the Imperial Capital. It has already advanced to the final round of judging, and the grand prize will be decided tonight at the final review held here.”

“Oh, really.”

“And none other than the artist Soltage-sama of the Eight Stars will be evaluating the works!”

Eight Star Soltage――even I, who did not remember many of the Eight Stars’ names, knew that celebrity.

Though he was an adventurer belonging to the Black Dragon’s Fang clan, he was also one of the Empire’s representative artists. The artworks created by Soltage were released on a regular basis, and every time they were, they became the talk of the Imperial Capital.

We entered the art studio classroom. Several trial participants were already seated there, and in front of them were blank white canvases.

“This way, please.”

At the seats the staff member guided us to, there were big canvases sitting there as well, and a wide assortment of art supplies had been placed at our feet.

Arisa and I sat in adjacent seats.

The staff member bowed to us and then said,

“Please enjoy the profound world of painting to your hearts’ content.”

With that, the staff member left the room.

At the front of the room was a single chair, and on top of its seat sat a fruit basket piled high with apples, oranges, and the like.

That was probably what we were supposed to paint.

At my feet was a textbook titled Gentle Methods of Painting. I was glancing through it to kill time when―― the door opened and a young woman, perhaps in her twenties, appeared.

“I will be serving as your instructor today. It will only be for a short time, but I look forward to working with all of you.”

After the instructor first explained the basics of painting, we were left to paint as we pleased.

“Hehe, this is fun♪”

Beside me, Arisa smiled happily as she sketched an underdrawing onto her canvas.

Meanwhile, I sat there watching Arisa in that state. My canvas remained completely blank.

“Is it really that fun?”

“Big brotheeer, stop acting all cynical like that. Open your heart more, more. Try enjoying things for once. Oh, right, since we are here, why not paint seriously?”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“Yeah, yeah, you always used to paint amazing pictures at school, right? Really beautiful ones.”

“Ah…”

Those were pictures I drew to score points in art class, not because I was serious about them at all…

But seriously, huh.

That was not a bad idea――because here, there was no need to worry about grades.

I let out a smug little laugh and answered Arisa.

“All right. Then I shall show you my serious side.”

“Waaah, I cannot wait!”

One hour later, that bright, cheerful smile on my little sister’s face had become thoroughly overcast.

“…Uh, w-what is this…?”

“My serious work, obviously.”

Arisa muttered while staring at the canvas I had painted.

“Umm――which part of this is the chair and which part is the fruit?”

“Here and here.”

“No, no, no, no, no.”

Arisa shook her head.

“Calling this a chair and fruit is way too much of a stretch, is it not? It is ‘the mutilated corpse of an octopus grotesquely nailed to a willow tree’!”

That was a terrible way to put it.

…Well, if I set aside all subjectivity and viewed it objectively, then yes, that evaluation did seem correct.

Yeah―― this really was “the mutilated corpse of an octopus grotesquely nailed to a willow tree.”

But well, this was just what happened when it passed through my artistic filter. My heart loudly screamed at me to paint it this way!

Arisa pouted.

“Big brother, paint properly.”

“No, well, in my own way――”

At that moment, we heard someone clear their throat behind us. When we turned around, a staff member from the art class was standing there.

“Dear guests, I am sorry, but you are disturbing the others, so please refrain from private conversation.”

““S-sorry!””

We lowered our heads and cut off the conversation.

The moment the staff member saw my painting, their face twitched, but they said nothing and went back.

…Well, Arisa’s and the staff member’s reactions were the normal ones.

Was it really that strange a painting…? I do not think it was bad, though.

After a little while――

“All right. We will end here for today. Thank you for your hard work, everyone. If any of you are interested in this class’s courses, please feel free to speak to reception.”

With that, the instructor brought the trial course to an end.

Apparently we were allowed to take our canvases home, but of course I did not take mine back. It was not as though I was all that interested in painting to begin with…

Well, I suppose it was good enough for killing time.

A few hours later.

Inside the building housing the art class, the “final judging for the Bladra Grand Art Prize” was held.

All of the nominated works were beautiful pieces, but there was one single oddity mixed among them.

It was a painting that no matter who looked at it, could only possibly appear to be “the mutilated corpse of an octopus grotesquely nailed to a willow tree”――