The Former Child Prodigy Delivers The Punchline

That night, a grand banquet was being held at the Black Dragon’s Fang headquarters in the Imperial Capital.

It was to celebrate the successful conclusion of the painting auction, the biggest event of the Bladra Grand Art Prize. As such, the attendees were all members of Black Dragon’s Fang.

Orfred was in an extremely good mood.

Because the prize-winning works from the Bladra Grand Art Prize had been auctioned off for an enormous sum. It was alchemy that turned mere paper and pigment into outrageous wealth simply by adding the prestige of an award to an unknown artist’s work—

(I can’t stop laughing…!)

On top of that, the grand prize-winning work that had sold for the highest amount was by an “unknown artist.” Thanks to that, there was no need to share any portion with the artist, and every bit of it became income for Black Dragon’s Fang.

(Hahahahahahaha! Well, don’t resent me! It’s your own fault for not coming forward!)

As Orfred laughed in the back of his throat, one of his aides approached him.

“Orfred-sama, please give the opening address.”

“Ah, understood.”

Orfred nodded and walked toward the back of the room.

On the wall at the back, the grand prize-winning work that had just been sold was on display inside a glass case.

That creepy painting that looked like nothing more than “the brutally murdered corpse of an octopus pasted onto a grotesquely painted willow tree” had sold for three hundred million gold!

And the buyer was none other than the highest authority in the empire—Emperor Zoros.

“Orfred! You truly found something splendid for us! A miracle of art! If the genius Soltage calls it that, then the royal family would be laughed at for generations if we did not possess it!”

Orfred recalled Zoros’s beaming face.

Being able to earn a favor from the highest ruler of the empire was an excellent thing indeed.

(Everything is going smoothly…!)

Things had turned disastrous because of Varnir’s failure, but for the first time in a while, he could feel a good current. All that remained was to ride that pleasant momentum and regain the soaring force of a bird on the rise.

Orfred turned back toward the members of Black Dragon’s Fang.

“Gentlemen, today one of our events has concluded in great success. It is a splendid result worthy of us. However, if we take joy in something this ordinary, the name of the greatest clan in the Imperial Capital would weep. Success is an obligation imposed upon us, the strongest. Once more, I ask each clan member to look into their heart with an open and unclouded mind and consider what they can do to contribute to this clan.”

As he spoke, Orfred sensed that something was wrong.

The room was unsettled.

Normally, whenever Orfred spoke, not a single member would engage in idle chatter. They would simply stand at attention and listen. But what was this today? They were muttering meaningless things under their breath and darting their eyes restlessly about.

It displeased him.

This attitude of making light of Orfred’s words.

“You lot—”

Just as he was about to spit out a threat, Orfred noticed that the focus of their gazes was slightly above him, on something behind him.

(…What?)

With that thought, Orfred cut himself off and turned around.

At the end of the members’ stares was the grand prize-winning work.

The instant he saw it—

“Wh—!?”

A cry of shock escaped Orfred’s lips.

The painting on display—the image painted on it was “fading away”!

Yes, it was certainly fading. The colors were becoming paler overall, and the white of the canvas was showing through. Moreover, that fading was progressing with time.

At this rate—

(The painting is going to disappear completely!)

The situation unfolded exactly as Orfred feared. As though someone had carefully washed away every stain, the painting vanished cleanly and completely, leaving behind nothing but a blank white canvas.

The murmurs of alarm among the clan members had already gone beyond the level of whispers.

“Hey, what the hell is going on!?”

“The painting, the painting disappeared!?”

“W-wait, we already sold it to His Majesty—what happens now!?”

Voices like screams echoed through the room.

Orfred too was being swept up in the storm of emotions raging inside him.

“Soltage! Soltage! What is happening here!? What has happened!?”

The genius of art summoned by Orfred looked at the canvas and let out a sigh.

“The painting disappeared—that would seem to be the case.”

“Why did it disappear!?”

“Perhaps some kind of magic had been worked into the ink… though I have never heard of such a thing.”

“Ridiculous! Even if such magic existed—hadn’t the painting been inspected for tampering!?”

“Of course it was inspected. However, no one noticed it. That is what happened.”

Orfred understood the weight of those words.

It was the grand prize-winning work. It should have been examined with the utmost care, and the task should have been handled by some of Black Dragon’s Fang’s most capable people.

And even so, they had failed to notice it.

Soltage sighed.

“It would be reasonable to conclude that an extremely advanced interference spell had been placed on it.”

Who was it, this person!?

That was what he thought, but there was an even greater problem that he could not ignore.

“…The painting is gone, but what will happen to our transaction with Emperor Zoros-sama?”

“Of course, it will be canceled.”

“…If we unilaterally cancel because we failed to provide the promised item, then compensation will be incurred on our side. Am I mistaken?”

“No.”

In an even tone, Soltage continued.

“We will be required to pay the other party twice the winning bid.”

“Twice—!”

A loss of six hundred million gold. And once one considered the lost profit of three hundred million, the total loss came to nine hundred million.

Orfred felt a chill run down his spine.

Orfred had known Emperor Zoros for a long time. That was precisely why he knew this: just like Orfred, Zoros was not the sort to make decisions based on sentiment. Acquaintance or not, if something needed to be demanded, he would demand it, and if someone needed to be pressed, he would press them.

There was no way to escape this loss—

Why! Why! Why! Why! Why!

Feeling those questions whirl through his mind, Orfred looked toward the grand prize-winning work, now turned pure white. But no matter how long he stared, it remained white, and there was not the slightest trace left of the “brutally murdered corpse of an octopus pasted onto a grotesquely painted willow tree” from moments before.

It had— completely disappeared.

“U-ugh, ugh, ugh, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”

Orfred’s scream echoed throughout the entire room.

“You see, the title of that painting is ‘Blank.’”

At my words, Arisa tilted her head.

“‘Blank’?”

“Yeah. Actually, that painting disappears after enough time passes.”

“Hah!?”

Arisa let out a startled cry.

“Why!?”

“Even if you ask why… I just put that kind of magical power into the paint.”

A spell that would vanish without a trace after a set amount of time had passed.

…Why had I done something like that?

The answer was simple: just because I was bored. As I have said many times, I have no interest in painting. So since I was bored, I had just been amusing myself with that sort of thing.

“Huh.”

Arisa gave me a sidelong look.

“So when does that spell wear off?”

“Hmm… probably around today, I guess.”

“I see.”

…Well, I do not think it is my painting, so there is no need to worry about it.

If by some chance it really were my painting, then I would feel a little bad.

But then again… if it were my painting, they would have gone and sold it without contacting me, the creator, so I could hardly be blamed if they complained… If they had just said a word to me, I would have removed that spell myself.

No, no, there is no way they would auction off a painting by an unknown artist without permission.

Yeah, yeah, no way they would do that.

Which meant that it really was not my painting after all.

“Well, it’s not my painting, so there’s no need to think about it.”

And just like that, this whole matter slipped from our minds.