Drawn Mochi Volume 4 Chapter 11.2: Around the Open Gate*2

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　In the comments section of the order form, she tried her best to write down her impressions of my painting. She saw a painting of a forest at her grandmother’s house. She thought that the painting was a clear, transparent, dazzling forest itself. She had lived in the forest for medical treatment when she was a small child. That she somehow remembered the pleasant memories of that time and became happy…

　… If you read something like this, you can’t say no. Yeah.

“Ah, of course, that’s right, you’re this kind of person…” (Fay)

　Yeah. I am like this.

“Then what are you going to do? You’re not going to draw all this, are you?” (Fay)

“…They’ll have to wait for half a year.” (Tougo)

“No, I think it’s pretty fast if you can draw twenty pictures in six months…” (Fay)

　But if requests come in the duration, more and more unfulfilled requests will come in. That’s a bit… hmmm.

　When I was wondering, suddenly, Laocles said.

“…Can’t you sell what you’ve already painted?” (Laocles)

“Eh?” (Tougo)

　I’ve already painted… Ah, well, sure, I have some paintings of forests and angels on the second floor that I’ve painted before.

　…I wonder if there were any that I could sell… If so, how would I sell them? When I was thinking about that, I found myself confused…

“Oh, that’s right. Then, why don’t you make an art gallery?” (Fay)

　Fay suggested that.

“How about here?” (Croix)

“…It’s a nice vacant lot.” (Laocles)

“Right? …No, wait a minute. What’s a nice vacant lot? Is there such a thing as a not-so-nice vacant lot? I mean, nice? Lovely?” (Fay)

“Yeah. It’s kind of… It’s not that big, and there’s grass all around it, and it’s a nice-looking vacant lot.” (Tougo)

　The place I was guided to was a vacant lot behind the Redgarde house. Although it’s a little far from the Redgarde family, it seems to be within the Redgarde family’s property. There’s nothing around. Not populous either. It’s in the opposite direction from town.

　…Yeah. Well, it’s like “The land that used to be used by people, but now it’s left untouched.”

“It used to be an outdoor training area. Our knights have already set up a training camp and a training are elsewhere… so there is no reason for them to use this less convenient site.” (Fay)

　I see. An outdoor training area. …That’s how it is. So that’s why there are no stones on the ground, or why the land is strangely well-trodden.

“Well, I guess it’s up to you to build the house. You can use this place as your gallery.” (Fay)

“…Um, you mean, a place to hang your paintings?” (Tougo)

“Well, that’s right. By the way, it’s a place where you can sell the paintings on display.” (Fay)

“Your upstairs already looks like a gallery, doesn’t it?” (Laocles)

“Yep.” (Tougo)

“If there are any paintings in there that you can sell, bring them here and hang them. If someone likes it, they can buy it. What do you think?” (Fay)

　… That might be a good idea.

　I know, if I am commissioned to do a painting, there may be times when they say, “It’s not what I imagined.” But if they buy it after seeing the original, that kind of misunderstanding won’t happen. I think the customer will be more satisfied that way.

“I will do it.” (Tougo)

“Oh! That’s great! Then you can use this land as you like!” (Fay)

“……really?” (Tougo)

“Oh, yeah. We are not using it, and we don’t plan to add anything on this side, and I have permission from my father and brother!” (Fay)

　That’s… Yep. Thank you.

“Then I’ll be grateful if you let me use it.” (Tougo)

“Oh! Yeah, go ahead, go ahead! It’s easy for not only me but my brother and father to peek in when there are so many of your paintings on display here!” (Fay)

　…Fay’s kind words were enough to allow me to have my own art gallery in a corner of the Redgarde family’s property. I’m so lucky.

“…your magical power has really increased.” (Fay)

“Yep.” (Tougo)

　And so, I built my gallery. I painted and it was done, so it was unrealistic.

　The gallery I drew was a one-story building. Small. It had a dark reddish-brown roof, a shade duller than the Redgarde roof, and ivory walls, in consideration of the fact that I would leave it in a corner of the Redgarde property. I think it’s a little stylish, I think, that the chocolate brown stripes are visible on the exterior walls make it so.

“I’m amazed that a house like this was built in just a few hours. …Wow, the interior is even somewhat finished.” (Fay)

“Huh? I haven’t painted anything inside yet… Oh, it’s true. It’s wallpapered and has a stone floor. But it’s empty.” (Tougo)

　For now, I guess I just finished the “container”. Well, since it’s going to be an art gallery, I need to put panels and stuff inside to increase the area for displaying the paintings. …Oh, but there aren’t that many paintings yet, so that’s okay. Yeah. For now, I just need to be able to hang the paintings on the walls.

　That day, I finished with the construction of the building that would become the gallery and a simple design of the interior, and then I decided to choose the paintings to hang.

　…In other words, I was the process of selecting the pictures I had ever drawn that I wanted to keep. It was a bit of a daunting task because there were some things I was satisfied with after drawing, and some things I still wanted to look at.

　Then the next day, I visited the Redgarde family with a large number of paintings and began the process of displaying them in the building that would become the art gallery.

　I drew out the frames, put the paintings in them, and hung them on the wall. That’s all there is to it. …But it was a lot of work. There were a good number of paintings, and once they were framed, they were heavy, especially the large ones.

　However, the sense of accomplishment I felt when I finished decorating the wall was quite impressive. The whole wall is decorated with my paintings. …It was like a dream. I can draw so many pictures and hang them on the wall like this. And that there are people who will come to see them.

“Hey, Tougo. Are you done? …Oh, it looks very green.” (Fay)

“Well, there are a lot of paintings of forests…” (Tougo)

　More than half of my paintings are of forests. The motifs are various, such as paintings of creatures in the forest or scenery in the forest… However, it is inevitable that the background will be forest. I am a Spirit of the Forest.

“Now, we have a gallery. All that’s left is for people to take a look at it, and if they see something they like, they can take it with them.” (Tougo)

“Wait a minute. Hey, hey, hey, Togo. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about the next step!?” (Fay)

　…What’s next?

“You need a security guard and a salesperson, it won’t work if don’t!” (Fay)

　…Oh.

　I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

　I was very, very worried.

　Yes. Security guards and salesperson are necessary. Otherwise, the paintings will be stolen all the time. No, if they like the paintings and steal them, that’s fine with me, but I know that people who steal don’t necessarily value the paintings… So I need a security guard.

　Also, if I am going to sell the paintings, maybe I should have someone to do that. I feel like a vending machine or unmanned sales station would be fine, though.

　…Hmm.

“Um, do you want to let us deal with it?” (Fay)

“No, I can’t do that. We’d at least like to do the security in a way that won’t bother the Redgarde family.” (Tougo)

　Although it is the Redgarde family’s premises, it is quite far from the mansion, so I don’t think it will affect the Redgarde family’s security. That is why I want to keep security out of the Redgarde family’s hands.

“So, do you want to buy a slave?” (Fay)

“Hmm…” (Tougo)

　However, the idea of buying slaves and making them do something else feels… Well, uncertain. It’s not that I don’t trust slaves, but rather, I feel like it would be better to ask them to do something else…

　… I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the idea of buying a slave if I’m not going to use them as a model.

　I was thinking about it for a while, and Fay was thinking about it with me.

“Hmm… So, you’re going to put up a barrier? Are you going to put up the same barrier around here as you did in the forest?” (Fay)

“I don’t know how to do that. As for the forest barrier, I just re-initialized the existing barrier…” (Tougo)

　It would be very convenient if I could put the forest barrier here as well, but unfortunately, I don’t really know how to make barrier. I don’t think I should hastily mess with something I don’t know how to do.

“Maybe I should have built an art gallery in the forest…” (Tougo)

“No, that’s no good. The horses live there, you know. I don’t want too many people around there either.” (Fay)

　Yes, that’s right. I think so too.

　I can manage as much as I want as long as there is an art gallery in the forest, but I also don’t think it’s a good idea for people to go near the forest. There are horses and fairies in the forest…

“So, I guess that means guards. Or hire mercenaries? Someone who could live in and work for us.” (Fay)

“I have a feeling it would be difficult to get someone to watch over the place all day long.” (Tougo)

“That’s right… Then, are you going to materialize some kind of summoned beast? Someone who seems to be good at security or something. You know, a dragon or something?” (Fay)

“Yeah. So, I’ll think about it.” (Tougo)

　So, it’s decided. Let’s materialize some living creature. Putting aside the fact that they would be a dragon… I’m thinking of someone who will guard the gallery for a long period of time, and who is pleasant to be around. Someone that I would get along with. Yeah, I’ll do that.