Drawn Mochi Volume 5 Chapter 14: To The Wide, Wide Land*1

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　And so, we headed for the royal capital. Lila was apologetic, but the reason she came to the forest in the first place without packing her bags was because some bird had kidnapped her… and I hope that you excuse us for that, so we should take Lila to Royal Capital.

　… But I guess “a girl who was kidnapped by a huge bird that came in through a window in the middle of the trial” can’t casually walk around the Royal Capital, so we had to choose the alleys to walk through.

“Sorry, I can’t walk down the main street.” (Zack)

“It’s okay. My house is this way.” (Lila)

Lila continued down the narrow street. She had a house at the end of the city. If we had brought Lian and Ange, they might have known about this area. They might have at least crossed paths somewhere in the Royal Capital.

“…I’m sorry I made you go through all this trouble.” (Lila)

“No, it’s fine. I have to go show you to the court anyway…” (Tougo)

　Lila is said to have been “abducted by a bird and is missing,” The judge’s decision was, “let me know if you find her,” so we had to go and tell her. We waited until  Lila’s personal affairs were ready because, well, you know, I needed time to look for her, just in case…

“Here. Where my house… used to be.” (Lila)

　Lila said and walked into a small house on the edge of the Royal Capital.

“It’s a rented house, so I need to finish my lease here. Oh, no, that doesn’t seem right.” (Lila)

　When I visited the house, I found it to be a cozy, empty room. However, there were some sketchbooks, art supplies… some clothes in the closet… and some of her mother’s belongings.

“Good. It wasn’t stolen.” (Lila)

　Lila checked them and looked relieved. Then, after looking at it with great care, she gently put it in her bag.

　…However, it seems that she noticed my gaze after she put it away in her bag. Lila laughed a little and took it out of her bag again.

“It’s this.” (Lila)

　It was a pendant, an oval pendant with a beautifully polished indigo-blue gemstone set into the center. The pendant has a hinge, which means it can be opened with a snap.

“It’s almost the only valuable thing in this house. But I know I can’t part with it…” (Lila)

“Is there something inside?” (Tougo)

　I think most pendants like this have a photo inside, so I asked.

　…Then.

“That’s what I don’t really understand.” (Lila)

　“Look,” Lila said, opening the pendant and showing it to me. Sure enough, it was the kind that opened with a snap, so the pendant opened nicely and showed me what was inside, but… I didn’t understand…

“…I wonder what this is.” (Tougo)

“Right? I thought it might be some kind of seed.” (Lila)

　What was inside was a small black grain. It looks like seeds of some kind, and there are multiple seeds that are housed in the hollow space inside the pendant.

“…Do you want to try planting them?” (Tougo)

“Hmm… What should I do?” (Lila)

　I thought that if it were a seed, it might sprout if we buried it in the ground… but Lila doesn’t seem too keen on it.

“If nothing comes out, this will just disappear and that’s it.” (Lila)

“…I see.” (Tougo)

　Well. That’s true. She said it was her mother’s heirloom. So, it’s a little awkward to bury this seed when it’s so important… and you don’t know if it will sprout.

“Well, okay. I’ll just take these with me. Well, the other thing is, the clothes… I bought a lot of them in Redgarde, but I’ll take these too, just in case. It’s not something you can’t afford to have…” (Lila)

“Yeah. I think it would be a good idea.” (Tougo)

　The house and the contents of this chest of drawers are probably filled with memories of Lila, so I would like her to take as much as she can with her.

“I’ll carry your luggage.” (Tougo)

“It’s fine. You’re like my employer after all…” (Lila)

“It doesn’t matter.” (Tougo)

　Lila’s luggage is getting full, so I take some of it. Even though it’s not that heavy, it’s still better to have someone help you with bulky items.

“Thank you…” (Lila)

“Yep.” (Tougo)

　When Lila saw me carrying her luggage, she smiled rather awkwardly. …I hope you’ll get used to it over time.

Once we were done with Lila’s stuff and the house, I quickly went to the courthouse and showed Lila.

　As for Lila, “I was informed that they saw a shadow of a huge bird over the forest in Redgarde territory, so I searched the forest and found Lila Raswald in the giant bird’s nest.”

　I did not lie. The bird id fly overhead from time to time, and Lila was properly warmed by the bird in its nest. I don’t have to tell them that the bird’s nest was in my stable, though.

　…For the time being, the people at the court were extremely troubled. It seems like they didn’t expect Lila to be found, and to begin with, it was probably unheard of for a human to be abducted by a bird.

　However, looking at Lila who was there awkwardly, the people at the court told her “they were glad that she was safe” and that “she should pay compensation to the Redgarde family at her own pace”. Alright. Now I have the court’s blessing and Lila can stay in the forest! Yay!

　Then we decided to take a quick look at the museum.

“…Ah, so that is what has happened?” (Lila)

“That was a bit unexpected…” (Tougo)

　…The museum was temporarily closed due to incident with Ryuu at the competition, but… it seems like it has reopened now. “The Dragon Appeared! Royal Art Museum Painting Competition Exhibition!” is the new name of the occasion.

　Specifically, the dragon has left the painting and the nameplates in different positions. The room where the award-winning paintings of the competition were displayed has been turned into an exhibition room, and the explanatory paintings have been reopened in an amazing way.

“A lot of things happened at the 29th Royal Museums Painting Competition. On the day of the presentation of the awards, a dragon came from the heavens, ripped off the nameplates of all the artists, and rearranged them. The dragon then vanished into the sky, leaving behind only the paintings with the artists’ names removed. It was later discovered that several painters had published works that were not their own, with their own names attached to them. Perhaps the dragon was trying to correct our human arrogance by disregarding the nameplates. The Royal Art Museum is currently involved in the investigation of this case.”

　…Yeah. Anything with a caption makes it look like a work of art. You could call it modern art.

　It’s interesting that “Exhibition of Paintings with Nameplates Rearranged by the Dragon” …the award for excellence in the competition is not seen at all.

　Maybe it is because the value of the painting faded away when the nameplate was removed, or maybe it is because the work is meaningless to those who only see the nameplate. Also, the difference between the Excellence Award and the others may have become irrelevant because of the way people look at them, as if they are wondering which is the original picture of the person whose nameplate was newly pasted next to the Excellence Award picture.

　…Even if the name was changed, the award-winning work is still an award-winning work, and the picture itself has not changed in any way, but the behavior of the people who looked at the pictures has certainly changed.

　As a result, it seemed that many people were looking at my picture and Lila’s picture, which was only an honorable mention.

　My and Lila’s paintings were like one continuous work of art. The worlds in the paintings are connected. That’s why they caught my attention even more than usual.

“…What should I do? My picture, which has my name on it, is being praised…” (Lila)

Lila murmured as she heard the visitors looking at our pictures and talking about something. Her face is a little red.

“Well, isn’t it special when it’s your name on your painting?” (Tougo)

“…yeah. It’s special.” (Lila)

　Lila’s face turned red and she looked at the customers and the picture of us that they were looking at with sparkling eyes, which made me feel happy too.

　Yeah. happy. I’m happy to see Lila happy… and I’m also happy that she can see her own painting.

“…Why am I very happy?” (Tougo)

　However, I don’t quite understand why I’m so happy.

　I can understand why I’m happy because Lila is being praised and Lila looks happy. Yep. I am happy when I see someone who looks happy.

　But being happy that my picture is praised is… well, there is a voice in the corner of my head that says, “It’s wrong to be happy that your picture is seen and praised by others.” …Hmmm.

“Why? That’s already decided!”

　However, Lila smiled brightly and said.

“I’m happy if there are people who like what I like! That’s why I’m happy if there are people who say they like my paintings, and I hope that many people will say the same thing.” (Lila)

　When I was a little… well, very surprised, Lila continued,

“I like your drawings. So, I’d be happy if you liked what I like too.” (Lila)

　We left the museum in a daze. Fay was leading the way, and we were following him, but to be honest, I couldn’t really hear what everyone was saying, nor was I really understanding anything.

　However, what Lila said is still spinning around in my head.

　I am happy when people compliment my paintings because it makes me happy to know that someone likes what I like.

　And Lila likes my paintings, so I am happy that she likes my painting.

　…I wonder if is a good thing. I’m happy when Lila is happy, but is it okay if I tell her that I like her painting?

　I’ve been thinking about it. I like to paint, but… my paintings have many technical flaws, my sketches are not always correct, and sometimes they don’t turn out the way I want them to… but I like them. I like them a lot.

　And liking something is not a bad thing. …I wonder if I don’t have to feel bad that other people say they like my paintings.

　Is it acceptable to be appreciated or to want to be appreciated?

　…I thought about it a bit, but I couldn’t find an answer.

　But what Lila said has been going around in my head for a long time, and I’m a little troubled… Well, I’m not troubled. Yep. I’m a little worried. Confused.

　Teacher also said that thinking is not meaningless. So I’m still thinking about this.

　After that, we went back to the forest and spent our time leisurely drawing pictures again.

　…One day.

“Tougo! Lila! A letter for you guys!” (Fay)

　Fay appeared with a letter.

“From the Royal Art Museum!” (Fay)

　…It’s a letter from an incredible place!

　Lila and I read the letter together with Fay.

　The letter that came from the Royal Art Museum was an off-white envelope stamped with gold foil, making it look very luxurious. It feels very “Royal”.

“Ugh…” (Lila)

“Yep…” (Tougo)

　When Lila and I read the letter, we were left speechless. We was stunned.

　…The letter said:

“We would like to make your paintings part of the official collection of the Royal Art Museum after being the centerpiece of Exhibition of Paintings with Nameplates Rearranged by the Dragon.”

T/N: So proud of our artists, they got the recognition they deserve.

I do want to know what the seeds in Lila’s mother’s inheritance are. They could be a common plant in the otherworld or a magical plant.