Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy

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“Duel?”

“Sounds good, let’s have a match!”

In the capital of the Borus Empire, Kaldeum, one could witness the rare sight of people with suspicious items strapped to their arms engaging in duels everywhere.

“Those are the participants in the finals!”
“I can’t miss such a spectacle!”
“That guy on the right, isn’t he the one I saw in the capital preliminaries?”

At last, the official tournament finals of [King of Cards] had begun.

In line with this, the finalists gathered in the capital were now facing off in duels as they awaited the championship stage.

Since they had all made it through the fierce preliminaries, it was quite the treat to watch duels from these talented individuals.

Couldn’t let such a spectacle go unnoticed, crowds of tourists from across the empire flocked to the capital, making it incredibly difficult to find accommodations.

As a result, those who arrived late and failed to secure a place to stay had no choice but to sleep on the streets, prompting the urgent construction of temporary lodgings.

However, the highly anticipated official tournament finals did not disappoint their expectations.

“That must be the ‘Duel Arm’ they’re talking about.”

“I hear it’s something only given to the finalists—looks exactly like something you’d see in a comic!”

What caught the attention of the street audience watching the participants duel was the Duel Arm that they wore on their arms.

“Make sure you create an item that has the card illustrations pop out and shuffles the cards automatically, Kroon.”
“Hey! You think I’m some kind of magician?”

The Duel Arm was an item featured in Rupert’s creation, [King of Cards], designed to allow dueling on the spot when worn on the arm.

Originally, Rupert planned to release the product based on its comic version performance, but Kroon, who served as Rupert’s cheat key, had to give up on it, claiming he couldn’t make that happen.

Inserting such diverse features into a small space was technically impossible, and the materials needed were far too expensive for Rupert to proceed.

However, creating a decorative merchandise piece that solely followed the design of the Duel Arm without functionality was possible.

Thus, Rupert decided it would serve as both a gift for the finalists and a way to identify them in the competition.

Thanks to that, participants could recognize each other even amidst the bustling streets of the capital filled with tourists.

“I won!”
“Damn… to think I’d be out like this.”

A man shouted victoriously, raising his arms to the sky as he inserted a piece he received from his opponent into his Duel Arm.

“Just three more pieces to go.”

On the back of his Duel Arm were five holes.

Two of those holes had small puzzle pieces inserted into them.

– To qualify for the finals, participants must collect a total of five puzzle pieces.

The rules of the finals were shared as the Duel Arms were handed out to those who passed the preliminaries, and, similar to the prelims, they had to win duels to snatch puzzle pieces from their opponents in order to advance.

Starting with just one piece, they faced a brutal condition of needing to win at least four duels to survive.

While the preliminaries required collecting ten “Glory of the Winner” cards, it was easy for skilled participants to clear since it was a mixed field back then.

Now, competing against skilled players who emerged from those preliminaries, gathering five puzzle pieces was far from easy.

“Duelists from the North Gate have begun their matches!”
“On the West Gate, I heard the famous Somerset Card Ghost is wreaking havoc!”
“At the South Gate, the Sage of Light and the Grand Wizard Yustaf are dueling!”

As duels for obtaining puzzle pieces continued all across the capital, a few matches garnered particularly high interest.

For instance, there was the match of the duelist from the North Gate who suddenly appeared in the capital preliminaries and set a record of ten consecutive wins, advancing first.

Or the match of the Somerset Card Ghost, whose skills were so remarkable even the local kids heard rumors about them.

Then there were matches where the person’s notoriety was so great that people couldn’t help but pay attention.

“Are you ready to be humiliated?”
“Haha, Yustaf. Anyone hearing you would think you actually have the upper hand against me.”
“Humph! This time will be different.”

With a snap, Yustaf raised a card, displaying it to Harun, who responded smoothly to Yustaf’s sharp tone.

“Oh my! How did you…?”
“I drew it.”

Recognizing the card that Yustaf held, Harun couldn’t hide his astonished expression, while Yustaf smiled, now feeling relieved.

The card in question was none other than the Ultimate Rare Dark Grand Sorcerer.

‘To get this…’

Seeing Harun so flabbergasted felt satisfying to Yustaf, but still, the memories of what he had to do to acquire that card were painful.

He lied to Harun, claiming he drew it just so he wouldn’t lose, but in reality, it was a card he had purchased from someone else.

‘Please, sell it to me!’
‘I respect you, Yustaf, but this is something I will not sell.’
‘Ugh! How about this instead?’
‘Wait, isn’t this your old staff?’

What Yustaf had offered the card’s owner was a staff he had used during his youth.

‘It’s made from the branches of the World Tree, and I never passed it down to my disciples.’

The World Tree is revered by the Elves as their mother tree, shedding branches every few centuries like a deer shedding its antlers.

These fallen branches provided purification, protecting their owner from all harmful things.

They also allowed sorcerers to feel nature’s mana more deeply, making them truly the greatest treasure for mages.

Thus, acquiring a staff made from the World Tree was a lifelong wish for any sorcerer.
It was rare for such a valued item to leave the Elves’ reach.

Yustaf’s staff was cherished because he had received it as a gift after solving a problem faced by the Elves during a chance visit to their village in his youth.

“Alright! Then let’s exchange!”

However, for Yustaf, who had already reached the level of a Grand Sorcerer and no longer needed a staff, the Ultimate Rare card held more importance than fond memories or warm friendships with the Elves.

‘This time!’

Yustaf thought it was all about the card, rather than his skill, that caused him to lose to Harun repeatedly before.

Finally, it was time to redeem himself.

***

“Activate Magic Card! Search and Seize.”
“AAAH!!! How does that specific card show up like a ghost?”

Ignoring his opponent’s screams, the kid checked their hand and immediately tossed the key card of the opponent’s deck into the graveyard.

‘Phew… This is a gamble. The card I laid down face-down isn’t a magic or trap card but a monster card. I need to bluff my way to buy time.’

Even with the core of the deck gone, the opposing player sought a chance at a counterattack.

However,

“Chaos Knight, directly attack the card on the opponent’s field!”

“Please!”

The opponent, a little girl, saw through the bluff and mercilessly attacked the card laid face down instead.

Eventually, unable to mount a proper counterattack, the defeated opponent had no choice but to hand over their puzzle piece with a dazed expression.

“Truly ghostly skills.”
“It’s not for no reason the Somerset Card Ghost has that nickname.”
“I could swear they knew exactly what their opponent would play.”

The winner of the duel at the West Gate was none other than the tournament favorite, Aida Somerset, the Somerset Card Ghost.

Those who had just witnessed Aida Somerset’s duel were cheering and exclaiming in awe.

Though they had heard rumors about her destroying Somerset duelists while carrying a dog, they had initially thought it was an exaggeration, yet now they couldn’t help but accept the truth.

Aida’s uncanny ability to draw cards and play as if she could see her opponent’s hand was indeed just as legendary as the rumors suggested.

Watching Aida relish the victory pose raised by the fervent cheers of the crowd was a man there witnessing it all.

‘I still don’t understand the lady properly…’

That man was none other than Oun, who had been observing Aida’s duel from start to finish.

Oun had been almost certain that Aida was cheating during her duels, having seen her learn assassin techniques from Alain.

Yet,

‘Lady, it’s time for you to sleep.’
‘Not yet! I have to memorize all of this!’

Aida and her party had arrived first in the capital to participate in the card tournament finals.

Expecting her to get carried away without Rupert and the maids watching, Oun had been gearing up to stop her.

Contrary to his expectations, however, Aida was diligently studying the effects of cards and the rules of dueling in their lodgings.

‘I can’t believe she’s working that hard.’

‘Isn’t that natural?’
‘Huh?’
‘Ever since you showed her the comic for the first time after returning from the Ice Kingdom.’

– Thus, she couldn’t help but get enthralled.

Understanding Alain’s words made Oun wonder why she had to learn how to apply assassin techniques to card games.

‘She probably just wants to emulate the protagonists from the comics.’
‘Is that the only reason?’
‘It’s not just that. It’s incredibly important to her.’

Contrary to Oun’s suspicions, Aida had never used any techniques in her duels to date.

Other than when she wanted to impress the local kids, she had always earnestly engaged in dueling.

‘Get away from me! It’s hard to concentrate with you next to me!’

Even her ever-present companion, Rach, had to move away from Aida during her duels.

She analyzed her opponent’s expressions, movements, and even words during battles to gauge their psychology, which became difficult with Rach by her side.

‘Kong.’

Thus, Rach always had to find a spot opposite to Aida.

‘I love everything my brother makes!’

Aida would always wine to her brother, knowing he crafted fun and new things just for her; this was the greatest joy in the world for her.

Those precious creations kept her from wanting to even dream of doing anything wrong, especially the [King of Cards] that her brother had finally allowed her to have.