Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy

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“Beware of the elderly.”

This was a widely known saying in the world of wizards.

There were several critical factors for assessing a wizard’s abilities, but without a doubt, the amount of mana one possessed was the first and foremost absolute truth that no one could dispute.

“Master, it’s time for the meeting.”

“Got it. You go ahead; I’ll finish this up and join you.”

“Understood.”

While the amount of mana one had was crucially innate, it also needed to be accumulated over time.

No matter how much mana you were born with, you couldn’t escape the flow of time.

That’s why most famous wizards were often elderly.

Take Yustaf, the most renowned wizard on the continent, for example; he had a respectable white beard.

However, within the world of wizards, another saying was emerging.

“Beware of the red-haired woman.” This new phrase was hitting the magical community hard.

“Lady Jenia has entered!”

At the shout of a young wizard preparing for the meeting, the elder wizards sitting at the round table rose from their seats in unison.

“Everyone, please sit down. Now, shall we begin the meeting?”

The round table was a meeting place that only the elders of the Mage Tower could sit at.

As soon as Jenia, who took the highest seat, spoke, all the standing elders finally sat back down.

“The first agenda for today is a request for new technology development from the Somerset Workshop.”

“What’s it about?”

“Yes, they are developing a helmet-like device to wear on the head, and they want it to give the sensation of a real experience.”

Jenia skillfully led the meeting.

– I guess I’ll need to step aside to achieve my life’s final task.

A few years ago, Yustaf had made a shocking decision to pass the position of headmaster at the Academy to Rupert and announced his retirement.

And at the same time, he recommended his disciple Jenia for the now-vacant position of head of the Mage Tower.

“It’s unreasonable for Jenia, who’s still too young and has no outstanding achievements, to rise to this position just because she’s Yustaf’s disciple!”

Of course, there were those who had grievances about such a radical appointment.

But,

“Is she a goddess?”

Everyone witnessed Jenia showcase her talents before them, and she was unanimously voted to become the head of the Mage Tower.

“The next agenda is suggestions regarding next year’s Mage Tower budget. Recently, there have been complaints from battle wizards about the budget being too focused on research and development…”

“I believe we discussed that last time as well.”

“That’s… it seems the complaints aren’t dying down easily.”

Recently, the Mage Tower had been divided into two factions.

The battle mages focused on studying magical combat and the magic engineering faction focused on practical applications and magical item development.

Currently, the head of the tower, Jenia, could be seen as the representative of the magic engineering faction, which had led to discontent among the battle mages.

“Magic has advanced to subdue opponents since ancient times!”

They believed the essence of magic lay in combat, which left them dissatisfied with the scholarly atmosphere of the Mage Tower.

“The direction our continent should go in is culture, not war.”

Jenia was aware of the battle mages’ complaints but had no intention of steering the Mage Tower back to its former ways.

“The old wizards only pursued power and committed numerous errors.”

At Jenia’s words, the elders sitting at the round table nodded their heads with solemn expressions.

It wasn’t for nothing that the previous wizards earned the derisive title of pawns of the demon.

“I want to use magic that gives even a fleeting moment of happiness to those worn out by life, rather than a spell that erases a mountain from a map.”

This wasn’t just talk.

“Wow, she’s a wizard!”

Now, the people of the Empire were no longer afraid of wizards but rather welcomed them.

“Our Empire’s wizards create marvelous items that make other countries envious!”

“Is that all? They’re truly grateful folks who come to help whenever difficult issues arise at the Mage Tower branches throughout the Empire.”

Having gone through tough times herself, Jenia thought about wanting to help those who were currently facing struggles, and she began various charitable endeavors under the name of the Mage Tower.

Now, being a wizard had become a beloved profession in the Empire.

“Ah, and regarding the preparations for Lady Jenia’s wedding scheduled for next week…”

“What about ‘that’?”

Upon hearing the wedding talk, Jenia’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

The wizard managing the meeting responded with a determined expression to her question.

“It’s all ready. I’m certain that with this, the wedding will make our Mage Tower the star of the show.”

“It must be so. The Imperial Family, no, we can’t be outdone by Duke Bluewell!”

“Please don’t worry, my lady.”

Not only Jenia, but the elders also expressed passionate agreement with that statement.

Bluewell.

It had now become the name of the Mage Tower’s biggest competitor.

***

“We should slightly increase the thickness of the paper.”

“Indeed. To ensure the stability of the sound paper we developed, the current thickness raises concerns about durability.”

In the research lab located on the second floor of the Somerset Workshop, a particularly eye-catching woman was engaged in serious discussions with the artisans.

“In our upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast, Lord Rupert insisted that we include music.”

“We’ll make sure to improve it by the deadline.”

In response to Amelia’s words, the artisans replied enthusiastically.

Generating sound from a fairy tale book was something Rupert had long desired, but they had been stumped by the limitations of technology until now.

However, the staff of the Somerset Workshop, led by Amelia, had finally discovered the key to the technology and were in a hopeful situation with significant progress.

“This is technology that even Kroon had given up on.”

“He didn’t become the head of the research lab for nothing.”

The artisans were in awe of Amelia’s abilities.

Since graduating from the Academy, Amelia had been demonstrating her outstanding talents at the Somerset Workshop.

“When it comes to talent as a wizard, Jenia may be on top, but for a magic engineer, Amelia’s skills are exceptional.”

From her Academy days, Amelia had wanted to assist Rupert, which motivated her to study magic engineering, helping to elevate the technology of the Somerset Workshop.

So much so that the Mage Tower now viewed her-led Somerset Research Lab as its biggest rival.

“By the way, how much progress has been made on that?”

“Ah, you mean the fireworks for the wedding? That’s in the final stages.”

“We absolutely cannot fall behind what the Mage Tower has prepared!”

“Of course!”

Jenia had become the head of the Mage Tower and around the same time, Amelia also became the head of the Somerset Workshop’s research lab.

Perhaps for this reason, the Mage Tower and Somerset Research Lab were both hyper-aware of each other.

Of course, they were in a cooperative relationship, so there was no fighting or conflicts, but they were in fierce competition to develop better technologies.

The upcoming wedding with Rupert was no different.

“Hmm, seems brother will be performing the royal knight’s ceremony at the wedding. Even though it’s only a sibling’s wedding, isn’t His Majesty a bit over the top?”

-“You kids shouldn’t stress too much since it could become a burden.”

It all kicked off from Ioleen’s comment.

The ceremony of the royal knights, which one could only see at a royal wedding, was truly a scene worthy of a fairy tale.

Inspired by that, both Amelia and Jenia declared they would prepare an event just as grand as the royal knight ceremony.

What Amelia was preparing was fireworks.

“I’ll dazzle everyone with beautiful fireworks that fill the sky of the venue on the day of the wedding!”

Ever since Rupert announced his rise to the honorary duke, the three women, who had previously gathered to chat, often reminisced.

While they were close friends, this didn’t prevent the subtle ego battle among them as to who Rupert loved the most.

***

“Aiden, don’t make that face.”

“I wanted to serve His Highness for a lifetime.”

“It’s the same for me; it makes me sad to think of leaving this place where I’ve grown attached to you.”

Ioleen comforted Head Attendant Aiden, who had a sorrowful expression, as she organized her belongings.

As the wedding drew near next week, Ioleen reflected on all that had happened.

“Snow White’s ending, I’m sure you have something in mind, right?”

The first place she met Rupert was right here.

“If only you had given it to me when I asked…”

She recalled how she had been targeted by Edric for her precious collection.

“What on earth is he doing?”

Memories of her brother, who had gone quiet, resurfaced, and Ioleen thought she ought to give him a good scolding when he finally returned.

“Jorge, won’t you regret this?”

“Who else would serve His Highness but me?”

“That’s true.”

Although she was technically an outsider, José still commented as Alex encouraged Ioleen to bring along a protector.

But the moment she followed him, she would be living a life far removed from ambition, which Ioleen was reluctant to accept.

“If I’m not here, who will give you objective evaluations about your works?”

Jorge, her Dark Guard, volunteered to follow her.

“Do you remember?”

“Which incident are you referring to?”

“I’m talking about the commotion we caused at midnight to obtain the limited edition comic book.”

“Of course. To be honest, I was trembling alone, thinking you were going to assign me a monumental task.”

“That was indeed a monumental task.”

“Looking back now, I see it as such.”

Ioleen, Aiden, and Jorge took a break from packing to share some laughs and reminisce about their memories.

 

 

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