Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy

A ghost was wandering around the Borus Empire.

A ghost named “Iron-Blooded Alchemist.”

“Don’t push! I’ve been camping out here for three days just to claim this spot, and you dare to cut in?!”

“What? I just went to the bathroom! How is this your spot?!”

“Are you crazy? Don’t you know that stepping out of line means you’re finished?!”
At the headquarters of the Yuren Merchant Association in the capital, this had become a common sight.

The promotion for the new comic book “Iron-Blooded Alchemist” had started a week ago, and immediately, a long queue formed in front of the association.

Compared to the previous work, “Kingdom of Ice,” the queue was much longer.

The reasons were many.

First and foremost was, of course, hoarding.
“I heard that Samson, who bought the last comic in limited edition, sold it for three times the price.”

“What? Three times?! The limited edition was already extremely expensive, so three times that means this is a total jackpot!”

Among Rupert’s comic books, the limited editions and premium hardcover versions sold exclusively to the wealthy had a fixed quantity.

So, when rumors spread that those who couldn’t get one were willing to pay high prices to buy from those who did, news of an easy way to make money spread, and everyone decided to join the line.

The second reason was due to a certain announcement.

“This comic book is only available for purchase and reading by those aged 12 and older, so please keep this in mind!”

This was a phrase added when Yuren advertised their new comic book.

It became a hot topic as word spread among insiders that this work was aimed at young adults rather than children.

Particularly, fairy tales were usually targeted toward girls, and the first comic, “Kingdom of Ice,” was suitable for all ages. But still, there were more female readers.

Perhaps that’s why men hadn’t shown much enthusiasm for fairy tales or comic books until now.

However, with rumors spreading that the author was explicitly targeting male readers this time, curious people flocked to the event.

Thus, a long line was formed.

However, among the first three men in line, numbered 12 to 14, things were quite awkward.

“What the heck, why are these guys here?”

“Damn it, how did I, a knight guarding Her Highness the Princess, end up here?”

“Isn’t that guy a page for the Crown Prince?”

Coincidentally, number 12 was the page for the Third Prince, number 13 was the page for the Crown Prince, and number 14 was the knight protecting the Princess.

Since all three had been assigned to serve the Imperial Family at the palace, it made the awkwardness even worse as they recognized each other.

They certainly weren’t standing in this queue for their own pleasure to buy comic books.

They were merely following the orders of those they served. It was embarrassing to think others would see them as people so enamored with comic books, typically enjoyed by young girls.

And then there was the chilling reality that they couldn’t even strike up a conversation.

No matter how trivial the request to get a book may seem, it was a direct order from the palace.

If they revealed their identities as people from the Imperial Family during their mission, rumors would spread, so they had to keep their mouths shut.

Thus, the three men endured three days of awkward silence, pretending not to see each other.

“Heh… This is really too interesting.”

Esteban was sitting comfortably in a chair in his office, warmed by a magic stone stove, reading a comic book.

In fact, this was already the fifth time he read it, to the point where he had memorized the plot and dialogues. But no matter how many times he read it, it remained entertaining.

Especially since the story was quite gripping.

A mother who died from illness, a father who left and never returned.

And the adventures of the two brothers left behind.

At first, Esteban doubted his eyes. When the brothers appeared, he thought it was going to be an adventure drama. With a title like “Iron-Blooded Alchemist,” he imagined the thrilling escapades of alchemist brothers.

That didn’t sound bad—changing the alchemists into knights would resonate perfectly with the heroic sagas that men go crazy over.

However, the story took an entirely different turn than Esteban had envisioned.

The protagonists were not setting off on an adventure at all.

Instead, the brothers attempted the forbidden alchemy of “human transmutation” to resurrect their mother.

Human transmutation—supposedly a forbidden technique for bringing back the dead. Did such alchemy really exist?

Moreover, what on earth were the materials that made up a human? There were items he had heard of and many he hadn’t, but it was all incredibly specific.

Even Esteban, who knew nothing about it, felt a chill reading through the seemingly plausible materials.

“What the heck? How does Lord Rupert know about this…?”

Then came the next section.

Esteban couldn’t help but be mesmerized by this shocking twist and scene, no matter how many times he read it.

Should this even be called admiration?

Could Rupert truly create such a work?

Until now, having observed the works of Rupert, Esteban had felt potential but had never been shocked.

However, this piece was different.

Setting aside his duties as a merchant, he was desperate to read on and nearly went mad wanting to see the next volume.

“Is this what Lord Rupert meant by a sequel?”

In fact, Esteban, wanting to keep the momentum going, had suggested adapting the existing three fairy tales into a new comic book.

Anyone could see that it was a safe, guaranteed-success plan.

But Rupert insisted that doing so would be even riskier and prepared to create something new instead.

Surely his judgment was correct.

Esteban looked out the window of his office, watching a seemingly endless line of people queueing in front of the merchant association even though the sale hadn’t officially started yet.

In fact, this line had begun forming a week earlier, on the very first day of advertising.

“If those people read this work, they might just storm the Somerset estate,” he muttered, half-joking but genuinely serious.

Honestly, if he weren’t the guild leader, he would have rushed over to Rupert and clamored for the next volume right then and there.

“This new work is sure to be far more popular than ‘Kingdom of Ice’.”

Esteban’s instincts as both a reader and a merchant told him that “Iron-Blooded Alchemist” would be a runaway hit beyond compare.

“Guess it’s time to start planning for some merchandise.”

He had already made a considerable profit from the merchandise of “Kingdom of Ice,” but since everything produced by the factory sold out instantly, they were always running short on supply.

Given the current circumstances, producing merchandise for this new work seemed impossible, so he needed to prepare in advance.

First, he had to decide on the items for merchandise, recruit various artisans, and secure the necessary materials.

With the mansion’s grounds still ample, building a separate area for the factory seemed feasible.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t the Count say he’d be looking to recruit more knights and soldiers this time around?”

At first, he thought it was crazy to build a book factory and merchandise factory on the estate, but the more he considered it, the better it sounded.

After all, the territorial soldiers were keeping watch like hawks, making it difficult for thieves or spies to infiltrate easily, and those poor souls looking to escape would unfortunately be caught.

He remembered the proud, elated expression on Rupert’s face when he visited the family to pick up the recently finished book—how he joyfully said he couldn’t sleep these days thanks to the divine power helping him.

Was that level of obsession really necessary to produce such a masterpiece?

Personally, Esteban found him to be quite an impressive character. If he weren’t a noble, he’d recruit him to his guild immediately to have him by his side.

When he was younger, he too had forced himself to chug stamina potions while working through hardship, but wasn’t Rupert practically sipping them like they were drinks?

“Ah, I should discuss that too.”

Thinking of Rupert reminded him he needed to talk about the newly emerging fairy tales that had been slowly increasing lately.

Of course, Rupert’s works were off-limits due to the fear of the imperial family, but the format of fairy tales was free for copying, thus new works had started appearing.

Though, to be fair, none were anywhere near the same caliber in terms of quality or content—they were paltry substitutes at best.

Such things generally progress gradually.

If he let his guard down, those substitutes could very well catch up to him.

That’s why it was essential to maintain his stronghold in the fairy tale market.

“But the answer is lacking. Unless my young master has multiple bodies, it’s simply impossible to produce fairy tales as well under the current circumstances.”

Even the current pace was absurd, and asking Rupert to draw fairy tales on top of that was basically asking for trouble.

No matter how much he loved his work, even Rupert had his limits.

Still, it felt a shame to abandon the fairy tale market, which appealed to young and old women alike, leaving Esteban deep in thought.