Chapter 16: AI makes magic easy

“A temporary contractor for the Four Great Spirits has appeared?!”

A connected organization of the Mage’s Guild.

The Spirit Magic Tower.

Its master, Bosas Trale, shouted in astonishment.

“And she’s only eight years old? What is this? Isn’t she a con artist?”

“An eight-year-old con artist is more plausible than a spirit who scams humans.”

“This guy’s being sarcastic while I’m freaking out here.”

Oh, my fate.

Despite his complaints, Bosas grinned from ear to ear.

The mages of the Spirit Magic Tower know.

That no being loves art as much as spirits do.

‘It’s because spirits don’t know physical pleasure.’

For spirits, who are spiritual beings, the only entertainment is art that pleases the eyes and ears.

In that respect, you could say they’re similar to demons.

Was that why?

Spirits wish to be by the side of genius artists.

By following great artists or forming temporary contracts with young geniuses.

Yaltarion and Noemillica.

That was the reason the genius painters were able to contract with spirits.

However.

‘Even among spirits, tastes differ.’

Fire spirits like fireworks or glassblowing.

Water spirits like painting.

What’s the standard, you ask?

It’s simple.

The former uses fire, and the latter uses water (in the form of paint).

The end.

It’s not a joke.

It’s true.

It’s described in the historical records detailing conversations with the Spirit Kings.

True to their nature as avatars of nature, they are faithful to their essence.

Just as demons have no reason for their evil deeds.

In other words.

“If all Four Great Spirits are eyeing her, it means Chloe is ‘definitely’ not an artist!”

It was a logical conclusion.

What?

Make all Four Great Spirits follow you with art?

To do that, one would have to master all the aforementioned creations.

‘And is it enough to just do them? You have to be good at them.’

An eight-year-old who is good at pottery and painting,

and also excels at music and sculpture?

‘Does that make sense?’

On top of that, they say she’s so beautiful it makes your jaw drop.

You’d get slapped for writing a novel like that.

Of course, there is an exception.

A Ribeyong Artist-level master.

Because they could make all sorts of spirits follow them with the art of a single field.

But how old is Chloe?

Eight!

‘An eight-year-old Ribeyong Artist?’

Stop.

The b*llshit ends there.

Because of this, Bosas’s belief was firm.

“There’s no doubt. That child, Chloe, is a genius of spirit magic!”

“Our conclusion was the same.”

“It’s reasonable to assume she’s only formed a temporary contract because she’s still young.”

Of course, she would have some aptitude for the arts.

After all, she’s a resident of the city of arts.

And that fact was a disadvantage for Bosas.

‘Doesn’t that mean other guilds will be eyeing her too?’

Losing a genius of spirit magic to another guild?

He, the master of the Spirit Magic Tower?

The mere thought made his breath catch.

‘And what if she ends up being passed around to another Mage Tower…!’

Impatience made Bosas hurry.

He shot up and commanded his disciples.

“What are you all doing? Don’t just stand there, go get Chloe! We need to coddle her before another guild snatches her away!”

A girl who spirits follow even without mana!

She was a genius who would lead the next generation of the Spirit Magic Tower.

Shouldn’t he be grabbing her and coddling her right this instant!

So he gave the order with great vigor, but,

what’s this.

“Hah….”

Only emptiness lingered on his disciples’ faces.

Like bookworms who had their crush stolen before they could even begin.

“What’s wrong with you all?”

“We intended to do just that and looked into it. But….”

One of the disciples shook his head.

While they didn’t know her pseudonym, Synthia,

if you had connections, you could at least look through the registry.

“It seems Chloe… has already entrusted herself to the Painter’s Guild.”

“What… did you say?”

The master’s face turned deathly pale.

The disciples reported, hiding their own frustration.

“We hear some orc painter has her locked in an attic, working her without a single day off….”

“They say she didn’t even have her parents with her when she came to the guild.”

“Probably due to that vicious orc’s threats… sob!”

It was a report that would have made Painter G (anonymous, 40s) clutch the back of his neck and collapse.

The members of the Painter’s Guild would also riot, saying, ‘What the f*ck, why do you guys know the whereabouts of the Saintess when we couldn’t find her?’

This was the difference in social skills between a reclusive artist and a socially active person.

However.

That didn’t put Bosas’s mind at ease.

“……Chloe.”

• Thud!

An inkwell fell from Bosas’s desk and spilled.

But he couldn’t even think of picking up the precious ink.

“Why, a good kid like you, with those kinds of thugs…?”

The current Painter’s Guild Leader and his disciple.

There wasn’t a single good rumor surrounding them.

Why?

Why on earth?

“I could make you happier than those thuggish painters……!”

The pain of loss.

That despair formed a hallucination before Bosas’s eyes.

– Uhyo♪ The fools at the Spirit Magic Tower offered up a super-genius girl who appears once in a thousand years☆

The Painter’s Guild Leader with a somewhat sleazy appearance.

And it was a hallucination of the small and precious Chloe sitting on his lap.

– I’ll raise Chloe well, so you losers can live the rest of your lives rubbing your staffs☆ Uhyo!

– Ehehe…♡ Guild Leader, you’re so cool!

“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaak-!!”

The master of the Spirit Magic Tower, Bosas.

Coughing up blood from the encroaching cultivation deviation.

It was a sensibility befitting a mage immersed in art.

“Chloe! You, you weren’t that kind of girl! Come back! Come back to the you who loved nature and spirits!”

“Master! You’re being pathetic!”

“It’s also a virtue for a man to give up and let go!”

“Shut up!”

It doesn’t matter which guild she belongs to,

or how much she’s been tainted (by paint)!

All that matters is that she’s here at the Spirit Magic Tower in the end!

“I’ll give you money, honor, anything! Bring Chloe to our guild-!”

The command of the tower master is absolute.

The disciples sprang into action, through fire and water.

So much so that they even charged into the atelier of Yaltarion, the highest-ranking person related to Chloe.

It was an arrogant attitude that knew no hierarchy.

They were even prepared to be burned to death by the enraged Archmage.

However.

“Hehehe… uhuhuhuhu….”

“M-Master?”

The atelier they arrived at, ready to throw their lives away like grass.

There was no sign of the Archmage.

Only a disheveled artist, looking dazed and soaked in alcohol!

Emil, who was with him, was not much different.

She was painting on a canvas with a completely expressionless face.

It was an incomparably gruesome painting.

Hanging upside down and crying… what is that.

“A musician?”

Yes, that was it.

It was a painting of a musician dangling from a tree.

As expected of the granddaughter of a Ribeyong Artist, it was well-drawn.

It was well-drawn, but… what is this?

Demon worship?

An implication of a vow to exterminate all musicians in this world?

“M-Master! What is all this?”

“Ah… and who might you be? What brings you here?”

“Pardon? Ah, uh, well, it’s nothing other than this.”

One question.

One answer.

Communication over.

After that, a report, which could be roughly summarized as ‘Chloe decided to enter a monastery and become a musician,’ was sent up to the Spirit Magic Tower.

“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaak-!!”

That day, Bosas spilled three inkwells.

This time, too, it was entirely Chloe’s fault.

Making the celebrities of Yaltesance walk on eggshells and court her made her a femme fatale of the century.

In a bad way, she lived up to her looks.

So.

What was that Chloe doing right now?

“G-guests! Please calm down!”

“Shut up and just take my money!”

“How can you expect me to be calm when I can hire the painter who tied with His Excellency Yaltarion’s disciple for this price!”

Chensep’s general store.

She was watching from a distance as Chensep was filming an apocalypse movie with a zombie wave of people who had come to commission a painting from Synthia (herself).

“Phew, what a mess. Good thing I closed commissions.”

[Isn’t stopping commissions the cause of this mess?]

Shut it.

Chloe, hiding in an alley, clicked her tongue as she watched Chensep filming Isekai War Z.

The aftermath of that last showdown is too big.

It was a good thing I ran away beforehand.

‘His Excellency Yaltarion and Emil were making such a fuss, I had a bad feeling. It was foresight.’

Should I be thankful for this preventative shot?

They were making such a scene that I had to run away, saying I had work to do.

An eighty-year-old man and a nine-year-old kid, making such a fuss.

‘What’s the big deal about a kid quitting painting?’

No, honestly, it’s true.

Are there only one or two kids who quit art at a young age?

I quit piano after graduating from elementary school too.

‘Though I kept playing the guitar since middle school.’

Fed up, Chloe turned her gaze to the pulp paper.

It was a commission request she had secretly brought with her.

‘Let’s see, if I just finish this, are the remaining commissions all done?’

Though she said remaining commissions, this wasn’t actually a leftover job.

It was a new request that had just come in.

It was the only commission that came in so quickly, before the window could even be closed.

===

[Client: Anonymous]

[Request Details:

Draw the granddaughter of Yaltarion Alzenova.]

[I don’t know who she is, so I don’t know her name.

A friend of mine is curious about her face, so I’m commissioning this.

This isn’t a lie.]

===

It’s Noemillica, who lives in District 7 of East Yaltesance.

So she’s using a logged-out VPN with a dynamic IP to commission her own character.

‘One moment you’re angry, saying things like I was born to do art, and if I put down the brush, I’m a demonic kin defying the heavens.’

I’m quitting painting and going to a monastery to do music!

She was a child whose thoughts were hard to read, getting all worked up and angry at me for saying that.

How could Chloe not lament this?

Ah!

Why are artists so narrow-minded?

“Musicians respect their friends, know consideration, and don’t fight over differences in direction!”

Why do you think Confucius said music is good for cultivating the mind?

Rock is the mark of a gentleman.

On the other hand, art?

Just look at Emil, the kid is so melancholic.

This is all because painting is an indoor hobby.

If a person went outside, listened to music, and exercised, this wouldn’t happen.

“Synthia’s portrait window is closed! We’ll let you know when it reopens, so until then- Aaargh! Why are you biting my arm!”

“Enough, just bring out Synthia!!”

“Why won’t you take our order when we’re offering you money-!!”

Anyway, typical artists.

Chloe quietly melted into the back alley.

Her skill at causing a bloodbath in the human world and disappearing without a trace was something even demon lords would admire and learn from.

Therefore.

The symbol of the orthodox righteous path and the headquarters of the Yaltesance Murim Alliance.

In other words, the Painter’s Guild.

Today, too, letters were flooding in for the Guild Leader.

– I just wanted to meet the kid named Synthia, what’s taking so long?

– Should I make everything below your neck into stone and throw you into the sea?

– We wish for the infinite prosperity of your company. This is the Duce of Yaltesance.

– I will kill you.

– Thank you. Führer of Yaltesance, Pe-E-Ro (Seal)

“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaak-!!”

Faced with attention more ardent than a love letter and spicier than poison, the Painter’s Guild Leader lost his mind.