Chapter 30 : A Class Gate – Painting the dragon, dotting the eyes (3)

-Bang!

The gunshot echoed through the valley.
The Magic Bullet, imbued with black flames, curved at a bizarre angle and flew towards the man.

Fzzt.

And.
A thread-like cut, as if from paper, appeared on the back of his hand.

“Are you, are you okay?”

Immediately after firing the 7th Magic Bullet, I rushed to Caspar’s side and checked his condition.
Though I intentionally missed, he was still hit by my bullet.

My heart tingled, and guilt constricted my chest.
Whether Caspar knew my feelings or not, he simply responded with a light smile.

“Hmm. Your skill has improved vastly. Agathe. Just how much did you practice?”

“…A lot.”

Yes, very much.

So that no matter when or where I fired the gun, even while sleeping, the bullet would never leave my control.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize it would distress you this much.”

Caspar took my trembling hand and smiled wryly.
I bit my lip and shook my head.

“…No. It’s, it’s my fault.”

“Agathe. Wait a moment. Come here.”

Saying so, Caspar gently embraced me with his thick hands.

Caspar caressed my pale face, and a natural blush bloomed.

“Huu… N-Now, if you do this. It’s a bit. Troublesome.”

My body heated up, warmth spreading.
My body, drenched in rain, would likely show my underwear transparently.

But in this situation. If you keep, touching…

Ugh.

“What does it matter? We’ve already caught all the dragons.”

No, saying it so calmly. It’s too…

“…”

Ah. He let go.

Caspar’s hand left me.
The burning heat left my body, and cold reason took its place once more.

‘…Foolish. Really.’

Haa. Just touching him makes me giggle and blush; though I caused it, am I really okay like this?

…Well. It probably doesn’t matter.
It’s not like Caspar is someone who would do harsh things to me.

Organizing my thoughts like that, I looked around.

Dragon carcasses.
More accurately, dozens of paintings depicting dragons were scattered here and there across Geumgangsan.
The strangely tough mulberry paper, though thoroughly soaked and pulpy, didn’t tear easily.

All killed by Caspar and me.
Though I only played a supporting role.

“…So. Feel better now? Having fully loosened up?”

I grumbled slightly, pretending to blame Caspar.

“Well… Yes. Right. Let’s start heading in now.”

If we didn’t resolve the source generating dragons there, Hwaryong would continuously emerge.

Warily scanning our surroundings, we entered the Gate.

.
.
.

“Ugh.”

Entering the Gate, the first thing visible was a single painter.

A painter continuously drawing something, using the brightly shining moon as illumination.

“Ah… After a long time, no, for the first time. An esteemed guest has arrived.”

The painter holding the brush offered a clear smile.

***

Rustle.

The painter’s brushstrokes were delicate yet swift.
With each stroke, life made of ink sprouted on the canvas.

“Please wait… Just a moment?”

As if Caspar holding a knife to her throat meant nothing, the focused painter concentrated on her painting, drawing a dragon.

Whether she was mad or possessed strength greater than she appeared was unknown.
Since either way didn’t matter, we quietly observed her brushwork.

The sight of monochrome lines and dots intertwining to birth black and white life was quite beautiful art.

And after who knows how long.

“Heave ho. Yes. This painting is also unfinished.”

Haaam.
With such a carefree sigh, the painter stretched and blinked her eyes.

“Guest. This painting. That is, what kind of existence is this dragon? What do you think?”

“I am not your guest.”

The painter laughed heartily and said.

“Aw, don’t be like that. You used the paintings I drew quite well, didn’t you? You seemed to be enjoying yourselves quite a bit.”

…Is she a madwoman?

While I briefly thought that, Caspar looked at her with interest and replied.

“A painting is a painting. Even if it’s a dragon, isn’t it ultimately just your painting?”

The painter readily nodded at those words.

“That’s also true. I used to think this way. The auspicious dragon, said to be the freest in the world… Is it actually a being bound by my brushstrokes? That’s what I thought.”

“Your tone suggests you think differently now.”

I narrowed my eyes and observed the painter.

Smiling mysteriously while looking down at the clouds, she looked more like an immortal sage than a painter.

“That’s right. Perhaps it was thanks to you. Because you’re quite… a famous person. You, Agathe.”

Flinch.

‘She knows my name…?’

As I placed my finger on the trigger, raising the painter’s threat level in my mind, the painter smiled sheepishly and continued.

“Ahaha. Don’t be too wary, I’m just a mere painter with little power.”

“A mere painter? A painter who creates dragons like that at will is a mere painter?”

That didn’t make sense.
Creations are inherently lower in stature than their creators.

But… she seemed to genuinely believe so.

“Yes! That’s right. I am a painter. That is my everything, my all. The role I undertook was merely that of a painter who draws dragons.”

“Just… a painter who endlessly draws dragons. Entirely different from Zhang Sengyou of the Hwaryongjeomjeong idiom, a form of painter extracted from the human subconscious.”
*(TL Note: Zhang Sengyou was a famous painter in ancient China, known for the Hwaryongjeomjeong story.)*

Chwaaak!

Wielding her brush roughly like calligraphy with a single stroke, she beamed, ink splattered on her face.

“Haven’t you thought this too? This unstable world, this horrific dream world kneaded like clay by humanity’s subconscious… Just how much of it is real?”

I inadvertently grabbed Caspar’s arm.
As if I would fly off somewhere otherwise.

The painter was calmly revealing truths I had deliberately avoided thinking about until now.

“…Caspar. Is definitely not fake. Neither is Enhen, nor was the world I experienced.”

That. Was definitely not fake.

“It might have been so for you. …Because you’re special. You are far greater than a mere painter like me… You are the one who dots the eyes of the dragon in the painting.”

The dragon in the painting.
The moment its eyes are drawn, completing it fully, the dragon supposedly becomes real and flies away.

“You, the world you lived in, was already completed the moment you entered, Agathe. The dragon’s eyes were dotted. Thanks to that, that world became completely free.”

She continued moving her brush, painting a landscape.
As if trying to capture everything around her.

The moon and stars.
Tall mountain ranges and clouds.

A landscape painting capturing all that scenery.

However.
That scenery strangely resembled a dragon.

“Look! Zhang Sengyou was originally good at landscape painting too. But… All I can draw is dragons. Thanks to you, I managed to draw this much, though.”

“What… I don’t quite understand. Why do I have such qualifications?”

“It’s alright if you don’t understand. It’s just rambling. I came opening the door, partly to deliver the Supreme Emperor’s message.”

…Supreme Emperor.

“Are you talking about the Jade Emperor?”

My wariness heightened to the extreme.
I should have suspected when the surrounding scenery was East Asian, specifically Daoist-related.

I grabbed Caspar’s arm and pulled him back.
So I could react immediately if she tried any tricks.

“Yes. The Supreme Emperor requests. That someday, you visit our world too and dot the dragon’s eyes. Having been born as beings bound by perception, they must have wished to shed that restraint. As a meager existence, I have already half-shed it, but…”

Though I didn’t fully understand.
Still, I knew it wasn’t harmful.

Since he was also the benefactor who saved Caspar by sending the Honsali Flower out of goodwill, it was only right to repay the kindness if possible.

“Alright. I’ll do that when I meet him later. Though I don’t know if I can. But how should I get there? Is there a way to go beyond from the Gate?”

The painter put down the dragon-resembling landscape painting and turned to look at me.
Looking closely, she was quite beautiful.
Though her radiance was slightly dulled by the ink splattered on her face.

“That… This entrance is too small, so it’s difficult. Perhaps if you go through a larger door, there might be a connecting path. Besides, the time is not yet right, so you can take your time.”

Since her bright smile held no hostility whatsoever.
I asked her, as if doing a favor.

“Right. Anything else to say or help with? I think I need to close the Gate, that is, the door, now. For reference… If you don’t say anything, I will kill you. Damage has already been caused because of you.”

It seemed no humans had died yet, but.
Property damage and injuries must already be numerous.

“A painter… should at least be able to decide the painting they draw. Please help me with my final painting.”

“Painting. Is that all?”

“What more is there for a painter to do? If I stay here longer, I might cease to be a painter… But I have defined myself as a painter.”

Therefore.

Please, complete the painting.

The painter bowed her head slightly, imploring me.