How a Former Pro Takes Advantage by Doing an Easy Job

Chapter 196. Finding a way to use the press (6) Roughly, I expected this kind of reaction, so I brought out a prepared answer.

“This is my wife.”

Asha flinched, but for now, she only nodded moderately thanks to my firm advice not to reveal her true identity.

It seemed like his conscience was stabbing him to dare to lie, but since it was an order, he obediently followed it.

“Right. Are you a peddler? It’s a good time for a couple to go out together.”

“I hear that often.”

First of all, he explained Asha with a moderately fabricated identity and fabricated relationship, so he was somewhat wary.

“Let’s hear the details over there.”

Inside the room, which had been vacated for the purpose of talking with the guest, the painter Bunel and I began to talk in earnest about the work to be entrusted to us.

“Did you say you belong to the Arnil Firm? Is the trading company also involved in the trade of paintings?”

“It's roughly like that. To be precise, we want an artist to entrust the work to us, not to sell the painting.”

There is nothing particularly strange about it.

There are also cases where it is simply buying and selling paintings or works of art.

Or, depending on the need, they hire me to draw them myself.

“Thanks to finishing a big commission recently, my schedule is empty.”

Fortunately, he was willing to accept it.

After all, it's money.

To paint, it costs money to prepare various things such as paint and dyes.

You have to take care of the apprentices' share as well.

Therefore, the opponent who wants to entrust the work has no choice but to welcome it by default.

Moreover, it is common to see it as an opportunity to rip off a young opponent who seems to have a lot of money.

But I... I'm still not very impressed with his positive attitude.

To be honest, I expected this far.

The problem starts now.

“Which picture do you want?”

“???? actually.”

I gave a rough description of what I was going to do.

I can't say anything about the picture book production yet.

However, it was explained only so that you could know what kind of picture you want to some extent.

“…I wish I could draw something like this, but is that possible?”

He listened to my explanation and was silent.

and.

“Let’s go.”

It was flatly rejected.

“...I can't draw a picture like that in my studio.”

also.

Unlike Asha, who blankly blinked, I clicked my tongue.

As expected.

“Sorry!”

The apprentice boy was restless and didn't even make eye contact with us, apologized repeatedly and closed the door.

Expelled in an instant, Asha and I both looked at the closed door in silence.

It took a while to get in, but it really takes a moment to get out.

“Is this really going to happen...

I relatively calmly accepted the current situation and glanced sideways.

Sure enough, it's not me who's angry.

“...Arel-nim, please wait a moment.”

As Asha tried to move forward with a very flowery smile and clenched fists, I stopped her by grabbing her sleeves.

“Let’s just ask. What are you trying to do?”

“I just wanted to protest against the workshop owner.”

with a fist?

I must have been pretty pissed off.

Fists are my favorite means of communication, but this time I stopped her firmly.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“But isn’t that rude?”

“...Now we're hiding our identities, so we can't say that.”

To the end, we came in with false identities and were kicked out.

You can never accuse me of making fun of me, a member of the royal family.

Let me point out again.

Asha then gave up trying to protest.

“I had no intention of forcing it in the first place anyway. If you refuse, I will give up this place.”

“Um… Sir Arell? Wouldn’t it have been better to reveal your identity from the beginning?”

Asha, who had calmed down somewhat, cautiously spoke to me.

“Even though it sneaked in. Wouldn't it be okay to reveal your identity to them'?”

“Hmm.”

It's not a false opinion.

For now, I only need to reveal my identity to the painter and keep my mouth shut.

If that's not reliable, I can secretly hint at it.

Well, it's not like Asha had thought that far before saying that.

Usually, at a workshop of this size, even if you give a bag of money in moderation, your mouth becomes heavy.

Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to maintain this workshop.

“But there's no point in doing it that way.”

It was.

In this case, Asha's proposed method has little meaning.

“The important thing is trust. I don't need a guy who changes his mind just because of my name.”

yes, it's kind of a test.

You could say that.

“Is that why you hid your identity?”

“…that’s it.”

I murmured, averting my gaze.

Why?

The original reason is just to put it together later.

It was just a fitting reason that Asha admired.

Excuses after first action.

This kind of moderation is my motto for action.

You can't say that you came to play anyway.

“But… I didn’t expect the artist to reject it with such seriousness.”

For some reason, Asha has an expression of incomprehension.

Even she thinks she can't understand why he suddenly changed his attitude and refused.

Apparently, until almost the end of the negotiations, the painter seemed intent on accepting my request.

However, it was when I told him about the full-scale request that his mood suddenly changed.

“...It's a painter's own pride.”

What I said to him was:

“Can anyone draw a picture that is easy to understand and even a child can understand at a glance?”

I muttered exactly the same as I had done to him, without making a single mistake, and sighed.

When I said this, the owner of the workshop immediately shook his beard and became angry.

“To be honest, most of today’s painters would be angry if they heard this.”

“Is that so?”

It seems Asha still doesn't quite understand.

“It’s like telling a knight straight-up that he just needs a good swordsmanship to kill people.”

“Ah… maybe so. Maybe.”

Even though Asha couldn't openly agree, she seemed to sympathize with me slightly.

“That's why you're angry.”

Perhaps the painter also considers it blasphemy.

What they revere in this age is an abstract picture that expresses a more complex inner truth.

It literally feels like doing art.

It may sound like blasphemy to ask you to draw a picture that is easy for a child to understand.

....And they had to refuse for another reason.

First of all, you need to walk around a little more and find out.

“Then, shall we go to the next workshop? There are still many workshops in the city.

I took Asha and headed to the next studio.

just tell me the result.

all rejected

All of them were rejected in the same way to the point where I burst out laughing without even realizing it.

“…I really can’t believe their pride was this high?”

I expected it to be a possible result, but I thought everyone would come out with the same attitude.

At this point, rather than being angry, I'm laughing because I'm ridiculous.

“Why are you so angry'?”

I told Asha, who couldn't understand at all, the reason why they all refuse our request.

“For them, it is the apostle who paints in a way that is not currently fashionable.”

“It’s a fad…is it?”

“Isn’t swordsmanship officially adopted by the Knights? Well, this analogy is strange. Even painters have a tendency to insist on the current trending paintings and methods.”

fashion and tradition.

They insist on sticking to the established methods in the framework of their unions.

For my business, it is necessary for the painter to be hired to break the established framework to some extent.

The paintings that are popular these days are too esoteric... and heavy.

It should be drawn in a way that is easier for commoners and children to understand.

No matter how much you do, you can't spread art in a children's book.

However, the way I want it is completely opposite to the style of the current popular painting.

They even get bullied.

“If I paint a picture that anyone would draw, I will be laughed at.”

One painter even refused to say so.

A mockery.....

I felt bitter when I heard that.

Being ridiculed by the Guild would be fatal for them.

The feeling of rejection is somewhat understandable.

‘But I can't easily yield.'

And for mass production, certain environments and methods such as dyes and tools used in painting must be changed and accepted.

Every time I talked about the request, I implicitly conveyed the meaning.

Like any studio, the painters expressed a strong dislike for it.

“I want to hire someone who is somewhat flexible in thinking. That's not easy.”

The reason why I don't reveal my identity.

It's because I want a person who has the ability to accept my way from the bottom of my heart.

That way, if I say a certain amount, half of him will understand, and the other half will just follow me without thinking.

But this time, it seemed like my greed was too much.

“...Breaking tradition is not such an easy request.”

“I think you can understand a little bit.”

Isn't Asha, who had been furious until now, somewhat convinced after hearing my explanation?

“Because everyone will be scared if you suddenly force them to do something different from what they built up.”

“That’s how it is.”

I sighed.

“But that’s not all.”

“yes'?”

“Do you know why they are so desperately clinging to the fashion now?”

Asha didn't seem to know.

In common sense, no matter how important tradition is, it is rather strange that it is so ostracized.

“Who is leading that trend in the first place?”

“Is this someone's intention?”

“That’s how it is.”

Sadly, they have good reasons for their attitude.

“The current style of painting... And there are people who can’t tolerate changing even the way they draw.”

I mentioned his name.

“Duke Dezel Pratze.”

He is praised among painters as a representative nobleman who is interested in painting and is famous for providing support.

What are the advantages of a person?

His method has significant drawbacks.

It is an overly biased point.

“He is the one who led the current trend.”

Stick to the style you prefer.

He leads the current trend by supporting artists who follow him.

It wasn't anything particularly strange.

Paintings and music here have little to do with the tastes of the common people.

Only the nobles will evaluate their skills and results.

Therefore, it is only natural that the trend of fashion is determined by the tastes of the nobility.

It is a very normal phenomenon that the preference of a person like Duke Pratze soon becomes a trend.

“Because if you want to look good for him, it's best to follow his way.”

Because of that, painters stopped accepting my commissions.

If you work against the flow, you will be afraid that you will not receive support later.

“Looks like there was an actual case there.”

It was a story I heard at the last studio I visited a while ago.

A painter angered and ostracized Duke Pratze simply because he painted a picture he did not like.

Did you get expelled from the union?

“It’s really too much.”

When Asha heard it, she was sincerely sorry.