User blog:Thrycius/Zheiro and The Moonlight Sculptor: Chapter 13

'''Disclaimer: This is a crossover fanfic between Brave Frontier and The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. I don't own either of those; they belong to their respective owners, namely Gumi/Alim and Nam-Hi-Sung (남희성) respectively.'''

'''Disclaimer (extended): This crossover fanfic now also contains some elements from the Type-Moon universe, owned entirely by Kinoku Nasu. I don't own anything from there, either.'''

Is this your first time seeing this story? Go directly to chapter 1 here!

The day the contest begins has arrived.

Zheiro, feeling nervous, glanced at his opponent, who fearlessly smiled back as if her victory was already assured.

Zheiro frowned. How could she be so confident? He didn’t understand at all. They were about to have a contest about who between them would be the greater artist, yet she looked impossibly relaxed.

“The two of you know what the topic for the contest is about, right?” Thrycius asked for confirmation.

“Of course. We are to use our skills in our respective styles of art to produce a single lion in all its glory, correct?” Sarui nodded, arms crossed. “However, I don’t think there was any need to remind me. If anything, I would be more worried about Zheiro over there forgetting the topic. Or rather, has he actually seen a lion before?”

“Yes, yes I have,” Zheiro replied in annoyance, conveniently leaving out the fact that he had only properly seen lions a few days ago thanks to Thrycius. “Although, I’m surprised. I would have thought someone as arrogant as you wouldn’t have cared at all about me.”

“Hmm? Of course I care. Did I not already say that it would be pointless victory if you were not at your best? Or have you already forgotten already?” Sarui asked, confused. It was as if she had never considered otherwise. “I doubt you would have been able properly portray something you’ve never seen before.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Zheiro acknowledged, hiding the fact that he really did forget. “It would be good if we could have a fair contest.”

“Ha! That’s more like it.” Sarui laughed, turning back towards Thrycius. “Now, shall we begin?”

They were given a week to complete their piece, although Sarui had boasted that she would probably be done within a day.

Zheiro couldn’t really say anything much about that, as little as he knew about painting, but he knew he couldn’t do the same for what he was planning to do. After all, sculpting was an art that took time, and he was not planning on make some tiny figurine like he had been making back in Randall.

No, he was planning on making something far more grand than that.

Before Sarui had left to gather whatever it was she needed for the contest, Thrycius had told both of them the topic for the art contest, which was to depict a single lion. The reason for this was so that they could plan and prepare exactly what it was they would need when they were to actually begin, so that no one would have to leave in the middle of the contest to get something else.

After Sarui had left, however, Zheiro admitted to his companion that he had never seen a real lion before.

This lead to Thrycius having Zheiro fully experience for himself various stories about lions with his magic, something Zheiro never imagined his companion could do.

He saw many things.

He saw a pride of lions, how they lived, travelled, hunted, slept.

He saw lions as they stalked through the tall grass, prowling as they snuck closer to their prey during their hunt, how they split up as two would flank around and another two would hide in ambush.

He saw lions in all their glory as they hunted, he saw lions as they in turn were hunted, he saw even the laziness of some lions who didn’t even bother to participate in hunting, yet fought fiercely when they needed to.

The lives of many different lions: he saw it all, experienced it for himself.

In the time span of a few hours, he had learned more about lions than he had about anything else sans sculpting.

It was a very surreal experience for Zheiro, but also a useful one. He still wasn’t sure if it was really okay for him to experience that, though.

“Isn’t this sort of like cheating?” Zheiro asked once it was all over.

''“What, this? Nonsense. You can think of it as research material before you actually start working on your sculpture for the contest.” Thrycius had replied. “The only real rule is that you don’t actually start until the contest begins. Besides, its well within Sarui’s rights to ask to experience the same things too, or do her own research, but I doubt she would ever ask anyone including me for help, given her pride.”''

Zheiro was more than prepared. He had seen lions for himself, his tools were ready, and the medium-sized boulder he had found earlier was here.

It was time to begin sculpting.

Clearing all doubts and other unrelated thoughts he had about this contest, Zheiro concentrated solely on his work.

Interestingly enough, the longer Zheiro worked, the more he felt something was wrong.

He was experienced in making many sculptures, from large to small, and animals of all kinds. He did attempt to make a living by carving small figurines in Randall, after all, so he was not new to this kind of thing.

But the figure he was carving was very different from his previous statues. There was something… new, something that he couldn’t recognize in this one that his previous statues.

As the days wore on, Zheiro finally noticed why.

That lions have a black tassel at the end of their tails; how lions could turn their ears in different directions to pick up sound from any direction; the roughness of their tongues and more—how a lion normally looked and acted had been ingrained in his mind during those few hours where he had experienced lions in their entirety.

Even the lion’s act of hunting, taking down prey, gripping and tearing meat; Zheiro could still clearly remember it in his head, not to mention probably be able to display it all with his skills if he wanted.

Before, he was only able to duplicate an image of the real thing, using only his imagination. But now, now he could probably accurately make the figure of a sad lion, a happy one, or even a lazy one without much trouble.

It was a level of skill and technique beyond anything he had experienced before, and it was all thanks to his companion.

He would have to remember to thank him later.

Speaking of Sarui, she had stayed true to her word. Before the first day was even over, Sarui was already more or less done, just as she had claimed. Since she had the rest of the week to do whatever she felt like, however, she had decided to apply the finishing touches later in favor of watching Zheiro work.

Zheiro had felt a little envious that she was pretty much already done already, but there wasn’t anything he could have done. Besides, he had spent most of his effort carefully chipping and carving away at the stone rather than get distracted by his opponent.

It was a good thing that the stone he had found wasn’t all that hard to carve with, or he might not have finished in time.

By the time the first few days were over, Sarui had made a few comments.

''“I can see why sculpting takes so long,” she had said after observing him on the third day. “So I suppose having a week to work might actually have been too short for you. But even if you had all the time in the world to complete that sculpture, there’s no way I will lose!”''

Of course, that last comment was said in jest, as they were competitors at the moment. Zheiro himself might have found himself saying the same thing if their positions were switched. However, Sarui also refused to allow any possible time extensions, despite acknowledging the time it took to carve.

''“If you had poorly judged the time it would have taken for you to complete a project you had chosen for yourself, you only have yourself to blame,” Sarui had said. “But I have high hopes that you do finish this sculpture in time Zheiro. After all, it wouldn’t do for my art to be compared with an unfinished piece.”''

Spurred on by her indirect encouragements and his thoughts of his childhood friend, Zheiro simply worked harder and sacrificed even sleep to continue working on his piece.

And soon, the end of the week arrives—

“All right, both of you stop and back away from your art,” Thrycius called out. “Time’s up.”

“As I’m sure you know quite well, I had already finished days ago,” Sarui replied imperiously. “There was no reason to include me in that statement.”

“That may be so,” Thrycius acknowledged, “But I should go through the procedures properly anyway, don’t you think?”

“Well, if you must,” Sarui conceded easily. “More importantly, hurry up and judge our artwork, so that you can declare me the winner.”

Zheiro sighed from where he lay on his back on the ground, eyes closed. The lack of sleep was finally starting to kick in, so he himself was more interested in getting it all over so he could get some sleep.

“All right, all right,” Thrycius laughed, stepping in to examine their work. “I have to say, though, both of you did an amazing job; each one is good enough to considered a masterpiece in itself.”

“Of course mine would be a masterpiece,” Sarui said proudly. “After all, I was the one who made it. And as for Zheiro, I would expect no less than a masterpiece from him as well.”

“Hey, hey,” Zheiro complained from where he lay on the ground. “When did you have such high expectations of me?”

“Hm? How could I not have such expectations out of the one who created a bouquet of flowers so beautiful that even the ignorant commoners passing by could only stop upon seeing it, making a big fuss amongst themselves as to who could buy it?” Sarui asked, tilting her head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why else?”

“Eh?” Zheiro exclaimed in surprise, shaking himself out of his drowsiness. “You were there?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Sarui asked. “I wasn’t there, I was back in my home country when I heard the news about a sculptor who created such a beautiful bouquet. How could I not come running to challenge such a skilled artist to a duel?”

Zheiro stared blankly at the woman, not really understanding her logic but also knowing that it was probably better not ask further, for his own sake.

But honestly, did he really get so famous that day? Thrycius had once before mentioned that it was possible for someone to have sent assassins after him because of the fame he had received for the bouquet of flowers he had made previously, but it wasn’t until now that he had realized just how far his fame had spread from just that one event.

“Alright, the winner has been decided!” Thrycius called out, interrupting their conversation.

Both of them turned towards the storyteller, who had been examining their artwork as they were talking.

Zheiro held his breath as he waited for his companion to announce the winner, while Sarui simply stood there confidently.

It goes without saying that Sarui was already prepared to claim victory.

“The winner is…” Thrycius announced slowly with a grin, dragging it out as he increased their suspense. “Me.”

The sudden loss of tension at the unexpected declaration caused both Zheiro and Sarui to lose their balance, although Sarui recovered quickly, stepping in to throw a punch at the laughing storyteller.

“What do you mean you’re the winner, you idiot!” Sarui shouted as her fist connected into Thrycius’ face, sending him flying. “You didn’t even take part of the competition!”

Although the punch was strong enough to send him flying with a scream, when Thrycius got back up Zheiro could see that his companion was still perfectly fine.

“Well,” Thrycius said, still laughing as he picked himself up. “If you’re going to have a contest about who’s the best artist in the world, it wouldn’t do to leave me out, would it? And as it’s a contest about the best artist, who could be the winner but me?”

“You and I will have much to discuss about who’s better later,” Sarui said threateningly, raising another fist.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Thrycius said, still laughing as he raised his hands in an attempt to placate the painter. “Jokes aside, the real result of this contest… It’s a tie between the two of you.”

“A tie?” Sarui and Zheiro both repeated.

“Yep, a tie.” Thrycius answered with his usual grin. “As the two of you can clearly see, the amount of detail and skill you both put into your artwork is beyond compare. The two of you beautifully expressed a lion’s strength and its majesty with enough skill to rival—no, to surpass that of masters in the same trade as you each are in. I’m sure you both can see the vibrant painting here made by Sarui, and the beauty of the sculpture that Zheiro had created; it is clear that neither of you are inferior to the other. And so, we have a tie.”

Zheiro wasn’t really expecting a tie, but at the same time he wasn’t exactly dissatisfied with that result. He had seen Sarui’s finished painting after the second day of the contest, and even he had been immensely impressed by it. To tie with a painting that was so well done, he honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better result.

Sarui, on the other hand, was clearly not as satisfied as he was.

“A tie, huh?” She said with a frown. “If you weren’t such a distinguished storyteller, I would be quite displeased with you, but even I can not disagree with such a result. After all, I can see how wonderful of a display of art Zheiro here has created, as well as having been able to see the amount of skill that was required to create such a sculpture. The detail on this sculpture may be incredibly fine, far better than any I have seen before— but that doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with this result.”

“Ha ha ha!” Thrycius laughed. “Sarui, earlier you had expressed your desire to challenge me as well to a contest. Do you remember what I told you in response?”

Sarui frowned further. “You declared that the differences between painting and storytelling were too vastly different for them to be compared. But what of it?”

“The same could be said about paintings and sculpting. It is just as useless to compare the two due to the fundamental difference between them,” Thrycius lectured. “Painters create two dimensional art, and sculptors create three dimensional art. If anything, I would have hoped that this contest would serve to lessen the distance between the two types of artists, so that you two may become friends.”

“Friends? I have yet to approve either of you to be worthy enough to be my friends,” Sarui declared, still frowning as she raised a finger to point at Zheiro. “If anything, I now declare Zheiro the sculptor there as my new rival in art! However, Thrycius! I also will not deny that your suggestion has merit. But if you both wish to be worthy enough to even be considered my friend, the two of you still have quite some ways to go.”

“Ha ha ha! Looks like we still have much to improve, Zheiro!” Thrycius said lightly with his usual laughter. “But you becoming rivals is even better. Zheiro, you better not lose to her anymore now that you’re rivals.”

“Meh, whatever,” Zheiro drowsily murmured, already half asleep as he lay on the ground now that he had learned the result of their art contest. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Were you even paying attention?” Thrycius said grinning. “You might regret this later, becoming her rival.”

However, it was a little too late of a warning as Zheiro had already fallen asleep from exhaustion— and thus, without realizing it Zheiro inadvertently became labeled as the crazy woman’s self-proclaimed rival.

“Oh, it’s my dear Ixia. What are you doing here?”

Ixia had recently just finished the robe she made for the court magician and was on her way to deliver it herself when she accidentally ran into the King.

Normally, when she finished her work she would have a servant deliver it for her, so that she could stay in her room and spend the extra time daydreaming, but since this was a special case she did it herself. Besides, to ensure that no one else could have tampered with it she was the only one who was allowed to touch it until it reached the court magician’s hands.

“I’m simply making a delivery.” Ixia said impassively, dropping to one knee as she bowed before him. “And you?”

“I’ve been looking into who made that gift that was sent a while back, while also dealing with all the responsibilities that being a king come with,” he replied with a tired smile. “I’ve gotten quite busy as of late, so I haven’t been able to find the time to visit you like before. But to run into you like this, it must be fate, right?”

“Fate? No, clearly it’s just a coincidence.” Ixia replied, hiding the the fact that she was feeling a little overjoyed because he wouldn’t be bothering her as much anymore.

“Aah, Ixia! To call it nothing but a coincidence, isn’t that a bit too cruel?” the King dramatically lamented over her statement.

“Although,” Ixia continued, ignoring her King’s antics. “In regards to what you just mentioned… which gift in particular where you refering to?”

“You know, the one that my wife discussed with us in great detail the other day.” The king replied as he straightened himself up again, looking intently at her.

Ixia quickly realized exactly what the King was referring to. The ‘gift’ that the king was referring to was the order of assassination for her childhood friend, which was in part why her King had deliberately left out who the gift was sent to. In the first place, Ixia had already long since noticed that the king had also intentionally avoided talking about the assassination plot directly today.

Staying in a castle with other nobles who loved to speak in riddles and lies to hide their true nature had made Ixia highly observant to the way others talked.

The assassination plot was not something that needed to be hidden from Ixia, who had been present when the king was accused of attempting assassination by the Queen, but to hide it now while they were still only in the corridor likely meant that the King did not want even those within their castle to know—in other words, even this area was not a safe place to discuss it freely.

Since the castle corridors weren’t even considered safe, then the culprit was likely to be a noble within the kingdom, assuming it wasn’t the king himself.

“I see, that gift,” Ixia replied, nodding her head. “I am certainly quite interested to know just who made that one. Such information would be quite useful for my childhood friend, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Of course,” her King replied, a sly smile forming on his face. “Unfortunately, the creator has been quite elusive lately, but I shall do my utmost to find him for you. As I’m sure you already know, I’m willing to do just about anything for you.”

“That would be quite helpful, but please keep that uncontrolled devotion you have towards me to yourself,” Ixia replied bluntly. “You are supposed to be the King of this country, after all.”

“Ha ha! Your tongue really is as sharp as ever!” the King laughed. “Speaking of which… that delivery you have, is it for my court magician?”

“Oh, this?” Ixia asked, raising the package in her hands a little. “Yes, yes it is.”

“I see. And you’ll be learning magic soon after, correct?” The King asked.

Ixia slightly widened her eyes in surprise. So her King knew, too, even though it wasn’t really supposed to be a secret either. She wondered if he found out during one of his investigations.

“Only if it passes the test,” Ixia finally said, shrugging. “Why, do you have something against me learning magic?”

“No, no, of course not.” The king said, waving his hand. “I’m just a little displeased that you didn’t ask for it from me beforehand. Didn’t I already say that if there was something you needed, I would do my best to provide?”

“To be honest,” Ixia said truthfully. “It never crossed my mind until now. I never considered myself as someone who could magic, after all.”

“With your god-given talents for weaving, I suppose it would be hard to imagine otherwise,” the king replied. “So be it. Just remember that if you ever need anything, just tell me and I’ll do my best to fulfill it.”

“Yes, yes, I get it, you love me so much you’re willing to do anything for me,” Ixia sighed. ”However, you should also remember that I hold no romantic love towards you, my King.”

“Ah! Your sharp retorts pains me, my dear Ixia!” The king said dramatically again, clutching his chest as if in pain. It didn’t last long, however, as he quickly straightened himself yet again. “Ah, it’s getting late. We both should probably hurry along to our respective destinations.”

“Indeed.” Ixia simply replied, finally standing up. “Then, I’ll be on my way.”

“Ah, one more thing,” her King stopped her. “Your lessons in magic… I wish you luck.”

Ixia simply nodded in response as she left her King behind.

It was time to see the court magician.

''A/N: It's bit late, but then again the updates of the last few chapters was at a monstrous speed, even for me. I think an update every week or so is more reasonable for me, provided I can keep writing and don't get a writer's block. Or get distracted by things like a game er, There is no game!''

''Moving on. Anyone who has read the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor probably would have seen this result coming. Probably. Actually, I referenced that novel twice here, too. I ''

''Sarui is a lot more calm than even I expected, lol. She also apparently thinks quite highly of Zheiro too, but that's to be explained. As for why Thrycius of all people wasn't considered worthy enough to be her friend, maybe you'll find out later.''

''Oh, I'm also surprised that Zheiro actually managed to finish that sculpture in a week. I'll be honest, I have no idea how long this sort of thing would normally take, but I don't think a week would normally be enough. Maybe Zheiro is actually far more skilled of a sculptor than he thought!?''

As always, special thanks to Restire for proofreading this chapter.

''Anyway, like usual, please leave a comment even if you didn't like it; constructive criticism is always helpful. Thanks!''

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