Monarch of Solitude: Daily Quest System

Chapter 194 - Artistic Failure

The first attempt ended up a monstrosity, and Rino demolished it with a stomp of his boots. Nobody should see this atrociousness!

It was exceedingly hard for Rino to form the right shape that he had in mind. This lump of clay just wouldn't work with him, and the lich was close to giving up when his saviour appeared.

"You appear troubled," the voice spoke from his shadows, and for a while, RIno wondered who it was.

The shadows rippled, and Rino blinked, trying to refresh his memory of where he saw this wraith before.

"You are…?"

King Wraith Ubel was rather saddened. For the longest time, he worked silently behind the scenes in the dreary swamp, forgotten by everyone. If there was someone he thought would remember his existence as the guardian of Noir Province, he thought it would be the powerful lich who named him.

"I am Wraith King Ubel. You named me after winning the Ghost Cypress Tree over."

That was a memory from one of the first battles Rino had ever since coming to this world. After so many things, such as moving to set up Town Zera and constructing his Nightless Underpass, this powerful wraith's existence was completely forgotten until now.

"A-ah… of course, I remember. What do you want?"

The dismissive tone and obvious lie made Wraith King Ubel feel utterly depressed. The gloomy air around him only increased, and Rino sighed. This was the problem with having too many shadow soldiers. He simply couldn't remember them all.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened. Don't sulk now. Why are you here?"

Wraith King Ubel accepted the apology and looked at the destroyed clay mound. For a while now, he had been observing what Rino did. From those pointy things on what should be a head and something long at the back, he could tell that Rino wanted to build a sculpture and not a pot. He could guess who this sculpture was about, and if Ubel was honest, Rino was an artistic failure.

"Would you like me to help with sculpting? I've been practising pottery for a while now with the fairies and have gotten quite good at it."

Not one to refuse help, Rino stepped back to see what Ubel would do.

The Wraith King did not disappoint, and with gentle tendrils, he wrapped the clay and shaped them like how a mother would coax a crying child. After repeated strokes and nudges towards the correct direction, the clay slowly but surely took a semblance of shape.

The first thing Rino saw was the general shape of a feline, and Rino gaped. He didn't tell Ubel what he wanted. How did the wraith figure out?

Sure enough, Ubel was sculpting Noir, and Rino recognised that unique feature that he didn't think many people knew about. Noir had a missing side claw on its front paws and often used its back claws more. In Rino's presence, sometimes the black cat would even walk on his hind legs like a human. Rino always found it odd, but he didn't mind. Noir was still adorable. He was so cute that Rino wanted to make a statue modelled after him for worship so that his people would not forget Noir when he decided to return to the farmhouse.

"Stop," Rino told Ubel after noticing how good the wraith king was.

The only problem Rino had with the current clay model was the size and the pose. Rino knew the place he wanted to make the statue for the offering station. Honestly, there was no better place for it than right outside his farmhouse. Of course, he would put it a distance away and order for a border to be made around his farmhouse for privacy. However, that was the best location in many ways.

Near to the farm and overwatching the granary, this offering statue could also act as a good luck guardian. Cats were symbolic creatures. In his previous world, they were known to be both good and evil. Businessmen loved cats because they kept rodents away. The farmers loved cats, the fishermen loved cats, sailors loved cats. Generally, most people loved cats.

However, there was a minority that believed cats were evil and brought bad luck. Most people associated cats and their fur colour with dark magic. There was a time when the dark guilds used cats to act as plague carriers. They would also possess stray cats to attack people and sacrifice them to their evil god. Then, Rino remembered how fear spread throughout the capital when dead cats were found hanging outside nobles' houses a day before being assassinated.

After these incidents, people started to have mixed feelings about cats. It did not help that most of the cats involved in negative incidents had black fur coats like Noir. However, in this world, Rino was determined to make black the colour of worship and respect. His mantle was black, his soul was probably black, and Noir's silky fur was also black. It should not be feared and must be loved by the shadow servants.

Retrieving his sketchpad, Rino noticed how he only had a few blank pages left. He should stop by Cypress County after this to stock up on new sketchpads.

Working quickly, Rino noticed just how disfigured his drawing was. Noir's intended paw was as big as its face, and that tail was a tad too short for the body that was too ovalish. Noir's athletic and lithe build was now a terribly obese one, and Rino apologised. Ubel was right to offer assistance, and Rino was glad that pride did not stop him from stepping aside to let Ubel take the lead.

Despite his many talents, Rino understood a limitation when he saw one. It didn't matter which world he was in. The fact that he wasn't gifted in artistic work was something he came to acknowledge. He didn't really mind drafting alchemy designs or working with his dwarven pal on the more complicated systems in a robot. However, those things had technical measurements and consisted of basic shapes that Rino could manage using tools, like his triangular ruler. However, the art teacher who was part of his noble education could only sigh whenever Rino drew.

Rino remembered how he was told to draw a portrait of a very lovely young maid who volunteered to be his model. She sat there without moving for nearly four hours, and by the end of the lesson, nothing about her reflected in his work. His art teacher was so stunned at his basics that he questioned the praises he gave Rino at the end.

There wasn't a right or wrong in art, but Rino's art teacher told him that it was ugly in the most polite and roundabout manner. After ten compulsory lessons, the art teacher quit, and Rino's butler finally stopped nagging at him to continue. There was no improvement whatsoever, even under the guidance of an art teacher. Even a child could draw better than Rino, and the ex court magician left it as it was.

Now, he had slight regrets for not working harder when he showed his shameful draft to Ubel, who scrutinised it without another word.

"How big do you want this to be? Any additional accessories? Should we put the main statue on top of a stand so that the offerings can be put below, or are we going to build a pavilion to shelter the statue?"

The wraith king's questions made Rino thankful that he had a rather competent, understanding and enthusiastic subordinate. He only felt slightly guilty for forgetting all about this person when he was busy setting up the swamp into a good wood and paper farm. Back then, too many things happened, and before Rino could properly get to know his citizens in Noir Province, he left to set up Town Zera.

Instead of answering, Rino asked what Ubel thought. He wanted to know the opinions of someone more artistically gifted. Ubel looked like he received an early birthday present when Rino asked for his opinion and gushed over what he thought was best about the statue, including his opinions about the pose, location of worship and size.

In the end, Rino told the excited wraith that he intended to build Noir's statue right outside his farmhouse so they could not carve it into the mountainside, although Rino found that idea very refreshing.

"You can carve Noir's head in the mountain big enough so that even those in Cypress County can see it. That should be a symbol of Noir Province. In fact, I want to leave the decorations to you. Feel free to make the town a little more lively with your artistic creations. We live a little too simple. It could be boring after a long time. I heard that the fairy quarters are ready. You can start from there after you finish crafting Noir's statue."

The moment Rino gave Ubel carte blanche to work on the village decorations, Ubel sank to the ground humbly with an emotionally choked thanks. He swore to build the best Noir statue in front of Rino's humble farmhouse and ensure that nobody forgot about the black cat.

Rino had a strange feeling he might soon regret this. However, for lack of better options, Rino agreed and left to replenish his sketchpad. Ubel could handle this.