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The Dog of Flanders is one of those fairy tales that has always stood out in my memory.
For a children's story, it tackled serious issues like the gap between rich and poor and the prejudice born from distorted perspectives.
It felt more like a social critique than a fairy tale, which is why I focused so much on changing my art style to capture its essence and deliver the same impact to readers in this world.
I especially poured all my effort into illustrating the highlight of the story: the religious painting by Rubens that Nero longed to see before his death.
The scene where radiant light gently embraces the goddess, the people praying on their knees beneath her, and finally, Nero and Patrasche, dying while gazing at the grand painting—this is the moment that I had to burn myself out to capture.
The more beautiful I made Rubens' painting, the more tragic Nero and Patrasche's fate would appear in contrast.
Since arriving in this world, I've felt a kind of debt for recreating the works I once knew, and I wanted to repay it through this project.
It's not a grand ambition—just a desire to contribute to the happiness of children in this world, much like the great authors who created the fairy tales that allowed me to pay off my family’s debts and live a life where I can make the manga I want.
“Although, this is likely to make people cry in a different way.”
Alongside The Dog of Flanders, I’ve nearly finished the storyboard for Volume 2 of The Iron-Blooded Alchemist.
I’ve probably left it off at just the right point, so I’m excited to see how desperate people will be for the next volume.
When I was young, the only way to read manga was by renting them at manga cafes. I remembered how popular manga would be reserved in advance for regulars before new releases.
I’m thrilled to share that same experience of eager anticipation with the people in this world.
‘Though, drawing Patrasche while also drawing the dog in The Iron-Blooded Alchemist feels a bit unsettling.’
How did I end up drawing two dogs with bad endings?
“‘You’ll come visit again tomorrow, right, Ed-brother?’
‘Yes, Nana, I’ll come again tomorrow, so wait for me.’
‘Okay!’”
Looking at the final scene in the storyboard for Volume 2, I was blown away.
Sharp readers might feel something ominous, but guessing what happens next would be challenging.
Even when I first read this scene, I hadn’t imagined ‘that scene.’
“This isn’t right! Looking at how it moves, it’s clear that they used dozens, if not hundreds, of thin iron threads twisted together to form the joints.”
Krun had been holed up in the village blacksmith's shop for days, working on creating a mechanical hand shaped like a human's.
When Krun suddenly appeared and asked to borrow the blacksmith’s shop, the village blacksmith was dumbfounded but secretly curious to witness the craftsmanship of a dwarf, something he had only heard of in stories.
Since that day, Krun had been hammering away like a mad dwarf, obsessively trying to recreate the golem arm from the manga.
Though the manga didn’t explain the exact mechanics, the details were clear enough to give him an idea of how it worked, but it was turning out to be a more challenging task than he had expected.
“Damn, if only I had better equipment and materials.”
Krun didn’t want to blame his environment, but the quality of the furnace and tools here was nowhere near what dwarves typically used, and it was frustrating.
Part of him wanted to return to the Dwarf Kingdom and create it there, but he couldn’t bear to leave Sena behind without repaying his debt.
Plus, Volume 2 of The Iron-Blooded Alchemist was about to be released, and he was eager to read it.
It was one of the few things made by humans that had excited him this much in recent times.
More than just entertainment, it was an extraordinary work that sparked his creativity.
The ‘golem arm’ was originally a magical item that existed on the continent, but the version in the manga was entirely different from the original.
The original golem arm could only help a person lift simple objects or allow someone who had lost a leg to walk again.
But the golem arm in the manga was different. It looked just like a real human arm and leg.
Among the dwarves, many lost limbs in mining accidents or battles with monsters, and those who did often became despondent, unable to continue working with the minerals that gave their lives purpose.
His close friend and a promising craftsman, Keron, was one of them.
Keron had lost his left arm in a mining accident, pinned under a boulder, and could no longer work as a blacksmith. After that, he spent his days drowning in alcohol, wasting away.
If Krun could create this new golem arm, he thought, it might give hope not only to Keron but to other disabled dwarves as well.
Krun had been working day and night for days but still felt something was missing.
‘The author might know something.’
The functioning, structure, and materials used in this new golem arm—there were too many intricate details for it to be mere fiction. That’s why he had been inspired to try making it.
‘No, the manga even says it’s a secret technique of the dwarves, so maybe there really is a dwarf with the author.’
Dwarves rarely left their kingdom, but it wasn’t uncommon for them to go missing due to monster attacks while working in the mines.
Since Krun himself had gone through something similar, it was possible that a dwarf was working with the author.
The author must have heard about the glass coffin from Snow White and the golem arm from The Iron-Blooded Alchemist from that dwarf.
Krun decided he had to meet the author.
But then—
“What? You want to meet the author?”
“Yeah, kid. That author definitely knows something.”
Krun explained his reasoning to Sena.
“They say the author is a nobleman from the southern region.”
“A noble?”
“Yeah! So if commoners like us tried to meet him, we might get in trouble!”
Sena genuinely believed this.
Even Baron Haxen, the lord of the Stolbar estate where she lived, frequently forced her parents and other villagers into dangerous work whenever he found an opportunity.
Moreover, he raised taxes every year for various reasons, and if the villagers complained, they were brutally punished.
If a count’s son, who was even higher ranked than Baron Haxen, was approached recklessly, something terrible might happen.
“Ugh, humans are disgusting! How can those in power act so tyrannically?!”
“Aren’t dwarves the same?”
“Well….”
Krun couldn’t argue with that.
The Dwarf Kingdom wasn’t much different.
While they didn’t have a noble class, there were twelve powerful families that wielded enormous influence, known as the Twelve Families.
The Twelve Families engaged in similar abuses, as Sena had described.
The most dangerous and difficult mining work was done by dwarves not affiliated with these families.
Yet the best ores and tools went to the Twelve Families.
Many dwarves resented this, but the power and influence of these families were so entrenched, going back to the founding of the kingdom, that everyone just lived with it.
“Anyway, the only person who can solve this mystery about the golem arm is the author, so I’ll have to meet him.”
“But you need money to go.”
“What?”
“Our Stolbar estate is in the western part of the Empire, but the author is in Goldenpool Valley in the south.”
“So what?”
Krun’s response made Sena look at him incredulously.
“The Empire is huge! Walking from the west to the south could take months.”
“That’s problematic….”
“If you want to go, you could use the teleportation array at the magic tower.”
“Teleportation array?”
“Yeah, I’ve only heard about it, but they say if you use the teleportation array in the magic tower, you can travel anywhere instantly!”
Krun was thinking he could take that, but then Sena added:
After that, rumors spread from a village blacksmith in the Stolbar estate that weapons of such high quality they were rarely seen even in the capital were being sold.
“I trust you completely, but this is not something you should handle.”
Jorge couldn’t help but feel nervous seeing the princess’s tense expression for the first time since being selected as her secret bodyguard.
Secret bodyguards.
Unlike the palace guards who protected the royal family openly, these were people who operated from the shadows.
They handled the royal family’s most secretive matters and prided themselves on being the hidden sword of the royal family.
Jorge still felt a thrill remembering the day he was chosen for the secret bodyguard after graduating with top honors from the Imperial Academy.
Secret missions were much cooler than just being a guard.
After receiving his training as a secret bodyguard and being assigned to the princess, Jorge was filled with pride.
He believed the princess, often called the flower of the Empire, was even more worthy of serving than the crown prince.
When the princess began to seem troubled recently, he had eagerly asked to take on any task, hoping to be of help.
But the princess had refused, saying it wasn’t something he should be involved in, which only fueled Jorge’s determination.
“Your Highness! I am ready to undertake anything you command, whether it’s a minor errand or a life-threatening mission!!!”
Jorge instinctively knew that this would be the beginning of a grand saga, one that would decide the fate of the royal family.
‘Could it be that she’s planning to ascend to the position of crown princess instead of the crown prince?’
No, that wouldn’t suit the princess.
Maybe she’s preparing for some dark forces that threaten the royal family.
As his mind raced with countless possibilities, the princess finally spoke in a tense voice after glancing around.
“…Can I really ask you to do something so personal for me?”
Finally, the princess responded to Jorge’s earnest plea.
“Whatever it is, just leave it to me! It’s the only thing I desire.”
“If so, I must ask you to secure a limited edition of Volume 2 of The Iron-Blooded Alchemist when it’s released next Friday!”
“What?”
And so, Jorge received his first secret mission as the royal family’s secret bodyguard.