Rupert's children's books and comics were not only popular among the nobility but also highly beloved by commoners. The Yuren Trading Company, which distributed his works, had an excellent network, ensuring that readers even in the outskirts of the empire could enjoy them.

One such outskirt was the eastern region of the empire, the only area bordering the sea. This region thrived on trade and fishing, and one boy, currently reading the Pinocchio fairy tale, came from a family of fishermen.

“Ismael! I told you to come for breakfast!”
“Yes, Mom! I’m coming!”

The boy carefully placed his copy of Pinocchio back on the shelf at the sound of his mother’s voice.

“No matter how many times I read it, it’s amazing!” he thought.

Though his mother would scold him if he delayed any longer, Ismael couldn’t stop thinking about the adventures of the living wooden puppet. The parts of the story that most thrilled him were the sea adventures, especially when Pinocchio entered the belly of a giant whale to save Geppetto. This scene resonated deeply with the boy.

“Mom, I read in Pinocchio that Dad is probably waiting for us inside a whale too!”
The first time Ismael read Pinocchio, he had excitedly run to his mother, showing her the picture of the whale and sharing his wild hope that his father, who had never returned from sea, was still alive, trapped inside a whale.

But instead of sharing his excitement, his mother had looked like she was about to cry. She gently patted his head, not saying a word. Ismael hadn’t brought up the story again since, not wanting to see that sad expression on her face again.

Yet, he continued to believe that his father was still alive, waiting inside a whale somewhere out at sea. Someday, he would set out, just like Pinocchio, to rescue his father.

But for that, he needed money to buy a boat. His father’s boat had been lost with him, so Ismael would need to buy his own, and boats were expensive. The boy’s allowance was nowhere near enough—until fortune smiled on him.

"The Ultimate Comic Contest!"

When he saw the flyer announcing a comic contest with a grand prize of 100 gold coins, hosted by the creator of Pinocchio, he knew this was his chance. Ismael was confident in his drawing skills, having been praised many times for his artwork.

“If I win, I can buy a boat and sail to the far seas where the whale is,” he thought.

“I’m done with breakfast!”
“Already?”

After quickly finishing his meal, he hurried back to his room and grabbed the comic toolset he had bought with his carefully saved allowance. Ismael began to draw the sea.

“This club room is bigger than I expected.”
“Indeed, I hear even the other popular clubs don’t have spaces this large.”

It was the first meeting of the newly established comic club, and the members had gathered in the room. However, only four of them were engaged in lively conversation, while the other six remained quiet, holding their breath and nervous.

“Why are such important people like the princes and duchesses here?”

The comic club had received a huge number of applicants, but the reason for this overwhelming interest was the presence of those four: the imperial prince, the duchess's daughter, the margrave’s heir, and a foreign prince. It was a group of individuals who, with a little exaggeration, could probably dismantle the entire academy if they wished.

Many had applied to the club simply in the hope of getting close to these influential figures. However, most of those applicants had been rejected. Rupert had carefully selected the final members, and the group was made up of quite unexpected individuals. Two were students from the art department, which made sense since Rupert was their mentor, but the rest came from the music and engineering departments.

This led to some grumbling from those who were rejected, with accusations of unfairness.

“Everyone’s here now, right?”
Finally, Rupert entered the room, where the ten students were waiting.

“Thank you all for joining the comic club. From now on, we’re not just going to create comics; we’ll be making various other things together,” Rupert said, looking at the students, many of whom now had a sparkle in their eyes.

Rupert was pleased with his selection.
"You can tell who really loves comics just from their application forms," he thought.

Excluding the four elite members whom he had no choice but to accept, the rest were chosen purely for their passion for comics as expressed in their applications. While their respective majors also played a role, Rupert had prioritized their love for the medium in his decision.

“I’ve read comics before, but what are these ‘other things’ we’ll be making?” asked Kyle, a straightforward student from the northern territories. He was not one to beat around the bush and asked directly for more details.

Rupert, appreciating the enthusiasm, nodded and pulled out a small bundle of papers.
“Can everyone see this clearly?”

The papers Rupert held contained small drawings.
“Is this what we’re supposed to draw?”
There was a hint of disappointment in the students’ responses. Most of them had joined the club because of their interest in comics, and the drawings Rupert was showing were neither particularly artistic nor impressive—just simple sketches.

However, some students, like Amelia, who smiled admiringly at Rupert, seemed pleased regardless.

“To be precise, these are just instructions for something we’re going to create,” Rupert explained.

“Instructions?”

Rupert handed the bundle of papers to the third prince, Edric.
“Your Highness… I mean, Edric, could you quickly flip through these pages with your fingers?”

“Like this?”

Remembering how Rupert had once asked him not to use formal titles, Edric complied and began flipping through the pages with his fingers.

Suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn’t speak for a moment. The other students, curious about his reaction, leaned in to see what he was looking at, but they saw nothing unusual—just the same small drawings.

“The drawing moved,” Edric said, astonished.

“Could you show the others?” Rupert suggested.

Edric turned around and flipped through the pages again so that the other students could see. This time, they watched closely, and soon they reacted the same way as Edric had.

Indeed, the small figure on the page appeared to move as if it were alive.

“How is this possible?”
“I thought I was seeing things.”
“Is it magic? No, I don’t sense any mana.”

As the students expressed their surprise, Edric took a closer look and realized what was happening.

“The drawings are moving because they’re flicking by quickly in sequence,” Edric deduced.

Rupert was impressed by how quickly Edric had figured it out.
"A bit too fast, perhaps," Rupert thought.

Of course, Edric’s exceptional reflexes and keen vision were to thank for this, but only a few other students, like Kyle, were able to grasp the explanation.

“That’s right. When sequential drawings are flipped through rapidly, they create the illusion of movement,” Rupert confirmed.

The students were amazed but also puzzled. Why was this important?

“No matter how quickly you flip the pages, it still doesn’t look very smooth. But what if dozens of images could be projected in just one second?” Rupert asked.

“Is that even possible?”

The students were understandably skeptical. How could so many images be shown in such a short time?

“I call this ‘animation,’ and it’s currently in development,” Rupert revealed.

“Animation?”

The word was new and unfamiliar, and the students struggled to imagine what it could be. Moving pictures? But one student reacted differently.

“Wait… Professor Rupert, does that mean…?”

Edric’s expression shifted to one of astonishment, as if he had just realized something incredible.

“Are you saying the characters from your comics will come to life and move?”

Edric, who had often fantasized about characters like Elsa from Frozen Kingdom or Windy from The Iron-Blooded Alchemist coming to life, immediately grasped the revolutionary potential of animation. To him, this was nothing short of a dream come true.

“Yes. But, of course, there are many challenges ahead before we can fully realize it,” Rupert replied.

He picked up the stack of papers again and flipped through them, the images still moving but with noticeable gaps.

“To make this work smoothly, we’ll need machines and magic, which means we’ll also need to study engineering.”

Rupert then mimed speaking silently, moving his lips without producing any sound, which confused the students.

“And naturally, we’ll need to add voices to bring the characters to life,” he added.

“This stack of paper contains 62 drawings, but for our animation, we’re aiming for about 12 drawings per second,” Rupert explained.

“Wait… if it’s 12 drawings per second, that would be 720 drawings per minute, and for a 30-minute animation, we’d need 21,600 drawings?” Amelia quickly calculated.

Her incredible mental math was impressive, but the rest of the students were more shocked by the sheer number of drawings needed.

"How are we supposed to draw that much?"
"That’s insane! We’ll graduate before we finish drawing that!"
"It sounds interesting, but this is too much…"

The students, overwhelmed by the staggering workload, began to look worried. Rupert couldn’t help but chuckle at their reactions.

“You won’t be making a 30-minute animation. For now, our goal is to create something under 10 minutes, which we’ll present at the end of the semester,” Rupert clarified.

The students breathed a sigh of relief, though it still seemed like a daunting task.

One person, however, was filled with excitement. Rising from his seat, Edric grabbed Rupert’s hand, his eyes burning with enthusiasm.

“Let’s do it! We can make this happen! I want to do this!”

For the first time in a long while, the winter in the third prince’s heart seemed to be melting away, replaced by the warmth of spring.