Chapter 292: Gallery

After finishing our meal, we were guided by Velvet to a certain building.

At first glance, it didn’t look like a shop at all—it looked more like a private house.

“It looks like a normal house. What kind of place is this?”

“You’ll understand once you go inside. You’ll probably be surprised… no, maybe Sato won’t be surprised.”

What does she take me for?

If it’s such an amazing place, I think I would be surprised too.

Well, since she insisted it was a secret, I followed Velvet and stepped inside the building that looked like an ordinary home.

The moment I entered, I was greeted by a massive number of paintings.

Every direction I looked was filled with artwork, and overwhelmed by the sheer volume, I followed Velvet deeper inside.

“There are so many paintings here. Lady Velvet, do you like paintings as well as books?”

“Hm… I only started liking paintings after you gave me manga, Sato. So I can’t even say I’ve liked them for long.”

“So it started from manga, huh. Are these paintings also from other countries?”

“Not all of them. Some are by painters in the Grayland Kingdom, and others are collected from all over the world and sold here.”

I see—that explains the sheer number of paintings.

Each piece was impressively well-made, and in a world with limited entertainment, this must be a valuable form of leisure.

That said, this world is also far more dangerous than Earth.

As I had been told before, people don’t have much time for hobbies or entertainment, and because of that, the overall quality of art doesn’t seem that high.

Of course, compared to an amateur like me, everything here is incredibly skilled.

But still, many of these works felt like they were below Velvet’s or Rose’s level, which stood out to me.

“…Sorry if this is rude, but aren’t your paintings better than most of these, Lady Velvet?”

“That statement is very rude. I only paint well because I have ridiculously good references. And don’t bring that up when Sheila is here!”

She glared at me as if forbidding the topic entirely.

I wanted to ask more, but if it was prohibited, there was nothing I could do.

Turning my attention back to the paintings, we moved quickly through the shop, which was surprisingly crowded.

At the far end of the gallery was a kind-looking, slightly chubby man with a small moustache and a trademark silk hat.

“Oh my, if it isn’t Lady Velvet. Welcome.”

“Eberhardt, it’s been a while. Did you read the letter I sent?”

“Of course I did. I have the item you requested prepared.”

The man called Eberhardt guided us further inside.

We were led to a storage room filled with paintings that likely couldn’t be displayed.

“Here is the item you requested. Would you like to inspect it?”

“Yes, let me see.”

It was a large sketchbook.

When I peeked inside, I saw it was filled with countless drawings.

Some of them were copies of paintings I had seen earlier in the gallery, so it might have been a collection of reproductions.

“…Perfect. It’s exactly as ordered.”

“Thank you. However, this was done in a hurry, so it can’t even really be called a proper replica. Is that acceptable? If you allow me time, I can reproduce each piece carefully. I can also sell the originals, of course.”

“It’s fine. This quality is more than enough. So, how much is it?”

“Including fees, it will be one platinum coin.”

“That’s quite cheap. Then take this.”

Velvet placed two platinum coins into Eberhardt’s hands.

Sheila’s aggressive bargaining earlier was impressive, but Velvet paying double the price was just as astonishing in a different way.

“Is it really alright to accept double the amount? These aren’t even proper replicas.”

“It’s fine. But if you manage to obtain more rare paintings, contact me again. I’ll buy the sketches made in the same way.”

“Understood. I also plan to actively search for paintings, so I will report to you whenever I find any.”

“Thank you. I’ll also inform you if I come across any interesting artwork.”

After shaking hands firmly, Velvet left the gallery.

Her expression was even happier than Sheila’s earlier, so this must have been something she really wanted.

“Good thing you were able to get what you wanted, Lady Velvet. Are you going to display that sketchbook?”

“I won’t display it. I’m going to… use it.”

In that brief moment, I understood what she meant.

She was probably going to use it as reference material for manga.

For references, you don’t need perfect originals.

In fact, having them in sketch form might even be more convenient.

Now I understood why she looked so satisfied.

Putting that aside, it was good that both Sheila and Velvet managed to get what they were looking for.

It was still only the first day, so from here on we would likely just wander without a fixed goal.

I hoped I would also come across something that truly caught my eye during our stay.