The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 285

After the hallway meeting.

“Gguu?” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The teddy bear asked Gio a question.

“...Are you asking if my students are in the same situation as the mermaids?”

“Ggugguggu.”

“No, not at all. What you’re worried about won’t happen.”

Giovanni smiled as he sat the teddy bear on his lap.

“I didn’t realize Father was concerned about that.”

“Gguu...”

“I’m not lying, really. They’re not that weak. In many ways, compared to our mermaid disciples, these friends are very different.”

“Ggu?”

“The mermaid disciples couldn’t live without me, remember?”

At Giovanni’s cheerful remark, the teddy bear was left speechless.

“......”

“...Are you asking if I let that happen knowing what would follow? Hmm, well, I expected it would hit them hard, but I didn’t think they’d go so far as to devour a planet in the sea. That much... I really didn’t expect.”

“Gguuuuk...”

“Of course, I’ll admit it was an immature farewell.”

A mermaid shimmered faintly in the shadows.

“But it was the best choice I could make at the time.”

The blurred figure soon sank away.

“So in many respects, Earth’s students and the mermaid disciples are different cases. For starters, those kids weren’t that dependent on me. My disappearance didn’t cause ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) a major disruption to their lives.”

“Gguggu?”

“Yes, they were far more mature than the mermaids. They were students already prepared to stand on their own. I merely provided a bit of a foothold.”

“Ggu...”

“Well, the mermaids and I also tried to prepare for a mature parting. But mermaids live a long time, don’t they? Those kids saw me as a parent. I was practically their only friend.”

So naturally, the attachment ran deep.

“More than anything, mermaids are kind of...”

“......”

“...grotesquely obsessive, you could say.”

“Ggugguggu.”

Thwack—!

A mermaid tail slammed the floor from within the shadows.

“Oh dear, seems I struck a nerve.”

Giovanni chuckled teasingly.

“See? You should’ve lived a nicer life.”

Thwack, thwack, thwack—!!

“Who did they get that temper from?”

It certainly wasn’t Giovanni himself.

“In any case, Father, the thing you’re worried about won’t repeat itself. My mermaid disciples might have held me close to their hearts, but it wasn’t the same with my students. Sure, we got along well... but no, not to that level.”

Affection beyond a certain threshold turns into obsession and possessiveness. Giovanni might have had no choice given the environment and nature of the mermaids, but Teacher Sergio was not someone to tolerate such things.

His students were always admirable as independent individuals.

“Gguu?”

Because that’s what you wanted?

“...Perhaps.”

“Ggu, gguggu.”

“How can you blame me for that? Every relationship has someone who leads. And as their teacher, I had to prevent my students from heading down an unhealthy path.”

“Ggu?”

“Didn’t I mention the mermaids had a different environment and nature? I keep saying this, but our students are an entirely separate case. The two can’t be compared on the same level.”

From the start, “Giovanni” and “Sergio” were entirely different people. They only shared a similar fate and form. Complete strangers otherwise. So of course they treated those they taught differently.

“So even if Earth’s students regain their memories, the world won’t be overturned. Those kids love their roots. They know how to embrace me—and others.”

They were mature adults.

“The reason I’m approaching this carefully is because of my position... and theirs. Especially mine. No matter how I think about it, I prefer our current relationship. Their attitude no longer burdens me.”

“Ggugguu?”

“Ah, it still makes me shiver thinking about it.”

Sergio looked dismayed.

“They all thought I was some incredible person.”

“Gguu...”

“But back then, I wasn’t that different either. I had a stiff face that couldn’t smile properly, and I couldn’t even dress myself—I was a walking fashion disaster. I remember the kids used to call me the Grim Reaper.”

“Ggu.”

“Yes, it suits me well, thank you. I even remember scaring some students late at night and hearing them scream. It was my scary face again...”

Sergio’s expression must have been pretty intimidating for students to avoid him altogether.

“I gave them candy, chocolates, cookies, potatoes, sweet potatoes, even corn... but maybe because they were young, they always thought I was something extraordinary.”

“Ggu?”

“Come on, where in the world is there a Grim Reaper handing out sweet potatoes? Honestly, when the ‘tragic mafia boss heir’ rumor started, I sort of enjoyed it. I even laughed. But still, it was a bit much.”

“......”

The teddy bear tilted its head, puzzled.

“It really was overwhelming.”

Seriously?

“Oh, truly.”

He could swear it on the name of all gods and spirits. Though any gods passing by might grumble, it still showed how sincere Gio was. After all, humans can love something and still feel burdened by it.

“...Besides, how close can a teacher and student really get? In the end, I was an adult and the strong one, and they were children and the weak. But even so, the distance between us...”

He recalled the students who’d looked at him with sparkling eyes, full of expectation. Even the usually stone-faced Seo Seo-Hee was no exception. They had thought Sergio could fix anything just by stepping in.

“I wasn’t as good a person as they expected.”

Dependency or obsession can be shaken off, but that kind of innocent expectation can’t be helped.

He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t fun, but that was separate from everything else. The relationship then was good—but so is the one now, enough that he wouldn’t want to give it up.

“...So my little complaints have nothing to do with the fate of the Earth.”

“Gguuuu?”

“This time, you really can believe me. They’re not the type to cause trouble. The only reason I’m being cautious is because I want to preserve this equal relationship a little longer. It’s like a roleplay.”

“Ggugguggu...”

“If Father is pleased, then your son is pleased as well.”

Giovanni smiled brightly.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

Because for him, there was no such thing as a serious problem.

***

In the studio, Gio toyed with the stamp.

“......”

“Aeehng.”

“You’re back, daughter.”

“Eeng.”

“Welcome home.”

Dana naturally climbed onto Gio’s lap and settled in. Honey, who had been perched by the window, flitted into Gio’s hood. Either way, it was a cute scene.

As he petted the plump Dana, Gio stared at the stamp.

“I wonder how far this thing will evolve.”

He had received the stamp after completing Giovanni’s quest. After finishing Argio’s quest, it had upgraded.

At first, it barely exempted anything more than a letter. Now, it easily waived small food and container charges.

‘But it probably didn’t waive the cost entirely.’

It might be tied to memories Gio had forgotten.

‘Where is the price I didn’t pay being collected?’

The past? Or the future?

“Either way, it doesn’t matter.”

“Ggurruk?”

“If it’s the past, then it’s already paid and irrelevant to me now. If it’s the future, I can’t pay it yet, so it’s also irrelevant. There’s no reason for me to worry.”

“Ggng...”

“But I do wonder how far I can go with this.”

He wanted to offer a bigger gift.

“......”

Gio looked at the blank canvas and opened his mouth.

“...I wanted to try painting again after a long time, but nothing comes to mind.”

“Ggurrurruk.”

“Yeah... maybe it’s best to rest a little longer.”

“Ggur.”

“How about visiting the school for the first time in a while?”

Gio tilted his head.

“I like that idea.”

It was a peaceful day.

***

The school he visited after a long time was still a ruin.

“......”

Tap.

His shoe touched the floor.

“...Feels like a ghost might show up.”

But there was also a bit of pride.

“This is the haunted house version of a school, huh.”

“Ggngggngggng.”

“Honey, this is where your dad used to work.”

“Ggurruk...”

“Well, it’s probably not your vibe.”

The atmosphere was completely different from Dana’s home in the Gem’s Waterway. The place was still covered in ash, with dust piled atop it. The fire-scarred school gave off an eerie air.

He was standing in the storage room attached to the art room.

“Let’s take a look around.”

Even though it was only 5 p.m., the school was already dark. The trees had grown so thick that their shadows blanketed the building. Without close inspection, one wouldn’t even realize a building was here.

‘It’s like a secret base.’

It reminded him of the secret bases he used to make in the forest as a child. Though those weren’t in dangerous places like this, even those small spaces brought joy to young Sergio.

‘I even ran into a wild boar once...’

A good memory.

“There might even be wild boars here now.”

“Gng...?”

“This school was built in a remote area to begin with. After the catastrophe, it turned into a true ruin. I don’t even know how those people who found me back then managed to get in.”

“Ggurruk.”

“Come to think of it, when I first woke up, it took me ages to find a place with people. Maybe now it’s not wild boars but monsters that live here.”

Though for monsters, he hadn’t seen any while staying here.

“Maybe my scary face worked on them too.”

A fairly reasonable guess.

“When I’d just awakened, I was so dazed I couldn’t think straight. Dealing with everything inside the painting alone was overwhelming. I don’t even know what state of mind I was in back then...”

Past the shattered door, a few desks came into view. They were more like charred wooden remnants than actual desks. Gio lightly brushed one and stepped forward again.

An empty hallway appeared.

“......”

At this point, a ghost really should pop out for decorum’s sake.

‘How disappointing.’

Such unprofessional ghosts.

Trees had even grown through the building. Ivy nearly engulfed the school both inside and out, and flowers bloomed under the warm day. But instead of being lush, it all felt grotesque.

Gio gently rubbed his chin.

“...Do these guys have opinions too?”

Feeling a strange déjà vu, Gio scanned the school.

‘Maybe it’s just the mood, but everything looks like a scene from a horror movie. If they filmed a movie here, the plot wouldn’t matter—the setting alone would score a perfect 100. Just existing, it’s a masterpiece.’

It was the textbook image of an “abandoned school from long ago.”

‘I thought maybe something would come back to me if I came here.’

Gio stopped and leaned his back against the hallway wall.

“Not much is coming to mind.”

“Ggurruk?”

“All I remember is... all there is.”

No matter how hard he tried, his last memory was of backing away from the fire and stumbling into the painting. He had a vague sense that he’d forgotten something, but that was it.

“Where did the fire start again?”

It had started on the first floor. The home economics room. A cigarette tossed into an oven caused a huge fire. There were cooking oils and other flammables, so it spread quickly, blocking escape routes.

Sergio had sent out all the students before things got bad. He’d checked for anyone left behind, but that was all. It was too late for him to escape. So he headed for the art storage room.

“It would’ve been better if there were curtains... but there weren’t, so that failed.”

Then he fled into the storage room—and became a painting.

“......”

“......”

“...Ah.”

Now that he thought about it.

“How do I even know it was a cigarette?”

Finally, he found a hole.