Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 262 Painting
The official judging day for the "Mograni Art Critics' Circle".

Inside the academy's grand auditorium, the staff organizing the judging session were sweating profusely with anxiety. Meanwhile, on the stage, which resembled a grand theater, the judges, already seated behind a long white table, had their professional smiles, worn thin by time, now appearing almost menacing.

The guests or participants of the judging session gathered in the auditorium chatted impatiently, making the whole space noisy.

"Who exactly said that Master 'Extraordinary Talent' would be a judge at the appraisal meeting? He didn't even show up!"

"It was the headmaster of Earls Academy who said it."

"Uh, it's been almost two hours already, we can't wait any longer! Anyway, at this point, one more judge or one less judge won't make a difference, let's get started!"

At the command of a somewhat overweight middle-aged man, the young man dressed as a host reluctantly stepped onto the stage.

Soon after, amidst boos from many guests who had come for the "extraordinary" reputation, the annual judging ceremony officially began.

"Aren't we a bit redundant to come?"

In a corner of the auditorium, Noah frowned slightly and asked Melcy beside him. Including Tabata, whose current state was pretty obvious without needing to be mentioned, the members of the Bathing Seminar had come to the judging session that day as the Miriam supporters.

However, as soon as she entered the auditorium, Miriam was sandwiched between two senior students who appeared out of nowhere, making it seem like she didn't need their encouragement at all.

Rather, the works selected by the judging panel are not necessarily those of the creators themselves. Therefore, in the past, even if the creators were not present, it wasn't a major issue.

However, due to a strange trend started by a certain person in recent years, many works participating in the judging panel now require creators to incorporate a certain degree of "performance" during the judging process. This has led to a significant increase in the attendance rate of creators on the day of the judging panel.

As Noah complained, the first piece to be officially selected for the judging panel was brought up.

After the artwork was displayed, a small commotion arose below the podium.

Because the artwork consisted of only a few colors, it was impossible to discern what it depicted; it resembled a spilled paint bucket. The only redeeming quality was the exceptionally bright and vibrant colors, as if light had been specifically directed at the canvas.

"This is a specially selected entry for this judging session."

After the commotion subsided somewhat, the host introduced the situation.

"This work actually falls within the category of 'magical art.' The creator will use a magic wand to slowly pour rainbow colors onto the canvas, as if scattering starlight. Then, before those colors fade, the creator will mix paint that is almost identical to those colors on the spot and apply it to the canvas. Please believe me, if you could witness it in person, it would be an absolutely magnificent performance."

Unfortunately, the creator of the artwork was not present today, leaving behind only this rather subtle graffiti.

Amidst the jeers of "Then what are you even talking about?" from below, the host maintained his professional smile and continued,

"However, our 'Mograney Art Critics' committee ultimately evaluates the artwork, not the performance itself. Therefore, whether Miss Maud was present or not would not have made much difference. But the special colors she mixed and the ingenuity of the work itself are commendable. Thus, this work was selected by the judges as the thirty-first piece in the official selection, a special entry."

As the host finished his introduction and Maud's paintings were displayed, the appreciation session, which was already in full swing, began to be met with applause from the audience.

While the host was introducing Maud's work, the judges on the side of the stage who were in charge of the preliminary selection looked rather gloomy.

In fact, they didn't want to select this controversial work for the main selection. But unfortunately, Miss Maud, or rather Miss Maud's guardian, exploited a loophole in the rules and used a very forceful method.

The judging panel has a rule that each creator can only submit one work. However, since participants can use pseudonyms or even remain anonymous, it is theoretically possible to submit multiple works by simply changing the name and creating a new piece on the spot.

However, due to the registration mechanism, unless one has already planned to participate in multiple elections and uses several different names during registration, it is generally not feasible to do so on-site.

Yeah, it's just normal.

Surrounded by the Knights of the Guard, they faced immense pressure, and then "accidentally" several names appeared on the registration list. One candidate even participated nearly ten times, seemingly determined not to give up until he passed the preliminary selection—definitely outside the usual scope.

The judges realized they couldn't afford to offend someone who could command the Guardian Knights at will, especially since it was only the preliminary round, and whether Miss Maud's work could be selected was already in a gray area. Ultimately, after communicating with the organizers, the preliminary judges chose to comply.

"The next piece is by Mr. Miriam."

Twelfth in the list, Miriam's work was placed on the long table on the podium.

Meanwhile, Miriam, who was already prepared, also took to the stage.

The boy with his silver ponytail, slightly upturned, possessed a gentle face brimming with androgynous beauty.

Compared to when she enrolled in April, Miriam's face had lost some of its youthful innocence and naivety. Her posture had also become more upright.

Although Miriam was unable to obtain the title of "youngest contestant" due to Maud's presence.

However, unlike his previous carefree approach, even with careful attire, he still only needs to stand on the podium to personally demonstrate what it means to be young, promising, and outstanding.

Noah, who could even curse at the stones on the ground, couldn't bring himself to say anything bad about Miriam on the "stage" at that moment.

After the host delivered a series of formulaic compliments, he drew everyone's attention to Miriam's work.

It was a large hourglass.

"An hourglass? That's quite a rare art form."

Amid the judges' anticipation, Miriam picked up his wand and began to demonstrate his artwork.

As the hourglass was turned upside down, the sand began to slowly flow from the top to the bottom. At the same moment, Miriam's wand touched the hourglass.

Soon, the audience saw some of the yellow sand in the hourglass begin to change color.

As different colored sands fell together, patterns began to appear in the lower half of the hourglass, which gradually piled up.

A wooden plank? A platform? Connected to a support frame, the frame looks quite tall, and it keeps getting taller.
guillotine?
As the sand above the hourglass almost completely falls, what appears below the hourglass is a lifelike guillotine, seemingly blending into the vast amount of sand.

As the last grain of sand slipped away, a silver ripple appeared in the sand below, and the guillotine blade slid down sharply.

It was just a visual illusion caused by the swirling sand; no real blade was falling. But at that moment, the audience seemed to hear the heavy thud of the guillotine, and some even worried that the blade might slice through the hourglass frame and the table. So, why a guillotine?
Neither the judges nor the audience could understand the reason behind it.

However, everyone still applauded this incredibly creative "hourglass drawing" without reservation.

Ultimately, Miriam did not achieve a very high score.

The reason is quite simple, just as the host mentioned earlier. Even though the style has deviated somewhat in recent years, the Mograine Art Critics' Circle is ultimately still an event for selecting artworks.

The hourglass in Miriam is nothing special; it's just that some rather unusual sand has been added to it.

When asked if turning the hourglass would change things, and whether someone else could create a guillotine from the work if it were not created by Miriam, Miriam, the creator, he felt an indescribable embarrassment.

“The works of the ‘Divine’ master, even without magic and fixed to the ground, wall, canvas, or anywhere else, are still top-notch works of art. People like you who only know how to take shortcuts are destined to only create toys.”

An elderly judge with a rather stubborn appearance said a lot of harsh things to Miriam.

Even though the judge seemed to be taking a hands-off approach, Miriam still found it baffling.

In just a few days, what kind of "work of art" could he possibly produce? It's already quite impressive that he could even come up with this hourglass.

He didn't participate because he wanted to; it was all because of his teacher.
Thinking of Ritas, Miriam frowned slightly, a sense of dissatisfaction rising within him.

The culprit who abandoned him here to be criticized by the strange old man has vanished without a trace today.

Although she received generally positive reviews and was told "we look forward to the future" many times, some harsh criticisms lingered more deeply within Miriam than the praise. After stepping down from the podium, she left the auditorium directly through a side door.

Outside the Great Hall, with the cool autumn breeze blowing, after wandering aimlessly for a few steps, Miriam's heart gradually began to calm down.

"When exactly did it start?"

Miriam couldn't help but sigh softly.

He didn't really like this feeling of being undisturbed. Because he realized that, without realizing it, he seemed to have gotten used to this feeling of "failure."

Miriam herself was probably more aware of her own talents than anyone else.

From a young age, he could quickly reach a certain level in anything he was exposed to, no matter how little he tried.

Just like this time, he was promoted to the starting lineup in just a few days. He could think of far too many similar examples.

However, he has only ever been able to quickly get to a certain level of proficiency, and has never really taken a step further or reached the highest point.

Moreover, this "highest" range is not even the whole world, but only its surrounding area.

Previously, he had another excuse. That was that even if he wanted to study seriously and improve himself, he couldn't accept and understand that knowledge. So, in the end, he could only give up.

But these excuses don't work. For example, in the realm of magic. Even though he knows there are many magic apprentices among his peers who are far more talented than him, he remains unmoved.

Perhaps this tasting event is not a suitable example, since a few days is too short no matter how you look at it.

But putting all that aside, he can still come up with a lot of excuses as usual.

Perhaps it's because there are too many escape routes that the motivation to move forward is lost. Or perhaps a certain level of achievement comes too easily, making it feel disproportionate to strive for further improvement.

In short
"Is this really okay?"

Perhaps others could easily coast along like this, relying on their talent. And given his age, he's far from the point where he should be worrying about the future. In fact, as many have told him, his "future" is bright no matter which path he chooses.

However, he is different from others.
"Of course there is a problem."

Suddenly, a voice interrupted Miriam, who was lost in thought and muttering to herself.

Following the sound, Miriam frowned slightly and looked over.

There were two girls, one with an exceptionally robust build, and the other who appeared rather petite in comparison.

They were wearing the uniforms of the Obsidian Magic Tower.

"It's been a long time, Miriam."

At the same moment, in the grand hall where the appreciation meeting was being held, another work of art was unveiled.

It was a painting that was either depicting the sky or the surface of water, and it was entirely clear and azure blue.

Besides the seemingly incongruous combination of bright clarity and penetrating depth, a beautiful landscape is depicted at the center of the painting, featuring a white chair.

Just as the person looking at the painting was puzzled about what it was trying to express, and whether it depicted the sky or the water, the painting was being painted.

As the scenery inside the painting began to ripple, even without the creator casting any magic, the interior of the painting began to move on its own.

In an instant, no one knew who started it, but the people in the auditorium began to exclaim in surprise, one after another.

Because they saw that the painting was both the sky and the water.

The sky seemed to stretch endlessly across the ceiling of the auditorium, while waves overflowing from the water were engulfing the ground.

Soon, the surprised exclamation turned into a terrified scream.

Because, besides the blue sky and the water beneath their feet—which shouldn't actually be visible in the auditorium—the people staring intently at the eerie painting also saw...
A figure had inexplicably appeared on the white chair. And the person sitting calmly on the white chair, displaying an eerie smile, was none other than themselves.

(End of this chapter)