The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

He looked at the two paintings in front of him and then showed them to Noah.

"How long did Noah study painting?" he asked.

How long have you been learning to draw?

Why would you ask such a question?

What does this have to do with Hoshino's feelings?

Noah Kinosaki was puzzled, but still gave an answer.

"A long, long time ago?"

Oh, right, that doesn't count.

How long exactly?

actually......

It doesn't seem to have been particularly long.

"Three or four years ago? Probably."

She couldn't remember.

If I had to pinpoint it, it would probably be a little earlier than when the 'balloon' began to gain worldwide fame.

"So, Noah has been painting for years, but hasn't made any progress at all?" Utsunomiya Hoshino asked her, looking at the two paintings on the easel.

This question caused Noah Kinosaki's thinking to slow down somewhat.

What do you mean?

Progress?

Are you referring to Noah's painting?

Noah's painting is ugly and lacks skill; it's just scribbling and completely different from Balloon's painting—there's no comparison.

Is that what Hoshino meant?

"Hoshino, what I'm trying to say is, No, Noah's paintings haven't improved, or, the balloon paintings haven't improved...?" Noah wanted to try to confirm.

Utsunomiya Hoshino: "...?"

"Of course I'm talking about Noah."

As soon as he finished speaking, Noah Kinosaki's expression visibly turned dejected, and a somber aura began to emanate from him.

Will it really be like this?

"...Does Hoshino really like balloon paintings too?" Noah Shirosaki muttered to himself.

As expected, Noah's painting was worthless; only the painting of the balloon would be needed...

"--(pinch)"

"Ugh?!"

The moment after Noah Kinosaki muttered to himself, Hoshino Utsunomiya raised his hand and pinched Noah Kinosaki's cheeks.

“I don’t know how Noah’s drawings were before, and I don’t know how the balloons were drawn at the beginning.” He pinched his little cheek and said softly, “But I don’t think it’s right that Noah’s drawings can only turn out like this after three or four years of drawing.”

"Noah, you like drawing, right?"

Although Noah Kinosaki seems to have said that drawing is the meaning of his life, and that he cannot survive without drawing.

But Hoshino Utsunomiya couldn't seem to find any memory of her saying that she liked drawing.

So he tried to confirm it again.

"Ah."

Then I received an affirmative answer.

“I don’t know what Noah is thinking, I can only speak for myself.” Hoshino Utsunomiya nodded, released Noah Kinosaki’s cheek, and grasped Noah Kinosaki’s small hand:

"If I like something, like painting, writing, sports, or games, anything is fine, anything I like or am interested in."

"Besides wanting to spend a lot of time doing these things every day, let's take games as an example. Besides wanting to play games for a very long time every day, what I would definitely want is..."

"Become stronger."

"Become more skilled, become more proficient, and become more adept."

"I want others to praise my skills, I want to look really good, and I want to feel my own progress."

"From not knowing how to walk, not understanding how to aim, and being terrible at the controls, to becoming incredibly skilled and exhilarating in a battle that even you feel is amazing."

Learn a game, master certain skills, and improve your game level.

"If I like drawing, besides drawing happily every day, I will definitely want to learn more, practice more, and watch my drawings get better little by little."

Hoshino Utsunomiya grabbed Noah Kinosaki's hand and placed it on the graffiti that belonged to 'Noah'.

“This is my opinion, this is just my opinion,” he said.

“Noah, do you think you’ve painted better all these years?” he asked.

Yes, is it drawn even better?

Noah Kinosaki's ears were buzzing.

It seems that no one has ever asked her such a question before.

Has your painting improved?

She herself hadn't asked.

why?

Noah Kinosaki knew the reason.

Noah's paintings were too ugly to be seen by anyone. The balloons disliked and hated Noah's paintings, so Noah painted less and less, and every time he did paint one, it would be wiped clean.

There's no progress.

What about the 'Balloon' painting? The 'Balloon' painting became an instant hit from the very beginning. It was reported by the media from the very beginning, and everyone liked it and cared about it.

No one will say that the drawing is bad or lacking in any way.

There is naturally no room for improvement.

At least, Noah Kinosaki's imagination was insufficient to support her in imagining that the 'balloon' could be drawn in a better way than it is now.

So, whether it's 'Noah' or 'balloon', these past years have all been...

'No progress'

They were simply mass-producing different paintings, like an assembly line.

Print.

generate.

copy.

"...It seems not." Sensing the girl's reaction, Hoshino Utsunomiya shook her head. "The balloon drawing, was it done with magic?"

It's clear that one drew clumsily, while the other drew with ease.

This can also be seen from the fact that Noah Kinosaki cares about the two paintings and the difference between his two identities.

"Magic is a tool. Let's not discuss whether using magic to paint is cheating. What I want to tell Noah is that magic is a tool, just like paintbrushes and paints. It's a tool that makes painting easier and makes the paintings better."

He stroked Noah Kinosaki's head and said softly:

“Using tools is not a wrong thing, well... at least in terms of drawing, it’s not a wrong thing. I won’t use that to accuse Noah of doing something wrong, of deceiving others, or of being anything but amazing.”

This is what Noah Kinosaki is worried about.

“However, even when using tools or magic,” Hoshino Utsunomiya paused slightly, “don’t lose your most fundamental abilities.”

"Don't let easy magic stifle your talents."

In fact, Noah Kinosaki's magic is similar to AI, which develops very quickly.

It's a waste not to use magic.

But entrusting everything to magic is also a waste.

He could already feel the immense pressure that magic brought, the results it created, and the name "Balloon" it created.

"Noah is the master of magic, and magic is Noah's tool."

Since the pressure is too great.

Then let's just put it aside for now.

Noah Kinosaki: "......"

"If Noah starts working hard now, will he make progress?"

She asked.

“We’ll have to wait until Noah tries to find out,” Hoshino Utsunomiya said, not giving a definitive answer. “But if he doesn’t try, he’ll never know.”

“I see.” Noah Kinosaki nodded slightly.

"Noah, I understand."

Actually, if we're talking about excuses, Noah Kinosaki could come up with a lot.

For example, it's all the magic's fault. It's the magic that's preventing Noah from painting. It's the magic that thinks Noah's paintings are very, very ugly. Noah can't control the magic.

But these are all excuses.

Magic is just magic.

The balloons only depicted what Noah intended to draw.

Because Noah wanted to see Hoshino and Meruru doing that kind of thing in the courtyard, magic made the decision for Noah and drew those pictures.

Because Noah wanted Hoshino to see her true skill level and her real paintings, Magic stopped covering up her graffiti.

Noah wanted praise, compliments, and expectations from others; he wanted to hear people say that he was amazing—such vanity things.

That's why she kept using magic.