Character Introductions
Prada: A woman of the Ancient Devil Race. Also known as the Devil Who Collects Artworks or Gold Coin.
Kati: A woman of the Ancient Devil Race. Also known as the Devil Who Traps Dreams or Box.
Ludio: A man of the Ancient Devil Race. Also known as the Devil Who Plays Death or Sound.
Shalne: A woman of the Ancient Devil Race. Also known as the Devil Who Severs Bonds or Character.
Object: An ancestor of the Ancient Devil Race. Also known as Despair.
Crim: The Daughter of Despair?
The Prada Art Museum stood at the foothills of Village Five.
Inside the building, musical magic tools played quiet, soothing melodies.
Near the tools, Ludio, one of the staff members, stood as if keeping watch. His constant presence there had become a local fixture of sorts. He was a man who loved anything that produced sound, after all.
That was well and good, but I wondered if he actually got any work done while standing there all day. Well, if he were slacking off, Prada would surely have scolded him.
One of the sections established inside the museum was dedicated to the exhibition of boxes. Every kind of box imaginable, from all times and places, was displayed there. At first, I had wondered what the appeal of boxes was, but seeing such a diverse collection made for a surprisingly entertaining section.
Kati was the staff member apparently in charge of this area. Since she loved boxes, it was a fitting assignment.
Wait. Most of the items on display were actually Kati’s personal property?
I see. I hoped she wasn't simply using the museum as a secondary storehouse. Prada explained that while that was partly the case, it served well to fill out the exhibits. I suppose that made sense. One way or another, there were always people browsing the section, so it seemed to be well-received. Kati occasionally struck up lively conversations with customers who expressed a desire to purchase the boxes. It wasn't that she wanted to monopolize them; apparently, enthusiasts simply sought out fellow hobbyists.
In the Art Museum Exhibition Preparation Room, Shalne was busy giving instructions to the staff. She had always liked things with writing on them, though she didn't actually read the content. Though I found it an eccentric hobby, she appeared to be the hardest worker on the staff.
However, according to Prada, Shalne had her own share of issues. Apparently, she forced the staff to submit all their reports by writing them on various physical objects. That sounded like a blatant abuse of her official authority. Was that really acceptable? Prada told me she overlooked it because it was beneficial to have records kept, regardless of the medium. If Prada was fine with it, I decided not to say anything.
The staff had certainly grown in number. Managing artworks with only a few people would have been difficult, but a quick glance suggested there were at least fifty people present. Considering those on break or stationed elsewhere, I estimated there were over a hundred employees—perhaps as many as a hundred and fifty.
I wondered how she had managed to gather so many people. Prada explained that she had scoured the ranks of minor nobles who were smoldering in their positions and recruited them. I hoped she meant that she had hired them through normal applications or invitations, not that she had kidnapped them. She assured me it was all legitimate.
Prada also mentioned that when they were recruiting, a thief gang had tried to sneak moles into the staff. I asked if they were okay, and she told me that the moles' behavior had been so obviously suspicious that they were caught immediately. After being forced to listen to a brief performance of Ludio's Piano, they had confessed everything. They even gave up their accomplices, leading to the arrest of almost the entire gang.
I recalled that while Ludio loved things that made sound, he was notoriously terrible at playing them. Was his playing really that horrendous? My interest was piqued, but I was also a bit afraid to actually hear it.
Looking around at the staff, I noticed several people who looked like security guards and asked if they were necessary. Surely Prada and her peers could handle any trouble themselves. She explained that having visible guards served as a crime deterrent. That made sense; it was harder to commit a crime when someone was watching. Furthermore, she said that anyone with ill intentions usually took one look at the Object placed at the entrance and turned back.
As the creator of that statue, I had mixed feelings. I really wanted people to look at my work more closely, not run away from it.
The reason I had visited the Prada Art Museum was because of a petition I had received from Prada. She was requesting the construction of a staff dormitory and a dining hall to accommodate the growing workforce. I had initially told her she could build whatever she wanted within the museum grounds, but she wanted them built outside because she intended to use the remaining space on-site for storehouses. I couldn't give permission without seeing the site for myself, which was why I had made the trip.
Regarding the museum's operation, it was currently quite deep in the red. The costs of purchasing and maintaining artworks were high, and the labor costs for the expanded staff were significant. However, I understood that art shouldn't be focused solely on profit. It provided entertainment for the residents and preserved culture. With that in mind, I intended to ensure Village Five provided a firm budget. Yoko agreed with this policy, and given the museum's success in capturing the thief gang, the Village Council likely wouldn't move to cut the funding either.
I looked at the land surrounding the museum for the potential dormitory and dining hall. It was still vacant, but since Yoko or the Village Council might have future plans for it, we needed to secure it quickly. Prada had already prepared a cost estimate for the construction. I was impressed to see she even had a Plan B and a Plan C in case the surrounding land was unavailable.
I told her I would speak to Yoko myself. I suspected it would be fine, but I promised to contact her immediately if there were any issues.
I asked where the staff were currently sleeping since there was no dormitory. Publicly, those with homes commuted, and those without stayed at local inns. Behind the scenes, however, they were huddling together to sleep in the corners of the preparation room or inside the storehouses. Hearing that, I promised to move quickly on the dormitory and the dining hall.
Having finished my inspection, it was time to leave. But first, I had to make an offering to the Object. Since I had used the staff entrance, I hadn't passed the statue and nearly forgot. Crim had specifically asked me to do this. She said the statue was lamenting because people kept offering nothing but bitter vegetables to it. She warned me that while it might just be lamenting now, if it truly lost its temper, it might trigger natural disasters. It was better to offer something sweet.
While I suspected the natural disasters were a bit of an exaggeration, I offered several fruits harvested from the Village of the Great Tree. I could have sworn the Object looked pleased. Next time, I decided I would bring a cake from Fairy Fairy.
Prada: "It wouldn't even touch them when there were only bitter things, but now that there's something sweet..."
Kati: "Sweet, bitter, bitter, sweet, bitter... now it's even reaching for the bitter things."
Ludio: "Truly despair."
Shalne: "I think it's impressive that it can even enjoy that kind of cycle."
Yoko: "Regarding that area, Versa-dono submitted a proposal for a large exhibition hall... I haven't authorized it yet, so I'll just shift the location slightly and grant the permit."