"Actually, Mashiro deciding to become a manga artist was a very good choice..." Sogo Doma said with a soft chuckle as he looked at the impassive girl.
"Mm, Sogo thinks so too?" A flicker of life passed through Mashiro's previously muttering eyes.
"Of course..." Sogo Doma nodded. "Mashiro spent her entire past drawing. While that allowed you to reach heights ordinary people could never attain, it also made you miss out on many of the sights and wonderful things along the way as you grew up..."
Before he could finish, Mashiro argued, "Sogo, I've seen lots of scenery. Otherwise, I couldn't have drawn it..."
Yukino Yukinoshita and the others: "..."
Doma wasn't talking about literal scenery!
Still...
He was right. Mashiro's answer alone showed that she really had missed out on so, so much...
Back then, when they heard that Mashiro did nothing but draw, they might have sighed that no one achieved success without effort. But now, they genuinely felt sorry for this adorable, airheaded girl their own age.
"Fine..." Sogo Doma said. "Mashiro has indeed seen plenty of scenery, but I'd rather you gain scenery that belongs to you—scenery shared with us. Then you can express it through manga, and accompany the manga's protagonist as you reclaim the sights you once missed..."
"Sogo, I looked carefully. I didn't miss anything..."
Yukino Yukinoshita and the others: "..."
Mashiro didn't understand, but they did understand why Sogo Doma said becoming a manga artist was such a good choice for her. A manga artist was someone who told stories, so the characters she created could allow Mashiro to project herself into them, experience different stories, and find the lost beauty within those stories.
That was far better than having Mashiro paint oils forever.
"I say..." Seeing the topic drift further and