Chapter Nineteen: Chuunibyou? No, This Is Creativity!

A few minutes later.

At the tea table in the living room.

Anhe glanced down at his foot, which now bore a large bite mark, then looked across at Rena Serizawa, who wore an expression of triumph. He could only smile helplessly.

"I was just joking with you. Why did you get so worked up?"

Upon hearing this, Rena Serizawa’s face flushed with indignation. She quickly grabbed her sketchpad from the table and scribbled furiously, then held it up.

"You call that a joke? That’s cheating!"

Anhe’s cheeks reddened; he hadn’t expected that, despite his mastery-level gaming skill, he’d end up being beaten by this girl.

But, true to his character, Anhe cleared his throat twice, feigning indifference, and abruptly shifted the topic. He fixed Rena Serizawa with a sly smile, raising his eyebrows.

"You said you couldn’t hear me, but just now you did. How come?"

His words caught Rena Serizawa off guard. Her cheeks puffed in anger, but her expression froze, her bravado vanishing as she shrank back into her seat.

Just then, Yui Serizawa, whom Anhe hadn’t seen in a while, emerged from the kitchen carrying three glasses of juice.

"Anhe, my sister didn’t mean to deceive you," she said, handing him a glass of lemon juice. She offered Rena a glass of milk, then sat beside her and looked at Anhe.

"Anhe, have you heard anything about my sister at school?"

Anhe’s playful expression faded. He nodded silently.

Yui Serizawa sighed, her tone tinged with resignation.

"I’m sure it’s nothing good. Actually, my sister has always been able to hear. But several times, people have said awful things right in front of her. Not wanting to stir up conflict, she pretended not to hear. Unfortunately, that only made them worse..."

Anger flashed across Yui’s face. Rena, seeing this, reached over and gently pinched Yui’s cheek, chasing away the storm that had just appeared.

Yui rolled her eyes, half-heartedly pushing her sister’s hand away. "Enough, sis. There are other people here—let me have a little dignity."

She turned to Anhe with curiosity. "So, did Mr. Ito send you here to persuade my sister to return to school?"

On hearing this, Rena Serizawa stopped what she was doing and quietly sat back down.

Anhe’s gaze lingered on Rena for a moment. He nodded. "That’s her intention."

"I knew it," Yui replied, rolling her eyes dramatically.

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Yui Serizawa gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes, then got up and walked toward the bedroom, waving her hand as she went. "Until those troublesome students at school are dealt with, I won’t let my sister go back."

With that, she disappeared inside the bedroom, and the door slammed shut, leaving just Anhe and Rena in the room.

After a long silence, Anhe realized that persuading Rena to return to school would be fruitless today. He decided to change the subject, casting a curious glance at the sketchpad in Rena’s hands.

"Rena, are you good at drawing?"

Hearing her name spoken aloud, Rena’s face flushed, but she quickly scribbled something on her sketchpad and held it up.

"I’ve always longed for the fantasy worlds in light novels, so I often draw the worlds I imagine. But my drawings aren’t very good."

"Can I see your earlier work?"

Anhe asked, intrigued. After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded, rose from the sofa, and hurried barefoot to the bedroom.

Soon, Rena returned, carrying a sketchbook nearly half her height.

"That’s enormous!" Anhe exclaimed, rushing forward to take it and lay it flat on the table.

He smiled as he looked at the worn cover, evidence of frequent use. "Looks like you really love drawing, Rena."

Rena said nothing, her cheeks growing even redder.

Oblivious to her embarrassment, Anhe opened the first page.

A tranquil, harmonious village unfolded before his eyes.

Drawn in pencil, the village was anything but bland; the shading and details were masterfully handled.

"Impressive!" Anhe praised, flipping to the next page.

A castle appeared, also rendered in pencil. Its aura was imposing and desolate, reminiscent of a demon king’s fortress.

He continued flipping through the pages: marketplaces, royal capitals, arenas, mountain ranges—all beautifully depicted.

But soon, Anhe noticed something odd. He turned to Rena with curiosity.

"Why are there no people in any of your drawings?"

Her face flushed even deeper. She covered her face with her hands and turned away, unable to meet his gaze.

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Anhe raised an eyebrow, suspecting something. He resumed leafing through the sketchbook, while Rena peeked through her fingers, stealing glances.

After several more landscape sketches, Anhe’s hand suddenly halted. He stared, astonished, at the page before him.

There, a humanoid monster stood—a creature not quite human, its features twisted and ugly, somewhat gorilla-like but far more frail.

"Is this your design for a magical beast?"

Anhe asked. Through her fingers, Rena saw the creature and her face turned crimson. After a moment’s silence, she grabbed her pen and quickly wrote on her sketchpad.

"That’s the hero I drew!"

...

At her declaration, Anhe looked again at the sketchbook—at the humanoid monster... Or rather, the hero... The human-shaped hero?

Anhe swore that if he were the princess kidnapped by the demon king, he’d rather rot in the tower than be rescued by such a hero.

He shook his head to dispel the thought and continued flipping through the pages.

There were more humanoid figures, male and female, but none resembled actual people.

Retracting his gaze from the unsettling drawings, Anhe finally understood why Rena was so isolated at school.

If someone waved such terrifying images in front of him every day, he might be tempted to lash out, too.

After a few deep breaths, Anhe calmed himself and looked at Rena, smiling gently.

"Rena, you can’t draw people?"

Hands covering her face, Rena was silent for a moment before nodding.

Anhe’s heart stirred.

After all, drawing was his livelihood in his previous life.

Especially character illustrations for fan works—he could render them in an instant.

Asuna, Isuzu Sento, Hinata, Tsunade, Kurumi Tokisaki, Mikoto Misaka—he could draw them all perfectly with his eyes closed.

With this in mind, Anhe looked at Rena again, his smile turning mischievous, and coaxed her.

"Rena, would you like to learn how to draw people? Uncle here is very skilled, you know~~"