Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 313

Seeing the baron completely deflated after Jilboa’s refusal, I decide to bring up a suggestion.

“By the way, Baron, while we wait for the preparations for the next material gathering, how about we spread the word about this wonderful painting of yours?”

The Baron, who had been slouched over after his request was rejected by Jilboa, immediately straightens up.

“Oh? Spread the word? Come to think of it, weren’t you planning on commissioning 1,000 paintings?”

I smile and quickly correct him. “Not exactly. We plan to distribute a thousand pamphlets about monsters throughout the kingdom through the church. We’d like to include your painting in those publications, signed by you.”

The Baron’s face lights up at the thought of his artwork being shared across the kingdom.

“A thousand copies? That would be the biggest bestseller in the history of the kingdom, except for the sacred books!”

“I’m glad you’re excited, Baron, but there is one small issue…”

I pause, offering an apologetic look, and the Baron leans forward, intrigued.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Well, you may not know this, Baron, but rural villages are poor. And booklets are expensive. If we try to distribute them cheaply, the booklets will be small. And if they’re too small, the pictures, too, will end up being tiny…”

The Baron furrows his brow, clearly pondering the problem. “Yes, that’s a concern. I don’t know much about it, but I’ve never heard of farmers buying booklets. But small pictures… that’s definitely a problem. How small are we talking?”

I pull out a piece of parchment from my pocket—cut to the size of a booklet, slightly larger than half an A4 sheet of paper. It’s about a quarter of the size of typical booklets, which are considered luxury items in this world.

“It’s small.” The Baron stares at the paper with a frown.

“Yes, and if you try to fit a picture of a goblin or footprints into such a small space, it’ll require an incredibly delicate brush. Frankly, I don’t think there’s anyone else who can capture such realism, so even the most uninformed villagers could recognize what’s being drawn.”

I emphasize his unique talent, hoping to avoid any change of mind. What I say is true, though—no one else has the same level of precision and dedication to realism, especially when it comes to monsters.

“Hmm. Well, it’s true there aren’t many decent artists who’ve actually seen the real thing…”

“Exactly. If you could just draw one picture of a goblin, one of a demon wolf, and maybe a few footprints, that would be more than enough. We can handle the rest.”

I bow my head, hoping to make my request sound as reasonable as possible.

The Baron looks at me with suspicion. “Just one? Don’t you need a thousand?”

I shake my head, trying to reassure him. “No, just one for each. I don’t want to trouble you more than that, Baron.”

The Baron pauses, his expression still uncertain. “Well, that’s fine. But are you sure that’s all?”

“We’ll take care of the rest,” I assure him.

“Do you have a skilled scribe on your staff?” he asks, still not fully convinced.

“Yes, we do,” I reply.

“Well, that’s fine then.” Though the Baron doesn’t seem entirely satisfied, he reluctantly agrees to draw the monster pictures we requested.