As Ordered

Ian moved the painting he had left in the corner of the room into the study.

Though it was draped in cloth, making it hard to see the painting’s overall shape, the brushwork that peeked through looked close to watercolor.

Holmes, who apparently had some authority in art as well, took out his pipe, put it to his mouth, and nodded.

[It’s a remarkably well-made painting. The skill is outstanding.]

“Really?”

[Yes. You can tell the brushstrokes were done very carefully. Of course, what’s visible is only a tiny portion, but even this alone makes it easy to infer. Ah, and here he’s layered on paint with a thin brush too.]

Holmes stroked the painting with his gloved hand. Ian left him alone and put his gas mask back on. Alisa also took out a mask that covered her entire face. Amelia wore a homemade mask she’d roughly cut out of paper.

With that, there was no need to worry about the magic being triggered by the faces exposed to the painting. The three of them nodded at one another and slowly pulled back the cloth covering it.

The painting revealed beneath was nothing short of a spectacle.

“Hah.”...