Homura thought for a moment and decided.
"Alright. Since you asked, I'll let you do character design as well. But... how about a little competition with Eriri? If you win, you can choose to do the character design for all the characters. But if you lose, the main characters will be out of reach for you, how?"
Hearing that, everyone got excited.
They knew that Mashiro's talent in drawing was almost unparalleled. That being said, could she handle character design?
Mashiro remained silent, simply nodding heavily, but the fire in her eyes was evident to everyone!
Eriri was now fired up as well!
She admitted that, when it came to drawing, she couldn't hold a candle to Mashiro right now. But character design? Mashiro had a long way to go to beat her!
Seeing the two's reactions, Homura's lips curled into a smile and turned to Sagiri and Izumi.
"Do you two want to join in?"
Izumi clenched her teeth and nodded, even though she didn't believe she could win, this was about gaining experience. If she had the chance to participate, she would.
Sagiri also nodded, more confident in herself. After all, she had made a name for herself through character design!
"Yosh! All our circle's artists are in! Why does this feel like it's becoming a big deal so suddenly?" Homura was getting excited. "If we contact a TV station, they might even consider making a special show out of this, right?"
Though his statement left the girls somewhat puzzled, they couldn't deny the possibility.
"Alright, I'll pick a character. Let's skip the Heroic Spirits for now, you probably don't know much about them... Hmm, let me think..."
Homura pondered for a moment before a spark of inspiration hit him.
"It's her!"
He pointed at a name.
"Illyasviel?"
"Yup." Homura nodded. "You've all seen the outline of the story. You should have some understanding of Illyasviel, right?"
The four artists furrowed their brows and fell silent. Without a script, grasping the essence of this character from his rough descriptions alone was quite challenging.
"I'll give you half an hour. And last but not least, remember, combining various pieces of information is the best approach."
Homura stated with a smile, then ushered everyone else to leave.
===
In the backyard.
"Homura-kun, who do you think will come out on top?" Utaha asked.
Homura thought for a moment.
"It's probably either Sagiri or Eriri. Personally, I'm leaning towards Eriri. Her experience gives her an edge."
After saying that, he posed another question to the four writer girls who were with him.
"As writers, how do you envision Illyasviel in your minds, different from how artists see her?"
The four exchanged glances, and Elf was the first to speak.
"Judging from her name, I'd say her hair shouldn't be black."
"Considering the world-building and some of the information Homura-kun shared, Illyasviel is a homunculus, right? So her body should have some distinct features." Utaha added.
"Her parents are gone, she's seen as a tool, and with all the complex psychology, Illyasviel's personality should be twisted." Nayuta offered her opinion.
"Given her Heroic Spirit, Heracles, Illyasviel would be best as a loli-kind, which aligns with what Utaha-san just mentioned about her having a unique body." Muramasa concluded.
"So, a silver-haired loli with angelic and demonic aspects?" Homura nodded.
"Heh..." Homura chuckled to himself. "Well summarized. You guys are something else. It took no time for you to get close to the true Illyasviel."
"Oh? Our summary is quite accurate it seems." Elf giggled.
"So... we'll see who comes closest to this image later?" Nanami asked.
Homura nodded and looked at Nanami.
"Yep, leaving aside my expectations as the leader, what you all just discussed, you must think it's a good idea too, right?"
"Yeah... the way everyone described it, I already have a vague image in my mind." Utaha nodded.
"Senpai!" Nayuta asked eagerly. "Can you draw Illyasviel just like the one we just discussed?"
"I can, but I won't." Homura nodded, then shook his head.
"Why?" Nayuta was confused.
"Because I have high hopes for them..." Homura looked at the others who had already started sketching. "If I draw it, they might get influenced and it'll be difficult for them to come up with something unique and better."
He thought that letting them shine on their own was the best.
Hearing his words, Megumi couldn't help but nod in agreement. 'Homura-kun can surely do it, even if it's just him. But this way, everyone gets to grow. Since meeting him, everyone has changed so much...'
Time slowly passed.
Half an hour later.
"How's it going?"
Homura and the rest walked over and asked the four artists.
"Done." Eriri nodded.
"I'm done too." Mashiro chimed in.
"Umu, it's finished." Sagiri also confirmed.
"Minamiya-senpai, I've only finished the upper body..." Izumi frowned.
"No worries." Homura laughed. "The upper part of the character is what matters most. You can just describe the body a bit."
"Alright then..." Izumi nodded in relief.
"So, let's reveal your work."
First was Izumi, but, how to put it...
"Looks like Chiyo, no?" Nanami wondered.
"Yeah, Izumi hasn't really broken out of this circle yet. She instinctively drew a character she's more familiar with." Homura explained. "But that's also a lack of experience issue. Just get more involved in this kind of thing, and you'll get the hang of it."
He comforted her again as he saw Izumi seemed a bit down.
"Your room for growth is still quite big, so don't be down, okay." Homura said while patting her head, which lifted her mood.
Next up was Mashiro.
Seeing her drawing, Homura raised an eyebrow.
"Mashiro, this expressionless blonde girl, looks a lot like you..."
"Homunculus." Mashiro responded simply.
He understood what she meant. Because Illyasviel was a homunculus, her setting was that of an emotionless being, but still...
He pointed to a line in the project plan.
"The culmination of alchemy born from the womb of the homunculus, Irisviel. She is both a homunculus and a human."
"Mashiro... did you miss this line?"
Hearing that, Mashiro's gaze instantly wandered.
"Well, I guess you didn't see it, huh..." Homura rolled his eyes.
Next, Sagiri.
"A golden-haired loli?" Homura muttered. Most lolis were flat anyway, which meant this seemed to be quite close.
Finally, Eriri.
"Another golden-haired loli?" Elf exclaimed.
"No, look at the eyes." Muramasa said calmly.
Elf looked directly at Illyasviel's eyes and found they were blood-red, with a hint of coldness in her gaze, but her face still bore a smile.
"So, who do you all think won?" Homura grinned.
Everyone, except the four artists, pointed to Eriri's drawing!
"Any objections from the three of you?"
Sagiri, Mashiro, and Izumi all shook their heads, but Mashiro spoke up.
"Explain."
"I just discussed it with the four scriptwriters. The ideal image is as if an angel and demon in one body, a silver-haired loli."
Hearing his explanation, they all understood.
Eriri's drawing was the closest match to Illyasviel, followed by Sagiri, while Mashiro and Izumi were quite far off.