Hyouka - Volume 03 - The Kudryavka Sequence - Welcome to KANYA FESTA! (1)

The autumn sun was sinking quickly.
Though it wasn't yet evening, the sunlight was getting weaker and the wind
was getting cooler. I stood along the roof of the connecting corridor, looking
down towards the central garden, wondering if this place had been forgotten
while the rest of Kamiyama High School has been decorated fully.
Till now, while I still think I wasn't wrong, I wondered if I should have kept
silent.
But I didn't regret it, I think. I just couldn't stand by and watch Kouchisempai
say that whether one think a manga is interesting or not was purely
subjective. If what she said was true, then anyone can be an expert. While my
art wasn't something I was ashamed of showing people, as I did draw the
posters a while ago, the manga that I drew were just dull. I wanted to draw
something more interesting, much, much more interesting. If I had not
encountered Ashes at Dusk, I would have still believed myself to be capable
of that. For Kouchi-sempai to say it was pointless to strive to improve one's
work, it was as though she was describing the effort as walking in the dark.
She said without a clear objective or target, no matter how much you've
progressed, it still wouldn't make much of a difference. No matter how you
brush up your skills, it still wouldn't change anything. If I had accepted those
words, then why would I still be thinking my art isn't good enough?
...Yet I didn't give her those counter-arguments yesterday, as I thought
showing her a copy of Ashes at Dusk would be good enough. But I didn't
consider whether she would be convinced by it, or whatever her followers
might say afterwards.
Heh, I'm such an idiot.
...I feel like seeing Fuku-chan. He's probably engaged in some event like a
fool somewhere. I too wanted to go investigate the "Juumoji" incident with
him. I wonder if he would invite me. As a result of these thoughts, I still had
not returned to the Manga Club.
"Ibara,"