Leave a comment

Anyhow, there was the caterpillar, the fierce-faced sheep monster, and the feathery dragon; their materials should work well enough, maybe?
Thinking so, I asked for Ciel’s permission before retrieving silk, wool, and feather materials from our magic pouch.

「These are?」
「Materials from monsters we’ve hunted in the den. I was thinking that these could make for good fabric materials.」
「Umm, can I feel this for a moment?」
「Feel free.」

Saying so, I handed over the silk thread.
It was sticky when the caterpillar spat it out, but after defeating it, the silk threads became smooth and fine, like hair.
We tried burning it and pulling on it, but it wouldn’t, so these should be very sturdy.
After inspecting it closely, Miss Shusii shook her head.

「This one might be a bit too high-quality. It’s good enough to use for making royal garbs, in my opinion.」
「Hmm, that does make sense.」

Right, come to think of it, it’s a monster that’s around upper A-rank to S-rank in strength. Previously, delivering B-rank monster parts caused us to attract a lot of attention, so I should probably limit it to C or B-rank materials.
And so, I presented different new materials; silk threads spat out by some weird slime monster and the fur of a woolly rabbit.

「In that case, perhaps something like this should do.」
「Yeah. With those materials, I should be able to make what you described.」
「In that case, could we ask you to make the dress with these? And is there anything else you might need?」
「Then it’d be really helpful if you could leave me other usable materials, like monster hides or even gemstones—things that can be used for clothing or accessories. The snowfall might get worse while I try to gathering those kind of materials, so it might be better to have some in stock just in case.」
「Understood.」

Using this chance, I retrieved all of our unused materials… is what I would like to say, but leaving too many things might be obstructive instead, so I held myself back.
Since we also requested a full set for a high-ranking hunter, I’ll leave some wyvern leather as well.
We already traded in the wyverns we defeated in Estoque, but we also hunted some in the den. Ciel did, specifically.
If it’s just a one on one, Ciel can take the wyvern’s attack with my barrier and finish it off with a Song Princess buffed spell.
I feel like Ciel’s sorcery to has improved a lot since we arrived here at Central.

After all, her sorcery didn’t seem as potent back when we were at Estoque.

「I knew it, wyvern parts are just there like it’s normal.
The silk earlier probably came from an S-rank monster, too, right?」
「I haven’t presented it to the Hunter Guild yet, so I don’t know its actual rank assessment, but from its combat prowess, it’s likely stronger than the usual A-rank.」

In terms of how troublesome they are to deal with, the artificial divine messengers are probably the worst?
With that in mind, the artificial divine messengers might be around S-rank in strength.

「Lastly, about the design preferences…」
「Ciel will… or so I would like to say, but since the dress isn’t actually for casual enjoyment or use, we will have a clothes-savvy servant come here at a later time.」
『That’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.』

Ciel and I are amateurs in this regard. It’s fine if this was for our personal wardrobe, but since it’s something to be worn for formal occasions, it’s best to leave the designing to others.
While Ciel does sound disappointed about it, thankfully she showed full understanding.
In the worst case that we get criticized for our clothing sense, it won’t be just us who’d face humiliation.

As for the low-rank hunter equipment, I have no idea at all. I barely pay attention to other people’s clothing, and if we give our input, it might stray further from the typical look.
In that case, the best choice would be to leave this to our professional. Still, I don’t think a hunter-oriented seamstress is the right professional to commission the making of a formal dress, either.

Following that, we retook measurements just to be sure—Ciel got slightly taller—and after greeting Miss Yunmica, we left Miss Shusii’s store.
After switching with Ciel, I told her that we could also try to find a different boutique, but before she could answer, Liessyl appeared before me.
She seems like she wants to say something.

Based on the timing of her appearance, I can practically guess what she wants to say.

『Liessyl, you want to make it for us?』

Liessyl nodded to my question.
I do recall Miss Shusii being in a contract with a wood spirit, so since she is a forest spirit, maybe Liessyl can also make clothes as well.
A dress made by a spirit. Putting it that way, it could probably be considered an article of the highest quality, right?
Still, I shouldn’t make this decision by myself, so I asked Ciel, “What should we do?” in a way Liessyl couldn’t hear.

『It should be fine, right? And I’m interested in what a dress made by a spirit looks like, too.』
『I’m interested about it as well.』
『The problem would be that there likely won’t be any opportunities for us to wear it.』
『That certainly is true.』

This is an outfit that will only be worn when we either have to reveal or after we reveal that we are Fiiyanamia’s daughter. And since we do plan on avoiding that as much as possible, there is a chance that it might end up being unused.
I suppose I should explain this first and ask if she’s fine with that.

I faced Liessyl once again and asked for confirmation.

『We would greatly appreciate it, but it will likely spend more time inside the magic pouch than being actually worn. Would that be alright?』

After some pensive musing, she agreed.

『The finished clothes won’t be invisible to normal people, will they?』

This time, she nodded immediately. I asked just in case because spirits are normally invisible to other people, but it seems like it isn’t going to be an emperor’s new clothes situation.

『If that’s the case, then please do so.』
「Please do.」

Witnessing our exchange, Ciel earnestly requested Liessyl as well.
Liessyl happily nodded, so I decided to offload all of our remaining monster parts to Liessyl. I’ll have to consult with Ciel first, though.

And that ends our girls’ visit to Shusii’s clothing shop! Sudden Liessyl appearance too!

I like how the main thing in Ain’s head was “Okay, I can finally dispose the excess materials”, lol. Also, I think it was already mentioned before, but it’s curious how tree/plant spirits have affinity with dressmaking. Makes sense since plant fiber is actually useful clothing material. Sadly for Ciel, no dress designing for her this time.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!