Kays Translations

Chapter 22: What I Want to Research

― Morning After Breakfast ―

After finishing breakfast, I joined up with Stefana and the others.

The memory of this morning still made my stomach twist uneasily. I hesitated even to bring it up, but if I didn’t apologize properly, that small discomfort might grow into a wall between us.

“I… I’m sorry.”

“Eh—?! W-what’s wrong?”

“Well, it’s just… I didn’t have any sleepwear or… um, other things prepared.”

“A-ahaha, it’s fine! Sometimes that just… happens, you know?”

Rugena’s cheeks turned bright red, but she still managed to smile. Her attempt at laughter was light and forgiving, though the way her fingers fidgeted betrayed her embarrassment.

“So, um… we’re heading out shopping today.”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

― [Meluestat – Clothing Store] ―

In the capital of the domain, there were several shops dealing in clothes.

Ordinary townsfolk often went to second-hand stores, where worn-out garments were sold and resold. Next came fabric shops, which sold bolts of cloth and thread for those who preferred to sew their own outfits. Finally, there were clothing boutiques that dealt in ready-made garments—luxuries that only the moderately wealthy could afford.

And among them, the only places that sold underwear were those boutiques.

“Arthur-sama, which one do you prefer?”

“…Huh?”

Rugena held up several pairs of undergarments before me, her expression completely serious.

The first was a trunk-style pair reaching above the knees. The second, a bikini-type like the ones my mother often wore. The third was a daring string-tie design, similar to the kind Rosanne had once favored.

As for the bras, one was a simple tube top covering only the chest, while the other resembled a short camisole, extending just below the ribs.

Just a while ago, her face had been crimson with embarrassment—but now she could hold up undergarments in public without flinching? The contrast was bewildering.

As I studied the display, my gaze was inevitably drawn to the construction of the garments themselves.

The materials varied—wool, hemp, cotton, silk—yet the structure was the same: clothes and underwear were all tied with strings and fastened with buttons to adjust their size.

“Hey, is there no kind of fabric that stretches or contracts?” I asked.

“Stretches or contracts…?”

“Yeah. These here are all made of hemp and cotton, right? But surely there are other kinds of cloth?”

“Um… fabric is made from thread, you know? And thread doesn’t stretch or shrink.”

Her tone carried a faint amusement, as if she thought I’d asked something silly. Still, it meant that elastic fabrics didn’t exist in this world.

If I could somehow make one, I thought, it would be revolutionary. But I didn’t even know where to start—the materials, the process, nothing. All I remembered was the word polyurethane.

Because fabrics lacked stretch, clothes had to be made loose-fitting, regardless of design. Corsets existed too, but since they were custom-made, common folk rarely wore them.

If I could create elastic fabric—one that would fit snugly and beautifully around the body—Mother would surely be delighted.

Yes… I’d research that once I returned to the village.

“So, Arthur-sama, which one do you prefer?” Rugena asked again.

“Hmm? Ah… I’ll take this one.”

I pointed at the affordable trunk-style underwear.

“…That’s not very sexy,” she murmured with a small pout.

Well, it looked the sturdiest—and besides, Rugena’s petite, childlike figure wasn’t exactly what one called “sexy” to begin with.

“Al, what about this one?”

This time, Mother approached with two skirts in hand: a gray flared skirt and a light blue pleated one.

Mother usually wore culottes—pants that flared at the hem like skirts—but I remembered she used to wear skirts in the past. Clearly, she still liked them even outside of formal dresses.

“Hmm… The gray one has the prettier shape, but I think the light blue color suits you better.”

“You’re right. Brighter colors are always nicer.”

…That seemed to work.

Truthfully, I had no idea what I was talking about. I simply combined one compliment for each skirt. Still, I knew Mother had started wearing darker colors since moving to the countryside—practical choices that hid stains—but she had always preferred bright hues deep down.

“(You treat Martine-sama so differently, you know…),” Rugena muttered under her breath.

“Hmm? Did you say something?”

“N-no, nothing at all!”

After that, Mother’s fashion show began in earnest. She spent what felt like forever holding up outfit after outfit—“this one’s nice,” “no, that one’s better”—until finally, we settled on our purchases.

If I could voice one complaint, it would be this: “Please don’t expect a five-year-old to have fashion sense.” Not that it would help—I never had any to begin with.

“Rugena, do you need anything else? Besides alcohol, I mean.”

“—! Dwarves need alcohol, you know?” she protested.

“I don’t know why that sounded like a question, but that depends on how well you work.”

“Yes, Arthur-sama! I’ll work hard!”

At this point, it wasn’t “Dwarves love alcohol” so much as “Dwarves are alcoholics.”

“So, we’ve got everything we need?”

“Ah, well… I’d like some blacksmithing tools.”

“Ah, right.”

There were tools at the forge already, of course, but every smith said the same thing: tools took on a ‘personality’ over time, so one’s own set was always best.

“Alright. I’ll leave the choice to you, but for now, glasswork comes first. You can look for tools in between jobs.”

“Yes, Arthur-sama.”

“Mother, Fana—are you two done?”

Mother had bought two skirts, a blouse, a shirt, and some undergarments. Stefana had picked out underwear and loungewear.

As for me? Nothing. I already had enough clothes.

Still, since this whole outing had been partly my fault, I covered everyone’s expenses—Rugena’s, Mother’s, and Stefana’s—using my own money.

“Al,” Mother said, “from now on, you should manage your own finances.”

She handed me a metal card, smooth and heavy, engraved with both my name and hers. Beside the names, a tiny magic stone was embedded.

She explained it was a Commercial Guild Card, used to deposit and withdraw money. Since both our names were on it, either of us could access the account—the guardian and the child.

Apparently, she had made this card right after I was born, though I had been too young to understand back then.

It even contained the funds given to me by Marquis Vahenal.

A complicated feeling stirred inside me. I didn’t like the man, but money itself carried no guilt. If anything, the Marquis had shown a certain degree of consideration.

“How much is in it?” I asked cautiously.

“One platinum coin,” Mother replied.

“—Wh-what?! A platinum coin?!”

A single gold coin was worth around 600,000 yen—so a platinum coin, worth ten gold, came to about 6 million yen. A ridiculous sum for a child.

“Um, Mother…”

“That money is yours to use freely,” she said gently. “Don’t worry about expenses; I cover your upbringing.”

That wasn’t quite what I’d meant, but her words still gave me pause.

The Marquis—gathering women with money and power, fathering children, then discarding those he deemed unworthy—had always seemed ruthless. But providing financial security afterward… perhaps he wasn’t entirely heartless.

A man of contradictions—cruel yet considerate, mechanical yet strangely humane.

Still, there was no point in overanalyzing someone I’d never met.

With a platinum coin, I could have easily bought two or three Alchemy Tables, instead of struggling to create Rud. But then, I might never have learned materialization, or devised composite alchemy arrays.

So maybe that hardship had been necessary—to remind me not to rely solely on money.

“Well then, shall we head back?”

“Al, we should stop by the workshop and check on the progress first,” Mother said.

“…Alright.”

I was tired from shopping, but it seemed I had no choice.

― [Meluestat – Glass Workshop “Lien”] ―

At the glass workshop, we met Eldros, who was supervising the renovation.

“Good afternoon, Eldros-san.”

“Martine-sama, welcome. It’s an honor to see you.”

The renovation hadn’t begun yet—some materials had arrived, but not all. The largest construction firm in town was handling the job; they estimated it would take about two weeks once everything was ready.

“How did the soundproofing experiment go?” Mother asked.

“When speaking normally, voices couldn’t be heard from outside,” Eldros explained. “If someone shouted, you could tell they were talking, but not what they said.”

We’d asked them to test whether core sheets could be used for sound insulation.

“Eldros-san,” I asked, “what thickness of core sheet did you use?”

“Oh—five millimeters,” he said. “At first, we planned to use one centimeter, but since the surface area was so large, they said the heavier sheets might tear under their own weight. So we went with the thinnest kind.”

Ah, of course. I hadn’t considered the weight issue.

Core sheets were durable against impact but weak against tearing. They also contained moisture, making them heavy. When applied to walls or ceilings, they could rip under their own mass.

Clearly, there was room for improvement. Still, maybe finding rubber would be faster.

Either way, both rubber and core materials were promising. I’d definitely study them once I returned to the village.

Stretchable fabrics, rubber, core sheets, metalworking, alchemy, materialization—so many things I wanted to research. The thought alone filled me with excitement.

“That sounds sufficient,” Mother said. “Even the thinnest type achieving that effect is impressive. Don’t you think so, Al?”

“—?! Ah, yes. Absolutely,” I stammered, snapping out of my thoughts.

After confirming the material delivery schedule and coordinating with the builders, we finally headed back to the baron’s estate.

― [Meluestat – Baron Merlot’s Residence, Entrance Hall] ―

“Welcome home, Oneesan.”

…Ah. I had completely forgotten about her.

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