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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Huh? What is it?”
I stopped Sif, who was pulling a cart towards the tunnel beneath the workshop, and quickly rattled off a list of items I needed.
She looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“What’s this about? You’re ordering all of this?”
“I need them. Get them as soon as possible. You can use the black market…”
I handed the money-loving cat girl a pouch of gold coins. Sif’s eyes widened as she opened the pouch.
“H-How much is this…?”
“This is a very important task, so your responsibility is significant. Understood?”
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no… You’re giving me this much? What if I embezzle it?”
She was overwhelmed by the amount of money.
Ironic, considering how greedy she usually was.
“These are for the Saintess. You understand what that means?”
Sif nodded vigorously.
She wouldn’t dare steal money meant for the Saintess. I knew where her siblings lived, after all.
“Alright, alright. I was just kidding.”
Since these were for Karina, I had to use the highest quality materials. I couldn’t risk using inferior materials and causing any problems for Karina.
Renny would kill me.
I wasn’t exactly rich, but I planned to start officially selling the prosthetic arms soon, so I would have plenty of capital.
I wasn’t going to be stingy.
“…Ah, that makes sense. I thought you were suddenly interested in fashion.”
“Just get the items. How long will it take?”
“Um… If I go to the black market now, the earliest would be tomorrow morning?”
That wasn’t bad. If it was going to take too long, I would have gone with her.
“Go now.”
“What about my payment?”
“Five gold coins.”
“Ooh, that’s a lot! But I’ve never bought these kinds of materials before, so I might not be able to get the best quality. You won’t reduce my payment if I get something slightly inferior, right?”
“Just get the items. As much as you can.”
“Leave it to me—”
Sif immediately took off with the cart. At the same speed as when she arrived.
I glanced at the pile of items she had brought and started carrying them into the workshop.
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“Huh? You’re not coming today?”
“I have something to do.”
“Aww, I wanted to go with you…”
Milia looked up at me with a disappointed expression.
Elisa also seemed disappointed, but neither of them tried to stop me. They knew why I wasn’t escorting Karina today.
“Th-Then… take care…”
“Johann, we’ll be going now.”
“See you tonight.”
After Karina’s weak farewell, Renny and the two girls disappeared beyond the gates of Yeomyeong-gwan.
I watched the gate close, then turned and headed towards the workshop.
Sif was already there, piling various fabrics and silks in a corner.
“Oh, you’re back?”
“Yes. Hmm…”
I had never worked with silk before, so there would be some trial and error involved. But I had some experience with sewing, having mended clothes with scraps of fabric I found on the deserted island.
Experience was experience.
“This should be enough.”
I pulled out five gold coins from the pouch Sif had given me and placed them in her small hand.
“Gold coins, gold coins~”
As if to confirm their authenticity, Sif held one up to the sunlight streaming through the window.
The gold coin shimmered.
“Gold coins are so pretty.”
“I suppose.”
“That’s why rich people…”
Why was she glaring at me?
I briefly considered flicking her forehead but decided against it.
I couldn’t hit her every time she said something like that. If I did, she would have a permanent dent in her head by now.
“Y-You were thinking something weird, weren’t you?”
“I wasn’t.”
“I felt a chill down my spine…”
“Must have been your imagination.”
“R-Right?”
Knowing that an employee couldn’t question their employer, Sif reluctantly agreed.
I glared at her and started sorting the fabrics.
I set aside any damaged or flawed fabrics and checked the texture of the others.
It wasn’t a difficult task, but the sheer volume of fabric meant it took over an hour to finish.
After sorting everything, I turned to Sif, who was still watching me.
“Why are you still here?”
“Well, I thought there might be more opportunities to earn some money.”
Where did she smell money this time?
As if to answer my question, Sif pointed at the fabrics.
“I’m pretty good at sewing. What do you think?”
“Hmm…”
“I used to be a seamstress. I supported myself with sewing for three years, so I’m sure I can be of help. And you don’t really care about design, do you?”
“I do.”
“The things you’ve made so far don’t look like you care about design…”
“Simple is best. Don’t you know?”
“What language is that?”
She didn’t understand?
I wasn’t sure if Korean didn’t translate or if there was another problem, but Sif didn’t seem to understand.
Come to think of it, had I used any foreign words? I should test it out later.
Understanding the traits and skills in my status window was important.
But that would have to wait.
“Never mind.”
“You’re no fun… Anyway, for women’s accessories, wouldn’t it be better to have a woman’s opinion?”
Sif leaned closer, her eyes gleaming with the prospect of earning more money.
She kept glancing at the pouch of gold coins on the table. She was clearly eager for additional income.
I had originally planned to ask someone else, but… perhaps I should hire Sif.
I was curious about her three years of sewing experience, and I needed a woman’s perspective on the design.
Sif’s argument was valid, so I readily agreed to pay her extra.
“Alright. I’ll pay you extra to help me make a veil.”
“Hee hee, leave it to me!”
Sif’s tail wagged excitedly at the prospect of earning more money.
A veil.
“Johann, how many more are you going to make?”
“Until I find a good one.”
I had never made a veil before, so there was a lot of trial and error involved.
What color? What length? How should it feel? What fabric would allow for clear vision? What design?
There were countless problems to consider, so I kept draping different veils over Sif’s head, checking each one meticulously.
I placed the acceptable ones on the left and the rejects on the right.
We had been doing this for four hours.
“This one’s good. It would be even better if the stitching was a bit tighter.”
“Put it on the left.”
“This one… isn’t very good. It looks like a hood they put on prisoners before execution. This is a veil, right?”
“Right.”
“This fabric is a bit scratchy…”
“Right.”
“Um… this one looks like something an executioner would wear.”
“Right.”
My hands didn’t stop moving as I continued to craft veils and subject them to Sif’s judgment.
Some of the maids would be joining us after lunch.
“Johann, shouldn’t we take a break for lunch?”
Was it that time already? I turned my head and looked out the window.
The sun was directly overhead, indicating it was around noon. I placed the veil I was working on on the workbench and stretched.
Sif quickly gathered the scraps and discarded the unusable ones in the incinerator I had built earlier.
The workshop, which had been a mess, was now slightly cleaner.
“Finally, time for food~”
“You must be starving.”
“Of course. I only had some leftover bread for breakfast.”
“With all the money you’ve earned, you could have bought yourself a decent breakfast…”
“It’s hard to break bad habits.”
It was an unexpectedly frugal statement coming from the money-loving Sif.
“I see.”
“I don’t know how long this job will last… and I need to save a lot of money to achieve my goal.”
“Goal?”
I had never heard of this before.
“Hmm~ One gold coin for the information?”
“No thanks.”
“Tsk.”
Sif looked genuinely disappointed, but I wasn’t curious enough to pay for the information.
I had a feeling it would be something I would regret hearing.
I had enough problems to deal with already.
“…I heard it’s chicken steak for lunch today.”
“Oh.”
I awkwardly changed the subject and opened the workshop door.
Sif hummed a tune as she followed me out.
We would resume work after lunch.
I closed the workshop door behind us.
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