v-rustl

#756 Crossing Paths

Added 2023-08-15 12:00:05 +0000 UTC

It is I, Shalanthea, an apprentice tailor with a promising future.

I’m trembling at the intense aura of this place.

Suddenly, due to a command from the headquarters, I’ve been sent to a location far away from the capital, in a remote area where there’s nothing but hills and fields, not a single building in sight.

I arrived here by teleportation magic, which was quick, but that also means I don’t know the way back or how far I’ve been transported.

I can’t return on my own. Doesn’t this mean I’m trapped on this isolated piece of land?

And the person who greeted me was like a demonic instructor from the military.

“I’ll make you unable to cry or laugh!”

I wanna go home already.

“Stop that, Batemy. You’re being rude to your helpers.”

“Gubebubebubebubebubeeee!!!”

And then another person appeared, pelting the demonic instructor-like person with alternating spells of fire and lightning.

This person is the one who teleported us here.

“Ow! Belena, you devil! Don’t shoot Hellfire Spirit Breaker and Blue Heavenly Bolt Ray thirty-four times each as your retort!”

“It’s because you gave that army-style welcome. You were trained that way by Lady Astres, but applying it outside the army is way out of line.”

“It’s out of line?”

Who are these terrifying people...?!

Are they, as I first suspected, former military personnel...?!

I hate the military; they’re savage and violent! They probably roast and eat their prisoners, right?! (Prejudiced)

There’s no way a city girl like me can survive in a remote place where these people live.

Not only my life as a designer, but my life itself might also be over!!!

“Hey, my foolish sister.”

Then comes our camp’s Fleurety.

She came along today as our guide. She’s not so cruel as to send only young people into this hellish place.

By the way, there are two other apprentice tailors along with me.

They’ve also drawn the short end of the stick.

“Welcome, foolish sister. I see you’ve brought the tributes like I asked.”

“You’re one to talk. You promised to show me that ‘sewing machine’ if we comply with your requests. The legendary sewing machine that every tailor dreams of touching!!!”

Wait, hold on.

What’s this ‘sewing machine’? A relative of the sardine?

Are we being sold out because of Fleurety’s desire to see this fish-like thing?

What a disaster!

I can’t believe my respected boss would do something so inhuman!

I have to report to the Labor Guild! She’s violating the rules!

“All right, enough of the sibling interaction. These newcomers are confused, so let’s pay attention to them. They’re supposed to be today’s main focus,” says the older lady who was wildly firing spells of fire and lightning earlier.

She’s the most sensible! I feel like I can talk to her!

“Oh, right! Listen, this is the battlefield you seek! The memories of terror and the exhilaration of victory will spur your growth! If you want to succeed as a tailor, survive here, spitting up blood!!!”

“Stop with the military-style talk already.”

Meanwhile, the other one is hard to get through!

What is wrong with this person?! She doesn’t have an artistic sense at all! She’s absolutely incompatible with us designers!

***

Then, about a thousand steps from where we landed by teleportation magic...

We see something that looks like a house.

Thank goodness...! It wasn’t an utterly uncivilized land...!

“This is the Saint’s Farm, your main workplace from now on!”

“Huh? By Saint’s Farm, you mean...?”

One of the sacrificial lambs, I mean, young apprentice tailors, raises her voice as if she’s realized something.

But I don’t understand anything.

I’m not interested in anything other than clothing and fashion.

“There’s a corner in that main house where I work. You’ll work there too.”

“Do you mean we’ll be butchering the prisoner soldiers?”

“No, we’re making and repairing clothes.”

“Huh?! You can sew?!”

“Of course I can! What do you think we brought you all here for?!”

I mean, I guess so...?!

I thought you were a berserker who loves nothing more than seeing blood and guts...!

“You can ask for more details from the person in charge. I have to go now. I have other tasks to do.”

“I need someone to send my stupid sister home, so I’ll ask you again then.”

Wait, the only sensible lady of the bunch is leaving?!

Please don’t go, come back!

And if you can, please let us go home with you when you do!

“Now! Show me the sewing machine already! My curiosity is about to burst!”

“Okay, okay. You’re like a virgin seeing boobs for the first time.”

Again with the vulgar military-like phrasing.

Seriously, who is this person?

Even if she can use a needle and thread, I can’t imagine her making a beautiful dress or suit.

I can only think she’s capable of making rags!

“This is the sewing machine.”

“Oooooooooooh!!!”

And then, we finally enter the workroom and confront this ‘sewing machine.’

Fleurety screams in excitement.

But we youngsters don’t understand the object's significance before our eyes.

What in the world is this?

“I’ll explain how to use the sewing machine. Thread the top, thread the bottom, set the fabric!”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Fleurety, you’re too loud.

“Then you pedal with your feet, moving the fabric, and it automatically sews!”

“Wahowwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!”

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaa!

What is this? What the heck is going on?!

The threads that were supposed to be sewn by us tailors, stitch by stitch, are being sewn rapidly by this machine?!

It’s much faster than hand-sewing, and the stitches are beautiful!

Is this even allowed?!

“So this is the process of sewing with a machine...?! This is my first time seeing it...!”

“You haven’t visited the farm before, have you? We didn’t have a reason to invite you, I guess.”

“What was that?! We’re sisters, so it’s natural to invite each other even without reason! And you should’ve shown me this amazing machine sooner!!!”

“Who would do such a generous thing? Our sisterly bond is defined by blood and resentment! Even if we try to outdo each other, we would never dream of helping each other!!!”

...

......Huh?

Is that scary person called Batemy, Fleurety’s younger sister?

They do have some resemblance. But if so, why didn’t she introduce herself as such at the very beginning?

Is their sisterly relationship that bad?

“Hmph...! Anyway, I’m taking a sewing machine home as a souvenir, so get it ready! I’ll trade it for these three!”

“Like I’d let you take it home with you!!!”

We were the trade for that tool?!

How harsh!

And trading three of us for one machine is undervaluing us too much!

Can’t it at least be a one-to-one rate?!

“Huh? Can you three sew as beautifully and quickly as this machine?”

“Wow, you’re scum, sis...!”

You could say that again, miss.

However, I feel a bit different about this place now.

It may seem like a remote place in the mountains that looked like a place of exile, but encountering such an unprecedented tool sparks my inspiration.

I might be standing in an incredible crucible of imagination right now.

“...These stitches...”

One of the young tailors brought here with me is saying something!

He’s looking at a piece of fabric the machine has just sewn.

“These regular and dense stitches... I recognize them. I once studied a brand’s work. It had unusually beautiful stitches that I had never seen in other products...!”

“Kit, as expected, you do your research. No wonder you’re considered the number one rising star among the young ones.”

Huh?

Isn’t the number one rising star among the young ones... me?!

“If you’ve deduced that much, then I’ll reveal the truth. Now that you’re here, there’s no need to stay quiet. This is my stupid sister, Batemy.”

“Shut up, stupid sister.”

“Currently, she’s the only dressmaker at the top brand Noujou in the Demon Capital, a brand known to every tailor.”

What...did you just say...?!

The craftsman of Noujou, the brand all the novices admire?

Even though we struggled to become apprentices, we never could.

So, working under her means...?!

“That would make you Noujou apprentices now.”

“Huwhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”