Chapter 4
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 4: Shameless....
"That is not an item for sale." "I-I will give you however much money you want."
Despite the firm refusal, Carmilla cried out to me.
Her desire to possess this blanket somehow was clear.
"If it is money, this lady has however much you want. I will give you an amount of money fitting for this blanket." "I'm telling you it's not an item for sale, though?" "You haven't even heard how much this lady is offering, have you? I shall give you money you have never touched before."
It was tempting.
It's the wealth of a dragon, of all things, isn't it?
Honestly, if she is the Chairwoman of Ignis Industry, she wouldn't be lacking in money.
But I couldn't sell this blanket to her.
It's the blanket I absolutely cover myself with when I take a nap. I can't give something like this to someone else, can I?
It's an item that has all my personal touch on it.
Carmilla shut her mouth. Did she not know I would refuse this immediately?
I felt a hot gaze from the side. It was Elena.
She mouthed the words.
Hey, no matter how good money is, still.
"It's an item I used." "That's exactly why it's a premium, I'm telling you! Look at her eyes. They're already full of the desire to purchase. You can't sell it if it's not at a time like this!"
Money is good. It's not the most important factor in my life, but as someone who has had a hard time because of not having money, I knew how important of a thing it was.
But what was more important than money was trust with the customer. I couldn't sell an item I used.
I'd rather just make her a new one.
Elena, I understand your feelings, but. As a boss in my own right, I have my own rules.
"Taking the blanket is just a temporary measure anyway, isn't it?" "..." "You came to fix this dress in the first place, didn't you." "That is right." "If this dress is fixed, won't the blanket become unnecessary?" "T-that is..."
It was sound logic. The blanket might be amazing, but if the dress is completed, it's bound to naturally become unnecessary.
"It can't be helped. Since your mind is so strong."
She gently stroked the blanket down as if it was a shame.
"Then may I borrow it just until this dress is mended?" "That is fine. But the mending will be all finished within today anyway, will you be okay with that?" "You're going to finish it all in less than a day? Are you speaking sincerely? Even so, just extracting dragon scales into thread should take a long time." "It is a cumbersome task, but it is not a task that will take a long time." "Isn't melting the scales and turning them into thread a task that takes a week just by itself?"
With general common sense, that's right. Usually, to make it into thread, you melt the scales and run it through a machine over and over again to match the corresponding thickness.
However. I didn't particularly need to do that.
I grasped the red scales that Carmilla seemed to have plucked directly from her own body.
Dragon scales, said to be harder than diamonds. I placed the precious material, whose shape doesn't easily deform and has a working difficulty close to the extreme maximum, onto the workbench.
And I placed my hand on the scales.
[Skill: Fabric Extraction]
Whoosh!
Along with a blue light bursting out, blue mana spouted from my fingertips like a skein of thread and wrapped around the red scales.
Vwooom.
I grabbed the end of the scale. The skeins of mana tangled and tangled to firmly grip the scale, and I pulled the end of the red scale all the way out.
Crack!
The iron-like structure of the scale split, becoming a thin, red-lit thread.
I kept pulling it. Then, the dragon scale, whose structure had unraveled once, came unspooling out endlessly like thread.
Like extracting silk thread from a cocoon. Like extracting cotton candy from sugar.
[Processed S-Rank Material 'Red Dragon's Scale' into 'Dragon Flame Thread'.]
The red threads dancing in the air swayed like living flames themselves.
"Y-you did all this at once...?"
Carmilla's eyes sparkled as she looked at the red thread.
"I told you, didn't I? That it wouldn't take long."
Using the S-Rank material, Red Dragon scales, was a task that required extreme concentration. My whole body was covered in sweat.
Phew, it's a very intense order right from the first customer.
Gasping for breath, I turned the remaining dragon scales into thread as well. The Dragon Flame Thread extracted from the Red Dragon's scales emitted heat on the workbench as if it harbored the power of fire.
"Then I will begin the mending immediately."
I picked up a needle.
The task of mending a dress that had mostly burned away leaving only half. Because careful control was needed, I decided to work by hand instead of using a sewing machine.
I threaded the Dragon Flame Thread into the needle.
I looked at the clothes.
The dress that had burned in the fire and had only half left.
No.
[Red Dragon's Red Dress] [Damage Rate 64%] [It is in a state where it cannot perform its proper function due to being burned too much.] [Mending is required.]
It was a dress damaged by more than half.
It was a high-grade dress made by extracting dragon scales like thread, but now it was no different from a scrap of cloth.
I briefly looked at the dress, which had lost its original performance and practically become a useless white elephant.
"It looks like it will take more time than I thought." "...I shall wait. I want to observe your skills."
Carmilla, wearing the blanket like a shawl, stood still and waited.
"Phew."
High concentration was needed from now on.
This wasn't a task of simply filling in a hole.
It was the process of connecting the mana circuits of the entire garment. Fixing the broken circuits, and painting over a new magic.
Completing it into a dress that absolutely will not burn using those painted-over mana circuits is the first mission. And the second is.
'Since I'm utilizing precious materials, the design should be beautiful too, right.'
With a dress that isn't too flashy yet can bring out the elegance of a Red Dragon.
I looked at Carmilla, who had created virtual clothes on top of her body with False Dignity. It was a splendid and sparkling dress, but it didn't have unnecessarily many frills.
Because an appropriate sense of mobility would also be needed. I drafted the design based on the fake clothes she was wearing(?).
Swish, swish.
I slowly began to fill in the torn dress with the Dragon Flame Thread connected to the eye of the needle.
That wasn't connecting torn parts.
It was the task of newly recreating the fabric.
A precise skill was needed for this.
[Precision Weaving] [Effect: Sense of Disparity 0%. Fabric Synchronization Rate 100%.] [You can grant an additional effect to the fabric with the S-Rank: Cleaner effect.] [Please enter the additional effect.]
I won't put in an additional effect yet. I will leave that spot blank until it is completed.
Every time my needle passed through the fabric, the burned edges healed.
Shaaa.
The threads emitting a subtle red light danced in the air and filled in the fabric following my sewing. Not only the parts I was sewing, but the thread even began to fill in the spots on its own in the parts I hadn't touched.
The thread made from dragon scales harmonized with the existing fabric and began to construct a mana circuit inside the dress.
"A mana circuit is being created from sewing?"
Carmilla's eyes widened as she watched the process. With her eyes wide open as if she had witnessed something impossible, she couldn't take her eyes off my working hands.
"H-how did you do this? How can you make a circuit with thread..." "Please be quiet. My concentration will be broken."
At my words, she covered her mouth with both hands.
Keeping it tightly shut, she watched the sight of me mending the clothes until the end.
[The dragon's scales have fused with the cloth.] [Now the clothes breathe like the wearer's skin and endure the heat.]
The sound of the system was heard. However, I ignored all of them and focused on mending.
Because if my concentration breaks, even what could be done will fail.
How much time had passed while ignoring the popping messages.
A subtle red gloss remained in the spots where the red thread had passed.
The fabric that had been scorched black and burned until just now became completely brand new.
I embroidered it and adjusted the balance of the cloth a little. I created decorations with red lines so as not to lose the dragon's dignity while adjusting the exposed areas.
I finished the mending by using the Dragon Flame Thread made from the scales I received from her down to the very last strand.
A single, perfect dress was completed.
[Dress of the Dragon Flame Emperor]
A dress fitting for the Red Dragon, Carmilla, was completed.
The original name, Red Dragon's Dress, disappeared and it was reborn as new clothes.
[Dress of the Dragon Flame Emperor] [Rank: S (Mythic Grade Perfection)] [Flame Resistance - S] [It will not burn in any flame.] [Special Effect - Blank] [Please enter the special effect.]
Thanks to the mana circuit I engraved, the targeted S-Rank effect was engraved. It wasn't an effect that helped in battle.
But an effect more necessary to Carmilla than anyone else was attached.
Flame Resistance. Clothes that would not burn no matter how much that burning exhibitionist dragon wore them were completed.
Even one more could be granted as the guest wanted.
"It's all done."
I shook off the completed clothes, ironed them, and handed them to her.
"..."
Carmilla received the dress with trembling hands.
"How is it? Our boss's skill? It's really awesome, isn't it? I'm telling you, it's a hand-made flavor you can't taste at a franchise laundry! Fufufu."
Elena chipped in a word from the side. She was an excellent shill.
"I-it's surprising."
Not a single hole could be found.
"The design is surprising. To think you possess such an aesthetic sense."
As if it had pleased even a dragon's fastidious aesthetic sense, she was smiling a satisfied smile.
"However... Did you perhaps grant a skill to this?"
A dragon is definitely a dragon, huh. She immediately guessed the skill residing in this clothes as soon as she saw it.
"That's right. They are newly granted skills. I wove only the things the guest needed. For your information, I can custom-insert an ability you want into the remaining blank space." "...This is mending?"
Her eyes trembled.
"No. It's no different from having reborn the clothes." "Because originally, mending is the process of bringing dead clothes back to life." "That is not what I meant..."
She couldn't continue her words.
"What should I fill the remaining blank space with? Personally, I recommend putting in elegance, so that you can equip an appearance befitting the dignity of a dragon." "I shall follow the crafter's opinion."
Behind Carmilla, Elena wrote something on a memo pad like a broadcasting station writer and showed it to me.
Good job. Our employee. Very excellent.
[Elegance - S] [You can express greatness just by wearing it.]
I completed it into a dress with an elegance befitting a dragon.
I finished the mending by customizing the skill.
"Try it on once." "...Understood."
As she gestured, the Dress of the Dragon Flame Emperor wrapped around her body. And the False Dignity that had covered Carmilla's body until now disappeared.
"Ah."
Carmilla, wearing the beautiful red dress, let out an exclamation.
The touch of the cloth felt on her body. It must be because it was incredibly soft.
"How long has it been since I felt the texture of an intact cloth."
Stroking her clothes as if deeply moved, she widened her eyes looking at the clothes that were perfectly fine without burning.
"Even though this lady touched it with my hands, it's perfectly fine."
Carmilla, having worn the clothes, stood in front of the mirror. The red dress was pulsing red in time with her breath. Her eyes grew large looking at the dress taking on a perfectly fine form without burning.
"It is truly beautiful..."
She stroked her sleeve as if possessed, the trace I made by melting the scales.
"How much should I pay? As this lady said, I can support you even if it is hundreds of millions. I will give you whatever you ask. With this lady's power, I can give you any amount, so call out as much as you want to receive."
At Carmilla's words, Elena brought her two hands together.
"As expected of a devoted guest who has moved God, I have only been waiting for those words."
Her appearance looked so holy it made one mistakenly think she was a real saintess.
"Mm..."
Carmilla's eyes sparkled. She looked as if she sincerely intended to give whatever amount I called out.
But here's the thing.
"Our store has fixed prices, so." "Mm?"
I pointed to the price list attached to the wall.
"3,000,000 won? For this kind of skill?" "Actually, if it was a job that included material costs, it naturally would have been expensive, but for this job, the materials are the Chairwoman's scales too, aren't they." "..."
Looking at the price list, she furrowed her brow.
"Absolutely not! To sell such a skill at such a bargain price! As the Chairwoman of Ignis Industry, I cannot just sit back and watch!"
Saying so, she tore out a blank check.
Riiiiip!
"400 million, that is the mending price of this dress that this lady considers. Such a skill must receive this amount."
400 million. It was an amount that made my mouth drop open the moment I saw it.
As a chairwoman, she's generous. Look at the size.
It was a massive size, just as big as her breasts.
With this money, not only could I immediately pay Elena's salary, but the store operation would be possible even without a single customer for the next 1 year, no, 2 years.
Elena made an expression as if '$' was engraved in her pupils.
"F-f-four hundred million. Ahh, Sister. Are you a saintess sent by the Lord?"
Elena, I'm sorry to take away your expectations, but.
[1. Receive 400 million won.] [2. Receive a different item instead of 400 million won.]
If these choices popped up before my eyes, I would boldly decline the 400 million won check.
"The money is fine... Please substitute it with an item." "You don't need the money?" "Boss! A-are you crazy?"
Elena shouted with a more surprised face than Carmilla.
Eyes asking why I was rejecting such a good offer.
Elena, I'm telling you, if we wrongly accept money like this, it will cause trouble.
"Yes. To me, who runs a laundry anyway, even if such money suddenly appears, it will only buy suspicion. Instead of that..."
I pointed at her body. As I pointed at her with my hand, Carmilla's body trembled with a start. The pupils glaring at me burned with anger.
Hey, don't have weird misunderstandings.
"I'd like to receive a dragon scale as a gift." "S-scale?" "Yes. Isn't it a highest-grade material? To buy one piece of a dragon scale, doesn't one have to spend tens of millions, no, hundreds of millions of won?" "That is true." "Even if I receive the money anyway, it's awkward to use, so please just give me one piece of a scale instead." "You are sincere." "Because I want to try using good materials frequently."
Honestly speaking, the reason I wanted the dragon scale was because of proficiency.
If the proficiency regarding the material gets higher, the mending efficiency and washing efficiency of items made with that material naturally get higher. If lucky, additional effects get attached too.
A dragon scale is a rare item I've touched exactly twice in 5 years. Because one of those times was right now.
It's not like I can frequently handle that level of material. I thought I needed to secure it during this opportunity.
"I didn't know you would sincerely want that. This lady's scale..."
Carmilla's face, glaring at me, slightly reddened.
"Shameless." "?"
Why such a reaction?
"...Understood. If you want it that much."
Finishing her words, she suddenly turned around and showed me her back.
"What are you doing?" "Didn't you say it? To give you a scale." "I did say that, but..."
Come to think of it, I don't know how a dragon makes a dragon scale. Do they undo their polymorph and rip out their own scale?
If it's like that, I might have made a somewhat sorry request.
No, wait a minute. Then doesn't that mean she transforms here?
That's a bit. Our store will collapse, you know.
"Wait a minute..."
It was when I was trying to stop her.
Carmilla shoved her hand into the dress. That is definitely the chest.
Suddenly shoving her hand inside the dress, into her chest at that, Carmilla's ears turned bright red.
What is it? What kind of reaction is this?
Carmilla shuddered with her hand in her chest.
What is she doing?
Excuse me, Chairwoman? No matter how much of an exhibitionist you are, doing that kind of act in a place like this is a bit...
"Hnngh!"
She burst out, unable to hold back a moan.
As she pulled out the hand she had put in the chest inside her dress.
"Huh?"
A single, bright red dragon scale the size of a palm was held in her hand.
As if she had removed a nipple patch stuck to her chest.
Saying it like this makes it sound a bit weird?
"W-wait a minute. T-that scale right now, from your chest...?" "Haa, haa."
Carmilla, having plucked the scale, turned her body while panting.
"I didn't think you would make such a shameless request to this lady." "Y-did you pluck it from your chest?" "...Yes. Because the scales attached to the chest are of the best quality." "..." "They say heroes are amorous, and it seems capable men are truly lewd."
Steam rose up from the red scale in Carmilla's hand as she spoke while panting.
To think that came out of that huge chest.
Ugh.
"I don't know what on earth you intend to do with this scale, but I hope you use it well." "Ah, yes... I will use it well."
I received the scale from her. A piping hot warmth was felt from the scale.
You're saying this was on Carmilla's chest until just now. Some strange sense of immorality...
Sniff, sniff.
I smelled the red scale without realizing it.
A soft rose scent brushed the tip of my nose. Does it seem like a soft milk scent is slightly present too?
This isn't because I'm a pervert.
It's a scale plucked from a chest, isn't it. How can I hold back.
"W-what shameless act is this!" "Because I didn't know if there might be poison. I checked." "H-how do you view this lady right now..."
Carmilla's face turned bright red. Yet, she didn't get angry any more than that.
It was probably because she was quite satisfied with the fact that she had gained a dress that did not burn even when touching her fire.
A dragon scale just plucked from the chest. Suddenly, the 400 million won I didn't receive didn't feel like a waste.
It is right to have greed up to an appropriate line.
If I received that money, it was obvious I'd get tangled up in annoying things for nothing. Originally, if money unfitting for one's status pours in, one ends up getting ruined instead.
Because people aiming for that money could appear.
I thought her scale rather than money would raise the proficiency of my skill and be better, but.
To think I would receive a scale plucked from that huge chest.
"It smells like milk." "C-crazy bastard! S-stop it!"
This is so precious I won't be able to use it?
It was then.
Poke.
"Ugh!"
Surprised by the pain poking my side, I looked at Elena. She glared at me and poked my side with her index finger.
You used holy power again just now, didn't you?
"Pervert. Lecher. Boss, was that your taste? Lust is a sin designated by God. In that way, a woman's..." "It's not like that. Do you know how valuable this dragon scale is..." "Normally, perverts have a lot of excuses. You're going to go to hell, Boss."
A sullen Elena. It seemed she felt bad about not receiving the money.
Still, if I sell part of the scale received from this request and settle the accounts, I can sufficiently give you your salary.
"...Then how much should I pay?" "Yes?" "That scale just now was the price of the dress. I do not think I have paid the money for the laundry fee yet."
At those words, Elena's eyes grew large.
"Oh my my, to be this merciful! Sister, I was waiting for those words. I believed that such a devoted and beautiful person would not forget the offering, I mean, the payment."
Elena familiarly moved her fingers and started settling the money.
"Cold green tea containing frozen holy water, Boss's special dress mending, S-Rank equipment base fee, plus additional skill insertion... It's a total of 8.5 million won."
Carmilla handed over 8.5 million won in cash.
Paying in cash on the spot. Thank you, Customer.
Elena's eyes became sparkling.
"It's money..." "Honestly, I think it is lacking to pay the price of the dress this lady received with something like this. So... Call this lady anytime if you need help."
The shy Carmilla placed her hand on the scale she handed to me. Then.
Sizzle.
Her number was engraved on the scale.
Like a business card.
"I shall help you once when you need help."
Such a massive loss service?
I looked at Carmilla with a dumbfounded face for a moment at her action.
"Please come visit anytime if you have clothes you need. My skills are lacking, but I can make simple clothes."
Carmilla nodded her head.
"I shall do so. But do you plan on continuing to receive scales as payment?" "...I am thinking of considering that gradually."
I received a bigger payment than I thought.
One dragon scale, and essentially receiving a ticket to utilize Ignis Industry once anytime.
Measured in value, this will be more expensive than simple money.
"Is that so...?"
What is this? Why does she have a slightly disappointed face?
Don't tell me you. You don't actually like this kind of thing, do you?
For the Ignis Chairwoman and a high-ranking commissioner to enjoy this kind of perverted play...
'There's no way.'
Of course not.
It's absolutely not that I got intimidated by the look in Carmilla's eyes glaring at me. It's really not.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I'm properly wearing something called clothes for the first time in a while. I shall forgive you for calling this lady an exhibitionist pervert." "You are one, though. An exhibitionist pervert." "That couldn't be helped! What do you want me to do when it burns up even if I wear it! And aren't you a pervert as well!" "Me?" "I-if a person who treats a lady's chest like this isn't a pervert, then what is it!"
What did I do? You're the one who plucked the scale from your chest, Chairwoman.
This is unfair. I just smelled it a little bit.
I merely shared my review of that smell with the supplier.
Shouldn't you rather be happy if you received positive feedback?
But I couldn't bear to spit out those words.
It wasn't just because of the look in Elena's eyes glaring at me with that expression. I don't really have the power to refute the words of the Chairwoman of Ignis Industry head-on.
"...I suppose so."
She, who had been glaring at me, went out wearing the clothes.
"I shall visit frequently." "I will be waiting, Chairwoman."
"She was an immense guest."
I said, looking at the spot where the departed Carmilla had been.
The floor, which I thought had melted like ice cream, was in a clean state.
To the point where I wondered if perhaps her magic had returned this place back to its original state.
But the heat remaining in the space did not disappear easily.
"I know, right. She was a deeply impressive guest."
Elena carefully put the received cash into the register.
"I wish only guests who have received God's blessing would come all the time." "You do sales better than I thought." "Of course. Do you know how desperate I was. You don't know, Boss. The sorrow of a wage earner whose salary is delayed. If the blessed guest hadn't come today, I would have put that 20 million won 'Mithril Iron' up on the secondhand market. As collateral for my severance pay." "If you sell the equipment, what do we eat and live on?" "If there is no salary, what do I eat and live on?"
I really have nothing to say.
"The Holy Law says to help the unfortunate neighbors beside you. I can sell that level of luxury goods to help an unfortunate neighbor." "Are you saying you are the unfortunate neighbor?" "If I, who was unfairly excommunicated and working without receiving my salary at my newly obtained job, am not unfortunate, who is unfortunate?" "...Take your salary out of the money we just received."
Only then did Elena smile radiantly.
"Thank you, Boss. You are my greatest benefactor! The lighthouse that opened the direction of my life, and the constellation that shows the pioneer's path..." "Stop it."
Elena, having secured the money, made the sign of the cross.
"Lord, I will eat the chicken bought with this money, picking it clean down to the bone without leaving anything behind. Amen."
A heat as hot as July's summer remained in the laundry.
"It's muggy."
Feeling like I should ventilate the place, I turned on the exhaust fan and threw the door open.
"Phew."
Cool air rode the wind and came inside.
Now I can live a little.
"It's intense right from the first customer."
To think an S-Rank big shot of all people would come visiting. Carmilla is a high-ranking commissioner of the committee leading the Heterogeneous Species Alliance.
Unlike other dragons, she was a big shot among big shots who had even successfully accomplished her own business.
Honestly, she was too big of a guest to receive as the first customer.
When she wrote down money in the hundreds of millions on a blank check, honestly my heart sank.
I wanted to receive it right away, but.
'If such income suddenly appears in a small laundry like this, a tax investigation will come.'
Would it be just that? People from all sorts of places will come finding out for what reason on earth such income came out. It was obvious I'd get tangled up in bad things.
No matter how much I like money, you know.
"I don't want to meddle in massive affairs."
Honestly, I want to live a long and quiet life.
Aren't you saying it's fine to show off a little if you gained an S-Rank ability?
An ability not accompanied by martial prowess only breeds danger instead.
Then why did I put my full effort into mending for Carmilla, you ask.
Because a dragon of Carmilla's caliber wouldn't do something that harms her own authority and name value. That's why I used quite a lot of strength.
She's also the monumental first customer I received in 3 months.
'Since it's no different from having gained a wish coupon to receive help from Carmilla anytime.'
On top of that.
Hot hot.
I stared at the scale still harboring heat.
The scale with Carmilla's number written on it.
This alone was sufficiently valuable.
Not because it was taken out from her chest.
But because it's a precious material.
On top of that, I resolved the sales that would have taken months to earn when I originally operated the laundry with just one customer.
"Should I just close the door today?"
But I thought closing after receiving just one customer might be too slacking, so I stopped the thought.
Rather, since customers could suddenly pour in on a day like this, I should do business even harder.
It was when I put the scale in the safe and was removing the internal heat to receive the next customer.
"You seem to be doing well."
Turning my head at the familiar voice, a familiar face was seen.
"Guild Master?" "It's been a while."
A female knight who always stands with a proper posture. She was Lee Chaerim, a female knight who is an S-Rank Hunter and the Guild Master of Hunters Inc., which competes for the lead in the South Korea Guild Rankings.
Ah, the Guild Master hasn't abandoned me!