Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 27
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 27
Fortunately, the bow tie was much simpler.
You just layered two ribbons, pressed them into a butterfly shape, secured the center with stitching, and then attached a gem to fasten it.
Finally, you made a choker to fit the neck and adjusted it to the proper length—that was all.
[Decent Bow Tie]
-Still plain.
-No particular flaws.
“Next is the embroidery method… but the techniques are so varied. Do you happen to have a design in mind?”
“Hmm. I do have one that came to me right away.”
Lion quickly sketched the design in his notebook.
It was a branch with leaves.
“Oh-ho. A leafy branch makes for truly beautiful embroidery! Might I ask what meaning it holds?”
“I thought about how to work the family emblem into the necktie.”
In name it was embroidery, but to Lion, it was more like a brand logo.
A family crest, in other words.
The tree of knowledge, Yggdrasil.
Embroidering the whole thing felt a bit much, so what came out was that branch with its leaves.
“Anyway, since leaves are connected to the branch, I wanted to convey that we are forever connected as family.”
…That was genuinely what he felt, but honestly, on a practical level, it was also the design Lion could pull off with the highest quality at his current skill level.
“Good heavens, to think you even arrived at such meaning in such a short time!”
Andrie covered his mouth with both hands as if in admiration, then passionately taught Lion how to embroider the branch-and-leaf shape.
“The most important thing is texture. If you skimp on even the smallest detail, it simply looks crude.”
“Mm.”
The key was to bring out the irregular, rugged feel of a natural branch and the smooth texture of the leaves sprouting from it.
Only practice would make it work.
“Give me three days. I’ll have everything finished by then.”
By that point, everything did need to be done.
It was the day before the coming-of-age ceremony.
Yet Andrie wasn’t anxious.
If anything, his face showed absolute trust in Lion.
“Understood.”
Lion had a good feeling about it too, for some reason.
Maybe it was the sense that having a
goal made the path ahead seem clear.
And so, for three days. Lion began sewing like a madman.
The patterns Andrie had left him were already long used up, so Lion even drew his own patterns.
[Average Necktie]
-Plain.
-The embroidery doesn’t look like much either.
Ouch!
He pricked his fingers quite a lot because Lion
deliberately did not use the Magical Repair Set.
‘That thing has its own guidelines, after all.’
He felt that if he relied too much on what he could see, his skill wouldn’t improve.
He was determined not to use it until at least one decent necktie came out.
Stubbornness, if you had to call it something.
[A Slightly Ordinary Necktie]
-A bit better… you’d think, but it’s plain.
-A bit of an amateur’s blood is on it.
“Haah.”
Of course, Lion was only human, so he wasn’t free of irritation.
Doesn’t a subtle sting get on your nerves more than a loud collision anyway?
Stubbing your toe against a corner hurts more than a blunt impact, after all.
Honestly, around the time he’d pricked his finger a dozen or so times, he felt tempted to just compromise.
The results didn’t come easily, and the incessant pricking and meticulous work made his shoulders stiff and his eyes ache.
But he didn’t give up. After pricking his fingers a few more times…
“Huh? Not bad.”
He didn’t feel… bad?
As if he’d attained some enlightenment, the irritation vanished.
He even felt an odd sense of enjoyment.
‘Am I… in a dangerous state?’
[Luxury Necktie]
-A necktie made by an amateur whose skill is roughly keeping pace with the materials.
-Shows promise.
But even that thought began to fade once decent results started appearing.
Before he knew it, Lion had reached a level where making a necktie involved hardly a single finger prick!
At first he’d get pricked five or six times, then after making a few more it dropped to just once or twice.
And at some point, he stopped getting pricked entirely.
By then, even without the Magical Repair Set, his stitches had become quite even.
[After enduring pain and finding joy through painstaking effort, a new talent has blossomed!]
[New Talent: Tailor]
[Tailoring Proficiency Apprentice Lv.1 achieved.]
…
[Tailoring Proficiency Apprentice Lv.2 achieved.]
…
[Achievement ‘Gaining Momentum’ completed!]
[3,000 Shillings obtained.]
[Tailoring Proficiency Apprentice Lv.3 achieved.]
Finally, the Tailoring talent had awakened as well.
Which meant…
Gulp.
Lion swallowed dryly and took out the Magical Repair Set from his inventory.
The needle was still dull and rusty when it wasn’t touching fabric.
It seemed all right to use it now.
The proof was the mountain of neckties piled up in one corner of the room.
Lion immediately started making a necktie with the Magical Repair Set.
Swoosh. Swish.
Once again the room held only the sound of thread piercing fabric.
Regular spacing, regular sound.
That alone made it clear how much Lion’s skill had grown.
And that wasn’t all.
Before, he’d had to pay painstaking attention to every guideline as he sewed, but now he stitched smoothly with no deviation, even without consciously focusing on them.
Naturally, the necktie quality soared.
[Luxury Necktie (★)]
-A necktie made by a tailor whose skill is roughly keeping pace with the materials.
-Sturdy, with well-shaped embroidery.
At last, starred ones began to appear. After he made as many again as he’d made so far…
[Through the Artisan’s Touch, the necktie’s value increases!]
It finally triggered: the trait ‘Artisan’s Touch’,
which raised the item grade.
‘Now’s the time!’
Lion embroidered the completed necktie.
The branch that had looked awkward before now gradually took on a fairly convincing sense of form, and the leaves boasted dense, vivid grain.
All of it was the result of bloody practice and effort.
[Finest Necktie (★★★)]
-A necktie that shines in any situation! Even with a design that could easily seem plain, the splendid embroidery has turned it into an eye-catching piece!
-Unbelievable for something made by an apprentice tailor! You could hold it up anywhere without shame.
…Done.
He did it!
Lion carefully picked up the newly finished necktie and headed to the mannequin that held his grandfather’s suit.
And when he carefully tied the necktie on…
Fwoosh!
[The two well-suited works evolve into a single set!]
[The synergy adds (★)!]
[Tailoring Artisan’s Finest Suit Set (★★★★)]
-A masterpiece painstakingly hand-stitched from the finest fabric.
-A rare garment, of which few exist in the empire.
-If worn to a party, it will exude such elegance and an aura of authority that none would dare approach casually.
[When worn, set effects activate.]
-Set Effect 1: Maintains the wearer’s body temperature under a certain degree of external temperature change.
-Set Effect 2: Immune to a certain level of physical/magical impact.
-Set Effect 3: ‘Aura of the Asteri Family’ constantly applied.
“Huh.”
Lion stared at the suit set, mouth agape.
It had come with absurd effects.
Even setting aside the effects originally attached to ‘Archmage’s Parental Devotion’, the clothing itself was enhanced, and it even granted the cosmetic effect ‘Aura’!
The most encouraging fact was that a piece Lion had worked on gained extra options,
because it hinted that the ‘occupation-exclusive garments’ he might craft later could also receive special bonuses.
‘And this, maybe…’
[Great Tailor achievement progress: 1/3]
…A pretty decent achievement might be completed.
Lion looked at the Shillings lying dormant in his inventory.
Total: 84,000 Shillings.
‘Not a bad profit.’
At this rate, the Shilling Shop would officially open too.
“Phew. All right. Stay calm.”
Acting impatient never helped anything.
After settling his mind, Lion immediately dove into making Rickshel’s bow tie, and in less time than it had taken for the necktie, he succeeded in crafting a three-star piece.
Again, when he placed the clothes onto the mannequin dedicated to Rickshel, the same grade-level set effect as his grandfather’s appeared.
[Great Tailor achievement progress: 2/3]
“…”
Just one step away.
Only his own was left.
“Hmmmm.”
What now?
Lion still hadn’t thought of a design for the tie he would wear.
To be precise, he wasn’t sure what would suit him.
‘Wouldn’t it be better not to wear one?’
Still, as the main figure of the coming-of-age ceremony, could he really be the only one without an accessory?
“Then I’ll go with something as clean as possible.”
Lion flipped through the pattern designs that Andrie had left.
Necktie, bow tie, cravat, and so on… nothing but things that constricted the neck.
“…Sigh, should I just cut it?”
Lion stared at the long necktie and muttered to himself.
He’d seen it before, in programs like old awards ceremonies—weren’t there ties you cut short and wore crisp and neat?
What was it called again, a stub tie?
“Looks like I can adjust this pattern.”
As if entranced, Lion cut the necktie pattern short and ended it with a diagonal slash at the tip.
Actually, you couldn’t even call it a pattern.
It was just a short strap wrapped around the neck with a jewel fixing the center.
“Then the focus of this tie will be the gem.”
Lion went to the jewel case he’d used when making Rickshel’s bow tie.
There, he spotted a rather nice brooch.
‘Did Grandfather use this?’
Compared to the other metalwork, it looked a little older, but it was a purple brooch that suited the clean stub tie perfectly.
Lion immediately cut the fabric and fixed the center using the brooch as a button.
He’d made it simply this time without much deliberation, but it seemed to be turning into a fairly refined design.
‘Strange.’
Was it because his skill had improved? Or because he thought it was exactly the right design?
It was possible the design was wrong and would end up low-grade.
Even though that would push the achievement far into the future, oddly enough, he felt no hesitation.
‘Ah, whatever.’
I’m just doing what I want, after all.
Lion deliberately didn’t check the grade.
He was afraid he’d get hung up on it for no reason.
He’d already discharged all sense of responsibility with the outfits Andrie had taken charge of for the family, so he figured it was fine.
And then, when he finally put it on the mannequin…
[Great Tailor achievement complete!]
“Huh?”
…It worked?
[Great Tailor achievement completed!]
[15,000 Shillings obtained!]
The achievement was done.
On top of that, it brought in a whopping 15,000 Shillings.
It was just a little short of the amount he needed to open the Shilling Shop, but it felt like a bottleneck in income that had been stuck lately had all burst open at once!
Except…!
[You have completed an impossible achievement, beyond your current ability!]
[Bonus 10,000 Shillings obtained!]
“What?”
Wait, then…!
Lion checked his inventory.
And confirmed it.
Total Shillings held: 109,000 Shillings.
It was possible.
The condition to open the Shilling Shop was met!
Right away, his vision brightened, and a window appeared with a sound effect.
[Congratulations!]
[Having over 100,000 Shillings, the Shilling Shop officially opens!]
[All goods can now be viewed.]
[Will you check?]