episode_0193

“Viscount Steel. Do you want to make the fibers elastic so that the clothes can expand and contract?”

“When you pull it, it stretches, and when you let go, it has the elasticity to return to its original shape.”

“Is that necessary? Even now, there is some elasticity.”

The princess looked at me as if asking why I needed that.

To be precise, in the case of clothes made of cotton, there is a certain amount of elasticity, so it seemed as if that was enough.

However, that level of elasticity could not satisfy the condition of ‘specialness’. It was impossible for the cotton fiber itself to have some elasticity to be my special competitive edge.

“That’s not enough. Even if you hold it with your hand and pull it straight, it should be able to maintain its elasticity. If you pull cotton fabric like that, the fabric will stretch, right? You can wear it, but it will look a bit shabby.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

The princess nodded, as if she had experience with clothes stretching out.

“Giving elasticity to fabric itself is not difficult. There are some things I studied in the past, so I just need to make a little bit of improvement.”

“You did research before?”

“I didn’t study adding elasticity to fabric. The study was conducted with the goal of improving the elasticity of aging and sagging skin. Since we couldn’t test on people right away, we tested on plants first. At that time, the plant became tough and elastic.”

Although the original purpose was different, I couldn’t help but be surprised by the princess’s words that I could produce the results I wanted.

However, despite my surprise, the princess only smiled faintly and seemed curious as to why I wanted that.

“But, is elastic fabric useful? I’m going to make clothes that fit my body anyway.”

“Clothes that fit your body are comfortable. However, it can be quite important for those who move their bodies vigorously. Does the princess know about stockings?”

“If it’s stockings… … . Isn’t this the trousers that knights wear under their armor?”

“Yes, to be exact, it is clothing that protects the skin from being damaged by iron armor.”

What I remember about stockings from my past life seemed to be about women’s beauty, but in the world I live in now, it felt like they were accessories to the armor worn by knights.

To be precise, stockings are protective clothing to prevent skin from being pinched by armor made of multiple iron plates, skin being cut or cut by the edges of armor plates, or heated or frozen iron plates damaging the skin.

Anyway, the princess, who seemed to know about the existence of such stockings, gave her a look as if asking why she brought up the topic of stockings.

“Nowadays, stockings are usually made of cotton, but they say there are some parts that are more uncomfortable than expected. The stockings get caught between the steel plates and impede movement, they are uncomfortable because they wrap around the legs inside the armor, and they often slip down, which is annoying… … . This time, after giving the erythronium armor to the knights, I had some time to talk for a while. Why don’t you say things like that then?”

“Hmm, I guess there is that kind of inconvenience. This is my first time hearing it.”

“Well, I found out about it when I asked if that part could be improved. Anyway, I think that replacing the stockings with more elastic fibers can solve a lot of problems. It has elasticity so it sticks to the body without being inconvenient, and doesn’t fall off the body due to the elasticity even if you move vigorously.”

The princess looked into space as if imagining something, then nodded.

“I thought it wouldn’t be useful if it’s elastic, but that’s not true?”

“That’s right. Plus, there are many uses for them other than just stockings. It’s elastic, so if you make it a little smaller, there will be some pressure, so you could use it to make clothes that correct your body shape, or something that can be used to stop bleeding.”

“It just adds elasticity, but the usability will increase.”

As if she realized that just giving it elasticity would increase its usefulness, the princess nodded and immediately began to rummage through her luggage.

I was wondering what he was doing, but he took out a few books from his personal luggage. Since it didn’t have a cover or anything, it didn’t seem like it was a commercially available book.

“This is a book that records what I have researched so far. If you look for this, you will find it quickly. A way to make fibers elastic.”

The princess let out a very happy sound and immediately looked through her research records. Volume one, volume two, volume three. Time passed quickly while I was flipping through several books.

As a result, it took three full days just to find research records on what could give elasticity to fibers.

As someone who was so immersed in alchemy that he was limited to doing it, his research records were so extensive. Of course, it was also because I searched through the records as if appreciating them, thinking, ‘I’ve done this too,’ rather than quickly scanning them.

Anyway, the princess found a way and showed me a piece of paper filled with letters, numbers, and various symbols.

“If you look here… … .”

The princess, who placed the paper in front of her, explained how to use mana and what reactions various alchemy ingredients cause to produce certain results.

Of course, I couldn’t understand the princess’s explanation. I was a warlock, not an alchemist.

The princess seemed to understand that part as well, smiling awkwardly as she retrieved the paper. And, only after that did he speak so that I could understand.

“In the past, my research was on the elasticity of plants themselves. However, since this is made based on freshly harvested produce, some improvement is necessary. If applied to plants, there may be a situation where the existing processing process needs to be changed on a large scale, right?”

“… … I guess so.”

If something happened, such as the outer skin not falling off from the elastic flax, the process may have to be changed.

I couldn’t help but nod my head because it could be a very cumbersome process.

Still, there was nothing to worry about, as the princess said she would improve it and deliver it to her. Instead, there was simply a need to provide yarn or fiber for research.

Of course, the improvement could not proceed immediately. It took me three days to find the research records, but I still had to fly another full day to my city. It is said that alchemy can be performed to some extent on a zombie wyvern, but improving existing research results was impossible with the tools and materials currently available.

Thanks to this, the princess, who was complaining of great boredom, disappeared at the same time as the zombie wyvern landed in my mansion, asking me to send her luggage to the magic tower.

“You came… … ?”

The movement was so fast that Jiena, who had heard of my arrival in advance and came to meet me, disappeared before I could even say hello.

“Boss. Princess, why are you in such a hurry?”

“Alchemy withdrawal symptoms… … ?”

“Yes… … ?”

Seeing Jiena’s expression of not understanding, I smiled and shook my head. It wasn’t particularly important.

He tilted his head so that his long ears touched the tips of his shoulders and walked towards the inside of the mansion, gently wrapping his arms around the waist of Jiena, who was showing her curiosity. Of course, he didn’t forget to transport the princess’s luggage to the magic tower using a skeleton.

Then, I entered the mansion and relieved the fatigue I had incurred while moving. Although I arrived comfortably riding a zombie wyvern, I was mentally exhausted from making plans for various reasons.

I rested well for a day, and when the next morning came, I left the mansion with Jiena and Amy.

Anyway, the first place I headed to after leaving the mansion with the two women was the mercenary guild. At first, it was just an office, but as a huge number of mercenaries came and went, it grew to the level of a formal guild.

“Mercenaries who will participate in the escort mission to the border of the Kingdom of Agsia, please come to the reception desk!”

“Hey! Do you think I’m waiting because someone is an asshole? Stand in line, you bastard!”

“I would like to accept some requests. I need some swamp lizardman scales.”

“Goblin village raid request submissions have closed!”

“No, why is my share so small? Since I did half of it, I guess I have to give half of it!”

The mercenary guild, which had become very large in size, was very noisy from early in the morning. Not only the receptionist’s shouts that the request had been accepted or that the request was closed, but also the mercenaries’ shouts for various reasons caused an uproar.

But the commotion had nothing to do with us. I didn’t come here to make a public request.

Instead, I headed to the office of the mercenary group that had a direct contract with my territory, located separately in a corner of the guild. To be exact, it was the office of Amy’s mercenary group, the Hood Mercenaries.

“Sister!”

And, since it was Amy’s mercenary office, as soon as she entered, people from the hooded mercenary group welcomed Amy.

Amy greeted the mercenaries warmly and then looked at me. It seemed as if he was asking what he had come to ask me to do.

Of course, there was only one thing to do to the Hooded Mercenaries.

“I will entrust you with something similar to what I ordered before. Logis Skeleton will be connected to another territory. I need to figure out the route to get there.”

In other words, it was connected to other territories that became cooperative families through Logy Skeleton. Because the raw materials had to be transported periodically, it was necessary to figure out the path for the Logis Skeleton to move autonomously.

It was natural because it was easier to have someone else do it than to do it myself.

“Oh, that’s not difficult. Just leave it to me!”

“There are many places to go instead.”

“No problem as you can split into multiple teams!”

I nodded at the confident appearance of the hooded mercenaries and told them the names of several territories. Simply tell us the name of the territory, and Amy will distribute the number of people appropriately.

After leaving the work to Amy, I headed to the elf area with Jienna.

Just as I had entrusted tasks to Amy, I also had tasks to entrust to Gienna. To be exact, to elves.