Kays Translations

Chapter 47: The Highest Compliment

Three days after commissioning the cloth straps, I finally received them—Bisil’s specially made straps.

Two strips had been woven, each measuring five centimeters in width and fifty centimeters in length. The cloth had a stretch ratio of about 1.2, but the texture wasn’t nearly as smooth as silk. The threads were thick, giving the fabric a noticeably dense and substantial feel.

“Looks like we really need to leave this to specialists,” I muttered.

“And the color needs to be dyed too,” Rugena added.

At the moment, the cloth was simply white, untouched and uncolored. To make it match clothes or underwear, it would need to be dyed to suit the fabric it would accompany.

“Wait, who does the dyeing?” I asked.

“There’s a craftsman for that,” she replied.

In the spinning workshop, yarn spinners spun threads, and dyeing artisans took care of the coloring. In the tailoring workshop, weavers wove cloth, and tailors fashioned garments. The workshops were divided based on whether they handled thread or fabric.

In other words, if I just wanted to sell spider silk, I could set up a spinning workshop and outsource weaving and tailoring. But if I wanted to produce Bisil’s fabric and see it through to finished garments, I could create exactly what I envisioned—and avoid merchants taking a cut of the profits.

Maybe specializing in underwear would be a better idea.

There would be fewer competitors, and I could experiment—mixing spider silk with other fabrics to produce both affordable and high-end options.

“You seem to be getting into the swing of things,” Rugena observed with a smile.

“Huh? Getting into the swing of things?” I asked.

“You’ve been thinking about spider silk in all sorts of ways, and you look genuinely happy about it.”

She was right. For the past few days, my mind had been occupied with production methods and applications for spider silk, and I hadn’t felt even a trace of discouragement. In the worst case, I could simply hand over the manufacturing method, so thinking too much about workshop policies wasn’t strictly necessary—but once I started thinking, my imagination ran wild. “I want to do this… I want to do that…”

“Ultimately, you love creating things, Arthur-sama,” she said. “So why not just focus on making what you want, without worrying about anything else?”

“That sounds a little irresponsible, doesn’t it?” I replied.

“Then build a system that makes it possible.”

Ah. I see now. The solution is to create a company. Since I can’t manage everything on my own, it makes sense to think of forming a company that oversees multiple workshops.

But if I do that, Helvendorp would be inconvenient for logistics, and the space is too small. Meluestat has a glass industry, so as the town grows, space will become even tighter. Besides, the Baronship of Merlot lies at the western edge of the Kingdom of Danmels, which isn’t ideal for business.

“See, you’re thinking again,” Rugena teased, letting out a soft giggle.

Indeed, planning production and organizational structure is both complicated and enjoyable—a perfect example of her thoughtful way of keeping me grounded.

“Let’s leave this for later, after we’ve dealt with the current matter,” I decided.

There are too many things I can’t judge with my limited knowledge. I’ll need my mother’s input, educated at the Noble Academy, especially for legal matters. I’ve only studied the basics, so her guidance will be indispensable.

“Yes, understood,” Rugena replied.

After that, we discussed not just Bisil but also how to utilize Esil, as well as ways to make the current underwear more comfortable. The hours passed quickly in these conversations.

Two days later, the person we had been waiting for finally arrived.

“Looks like we didn’t make it in time,” he muttered.

“You’re late!” I yelled, my voice booming almost painfully.

It had been two months since my mother sent her letter. If this person had arrived before events escalated, things might have remained peaceful. But now, with my mother’s marriage about to be decided, there was no choice but to intercept things before that happened.

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”

“Scowling won’t help. The one at fault is the person who abandoned their fiancée and ran away, right?”

“…You heard about that?”

“Rosanne-sama told me, Vessel-san.”

The person I had been waiting for was Vessel Vanni, an A-rank adventurer known as the ‘Instant Movement Unarmed Sword.’ He was also someone acquainted with my mother.

“Tch… chatterbox,” Vessel muttered, glaring at Rosanne, who was standing behind me.

“I was just stating the facts,” Rosanne replied calmly.

Rosanne had explained that Vessel, the second son of the Vanni frontier barony and my mother’s former fiancé, had disappeared after voluntarily leaving the Noble Academy when my mother was a second-year student. As a result, their engagement was canceled, and a new fiancé had to be chosen.

At the time, the Kaupels family had suffered a second failed mining venture, leaving them in enormous debt, making it difficult to arrange any further marriages. When the Marquis of Vahenal learned of this, he agreed to cover the Kaupels’ debt in exchange for taking my mother as his concubine. By the time Vessel returned, I had already been born.

As for Rosanne, she was a year younger than my mother. She still referred to my mother as “Oneesan” because she had called her that when she had been engaged to Ditnell, a small incident leading to the end of that engagement.

“I didn’t run away,” Vessel said defensively. “I had my reasons.”

“So it’s my mother’s fault for getting caught up in your reasons?”

I was grateful to him for saving my mother when she was in mortal danger. I admired his strength—but admiration and this matter were two separate things.

“I know I was at fault too, which is why I’m doing you this favor,” Vessel said.

“So, are you ready?” I asked.

“Yes. It took some effort, but everything is prepared.”

“Understood. Rosanne, you’re okay with this too?”

“I have no choice. If Oneesan permits, I won’t argue anymore.”

My mother had promised that, in exchange for this favor, she would never complain about Vessel or the Vanni family again.

“So, what’s the current situation?”

I explained the developments since my mother sent the letter.

“Summons… Does that mean she’s under suspicion for something?”

“I don’t know.”

“This is different from what I was told.”

If it were just a retraction of the severance letter, we could have refused to travel and waited for Vessel. But refusing a summons would be treated as an admission of guilt, and she would be captured as a criminal. Once the summons was issued, there was no option to simply ignore it.

“We haven’t committed any crime,” I said firmly.

“…I suppose so. But until that’s clear, I can’t hand this over.”

Vessel produced a five-centimeter diameter medal from his jacket pocket and showed it to me.

“I understand. That’s why I need to come along, to make things clear.”

“Al-sama?!”

“Fana, I need to go. There are things I can say to mother and things I can’t.”

A restriction magic had been placed on my mother, preventing her from discussing certain technical information about glass. If Vessel hadn’t come, I would have gone to fetch her myself—but with him here, I had been told to stay put. However, if the reason for the summons was dangerous, Vessel might back out at the last moment. If that happened, it would be too late. I had to go with him.

“If you’re willing, I’ll take you along,” he said.

“Yes, please,” I replied.

“And how many days do we have left?”

It had been twelve days since my mother departed for Kaupstat. The journey would take about three weeks, leaving roughly nine days remaining.

“Nine days… Departure is tomorrow, so eight days left. That should be enough,” Vessel said.

While my mother traveled by carriage, we planned to ride on horseback. At a week’s pace on a fast horse, we could likely meet them before reaching Kaupstat.

“Are you ready?” Vessel asked.

“Yes,” I replied. If he hadn’t come, the three of us would have made the journey together, and we were prepared for that.

“Good. Then we leave tomorrow morning.”

“Yes… And, um, I apologize for earlier. I was taking my frustration out on you,” I added.

“It’s fine. The fault was mine anyway.”

“Well… that’s true,” I admitted.

“Oi?!”

I felt conflicted toward Vessel. Had he married my mother without incident, I might never have been born. And yet, he had saved her from near death and even trained me in combat. How was I supposed to feel—grateful or resentful?

“Honestly… that arrogance is just like Tine,” he said.

“Thank you,” I replied quietly.

Being compared to my mother was the highest compliment I could imagine.

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