Chapter 62

Happy New Year!

Thank you for your support last year, and I hope to have your continued support this year.

Thank you for the bookmarks, ratings, and reports of typos.

I didn't expect it to turn into such a heavy topic, but essentially, I need to be careful not to make enemies carelessly, and I hope we don't end up in a situation where we are at the forefront of conflict.

In front of the wonderful material given by the princess, my heart was incredibly uplifted.

It's like cloth, but it sparkles like stars.

Depending on the light, it shines as brilliantly as diamonds.

This is it.

I really want to make something.

It's the hair accessory worn by the heroine of a musical I saw in my previous life, called "Sisi's Star"!

It's a ten-pointed star made by overlapping two five-pointed stars, decorated with twenty-seven sparkling hair accessories made of Swarovski or similar, but I wonder if I can manage it with this cloth using the technique of tsumami-zukuri.

But this time, just making it won't do.

I need to document the techniques as I work and submit a manual-like document along with the item to His Majesty.

That's why I have invited special guests this time!

First, Mr. Rottmayr!

He is used to writing.

Second, Elise, the seamstress of this household!

I decided that she, who serves as a seamstress, would be the first to learn tsumami-zukuri at Kikunoi.

Then, Lala, who provided the luminous magic stones as a sponsor!

Also, two elves who are very interested in tsumami-zukuri techniques!

And my comfort, Hiyoko!

"Hey, Hiyoko?"

"The princess called her Hiyoko, and Lala calls her that too."

"Do you like Hiyoko, Nii-san?"

"Yes, I do. She's fluffy and cute."

She pouted a bit, but she's cute, so it's fine.

When I stroked her trademark fluffy blonde hair, she giggled, "Ufufu," so it seems her mood isn't bad.

"Fengdie, while Mr. Rottmayr and Elise are one thing, our introductions seem a bit casual compared to Lala's."

"It's not like that."

"Are you actually upset because I kept insisting to see you?"

"No, not at all."

Well, I think it's really hard to concentrate while explaining and teaching tsumami-zukuri.

Yet, the two elves keep asking, "What's that?" and "What's this?" from the moment we start gathering the tools.

Who are we introducing this to?

Elise, of course.

"Ah, the elves are so close."

"They've been living under the same roof for a few months."

"But to actually talk to them so closely, it's not often."

Indeed.

Elise, who speaks in a strangely drawn-out manner, is actually very fast at her work. She's apparently much faster than other seamstresses of her generation at embroidery.

This information comes from Mr. Utsunomiya.

Apparently, she was the best at sewing in the village where she lived.

She is relatively dexterous, and when I taught her how to braid bracelets, she learned it quickly. That's why I thought she could learn tsumami-zukuri.

Since this involves detailed work, we are using the large table in the dining room.

This time, Kousuke is taking care of his younger brother as requested by his parents, so he is not participating.

"Alright, the basics of tsumami-zukuri start with deciding on the design."

"Deciding on the shape first, right?"

"Yes. Depending on whether you need a sword tsumami or a round tsumami, the way you pinch the fabric changes."

This time, to make a set of twenty-seven, each one needs to be quite small.

Once the size and design are decided, the fabric is cut, but cutting into the sparkling fabric feels a bit wasteful.

In my previous life, I would describe it as about the size of a 500-yen coin, and it needs to be made to look luxurious but be light.

The fabric is cut into very small squares, folded into sword tsumami, and glued. By the way, this work is done entirely with tweezers, and repeating this process takes a lot of time.

What should I do?

As I was thinking, six curious eyes were staring at me.

"Manmaru, are you going to dry this?"

"Yes. After drying, the first layer is glued to the base, then dried again, and the next layer is added."

"Normally, it takes a lot of time, doesn't it?"

"It does."

"Can we dry it with magic?"

"Do you want to?"

When I asked, they nodded vigorously.

If so, I'll let them help without hesitation, drying the fabric to a degree that won't damage it.

According to Mr. Romanov, the ancestors of the elves were fairies, and their ancestors before that were spirits, so they tend to like things that spirits like.

In other words, shiny and beautiful things. It's even better if they are imbued with magic.

The fabric given by the gods, made by a creator who possesses the "Blue Hand" that spirits favor, is like dangling catnip in front of a cat.

I once demonstrated origami in front of Mr. Romanov and Viktor, and they really liked it.

Anyway, while they are drying the fabric, I will confirm the techniques with Elise and the text written by Mr. Rottmayr.

Elise, being naturally dexterous, can fold both round and sword tsumami well once she understands the method, and Mr. Rottmayr's text provides detailed explanations that even beginners can follow.

Once the petals are dry, they are assembled layer by layer with tweezers.

This work requires a lot of concentration, but the two elf men peered over my hands.

Thanks to the shadows they created, it was hard to see my work.

Perhaps sensing my irritation, Mr. Rottmayr frowned and tried to move them away, but before he could.

"Adults should avoid unbecoming actions."

"Ugh."

"Keh."

It seems Lala grabbed the collars of the two elves from behind, and they were dragged away with frog-like sounds.

"Thank you."

"It's because I'm a sponsor, so I can help with this much."

She even blew a kiss.

Impressed by her coolness, Elise, who was also working and watching the scene, sighed dreamily.

"Ah, Lala-sama is so wonderful."

"I agree."

"Mr. Romanov and Mr. Viktor are also very beautiful, but Lala-sama is just amazing!"

That's right.

The three elves are incredibly beautiful, but they are of different types.

To break it down, Mr. Romanov is the beautiful type, Mr. Viktor is the cute type, and Lala is the cool type.

Regulus will likely grow up to be a Lala-type beauty, and Mr. Utsunomiya might be a Viktor-type.

This household has a surprisingly high rate of beauties.

Elise is also a delicate girl with fluffy chestnut hair, like a bisque doll.

Damn, am I the only one who isn't a beauty?

While continuing to work, I became lost in thought about this cruel truth.

Then, the two elf men started to wriggle, trying to peek at my work again. Perhaps they were afraid of Lala, this time they approached Elise.

This seemed to influence Regulus, who had been quietly working, and he started to move as well.

"Didn't you say that children shouldn't be in the way? Why are you in the way?"

"Oh, Regulus. That's unfair, we're not in the way."

"That's right, Lala. We're just looking."

"Didn't Lala say we were in the way? Why?"

"Because we're not in the way."

"Why are you in the way?"

"Why?"

Oh, the typical "Why?" and "How?" attacks of children.

I took advantage of this to continue my work.

While explaining, I moved on to the final stage.

In the center of the petals, I placed a luminous magic stone. According to Lala, this magic stone changes color based on the wearer's emotions, but it's otherwise useless, so it was left in a corner of the magic bag.

I carefully placed the glue and set the magic stone. This was the finale of the work.

Thinking about "Sisi's Star," I recalled the finale of the staircase descent in the garden of violets and hummed a song.

The lyrics praise the beautiful Empress of Austria, who will be remembered in history as long as humanity exists, followed by the Hungarian word "Ejjen," meaning "Cheers."

During a breath, Viktor clapped.

"You should sing that to the Empress."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well...? Didn't you make an impromptu song using the Empress's name?"

"...The Empress's name?"

Does the Empress's name "Elisabeth"?

Thank you for reading.

I plan to update every Friday.

I would be grateful for any ratings, comments, and reviews.

I also write various activity reports, so please feel free to check them out.