Chapter 15

The time rewinds a few hours.

Jill was visiting the town of Shelland for the first time in a long while.

Her purpose was to buy food and materials. She also wanted to check the quality of the clothes she had made herself. She had a desire to walk around town wearing her handmade clothes, not just looking at them in the mirror while staying in the mansion. She had accidentally given in to this desire.

However, she didn't have the courage to walk around town wearing the dip-dyed dress. She thought it was too flashy and had sealed it in the cloak for now.

So, for her outing, she chose a crimson robe. It was originally a plain, cheap robe that she had bought for everyday use. She dyed it crimson using the roots of Indian madder, which she had collected from the forest. She prioritized depth over brightness, giving it a chic and calm atmosphere.

What she was even more satisfied with was the straw hat.

("How to Make a Summer Hat," I thought it was a dud at first, but it turned out to be a good book.)

It was a guidebook on how to make a straw hat. However, upon reading it, she found that the main content was based on the assumption that the straw would be woven using threads containing plastic and other chemical fibers, which were available at craft stores in modern Japan. Acquiring chemical fibers was impossible for Jill.

Despite her disappointment, Jill found an interesting discovery when she read the book thoroughly. It described the traditional Japanese method of making straw hats without using chemical fibers.

Jill had made a straw hat as a child. Conrad, who believed it was important to know what people in rural areas did, had called a maid from a rural area to teach Jill how to make a straw hat. As she flipped through the pages, she was reminded of those days and was surprised to see a straw hat that looked completely different from what she expected.

The reason for the difference in appearance was the "mugwort straw."

Mugwort straw is a rope made from straw. First, the straw is split and flattened into a board-like shape. This part is similar to ordinary straw crafts. However, mugwort straw goes further by dividing the board-like shape into even thinner strips. These thin strips are then braided together to form a single rope.

The resulting mugwort straw is stronger than ordinary straw. At the same time, it is more flexible, allowing for the creation of various shapes.

Furthermore, mugwort straw has no length limitations. Wheat stems are about one to two meters long, and their use is limited when left as straw. With mugwort straw, however, the fibers can be spliced and woven to create ropes of several meters in length.

Jill, upon learning about mugwort straw, immediately became engrossed in making it. Straw was common and easy to obtain. She was able to get dried and processed straw from the townspeople at a low price.

For the next step, splitting the straw into thin strips, she used the "Scorching Light" magic. Although she couldn't cut metal like her mother Bazalde, Jill's talent for controlling weak magic with precision was outstanding.

However, the subsequent step of braiding the thin strips into a rope could not be done with magic. It required continuous, meticulous manual labor. Jill spent three days continuously braiding the rope, to the point where Karappa, worried, started banging on the mansion's door.

Using the mugwort straw she had made, Jill began her challenge to make a straw hat. After several failed and experimental attempts, she successfully created a beautiful straw hat with a neat hemispherical shape and a well-balanced brim.

She also added decorative ribbons and artificial flowers, inspired by a clothing catalog, making it look as good as a brand-name hat made by a professional.

When she left the mansion, she was filled with pride and high spirits, saying, "How about it, isn't it amazing?" However, by the time she reached the town, her mood had turned to worry. She thought people might look at her with skepticism, thinking, "It's just a straw hat, no matter how pretty it looks," or "Why go to all this trouble for just a straw hat?" Naturally, Jill didn't want her efforts to be mocked.

Therefore, she hesitated about whether to wear the hat while exploring the town. She wanted to find merchants knowledgeable about clothing or hat makers to talk to, but she had no connections. She walked around the town aimlessly, eventually getting tired and entering a café. While chatting casually with someone she met in the café, the conversation turned to showing her hat.

"Please show me your products. More, please! I really want to see them!"

The merchant she met by chance in the café was a bit strange.

Even with a brief conversation, his good nature was evident, and his life philosophy, conveyed through his words, inspired admiration and respect. Jill could feel the passion in his casual remark, "Wouldn't it be great to have it?"

However, seeing a merchant get so excited over a hat, Jill thought, "Oh, he's a bit strange." She glanced at the waitress and sent a silent SOS with her eyes. The waitress, however, shrugged.

"Well, yeah. He gets really into clothes and hats... He's a bit... well, quite strange, but he's not a bad person. Mr. Matthew isn't trying to hit on you, right?"

"Of course not! I'm just captivated by the beauty of this hat!"

"Right..."

The waitress smiled wryly.

Jill, though troubled, realized this was a golden opportunity.

Jill's goal was to run a general store.

While she could make the goods, she was a novice in the crucial aspect of "management."

She had been thinking she needed advice from someone actually in business.

She couldn't achieve her goal without interacting with others.

Alright, Jill decided internally.

"Then, then... would you like to come to my house?"

"Yes!"

The merchant nodded enthusiastically.

On the way, they introduced themselves.

His name was Matthew, a merchant.

He was a tall man with a gentle face, wearing a white tunic, but he had a peculiar energy.

Jill thought, with a wry smile, that merchants must be like this.

"By the way, Jill, if we keep going this way, we'll end up outside the town, won't we?"

"Oh, is it bad to go outside?"

"No, not exactly... Where is it located?"

"It's in the forest just ahead."

Upon hearing Jill's words, Matthew fell silent for a moment.

Jill realized, "Oh, I left out some explanations."

"Oh, it's fine! The forest creatures are gentle and won't attack! And I have a guard!"

"Is that so... I apologize, I was just surprised. It's fine, no problem."

They called out to the gatekeeper and left the town.

Near the gate, Karappa was dozing off.

"Hey, we're going, Karappa."

"Click."

Karappa woke up immediately and clicked his scissors, as if to say, "I wasn't sleeping."

"You were definitely sleeping... Well, Mr. Matthew, let's go. This crab will protect us if anything happens."

Thus, Jill and Matthew headed to the mansion.

◆

After passing through the forest, Jill led Matthew into the mansion.

She gave him a brief tour of the first floor, but for some reason, Matthew stopped in the kitchen and dining room, looking at them with great interest. His face showed a look of amazement.

"Um, Mr. Matthew?"

Worried, Jill called out to him.

"Oh, sorry. I found it very interesting."

"I bet you didn't expect a mansion in the middle of a forest, right?"

"Right. But... the dining room and kitchen look like they belong in a restaurant?"

"Oh, that's true."

Jill realized it was indeed true.

The dining room and kitchen had additional items that seemed to belong to Conrad. When Jill first looked for a house, she had overlooked the kitchenware, thinking it was normal to have cooking utensils. Upon closer inspection, the pots, pans, plates, forks, and spices reflected the taste and aesthetics of the person who had assembled them. She was now certain they belonged to Conrad.

As Matthew suggested, perhaps her uncle had run a restaurant. It was absurd for a royal family member exiled from the castle to run a restaurant, but it was not impossible for her uncle... Jill thought this amusingly.

"Do you like cooking, Jill?"

"I don't dislike it. But I can't use such a grand kitchen. Perhaps the previous owner used it like a restaurant. He seemed to have a lot of whims."

As she said this, Jill stroked the dining table.

"I see."

"Shall we go upstairs? The clothes are up there."

Jill had converted one of the guest rooms on the second floor into a closet.

She asked Matthew to sit in a chair and, thinking she should make some tea, headed back to the kitchen.

"I'll make some tea now."

"Ah, wait!"

Matthew spoke in a surprisingly loud voice.

What's wrong, Jill wondered and responded.

"Is tea not good? Drinking too much tea isn't good for your health..."

"That's fine. In fact, I would like some iced tea, if possible."

Jill interpreted this as a desire for something cold or ice.

Earlier, Matthew had used the "Freezing" magic. Without abundant magic power or extensive training, it couldn't be used multiple times a day. Jill's magic was weak in power but could be used many times without tiring, even up to ten or twenty times.

"It's been sunny. I'll prepare it right away."

"No rush, take your time."

While Jill thought Matthew was making a funny joke with a serious face, she went down to the kitchen to prepare the tea.

Her uncle Conrad, who had taught her how to make tea, knew various types of tea leaves and teas made from other ingredients. Green tea, made without fermentation; coffee, made by roasting and grinding beans; mushroom tea, made by drying and powdering mushrooms for a broth-like flavor; and dandelion root tea, among other unique teas.

However, he was most skilled in black tea.

Black tea was easily available on the Argennes Island. The island's highlands had been cultivating tea leaves for a long time, and they were exported to foreign lands across the sea. There were even tea masters who used magic specifically for the cultivation and production of tea leaves.

Although this profession contradicted the national policy of the Dylarn Magic Kingdom, they were very influential, powerful, and wealthy. Even the royal family couldn't interfere with them. They devoted themselves solely to making tea, without involving themselves in secular politics. Thanks to these tea masters, even commoners on Argennes Island could enjoy tea easily.

Incidentally, Jill didn't know that the tea leaves available on Argennes Island were similar to "Ceylon" tea on Earth.

"Well, let's get started."

Jill rolled up her sleeves and started boiling water.

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