Chapter 6

From that point on, Jill took action.

She satisfied her hunger with apples from the garden, then fed and tended to Karappa, who had fully recovered. Before leaving the castle, she had been given a preparation fund, which she used to procure needles, threads, fabrics, scissors, and other small materials and tools.

Riding on the fully recovered Karappa, she left the forest and headed for the town of Shelland.

It was already dusk, and Jill hurriedly entered the town, asking the gatekeeper for the location of a tool shop. The gatekeeper looked at her as if to say, "Who are you?" but Jill pressed on, insisting on getting the information. Fortunately, the tool shop was right near the gate.

"Hey, little girl, it's almost night. I'm troubled if you come to shop at this hour... But it's fine, I guess."

"Ah, I'm sorry."

The shop owner was a well-built man, looking like a man of great strength. However, he seemed confused and even a bit frightened when he saw Jill.

Jill proceeded with the negotiation, not realizing that her unfamiliar face and ethereal presence had led the owner to mistake her for a ghost or something similar.

"So... you want fabric and sewing tools, right?"

"Yes."

"I have needles and scissors. I also have linen and cotton fabrics. Do you need scraps? I have some left over."

"Then I'll take the scraps too. By the way, do you have silk?"

"No, no, don't be ridiculous. We don't have such luxury items. But if you ask Matthew, he can get them. He's a merchant I know. I can put in a good word for you..."

"I can go myself. I'll leave a deposit. If you don't have the fabric, thread will do. Oh, and if you have colored threads, I'll buy those too."

"Wh-what!? I-Is that okay?"

When Jill casually placed a gold coin in front of the shop owner, he was quite surprised.

"It's not a problem if you can get it. If not, it's fine."

"N-No, it's fine. Leave it to me."

"Ah, and do you have a shop that sells medicine? I need alum. And a place that sells tea leaves, too."

"We don't sell chemicals here. There's an apothecary in the white building across the street. The shop will close soon, so you should hurry. We have tea leaves, though..."

"Then I'll take some. A small package will do."

With that, Jill turned and left the shop.

"Hey, wait... Hey! Don't leave yet! What about the silk fabric? You need to tell me where you live so I can deliver it!"

"Ah, it's a mansion in the forest outside the town. The forest is dangerous, so I'll come to pick it up."

"Wh-What!? You live in that mansion!?"

Jill ignored the shop owner's shocked question and hurriedly left to finish her other shopping. The town's main gate would close once it was completely dark. She could have the gatekeeper open the gate by revealing her identity, but she didn't want to use her authority for such a trivial matter. When the gatekeeper asked her where she was going at this hour, and she replied that she was returning to the mansion in the forest, the gatekeeper was as shocked as the shop owner. Jill didn't mind and, after loading her purchases onto Karappa, headed straight back to the forest.

The monsters in the forest around the mansion were surprisingly docile, seemingly having fully recognized Jill as their master. Jill didn't pay much attention to this.

Her top priority remained unwavering.

"I can start working on it right away...!"

On the kitchen table of the mansion, various items were laid out. First, there were scraps of fabric about the size of a handkerchief that she had just bought. There was the alum she had purchased from the apothecary. And there were flowers and herbs she had picked from the garden, along with tea leaves.

"Let's start with something simple, shall we?"

What Jill was about to do was natural dyeing using plants, a technique that could be done in any household.

◆

Natural dyeing, as the name suggests, involves dyeing fabric using plants.

While dyeing is often thought of as a difficult craft, the process of natural dyeing is quite simple.

First, the plants are boiled to extract the pigments and create a dye solution.

The fabric, which has been washed clean, is then boiled in the dye solution to transfer the pigments to the fabric.

A process called mordanting is then applied to fix the pigments to the fabric.

There are also some additional steps like pre-treatment and rinsing, but basically, these are the three main steps. Fabrics like silk and wool are easier to dye because the proteins in the fabric bind with the pigments, allowing the color to set.

Other plant-based fibers that don't contain protein, such as linen and cotton, are more difficult to dye. To dye these, it's necessary to soak them in a protein solution like milk or soy milk before dyeing.

On the other hand, almost any plant can be used as a dye. There are as many dye and color patterns as there are plants.

For example, the roots of the madder plant can be used to dye fabric a deep red, as the name suggests. The names of colors and the plants used for dyeing are closely related. However, even common materials like onion skins and used tea leaves can be used as dyes.

Jill had never known how to do natural dyeing before. She often handled pre-dyed threads and fabrics as a hobby in embroidery, but she had never dyed anything herself. She learned about natural dyeing from a book left by Conrad, which had been transformed into a book on dyeing.

"'Dyeing at Home'... Yes, this is very helpful."

Jill had transformed the book left by Acacia into an introductory guide to dyeing.

This book was different from the first one she had picked up, "Make Your Own Clothes: From Dresses to Dresses." "Dyeing at Home" was the perfect introductory guide for beginners in handicrafts and dyeing, with detailed instructions and photos showing how to use specific tools to create finished products.

At first, she didn't find it particularly novel. Dyeing was a common technique in the magic kingdom and other countries. Even if the colors weren't as vibrant as the samples in the book, the technique was used in the clothes she was currently wearing.

However, now two elements in Jill's possession perfectly matched the technique of natural dyeing.

"I found madder and safflower in the forest, and there was also dock. Well, let's start with something simple like onion skins and then step it up..."

The forest around the mansion was home to an incredible variety of wildflowers and plants, providing an abundance of dye plants.

"Water Creation, Heating"

Jill cast the spells in quick succession. The pot filled with water instantly. She kept the water at around 95 degrees, just before it started to boil, and then threw in the onion skins.

"Using magic really speeds up the dyeing process... Liquid Manipulation"

Normally, the onion skins would need to be simmered for 20 to 30 minutes to extract the dye. But Jill had a special skill that she didn't often mention to others. By combining water and liquid manipulation magic with heating magic, she could create dishes that would normally take hours to cook in just a moment. She applied this skill to dyeing.

The pigments from the onion skins were extracted instantly, turning the water a deep reddish-brown.

"Now, let's remove the onion skins and put in the fabric..."

She removed the skins from the dye solution, using magic to carefully scoop out every last piece of the broken skins. Then she placed a small piece of cotton fabric into the pot.

It was a square piece of fabric, about 20 centimeters on each side, which could be easily turned into a handkerchief by sewing the edges. The fabric had already been pre-treated with milk to add protein. Jill used the Liquid Manipulation spell again to dye the fabric instantly.

The fabric, which had been white, now turned a dark reddish-brown, similar to the color of the onion skins. Jill was satisfied with the earthy tone, but she was aiming for something a bit more vibrant.

"Alright... Next is mordanting."

Mordanting is a technique that not only makes the dye more resistant to fading but also enhances the color. This is because the pigments from plants react with metals, causing them to bind more strongly to the fibers. For example, adding a nail to black beans or eggplant pickles makes them more vibrant, which is based on the same principle of mordanting.

The most commonly used mordant in natural dyeing is alum.

Jill had bought a bag of alum from the apothecary. It looked like large-grained salt, a white powder. In the magic kingdom, it was used as a mordant and a blood coagulant. The orc-occupied country of Orkus, a vassal state of the magic kingdom, had many mines and produced a lot of alum, which was exported to various countries. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't so expensive that ordinary citizens couldn't afford it.

Jill dissolved the alum in the water to create a mordant solution. She then lightly rinsed the newly dyed fabric with magic and immersed it in the mordant solution, causing the color to change.

"I see... So this is what happens."

The fabric, which had been a dark reddish-brown like the onion skins, turned a bright yellow. This was the effect of the alum.

"Now, let's finish it... Liquid Manipulation, Drying"

The next steps were rinsing and drying.

In actual natural dyeing, there would be several detailed rinsing steps between processes, but Jill could simplify this with magic.

The drying process also relied on magic.

She used the Drying spell, which manipulates the wind to evaporate water. While it was a spell used to dry wet clothes, it could also be applied to finishing dyed fabric. This way, a brightly colored yellow fabric was created.

"It's done... Amazing...!"

Even though it was just a test of natural dyeing, this was the first piece of dyed fabric Jill had made with her own hands. She pondered whether to turn it into a handkerchief or something else, and smiled softly.

"I could have enjoyed the process more by following the steps without using magic."

Excluding the preparation time, the actual work took less than three minutes. Normally, just extracting the dye from the plants would take about 30 minutes. Dyeing the fabric and mordanting would take another hour. Considering the drying and finishing, it would take a whole day.

In other words, she had improved the efficiency by hundreds of times.

Jill thought she might have rushed a bit. She could have felt more satisfaction by taking her time.

"But no, this is just the first step. I can't afford to take it easy."

However, she negated her own thoughts.

"I'll enjoy the regular process of natural dyeing later... Let's step it up."

Jill wanted to acquire knowledge and techniques as quickly as possible. She had an abundance of materials, and her head was filled with things she wanted to make. She couldn't afford to hesitate if she wanted to achieve her goals.

"Let's try different dyes... and shibori... I want to sew a dress using the patterns in this book... I also want to try knitting and leather crafts... I want to make things, and eventually..."

Jill transformed the Acacia book into another one.

It was about the size of an A5 notebook, a bit thick. The title read, "Become a Handmade Artist! ~Secret Know-How for Running a Dream Craft Shop Even as an Individual~"

"I'm going to aim to run a craft shop!"

Jill's eyes burned with the passion to realize her dream. She repeated Conrad's words in her mind.

May this life be happy for you.

Thank you for reading!

If you found it interesting and want to read more, please rate it with the stars below the ads.

(Star ratings are a great encouragement for authors, not just for my work)

Thank you very much.