Chapter 9

Jill has been steadily improving her skills ever since her first successful attempt at natural dyeing.

She collects various plants from the forest to make dyes.

She dyes cotton and linen fabrics.

She dyes dresses, tunics, skirts, and robes directly, not just fabrics.

She tried everything she could think of.

Then, she challenged herself with a technique called "shibori."

Shibori is a method of creating patterns by dividing the fabric into parts that will be dyed and parts that will be intentionally left undyed. This can be done by tying parts of the fabric to prevent them from touching the dye, or by immersing only certain parts in the dye. There are various ways to do it.

Of course, the concept of shibori exists in the Dylarn Magic Kingdom and throughout the continent. As a dyeing technique, it is quite simple and fundamental.

However, in terms of the patterns created and the depth of the technique, the method described in one of the books of Acacia was far more advanced.

"I did it! I did it!"

In front of the study's mirror, Jill put on the dress she had made, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and spun around. She was so moved by the result, which exceeded her expectations, that she opened the window and shouted with joy. Her voice echoed through the forest, it was that loud.

It wouldn't be surprising if the children exploring the forest mistook her for a monster or something.

"Wow, this is better than I expected!"

What Jill had made was a dip-dyed dress.

Dip-dyeing refers to creating a gradient effect through dyeing. For example, the upper half remains undyed white, while the lower half is dyed blue, with the middle part dyed a lighter blue. When using natural dyes and dyeing by hand, it's difficult to create a sharp, straight boundary, so adding two or three intermediate colors is enough to achieve a natural look.

Here, Jill used the [Liquid Manipulation] magic to create a more complex and natural gradient. The theme she set was "sky." The color boundary runs diagonally from the left side to the right shoulder. The upper part is undyed white, and the lower part is a bright, vivid blue, dyed with the leaves of the tadeai plant.

Tadeai, or indigo.

The raw material for the traditional indigo dye, tadeai, has been used for centuries. It is used in kimonos and accessories, and many craftsmen use indigo-dyed work clothes as practical items.

However, the indigo dyeing Jill applied to the dress was not the traditional method. She used a technique called dried leaf dyeing.

Indigo dyeing requires fermenting the tadeai leaves for several months to create the dye. However, there are also methods of using fresh leaves without any processing, or using dried leaves. Care must be taken when making the dye solution alkaline, using substances like slaked lime, but Jill had some knowledge of handling chemicals, so there were no problems.

The dried leaf dyeing on the dress does not produce the deep, rich blue of traditional indigo dyeing, but it does result in a bright, refreshing blue.

"The dress is perfect. The scarf is beautiful too."

The scarf, on the other hand, was made using fresh leaf dyeing to achieve a lighter, more airy texture.

Furthermore, she used a technique called "snowflake shibori" to create patterns.

This is a type of board shibori where the fabric is folded and only the edges are dyed. When unfolded, it creates patterns that resemble snowflakes or flowers arranged evenly.

However, what Jill intended was not snow or flowers.

In a lighter sky blue than the dress, white shapes are arranged.

She dyed them to resemble sunlight.

The result matched her concept, and Jill felt like she could burst with excitement.

"Jill-sama, an alert has been triggered in the security system."

"Ah!?"

Just as she was feeling that way, the Book of Acacia spoke.

Moreover, it resonated directly in Jill's mind, not as a sound.

"Security? What is that?"

"An intruder has appeared in the forest."

In addition to transforming into various books, the Book of Acacia had a very convenient function. It could immediately inform her of the situation around the mansion and the surrounding forest.

A map of the forest appeared on the pages of the Book of Acacia, showing where various monsters lived and what flowers and plants grew. It was thanks to this function that Jill could collect tadeai and other dye plants.

However, when Jill asked the Book of Acacia about this function, it would only recite a mysterious incantation: "Due to the program being installed from an unknown source, support is impossible. Please contact the source for any issues."

"Is it a thief?"

"Unknown."

"Um..."

"However, I can have the monsters attack them."

"No, no, no, let's not send monsters after them right away. Who's there?"

"I will display the image."

The Book of Acacia emitted light, and the pages transformed into a display showing an image.

"Children?"

"Yes, they appear to be human children."

Five children were walking and arguing.

They were far too adorable to be described as thieves or burglars.

The black-haired girl leading the group was probably the ringleader, Jill guessed.

"...Sigh. They just walked in. This is technically a different territory from the town... but it's probably been forgotten about. I didn't even know this place existed until recently."

Jill was conflicted.

She guessed that the children had probably sneaked in for a dare or something. Jill herself had been a mischievous child when she was raised by Conrad. She could empathize with these kids and didn't feel angry.

On the other hand, it was dangerous for children to walk through a forest infested with monsters. Even if the forest and the mansion had been forgotten, they were still under Jill's control. The children's unauthorized entry into her territory was a crime that couldn't be excused.

"But if I handle it by the book and report it to the town, they might be punished too harshly... That would be too sad... Hmm."

Jill pondered for a moment but quickly made a decision.

"I'll just scare them a bit."

◆

Jill couldn't use powerful magic.

For that, she had been scolded and looked down upon. Jill didn't just accept it; she trained to use powerful magic while also exploring how to effectively use small magic.

"[Thick Fog]"

This is a magic that simultaneously activates [Water Generation], [Heating], and [Breeze]. It instantly evaporates the water created and spreads it throughout the area.

In the forest, it would create an illusion of sudden fog.

"[Lighting]"

This is a failed version of [Blazing Light].

[Blazing Light] is a magic that concentrates heat into a single beam of light to burn through anything. However, if the control fails, it only produces a blurry white light with no power. It just illuminates the surroundings.

But Jill decided to use it as a convenient substitute for a torch. She combined it with [Thick Fog] this time.

As a result, her shadow was magnificently illuminated in the fog.

Smirking, thinking the children must be terrified, Jill continued to scare them.

"Who's ruining this forest!"

By scaring them now, the children would never dare to enter the forest again. Thinking this, Jill decided to act like a ghost in the children's imagination. From a distance, the children were already trembling, so even a crude scare would work.

"Huh?"

But Jill was a bit mistaken.

Her magical scare was far beyond a "crude scare."

At least, in terms of instilling fear in children, it was flawless.

Proof of this was that one of the girls had fainted.

"...I went too far."

She couldn't just leave the girl there.

The other children had either forgotten about her or abandoned her and left.

Feeling guilty, Jill decided to protect the fallen girl.

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