âYes, well⊠when I showed Ruby the design, he demanded a complete set⊠hahaha.â
âThatâs great. I donât know what kind of knick-knacks you make, but let me know if thereâs anything I can help you with.â
⊠I have no sense of art, so thereâs probably not much I can do to help, though.
âLetâs see⊠Ruby says that as long as it looks good, he doesnât mind if itâs not practical. I like to be particular about some things, so Iâd be happy to discuss it with you.â
âWhat are you planning to make?â
âUmm, a silk top hat, a walking stick, a pocket watch-like accessory, and a suitcase.â
âYou are going to make that many!?â
âYes. I can manage to make a silk top hat, since I made one in the past. As for the pocket watch, I donât need it to function as a clock, so I just need it to look like one. I think I could take my fatherâs old, broken pocket watch, and convert it into a glove case⊠but Iâm not sure what to do for the other accessories.â
There are no walking sticks or suitcases of Rubyâs size, so in the worst case, they would have to be custom ordered.
âLetâs say I determine the size based on Rubyâs physique, but Iâm not sure if there are craftsmen who would take orders for that sizeâŠâ
Ah~⊠there are so many craftsmen in this world who are difficult and eccentric.
They would probably kick you out of the workshop if you were to order something smaller than a childâs size with a line, âWe donât make things for playing with dolls!â or something.
But she canât just casually show Ruby in front of people and say, âItâs for my Sacred Beast-to-beââŠ
âMoreover, the design of the walking stick was to be embedded with gemstones, and although Ruby said he would let me use his hoard of hand-me-downs as materials, I was worried that he might take out something ludicrous and have its origin pried into, or worse, switched out by the craftsmanâŠâ
Mariel-chanâs complexion, which had been so pale until a moment ago, turned blue.
Itâs true that if you ask a strange person for help, that may be the case.
âMiss Mariel, your father is a merchant, is he not? Canât you rely on him?â
Sei, who was listening to the conversation next to me, asked curiously.
âMy Father is now⊠inundated with inquiries and invitations from the nobility because of the contract I made, and I donât want to burden him any furtherâŠâ
âAhh⊠I see.â
âIâve even been told not to go home at the moment.â
Mariel-chan smiled sadly.
I see. I donât have to worry about home-related matters because Otousama and Oniisama hard work, and also the Headmaster, who had ordered others to refrain from unnecessary contact with me within the academy, but in Mariel-chanâs case, I imagine it would be difficult to refuse an invitation.
If she were still at the academy, Baron Mayor could simply say, âMy daughter is having a hard time with her schoolwork right nowâ, but if she were to be assaulted while she was returning home, she might not be able to refuse the invitationâŠ
âWell⊠then, letâs all go out together this weekend and report that we are staying out overnight.â
âHuh?â
âEh, me too?â
âYes, everyone! I have a good idea.â
All right, we are all going away for the weekend! I will take care of it!