CH 38

「Wow, this is the first time Kirika has ever gotten a doll. Kirika’s so happy. Kirika’s always wanted one.」

Eh?

「Kirika won’t eat this! Kirika will keep it!」

Wait, no, that’s a little…

「Kirika-chan, if you don’t eat it, it’ll go bad. Let’s eat, okay?」

Kirika-chan then made a sad expression.

「It’ll go bad?」

I felt a squeeze in my chest.

Why did I make the chara-bens like this? I’m so stupid!

「Wahh, this is so yummy! Kirika, try it!」

Kurtz-kun ate the face part of his chara-ben in one bite, and chewed it thoroughly.

Hm, that was probably because I drew the face with concentrated soy sauce. It went well with the potatoes.

That reminds me, there are soy sauce-flavored potato chips, right? I think the flavor would be similar. Soy sauce and potato went well together. Actually, butter with potato was great as well… if only we had butter…

Kirika-chan began to tear up.

Kyuuun. I felt my chest tightening up again.

I know! I grabbed the pillow cover that was used to hold the bentos in.

Making things out of hand towels was popular back when I was a student. There are many things you can do with a hand towel.

I wonder if I can do the same thing with a pillow cover though?

Roll it up, bend and slide this end here… Done!

「Kirika-chan, look, it’s a bird-san. Here.」

Kirika-chan looked at the waterfowl I had speedily made with the pillow cover. Her eyes sparkled in delight.

「Wah, that’s so cool.」

I wonder if there are needles and threads back at the hut.

As adventurers, we have to check our equipment before heading out. Normally, if there’s a tear in somebody’s clothing, they’d get it mended, right?

Ah… In that case.

「Hey, Bryce-kun. When you check your equipment and find a tear in the clothing, what do you do? Do you change into something else, or do you fix it?」

「If there’s a problem with our weapon or armor, we request a blacksmith to repair it for us. We try to cut any loose strings we find ourselves, and if there are problems with our leather armor, then we either switch them out or try to mend it ourselves. But for our clothes… If somebody around us can fix it, then we ask them. Sometimes, the inn lady does it for us, or the guild might recommend someone to us. Simple sewing usually costs one piece of bread.」

「Then who takes care of it if those people aren’t available?」

Bryce-kun had a forced smile.

「I do, although I’m not good at it. Well, since we only fight slimes, our clothes rarely get damaged, but…」

I see. Even Bryce-kun has something he isn’t good at. He looked like the type of person that could do everything. Fufufu.

「So that means it would be better if you guys learned how to sew regardless of whether you’re an adventurer or not, right? When you make a request, it’s the same as doing a contract, so you need to use bread.」

It’s normal for families to help each other, whether it was sewing on a button or altering a pair of pants.

「Okay, Kirika-chan. Do you want to learn how to do basic sewing tonight? It’ll help you become a great adventurer in the future. I’ll teach you how to do it. Also, I’ll make a doll for you, so you can learn how to sew clothes for the doll, okay?」

Kirika-chan’s face lit up.

「A doll, for Kirika? Really?」

「I can’t make anything fancy though.」

Kirika-chan spread out her arms and leaped into my chest.

「Thank you. Um, you know, Kirika’s really happy. Kirika doesn’t feel sad, but for some reason, tears are…」

「Huh? How much do the lessons cost?」

Kurtz-kun asked.

Eh? How much?

「It’s part of an adventurer’s training, so I don’t need any money. When Bryce-kun taught you how to handle animals, he didn’t take any money from you, right? Also, both you and Kirika-chan taught me about the dungeon rules, so it’s similar, you see? Hey, Bryce-kun, sewing is important for adventurers, right?」

Bryce-kun looked at me with fondness in his eyes.

「Yuuri-san, you are truly a wonderful person. You can even sew.」

No, I learned how to sew at school, during home economics. Anyone can do the basics, at least in Japan. It’s not something that I deserve such a respectful gaze for!

「Adventurers don’t need to know how to sew, but it would definitely be beneficial to learn how. Can you please teach Kurtz-kun and myself as well?」

「Yes, of course.」

Ah! That’s right, boys take home economics class nowadays too. For some reason, I assumed that girls did sewing, and boys didn’t do things like that.

…Oh, it’s because my husband said that sewing is a woman’s job.