"That..." Lothur opened his mouth in surprise, drawing attention from Annaliese and that woman attending them.
"Is there a problem, Lothur?" Annaliese questioned him as she saw the strange expression on his face, which generally seemed so calm.
Meanwhile, that attendant watched him in silence, noticing how he was touching several of those materials in the book she had opened.
'Did he like something?' She wondered before finally hearing him cough twice.
p "Cough! Cough!"
"Eh, I just found that Three-Eyed Serpent Leather interesting. It is extraordinary." Lothur said this to disguise his earlier expression.
"Oh? Three-Eyed Serpent Leather?" Annaliese looked at the different materials in front of her but could not see what he was talking about.
"You identified Three-Eyed Serpent Leather just by touching it?" Finally, that woman attending them asked in astonishment, since that material was not so different from other types of leather in that book.
Even she, someone who had worked in this store for decades and had taken years to learn how to identify these materials, still could not do it with just a simple touch. But here was this young man of incomparable looks, doing the 'impossible' right in front of her.
It was not for nothing that she had been surprised!
"Uh? Is there a problem? I happened to have read about this material before, so I identified it by touching it." Lothur said naively but told the truth.
Among the many books he was reading in the library of Sector-1, they counted books concerning materials and objects necessary to this world.
Even though he did not have access to cultivation-related things there, even ordinary citizens needed to be aware of cultivation resources.
They were potentially life-changing items!
On the other hand, cultivation resources were items of great importance for the continental economy. So, naturally, matters concerning these items went beyond the cultivation content of the Morning Star Academy, which had made it possible for this young man to learn about some of these items.
"Did you happen..." That woman repeated Lothur's words in a low voice, finding it incredible that such a prodigy had appeared so suddenly in front of her.
"Young man, what is your name?" She asked after calming down a bit.
"Lothur."
"Well, Lothur, I must tell you that you have an amazing talent for identifying materials. Have you ever thought about the idea of becoming a tailor?"
"What?" Annaliese was the first to say something, realizing what was happening there. 'Is this woman recruiting him? Why? What the hell is going on?'
As for Lothur, he said nothing upon hearing that. He had no interest in tailoring, but he did not like closing doors in his path so quickly.
There was nothing wrong with hearing what that woman had to say!
"Me? Talent? Are you sure, ma'am? I only recognized that by coincidence. I don't think I could identify all those materials..."
"No." She shook her head, contradicting the 'modesty' of the young man in front of her. "Even if you cannot identify all of them, be able to do that with just one, but with such ease and dexterity is already amazing."
"You must have above-average sensory capabilities!"
"Actually, not so much..." Lothur murmured, smiling awkwardly at that person.
But she was not convinced and said. "Lothur, you must know the importance of blacksmiths in our world, right? Well, our tailoring profession is complementary to forging since we deal with materials with the potential to strengthen defensive items produced by blacksmiths."
"As such, we don't just produce ordinary clothing, as many people think."
Hearing that, Annaliese nodded in agreement, not interested in trying to get that woman away from Lothur. "That is true."
"Some defensive items don't even need to be produced by blacksmiths. Tailors can produce special clothing as good or even better than armor."
That was true. Unique clothing produced by tailors could be better than some armor since fabrics generally restricted less body movement and were lighter. However, there was one major drawback to tailor-made products, which allowed armor sales not to decline.
The price!
Because it relied on unique materials with somewhat challenging characteristics, tailor-made clothing could not compete cost-effectively with armor, items produced with standard resources.
But this did not make the specialization of that store any less critical in Concordia because there were always possibilities to use unique clothing that went beyond the potential of armor.
On the other hand, armors themselves had their weaknesses, which were usually strengthened through the combination of blacksmiths and tailors.
Knowing this, that woman had told Lothur about it, and Annaliese did not contradict her, even helping her introduce this spiritual profession to him.
"Is that right?" Lothur looked with interest at Annaliese, seeing that she did not seem worried about him being recruited that way.
'Hmm, she probably thinks it would be good for someone like me to get a profession...'
'Well, but for now, I don't know if I want that for myself.' He pondered before finally answering that woman's interest. "Well, maybe we can talk about that other time."
"But right now, I truly need to order an outfit for a formal occasion."
Hearing that, such a woman was not dissatisfied since Lothur had not refused her offer. And thinking about how he was still just a customer, she regained her previous posture and said. "Well, let's get on with that business first."
"Have you made up your mind which fabric you will choose? After that, we still have to talk about the model of the clothes, special features..." Before taking this young man's measurements, she began to talk about everything she needed to know about him.
These unique clothes could have distinctive features, such as secret storage for weapons, hiding armor under the clothes, etc.
With this, Lothur and Annaliese spent some time making decisions about these points until that woman took his measurements.
At that moment, Lothur used a device available in that store, which measured its target's body without touching or even requiring the customer to take off his clothes.
And with that, soon, he and Annaliese received the bill for the clothes ordered.
"Five thousand bronze coins?" Lothur said in surprise as he saw the amount written on a piece of paper, shocked by the price of a set of clothes in this place.
That attendant then said. "Yes, I am giving you a special 30% discount because of your great talent, so the price is only 5,000 bronze coins."
'Only?' Lothur felt a pang in his heart, feeling that he would become poor at this rate.
But seeing Annaliese was about to pay that woman, he stepped forward and refused his sister-in-law's coins. "No, Anna, I will pay for it myself."
"Are you sure? I'm the one who made you buy this, so I don't mind paying."
"Hmm, thanks for the concern, but I will pay." He sighed in his heart, feeling that this outfit would have to be worth a lot.
'Ah, it's not for nothing that my predecessor spent so many coins in such a short time after his guardian died...'
After that, it was not long before the two left that place, heading back to the Frost family property as they walked through the local streets.
The clothes he had ordered had been promised to be ready in 5 days. As such, he promised to return after that time to take those clothes and get to know that profession a little better.
...
It was already night by the time Lothur and Annaliese arrived at the Frost family estate.
However, as they were walking through the place, a blonde woman appeared in the opposite direction, with a gaze focused on the silver-haired young man.
Seeing Elise looking at him like that, Lothur wasted no time and asked. "What do you want now? Maybe you got hooked from the previous vision and want to see me like that again?"
"See you like that?" Her cheeks turned red at the memory of Lothur's naked body. 'Damn bastard!'
'But you will pay me!'
'Now that you're going out on a mission, I'll have my chance to act!'
Elise then sighed after a moment of silence, trying to calm herself down. She then said to those two. "The master and madam want you to attend the dinner tonight."
"In fact, do that a little earlier." She smiled as she remembered Mabel's tone. "Looks like madam has a lot to talk to you two about, hehe."