Chapter 22
AFTER CHARWIENA LEFT, Mira was relaxing and reading her Encyclopedia of Skills when someone else came to visit. This time, it was the third sister, Floedina.
Opening the door, she asked, “Master, there was something I was hoping to ask you. Would you happen to have a moment in which I might speak with you?” before bowing elegantly.
Her speech, demeanor, and appearance all gave off a princess-like impression, and yet she was actually the most domestic of all the sisters.
When Mira asked what was on her mind, the girl responded, “Is there anything you’d like to request for tomorrow’s breakfast?”
Indeed, Floedina was the one in charge of preparing all of the sisters’ meals. She’d made all of the extravagant dishes that’d been prepared for dinner as well.
“Hrm…breakfast, you say? What do I want…?”
Already knowing full well just how skilled Floedina was at cooking, Mira agonized over what she ought to have her make. Whatever she asked for would surely be incredible.
“Yes, that’s right… I feel like I want French toast for breakfast!”
Having given it quite a bit of thought, Mira eventually decided on French toast, which felt to her like a refined and almost aristocratic breakfast. She undoubtedly decided on this due to Floedina’s ladylike vibe, as well as her own rather poor understanding of what constituted “ladylike.”
“Your timing couldn’t be better! Actually, just yesterday, I just happened to come by an uzofnir egg for the first time in a good while. I’m sure I can make the ultimate French toast with it,” Floedina said, a refined smile breaking across her face. Showing uncommon enthusiasm, she then added, “I can hardly wait.” Apparently, uzofnir eggs were such a rare ingredient that she always agonized over what to make whenever she was lucky enough to come across one.
“What luck! I must’ve been destined to find it for this very occasion!” Floedina said enthusiastically.
Then, continuing that she’d begin preparing right away to make the ultimate French toast, she eagerly hurried off to the kitchen.
The French toast that Mira was thinking of was simply the classic kind made with sliced bread that was soaked with egg and then cooked.
It seemed that she’d be in for an even more authentic treat next morning than she’d expected. Her anticipation building, Mira wondered if she might ask Floedina to teach her how to cook next time.
Mira had first been visited by Alfina, and then by Elezina and Charwiena, and finally by Floedina. Even though it was right after their training, the Valkyries seemed to still be quite active. Impressed by this, Mira then caught sight of Elievina, the fifth sister.
“Hey, Master? Could you help me choose?” the somewhat brusque girl said as soon as she arrived. Mira wasn’t sure what exactly she wanted her to choose, but seeing as the girl had her arms full of some kind of cloth, Mira presumed this was what she was talking about.
“Hrm. I’m not really following, but sure.”
After Mira agreed, Elievina tossed what she was holding in her arms onto the sofa. Then, one after the other, she unfurled them where they lay.
The things Elievina had been holding that she wanted Mira’s help picking out were clothes, but not any ordinary ones.
“These aren’t…normal clothes, are they?”
They looked like somewhat fashionable, long-sleeved dresses, and yet a closer inspection revealed that they were indeed quite different.
There was exquisite embroidery stitched in all the most vital areas, underneath which there was padding. The joints, meanwhile, were all reinforced with gorgeously dyed leather.
The way in which they’d been stitched made it clear that they were no ordinary clothes. “They’re gambesons,” Mira guessed immediately when she wondered what they might be.
A gambeson was a padded jacket worn underneath armor. They were padded with cotton to absorb impacts and designed to protect joints that weren’t protected by armor because the wearer still needed to be able to move around. One might say they were something like the unsung hero of defensive equipment.
“Yeah, so I wanted to ask you…” Elievina said. While standing before a dozen or so gambesons, she began explaining what she’d meant earlier about “choosing.”
The gambesons that the Valkyrie sisters were currently using were on their last legs, and so they’d decided to get some new ones about two months earlier. And so, being skilled at sewing, she’d been chosen for the job. And yet, it had proven to be much more difficult than she’d expected.
She continued that the biggest problem had been combining functionality with style. While they weren’t meant to be very conspicuous, gambesons served a critical role not only in protection but also in serving as the layer between one’s body and their armor. Therefore, they tended to have a heavy emphasis on functionality. And yet, Elievina had never been one to compromise when it came to style.
However, when she tried to add stylish elements, she’d apparently realized just how incredibly difficult it was to incorporate any of them into its design.
That said, having taken on the task, she had to see it through. Therefore, after compromising again and again, she had apparently produced the gambesons she’d come in holding.
“I tried using every material I could get my hands on, but I couldn’t figure out anything for the joints.”
Having tried out all kinds of materials, she hadn’t been able to find anything that was both flexible and sturdy enough to use for the joint sections that didn’t make the gambeson look frumpy. This was why she’d given up on trying to choose a design.
There was no issue when it came to the gambeson being functional in combat, but there was no particular design that spoke to her, and so she couldn’t decide. And so, she’d come by because she figured that she ought to at least ask her Master, Mira, to pick the one she liked.
“I see…”
Despite what Elievina said, every one of the gambesons was chock-full of ingenuity. Looking at them simply as thick clothes, Mira noted that each and every one looked utterly complete. That said, upon closer inspection, the joint sections did seem a tad unnatural.
And so, after checking each and every gambeson, Mira finally came upon one that didn’t have this issue.
“Hrmm… This one seems a bit different from the others.”
It was a thick gambeson woven with impact-absorbent material. The other ones had all been reinforced with leather around the shoulder and elbow sections, and yet the one she’d finally come upon simply had a differently colored cloth sewn in these areas.
“Ah, that one is…!” Elievina blurted out. She explained that she’d brought that particular one by mistake.
It was apparently a piece of clothing made from fabric woven from a metallic fiber taken from a type of grass that only grew in special areas, such as near mineral ore veins. It was strong enough that a blade couldn’t pass through it and yet much lighter than leather, and so it seemed like the ideal choice. However, it had one drawback.
“Actually, it’s incredibly flammable, so…” Elievina said, before going into an example of an accident that’d happened because of this very drawback. Surprisingly enough, when someone swung a sword around back and forth, the friction of it rubbing against the armor had ignited a fire.