The moment we entered the western forest the next day, we immediately found a dozen silkworms and several rainbow cocoons hanging from tree branches. The cocoons were far larger than I imagined they’d be—was it because they could spit out a lot of thread?
Anyway, I used [Search] to gather every last one of them, and when we gave them to Flora in the alchemy tower, it only took a few hours for her to spin all the thread out of the cocoons, and another few hours for Rosetta in the workshop to turn it into silk. It was a great help, but why did it feel like I wasn’t being told something?
The silk made from the rainbow silkworms was softer than regular silk, and it had a beautiful glossy sheen, giving it that very luxurious feel. On top of that, it changed color when you ran mana through it; the color that came out depended on the strength of the mana. It didn’t take much mana to activate the effect, so even regular citizens would be able to make use of it.
Would the price of the silk be achievable for the common citizen, though? From the way I was watching Zanac break down into tears right in front of me, the answer was probably no.
“This is...! The legendary rainbow silkworm silk, arcobaleno...! I never imagined the day would come when I would lay my very own eyes on it...! Thank the heavens I chose to join hands with you, Grand Duke...! Thank you so much, thank you so much...!”
Suddenly, he was bowing reverently in front of me. Was it that legendary? This arcobaleno silk was only mentioned in a few ancient texts, and although it was known to have existed at some point in the distant past, the fabric itself no longer existed in the world. It had practically become an unknown by this point.
And that made sense—those silkworms were supposed to be extinct, after all. To those in the fashion industry, it was a legendary fabric.
Zanac had been shocked by the moon silkworm fabric that had been kept in Babylon, but his reaction this time was well beyond even that. At least the silk from the moon silkworms was known to still exist, even if it was rare, but the arcobaleno silk was barely found in texts anymore.
“Surely there’s a piece of that silk that’s had preservation magic cast on it somewhere?”
“Arcobaleno silk has natural magic deflection, so it’s impossible to cast any kind of magic on it. No silk would last two thousand years, no matter how carefully you stored it,” Leen explained, having joined me at Fashion King Zanac.
No wonder it’s been lost to history.
“Wow, it really does change based on the type of mana you run through it!”
Zanac picked up the arcobaleno silk and let out a cry of joy upon watching its color change as he ran his mana through it. Though the silk deflected magic, it didn’t deflect pure mana, so even Zanac could immediately change the color.
“It’s beautiful, is it not? Clothes made with this silk can have their color changed based on one’s mood or the occasion. Even without running mana through it, it’s already so beautiful. Noble ladies will absolutely be unable to resist it.”
“Yes, indeed! This will sell just by virtue of being such a luxury silk! Do you intend to turn this into a state business?”
“We want to eventually, but for now, we don’t have enough silkworms. We’ll prepare the silk, so we’d like to ask you to design dresses to sell in your shop.”
“Thank you so much! I will put my heart and soul into its creation!”
Leen and Zanac began their own negotiations, which immediately left me out of the loop. My only involvement with fashion was when Leen would sometimes ask if there was a dress with some image that she had in mind, and then I would look up with my smartphone any dress designs that fit that condition and send them to her.
Bored, I turned my gaze out the window, and suddenly, a translucent girl clad in a jade glow burst through the window, yelling all the while.
“Terrible news, terrible news! Oh, Celestial Spirit King, I have absolutely terrible news!”
It was Aerial, the Wind Pillar Spirit contracted with Linze. She was still in her spiritual body, which allowed her to pass right through the window, so Leen and I could see her, but Zanac and the other staff in the shop couldn’t. They wouldn’t be able to hear her either.
“Is something the matter?”
“No, nothing.”
“Sorry, I’m gonna pop off to the bathroom.”
I stood up and headed for the bathroom, Aerial obediently followed behind, perhaps realizing what I was doing. When I closed the door, I sighed and whispered back to her.
“And? What’s the terrible news? Linze told me you’d gone back to the Spirit Realm for a bit.”
“Yeah, I’d been back talking with everyone in the Spirit Realm, but that’s when the Puretree felt a sudden disturbance. There’s this ominous maelstrom up north.”
“An ominous maelstrom?”
The Puretree was something me and Uncle Kousuke had created in order to cleanse Isengard of the divine venom. It was a sacred tree where spirits lived, and though young, it would apparently one day turn into a spirit itself.
Was Aerial saying that Puretree felt a disturbance? The Puretree sat in a forest around the middle of Isengard. Further to the north, the closest country was Lassei, though they were still separated by an ocean.
“Wait, did something happen in Lassei?”
We did just have a battle with the wicked devout there—had there been some negative aftereffects?
“No. It’s on the same continent, so further south from there. The spirits said it’s too suffocating to go any further, that it’s like the cleansing power of the Puretree is being absorbed, like some abyss...”
The Puretree’s power was being absorbed and the spirits were too scared to go any closer... The answer came to me right away: the fairies were scared of the power of the wicked devout—no, the former god of erosion’s power.
This pretty much confirmed that the wicked devout were currently based in Isengard. If not all of them, at least Gould.
Like an abyss, huh?
“He who fights monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
That was a Nietzche quote, right? I’d become a divine monster long ago, so it was a little late for me. I intended for my mind to remain human, however.
With a wry smile on my face, I returned to Leen.