Chapter 4

Chapter 2 Yarandrala Returns Our next stop was Madam Offler’s Wonderful Clothes. It was a high-end shop despite being in Zoltan’s downtown, and Rit shopped there even more than I did. “Welcome!” called out a strong female voice. It was Madam Offler, the owner of the store. Tall and muscular, she had a broad smile on her refined face as she came over to us. “Oh my, if it isn’t Rit and Red. It’s lovely to see you, dearies.” “Good afternoon, Madam Offler.” She bent over just a little to match my eyeline. It was part of her belief as a tailor that she had to see things from the same level as her customers to know what sorts of clothes suited them. “What are you looking for today?” she asked. “…” “Oh?” She cocked her head when I didn’t immediately answer, probably because she thought that was unlike me. But for something like this, I really did need to take a second to drum up a little courage. “We’d like you to make clothes for our wedding.” “Ohhh, my darlings!!!” Madam Offler clapped her hands excitedly. “The day’s finally here! I’m so happy for you both!” She took one of my hands and one of Rit’s. “Congratulations! I’ll make you the perfect outfits for your big day… As your friend, it would be the greatest honor!” Tears twinkled in the corners of her damp eyes. Madam Offler already had several potential designs for the dress. She’d trusted that we would get married and had been thinking for a while now about what clothes might suit us. “But the perfect outfit for a person is always changing. What might have been best for the two of you a month ago won’t be the best for you now,” she explained while showing us her designs. “And even after you choose something, it will still need to be adjusted right up until the day of the ceremony. You’ll have to come by several times to go through various things.” “You’d really do that much for us?” “Of course!” Madam Offler’s powerful voice resonated. “You’ve asked me to dress you for one of the happiest days of your life, and it’s by no means a cheap request, either. That shows how much faith you have in the clothes I make. I couldn’t call myself a tailor if I didn’t live up to that trust you’ve shown in me. I’ll use all my skills to make the perfect outfits for you both.” Madam Offler rolled up her sleeve and raised her muscular right arm. It was the arm of a former warrior, marked by old scars, yet now it belonged to a craftswoman who had the utmost confidence in her tailoring skills. “…Also, there’s something I want to tell you before you choose your outfits.” ““What is it?”” “I was a slave gladiator. My homeland was caught up in a war, and I was captured and sold off to an entertainer. From there, I was put into a notoriously brutal training school, where I was taught how to kill monsters and people, and how to entertain the crowd.” “Madam Offler…” Rit and I were both bewildered. We’d heard the rumors that Madam Offler had been a slave gladiator in the merchant city of Lark, but this was the first she’d ever told us about it. “I fought and fought, and with the money I saved, I bought my freedom. But by that point, I didn’t know any other way of living, so I just kept on fighting. Then, one day, I found myself talking to the daughter of the tailor who made the clothes I’d been fighting in. She said she was a fan, and she told me how hard they’d worked to make me look beautiful… It was so wonderful.” “And that was what led you to stop fighting and open a clothing store?” Rit asked. “There were a few other things after that,” Madam Offler said with a vague look in her eyes, “but that was the first push. What I was getting at, though, is this: How do you both feel about your past?” “Our past?” “That’s right! There are a lot of difficult things in my past, but I incorporated all those memories into these clothes when I made them because that’s what suits me best,” she said, straightening her back. The dress Madam Offler was wearing really emphasized her height and build, and it also had a swordswoman design embroidered into it… Or at least, that’s what Rit explained to me. “In Zoltan, it’s generally accepted that you shouldn’t probe into people’s pasts, and I think that’s a good thing,” she continued. “If you’ve completely set aside your past, then it would be better not to leave remnants of it in your clothes. But if your past is something you want to remember, I think you should bring those memories with you to your wedding.” “Memories, huh…” “Just whatever you feel comfortable sharing. It doesn’t matter if the order makes sense or if things aren’t connected, but if you have any memories that are precious to you, I’d like you to tell me about them.” Rit and I looked at each other. She’s right. Our past is precious to us. It had already come out that I was the Hero’s older brother, Gideon, and that the war with the demon lord’s armies was over…so it was probably fine to talk about it now. Rit nodded, apparently having come to the same conclusion. “Okay, but this might get pretty long, so should we sit down to talk?” “Of course. I’ll get some tea and sweets!” “Thank you… Now then, where should I begin?” As I followed Madam Offler into the back of the shop, countless memories ran through my mind. Even though she hadn’t even started making our clothes yet, I was sure they would be amazing. It was already evening by the time we finally left Madam Offler’s store, and the sky was red with the setting sun. “See? Aren’t you glad we decided to go to Madam Offler?” Rit said. “Yeah. I’m sure she’ll make the perfect outfits for us.” They weren’t the sorts of designs that would be finished in a day, so we would need to go back to her store a number of times. Not that that was any real trouble, mind you. It was a pleasure to see our wedding ceremony take shape. “It really is starting to feel real.” “Again with that,” Rit said with a giggle. It was true, though, so what else could I say? “I’m looking forward to after we get married.” “I’m sure I’ll be used to it by then.” “Really? You’re suuure?” Rit chided me. We walked side by side back to our home. The thought that this was a moment we’d share countless times over the course of our lives together made me all the happier. Years from now, we could look back on today as a wonderful memory. And when we did, maybe we’d ask Madam Offler to make some more clothes for us.