Chapter 300: A Night in Valhalla (3) - She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (WN)

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After Shalwina left, Mira began reading through the Encyclopedia of Skills to pass time, until yet another visitor came. This time it was the third daughter, Frodina.

「Master, could I have a moment of your time? There’s something I’d like to ask.」

She opened the door and bowed respectfully while asking that. Her appearance and manners were like those of a rich lady, but she was actually the sister who enjoyed domestic chores the most.

When Mira asked what she wanted, she said, 「I was wondering if you’d have any requests for tomorrow’s breakfast?」

As it turned out, Frodina did all the cooking for the sisters. That lavish banquet for dinner earlier was also prepared entirely by her.

「Hmm… Breakfast…what would be nice…」

Mira crossed her arms and went into deep thought, trying to think hard of what to request. After all, whatever she asked for would be prepared to perfection.

「I think I’ve got it… I’d like to have french toast for breakfast!」

In the end, she mentioned the one breakfast that she saw as something eaten by nobles or elegant people. Her choice was likely influenced by Frodina’s appearance, combined with her shallow view of nobility.

「That’s wonderful timing then. Just yesterday I managed to get an Uthofnir Egg after a long time, which I’m sure will elevate french toast into a delectable breakfast.」

Frodina smiled elegantly and said, 「I can’t wait to make it,」 appearing ready to get to work. It seemed like the Uthofnir Egg she mentioned was some rare ingredient, and due to its rarity, she had been unsure of how to use it, until Mira arrived.

「I’m certain that I was blessed with the luck of finding one yesterday so I could prepare that for you.」

Already wanting to start working on the best french toast she had ever made, Frodina quickly excused herself to get the bread dough started.

French toast usually just involved taking two pieces of white bread and soaking them in beaten eggs, a rather simple process, but Frodina made the bread from scratch. That also meant that Mira would have an even more luxurious breakfast than she imagined, her expectations increasing for it. She also began to consider summoning Frodina for cooking lessons in the future.

She had been visited by Alfina, Eletina, Shalwina, and Frodina already. All of them had continued keeping themselves busy with different things, even after training, which Mira admired. Then it was the fifth sister, Elivina, who showed up.

「Hey, Master. Can you pick one for me?」

She looked like a lady with a rather sharp attitude, and spoke in a way more direct manner. She had not specified what she was talking about, but she was carrying something large bundled in cloth, so the answer probably lay within that.

「Sure, I’m not sure what that is but I’ll do it.」

With Mira’s permission, Elivina placed the bundle she was carrying on the couch nearby, and then took out various items from it and sprawled them on the ground. In the end, Elivina had wanted Mira to pick one amongst various sets of clothes, which did not look like regular clothes.

「These clothes…they aren’t just that, are they?」

At first glance, they seemed like slightly fancy long sleeved dresses, but at closer inspection, it was clear they were something more. There was extra padding underneath the fine embroidering in every vital area, and the arm joints were reinforced with leather.

It was obvious they were not meant to be common clothes, and it did not take long for Mira to figure out what they were, 「Are these gambesons?」

A gambeson was a type of padded cloth worn beneath armor, made to absorb the shock from hits on armor, and reinforced joints that could not be covered with solid armor plates, offering a lot of protection that normally went unseen.

「Yes, and that’s where I wanted your opinion…」

There were around ten different ones laid out in front of Mira, who was finally understanding what she needed to pick.

The gambesons usually worn by the sisters had started to fall apart, so they had decided to renew them around two months before. As Elivina was adept at sewing, she took over the project, until she ran into unexpected difficulties.

Somehow, she was struggling to find a way to have both a nice design and good functionality.

Considering how little of them would be seen when worn, it was more important to make sure they meshed well with their armor. So Elivina had started by focusing on functionality first, but then grew increasingly displeased with how boorish they looked.

But shaping them in a more stylish way turned out to be a difficult task.

Still, she had taken over the task, so she kept pushing herself. In the end, with various compromises on the design in different parts, she ended with the prototypes in front of Mira.

「I couldn’t get the joints to really work out, even after trying out all the materials I could get my hands on.」

There were few materials that were flexible enough to bend easily, while being tough to use in combat, which was the main root of Elivina’s troubles. Especially when she wanted them to look good.

In the end, she compromised on her vision of the perfect design, using the materials that would work. Still unhappy with them, she decided she would let Mira choose which one looked best to her eyes and stop worrying about it.

「I see…」

Regardless of how much Elivina criticized her work, to Mira, they all were overflowing with creativity. They looked like slightly thick clothes that were well made. Only the joints looked slightly unnatural.

Mira evaluated one after another, until she came across one that did not seem to have anything off.

「Hmm…this one looks slightly different.」

Most of them had pieces of leather reinforcing the shoulders and elbows, except that one, which had slightly differently colored cloth instead.

「Ah, that one..!」

Elivina saw it and quickly picked up, saying she had not meant to bring that one.

Apparently, that cloth had been made from metallic fibers of a special type of grass that only grew in special environments like mineral deposits. It was completely slash proof, while being much lighter and flexible than leather. Essentially, it was the perfect material, if it was not for one shortcoming.

「We later discovered that it’s rather weak to heat…」

Saying that, she related the accident that led to that discovery. After swinging a sword repeatedly, the friction from the cloth against the armor plates created so much heat that the cloth burst into flames.

「I still feel bad thinking of how Christina ended up…」

Elivina seemed to regret what had happened, but that incident led to the material being ruled out.

「Using metallic fibers to weave, huh…」

What happened to Christina aside, that material had been nearly the perfect one for Elivina’s plan. That made Mira wonder if she knew of anything that could serve a similar purpose, eventually thinking of an alternative.

「Why don’t you try using this instead?」

Mira opened her Item Box and produced what looked like a bundle of rope, in reality it was a long cable that looked that way, and showed it to Elivina. It had come from Machina Guardian, defeated deep within the Ancient Underground City, and was called Machilight Cable.