Chapter 484

Welcome Party – Furisode and Silk
After finishing my conversation with Lady Kikuri, evening arrived, and at last, the welcome party began.
From the McFarlane Dukedom, there were me, Amira, Plum, everyone from the Wildcats Claws, Priscilla, and Alizée.
From the Isles of the Eight Gods, several of the Eight Seats and practical clergy in charge of the current negotiations were participating.
I was seated at the highest position among the McFarlane delegation.
Priscilla had yielded her seat to me.
Is this really okay?

“You called it a furisode, did you? You're wearing a truly beautiful woven garment. How was it made?”

The one who asked me was the dwarf grandpa, who belonged to the Fire Seat.
Apparently, he always ends up drinking himself into a stupor the following day.
He loves alcohol, and although he doesn't get aggressively drunk, he's supposedly very weak to hangovers.
I’d always thought dwarves had high alcohol tolerance, but I guess it varies from person to person.

“In my case, I make it using magical spinning, magic tailoring, and magic embroidery. The colors are applied with an all-purpose dye.”

“Hmm? As far as I know, all-purpose dye shouldn't be able to produce such vivid hues. I can tell the base is exceptionally fine silk, but is it really all-purpose dye?”

“Yes. I’ve layered the all-purpose dye over a hundred times to create the depth, shading, and patterns. It’s not easy to tell unless you know what to look for, but just for the flower embroidery alone, I’ve used over ten different colors.”

“Over ten colors, you say? Is that true, Kikuri?”

“Hey now, aren’t you the Fire Seat responsible for technologies like dyeing? Why are you asking me?”

“Well, when it comes to distinguishing colors like these, isn’t that the specialty of the Flower clan?”

“Fine, I’ll answer. It’s true. Just to color a single flower, over ten shades are used. I’m not familiar with magic embroidery techniques, but even though the embroidery itself is detailed, the coloration within it is even more intricate. Honestly, using thread of the same color to reproduce the pattern might’ve been cheaper.”

She’s absolutely right.
It wouldn’t be bad to keep the kimono techniques to myself.
I thought about making yukata—simpler versions—as a trend, but I got stuck when it came to how to make the patterns.
If it’s just dyeing solid colors onto cotton, I can manage, but adding patterns always drives up the cost.
I’m still researching a simplified embroidered kimono design, but I doubt it’ll become widely used.

Also, due to cultural habits, people didn’t really favor the kind of light clothing like yukata.
Maybe it was a bit too provocative.
It seems it eventually spread as women's loungewear, though.

“Hmmm. Still, such luxurious dyeing with silk... I’d like to try it myself.”

“Doesn’t the Island of the Eight Gods produce silk?”

“We do raise silkworms and produce silk. However, we’ve yet to make silk with the kind of gleaming whiteness like the ones we received as gifts during this exchange.”

“Hmm. My spider silk is closer to a bluish white, but silk from silkworms tends to have a gold-tinged white, right? Why not take advantage of that?”

“Indeed, that may be best. The young folk involved in clothes-making had asked if we could prepare whiter silk, but perhaps it’s better to pursue a different route.”

“I think that’s the right approach. Even I dye silkworm silk once before using it when I want that particular color.”

“I see. Things you don’t have always seem more attractive.”

“That’s how it is.”

After the welcome party, I might consult with Priscilla about importing silk from this land.
In exchange, I could export my spider silk.
The exchange rate might be tricky, but I’m sure the commercial guild will figure something out.

What do you think about this chapter?