I Make Clothes for Adventurers! ~A Designer’s Life in Another World~ - Chapter 3

The Boy Named Marius

So, where are you headed?

Hearing the boy ask me about my intended destination, I answered, where am I headed? I guess if I had to give you an answer, the Sanzu river?

Since I didnt actually know where I should go, I answered while tilting my head in puzzlement. Seeing this, the boy looked at me suspiciously.

Oi, you dont even have a destination in mind? Seriously, where did you come from?

With a wry smile, I replied, even if you ask me that, I dont even know myself. Before I knew it I was here.

The boy still seemed slightly suspicious of me, but said well for now if we stay here we will be swarmed by more slimes, so lets move to the main road.

Saying that, he headed back into the thicket, with me following behind.

After advancing through the thicket for a few dozen meters, a path that was about five meters wide that had been completely flattened by many people walking upon it appeared. It seemed that this was the main road.

Realizing that I hadnt noticed that there was a road so close to where I was, I became embarrassed about the fact that I had been walking on an animal trail.

Trying to distract myself from that realization, I said in a lively tone, Hey, come to think of it, we never introduced ourselves to each other. Im Itoi Mina. It would be no good to keep calling him boy, and since we met here we might have some fate with each other. I should at least learn his name.

Itoi1? Even your name is strange.

Ah, my given name is Mina.

Is that so. Im Marius.

So youre Marius. Are you a high schooler?

High schooler?

Uhh your school?

Im not an aristocrat. Ive never been to school. Im going for my adventurer registration now.

Adventurer?

Confused by what the other was saying, we exchanged glances.

Hey, isnt there something wrong.

Yes, something is weird.

We couldnt understand what we were saying.

Marius scratched his head in confusion, and then asked, ah, starting from the top, do you even know where this is?

I dont. Maybe this is the life after death, or its a dream from a near death experience.

What the heck. This is the kingdom called Liliekrone.

Wheres that? Wait seriously, where?!

Was there ever a place with that name? Completely unsure, I felt my head spinning.

In the first place, this isnt a dream. Here, saying that, Marius pinched my face.

Ouch! Before I realized it, he had pinched me and retracted his hand, leaving my cheek stinging.

Like that, he proved to me that this wasnt a dream.

Since it hurts, this cant be a dream, right?

I guess youre right. I responded. Then what is this? I was at work just now, and then suddenly I was in a grass field instead of the shop.

I dont know what happened or why, but Ive heard cases of other people having similar experiences before.

Eh?

For some reason, some people seem to suddenly arrive in this world. Its supposedly some sort of unknown magic.

Magic? Theres magic!?

Enchantment magic is normal. Well, people who can use magic are rare. There wasnt anyone who could in my village, so Ive never seen it before. If you meet someone like that, maybe you can ask them.

Is that so! Will there be people who can in the place were heading to? We had been walking the whole time we were talking.

I think so? Its the largest city in this area, where the count governs the region. He should have some magic users under his employment. They probably arent easy to meet though.

Theyre hard to meet, huh

I had only just gotten the idea from our conversation, but it seemed regrettable.

Are you also going to that city, Marius?

Ah yes, I said before that I was going to register as an adventurer.

What exactly is an adventurer?

Were they people who explored the frontier, I wondered.

Adventurers are free-lancers. They primarily suppress magic beasts and gather rare herbs and minerals. Well, they can also be hired as a guard for important people. If you register at an adventurer guild, you can accept various requests.

Hmm~, even if youre young, youre quite impressive, huh.

What was I doing when I was Mariuss age, I wonder. I think I might have worked a part-time job to buy clothes I wanted, but I didnt have much in mind besides playing with my friends.

Young? Arent you also around the same age as me?

Of course not! Im 23 years old.

Huh!? Im 16 years old though.

Eh, youre that much younger?

I thought he was a high-school senior, but he was even younger than that! The way he talked was quite mature, and he had western features. He was thin, but he was taller than me.

Hes still 16 though!

Its very admirable that youre working at that age.

Is it? I think its normal. If you didnt, how would you make a living? On the other hand, since you werent working at 16, that really does make you a noblewoman, right?

No no, not at all. Its quite normal!

Speaking of which, you said that you were working at a shop right? What kind of work was it?

I was a salesperson for clothes. I was about to become an assistant designer, but

So youre a seamstress! I was wondering why your clothes were so nice.

You called it weird not too long ago.

Marius apologetically shrugged his shoulders. Sorry. I dont know much in the way of clothes. I dont have the money to buy clothes I like anyway.

That seemed true enough. You couldnt exactly praise his outfit. His shirt was made of rough unbleached cloth that had been worn down by constant use. It was styled like a Henley, with a notch in the center of the collar. Instead of a button, the collar was held together with a leather strap, but it was so worn on one side that it was torn.

He was wearing dark brown pants. These were also quite worn down, with a number of tears around the knees. They were a bit short too.

His shoes were leather boots. They went a bit higher than his ankles. It seemed like they were made from rough leather, and maybe it was because they didnt fit perfectly, but there was a cord binding them together at the top.

The bag on his back could be called a bonsac. It was a sack that was closed by a cord at the top.

His face was relatively well arranged, and his style wasnt bad, but because of the clothes he was wearing he seemed rather unfashionable.

If he was wearing nice clothes instead

Thats it!

As thanks for saving me, Ill make some clothes for you!

Eh, really? Is that okay!?

Hearing my suggestion of making clothes for him, Marius widened his eyes in surprise.

Well have to figure something out for the material costs, but youll need some proper clothes if youre going to be an adventurer right?

This is the first time someone would make clothes for me! It feels like a bit too much as thanks for just defeating some slimes. Ill cover the material costs, so can I count on you?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Seriously, thats great!

I didnt expect him to be this happy at my proposal. It was a little surprising.

At the time, I had no idea that this simple proposal would determine the path I would take in this world.

Notes
Mina introduced herself in the normal Japanese way, with her last name first, causing Marius to be confused about what her name was.
As an aside, in Japanese instead of using a second person pronoun, they usually refer to each other using their names (or some other noun like sensei or otou-san). Later, Marius calls her Mina instead of saying you (and vice-versa.) I cut down on this since its not as natural in English.