Published: July 26, 2025
I sewed together the stylus part made by Lutz and the flower part, and let out a satisfied sigh at the completed hair ornament.
The hair ornament I made for Frieda turned out to be much more luxurious than I had expected.
Four deep red miniature roses were arranged, with small white flowers resembling baby's breath surrounding the roses to make the red stand out. Outside the white flowers, green leaf shapes peeked out here and there, adding a nice accent.
"Hey, Myne. This hair ornament is pretty different from Tulli's, isn't it? It's really luxurious."
Lutz looked at the finished hair ornament and twitched his face, impressed by how well it turned out.
The reason was simple. First, the quality of the thread used was different. Since I used thin, glossy thread, the finished flowers were finely detailed and shiny.
And the skill level was different. Unlike Tulli's hair ornament, which I mostly made myself, this one was about eighty percent made by my mother and Tulli, so the stitches were uniform and the work was intricate.
"Considering the materials and vibe used in the costume, don't you think this definitely suits Frieda better than Tulli’s hair ornament?"
"I don't really get what's 'suits' and what's not," Lutz shook his head in response.
I crossed my arms and thought for a moment.
"Hmm, I guess we need to study that too. It seems like Benno's shop has more luxury goods for nobles lately."
Wanting to avoid things he wasn't good at, Lutz's gaze wandered off into space.
"Ah, Myne. What do you want to do with this finished one?"
"I think we should show it to Benno first, then deliver it to the Guild Master. Do you want to go to Benno's place now?"
"Yeah, sure."
I put the completed hair ornament into a small basket and covered it with a relatively clean handkerchief from our house to keep it hidden from others.
"Myne, you carry the basket. I'll carry your tote bag."
The bag holding the slate, stylus, and order form set was quite heavy for me, so I was glad for the help. I gratefully handed the tote bag to Lutz and held the small basket in my hand.
"Oh? What brings you here today?"
Mark spotted us and greeted us.
"The hair ornament is finished. I thought it might be better to show it to Benno once before delivering it to the Guild Master..."
"Let me see."
Suddenly, I heard Benno's voice from behind me and jumped a little.
When I turned around, Benno was standing there wrapped in an impeccably neat and luxurious outfit, probably having just returned from a noble's place.
"Welcome back, master."
"Ah... Come in, both of you."
Benno nodded lightly to Mark and headed to a back room, so we followed him.
"So, where’s the finished hair ornament?"
As he sat at the table and spoke, I removed the handkerchief covering the small basket and gently presented it before Benno.
"How about this?"
Benno picked one up and examined it for a while before putting it back into the basket and letting out a big sigh.
"...Myne, you didn’t need to discount the second one."
"Huh? I think this was already a pretty outrageous price... Since the material cost was only the thread, I figured I'd make about three small silver coins in profit."
"Study the value of things well. Everything you bring in is a luxury item. If you don’t know the market price of high-end luxury goods, you’ll cause confusion."
"...Sorry."
I understood that my sense of prices didn't match the world’s economy, and that Benno was acting as a safeguard to prevent market confusion.
I also knew that clothes and accessories were expensive here, but I didn’t have the stamina to freely explore shops in town to learn the prices. Especially since stores that handle luxury goods often refuse entry based on appearance and age.
Still, luxury goods, huh. Simple-chan Rinshan, paper, hair ornaments—all things I took for granted were actually rare here.
Even though I understood mentally that such things were almost nonexistent in the medieval-style world I read about in books, my intuition rebelled. Without these items, I kept thinking about substitutes or how to make them myself.