I Became a Clothing Designer in Another World - Chapter 46

As the appointed time approached, people gathered at the coffee house one by one, and when there were about 10 minutes left, Adelheid arrived last, bringing everyone together.

"Oh my, everyone's already here? I should have left a little earlier."

"It's alright, we just came early."

Adelheid, looking surprised that everyone except herself had arrived and was waiting, bowed deeply and apologized.

I shook my head slightly, said it was okay, and pointed to the empty space at the table.

Then, Adelheid moved the chair, which a spider's body couldn't sit on, and stood in front of the table.

At first, she felt a bit scary, but after seeing her several times, I got used to it, or maybe she just felt cool.

"Hick...!"

"Ugh..."

However, this was purely my own impression, so everyone else except me, commoners and nobles alike, showed some agitation at Adelheid's appearance.

"It's my first time seeing an insect-type Ayin in my life, quite... impressive."

"I agree with your sentiment, but Duke Herbert, spiders can be classified as bugs, but they are not insects."

"Lady Fanny, please just let it slide..."

Especially the nobles who were seeing Adelheid for the first time today.

"A spider (地蛛) race...?"

Even Princess Elizabeth, who had been calmly sipping tea no matter who came, shuddered and widened her eyes at the sight of Adelheid.

After staring at Adelheid for a while, Princess Elizabeth brought her face closer to mine, covered her mouth with a fan, and whispered quietly.

"So it was true that you accepted people of different races without much discrimination."

"Yes."

"Aren't you worried? They're unfamiliar people."

"People can only be known after meeting them, and since they are intelligent people with some differences, I believe we can overcome it somehow."

People can only know if they get along well after meeting each other, and since they came all the way to the capital to work, they were guaranteed to have a certain level of social skills.

It's hard for people who don't to even come out.

So I wasn't too worried.

"It's not as easy as you think."

"That's true."

They discriminate based on skin color, so it won't be easy if the races are different.

I took a sip of tea and glanced to the side.

I just noticed now, this person is sitting at the head of the table so naturally.

It's right to sit in order of status, but you hid your status...

"Tsk..."

Feeling wronged, I put down my teacup.

And after confirming that Emily had brought a drink to Adelheid, I stood up from my seat.

"Thank you all for coming, you were all my top priority, so I was worried about what to do if there were any vacancies, but I can't tell you how happy I was that you all responded positively."

I smiled and thanked the people, then stopped smiling and continued.

"Most of the information I wanted to tell you was written in the letter, so today I'm going to tell you what kind of work you will be doing in the future. The detailed content may be adjusted little by little, but the big picture will not deviate from the responsibilities I have now."

I held up three fingers.

"The work is largely divided into three categories: seamstresses, tailors, and office work. You all know what sewing and tailoring are, and office work refers to tasks other than those two, such as reception or assistance."

Sewing is sewing, and tailoring is deciding how to design and cut the fabric.

We don't strictly distinguish them in everyday life, but personally, I value tailors a little more.

Because they are involved in a wider range of areas than seamstresses.

Office work is practically like odd jobs or counter duty, but it feels a bit low-level to say it that way.

"......"

I paused for a moment and surveyed the atmosphere.

I was wondering if there would be any objections because it was a roughly determined classification, but everyone watched me with an "as is" expression.

It seemed like there were no major problems, so I looked at Princess Elizabeth and Lady Fanny sitting next to me and said.

"Princess Elizabeth and Lady Fanny will be in charge of tailoring. However, I think you will have to help with sewing for the time being, is that okay?"

"I'm okay with it."

"Me too."

"Thank you."

After confirming that the two answered without hesitation, I turned my head and looked at Adelheid and the twin siblings who were farthest away from me.

"Ms. Adelheid and Walter and Elin will be working as seamstresses."

"As expected."

"Um... Mr. William, we thought we were going to do chores..."

Adelheid nodded as if satisfied, but Walter, the older brother of the twin siblings, looked dejected and questioned my choice.

"Walter and Elin are both good at sewing, so it's okay."

The two's sewing skills were average, but they were only 14 years old, a whole 3 years younger than me.

They were children with endless potential for growth.

"Us...? I don't think so..."

"If you're worried, I'll vouch for you."

"If Mr. William says so, there's nothing we can do..."

The twins still had a doubtful expression about my choice, but they gave up and backed down when I spoke strongly.

Since there were no more objections, I glanced at Duke Herbert.

"Duke Herbert will be in charge of both reception and tailoring."

"Understood!"

You might wonder about the role of reception, but the Duke answered coolly with a smile.

Next, I shifted my gaze to the elf who was wearing a tunic that came down to her hips and a skirt that came down to her knees, unlike the other women, exposing her arms and legs coolly.

She had a youthful appearance that looked like she was in her late teens, similar to me, but she was actually 50 years old.

Even by elf standards, she was an adult.

"Ms. Katerina is in charge of modeling and embroidery."

"Modeling? Embroidery? Am I the only one with a weird job all of a sudden?"

Katerina frowned and pouted her lips, complaining.

Everyone else was talking about sewing and tailoring, but she was the only one talking about modeling, so it felt strange.

"Humans have a fantasy about elves, so there is something called an elf premium among humans, the illusion that the same object looks better if an elf is involved."

"Certainly, cosmetics often use phrases related to elves, such as the Fairy Spring or the Flowers of the Great Forest."

"Ah, I think I know what you mean."

When Princess Elizabeth added to my explanation, Katerina raised her eyebrows and smiled as if she had realized something.

And she looked at me with subtly expectant eyes and said.

"Then will I be trying on all the new clothes we make in the future?"

"There's a very high chance of that."

"Not bad, I have no complaints if that's the case."

"Thank you, but I would like you to help Ms. Adelheid with her work for the time being."

"Yes, I can do that much."

Katerina also has no complaints.

I pointed to Marie, who was listening to the story quietly with her ears perked up right next to me.

"Ms. Marie, you can't do sewing or tailoring, but I hired you because I needed someone to assist the other employees. As a side note, I heard you're very good at massage."

"Yes! That's right! I'm good at grooming and massage! I'm also good at physical labor!"

"Please keep that in mind, she says."

Marie stood up without being told and appealed to what she could do.

I chuckled and shifted my gaze to the side again.

"Mr. Reginald."

"U, U, Yes! Ye, you called?!"

Reginald, a middle-aged man with ordinary brown hair, was sweating profusely and breathing heavily with a pale face.

"Mr. Reginald, is there anything wrong with you? You look very tired."

"Th, Sir William, it's not really the time to say this after coming all the way here, but... I can't do it..."

"Yes?"

I was startled and widened my eyes.

Reginald had experience working as a tailor and had a family to support, so he gave a positive answer in the letter, but I was too embarrassed that such a person was suddenly trying to give up.

"Wh, what's the reason for suddenly doing this?"

Reginald rolled his eyes at my question, glanced to the side, and said with a trembling body.

"I, I'm sorry to Ms. Adel, Adelheid... but I... have a phobia of spiders..."

"Ah..."

I sighed and covered my mouth with my hand.

It would have been fortunate if the seats were far apart, but the two of them happened to be right next to each other.

"Oh dear..."

Adelheid looked at Reginald with pity and quickly moved to the corner, but it was already too late.

"I tried to bear with it... but I can't do it..."

"Mr. Reginald, how about we postpone it for a few days and give you some time to adjust?"

"No, I'm really, really sorry to Ms. Adelheid... but really, really, this, this is going to be really hard..."

"Oh dear..."

I could have tried to adjust the conditions if he didn't like them, but he said he couldn't do it because he was afraid of his colleague...

There's nothing I can do about this.

Besides, I was losing the will to persuade him as I saw Reginald's stuttering getting worse and worse.

"I can't force you to do something you can't, so there's no choice, you can go back, Mr. Reginald."

"I'm sorry..."

"No, please come back anytime if you change your mind, I'll be waiting."

"Yes... thank you."

Reginald, with an almost crying expression, bowed his head and forced his trembling legs to move and left the seat.

I stared blankly at Reginald's back.

I watched him until Reginald left the coffee house and completely disappeared from sight, then turned my head and looked around at the people and carefully opened my mouth.

"... Does anyone else have any phobias?"

"......"

Fortunately, there were no other phobias except for Duke Herbert's fear of heights.