Frieda's Hair Ornament

After leaving Frieda's house, Lutz and I headed for home.

Even though she'd seen us off with a warm smile, I couldn't shake the feeling of having fled for my life. All we did was eat sweets and chat, so why did I feel more exhausted than after a trip to the forest?

"Oh my, have you finished your business at last?"

"Mark?"

As we were about to walk past Benno's shop, Mark called out to us.

He'd told me to come report back tomorrow afternoon, so I'd planned to head straight home today. But Mark smiled brightly and waved us into the shop.

"The master has been getting awfully impatient. Tomorrow was the plan, but would you mind reporting now?"

"...Sure."

Just thinking about how I'd be scolded for arbitrarily dropping the price on the second ornament to half was enough to make my stomach churn, so I wanted to get the report over with as quickly as possible.

"Master, may I bring Myne and Lutz in?"

"Ooh, send 'em in."

Beyond the opened door, Benno was sitting there tapping his desk, his expression practically screaming "hurry up and get in here."

"So, Myne, how did it go? The old man's granddaughter."

"Um, she was very adorable, a charming young lady just as her reputation suggested."

"Spare me the polished report. What did you actually think?"

I'd gone through the trouble of wrapping it up in a nice package, but Benno just waved his hand dismissively and told me to speak my real mind.

"Honestly, I was shocked by how different her appearance and her true nature are. But she doesn't just love money — she's been observing the Guild Master closely since before her Baptism Ceremony, finding ways to increase money and expand businesses. As a merchant, I think that's an incredible talent."

"You think she's incredible, huh..."

Benno scratched his head vigorously and let out a long sigh.

"Well, how should I put this... She was cute, but kind of an odd girl, right, Lutz?"

When I said that with deep feeling, Lutz raised an eyebrow slightly and looked down at me with an expression that said, "Don't you start."

Benno's lips curled into an interested grin, and he directed the same question to Lutz.

"Lutz, what did you think?"

"She tried to recruit Myne the same way the Guild Master did yesterday, so I figured she's someone you can't let your guard down around. And also... I thought she was similar to Myne."

"Huh!? In what way!?"

I couldn't be more offended!

When I lashed out at those shocking words demanding an explanation, Lutz answered with a light shrug.

"When that girl talks about money and when Myne talks about books, they have the exact same look on their faces. Neither of them can focus on anything but what they're into. And like Myne just said, they both have cute faces but weird personalities inside."

Oh, right. I... do have a somewhat cute appearance now.

There were no mirrors in the house, so all I'd ever seen of myself was the distorted reflection in a bucket of water. The only people who'd ever complimented me to my face were strangers meeting me for the first time and my hopelessly doting father, so I'd assumed it was all just flattery and social niceties.

Being called a weirdo rather than just a bookworm wasn't new to me — I'd heard it plenty growing up and was self-aware about it. It didn't really bother me. But in the past, my appearance had been anything but cute. I'd looked like the stereotypical otaku who'd make the Library her base of operations. Nobody had ever called my appearance "contrasting" with my personality.

I imagined a young girl with Turi's looks searching for books that didn't exist in this world, putting on the same kind of bizarre performance I did, and hung my head in dismay at how pathetic that picture was.

"...I'm sorry. I'll do some soul-searching."

"Go ahead and do plenty of it."

"Ugh..."

While I drooped, Benno, who'd been listening to the back-and-forth with a smirk, tapped the desk with his fingertip.

"So? Did you close the deal?"

"Well, Frieda's hair was tied in two sections, so we agreed on making two ornaments."

"Hmm, double the profit then."

Benno's words made my heart clench. I couldn't avoid reporting it, but I was definitely going to get yelled at.

"Well, you see, the thing is..."

"What is it?"

Benno's reddish-brown eyes glared at me.

I gasped and was floundering over how to explain when Benno's gaze shifted from me to Lutz.

The moment Lutz lifted his chin slightly, his mouth opened.

"Myne received thread for the materials from the young lady, and then she insisted on making both at the same price..."

"Lutz!!"

"What did you say?!"

Completely ignoring both my reaction and Benno's, Lutz continued.

"The amount was already set, and the young lady insisted on paying the full price for both..."

"Ohh?"

"When it looked like they'd never reach a resolution, I stepped in and we agreed to make the second one half price."

Lutz's concise and precise report made Benno raise his eyebrows and look at me.

"Myne, are you an idiot? Weren't you listening? Did you not remember?"

"I, uh, I did remember, which is why I didn't offer a discount on the first one even after receiving the materials. But when I agreed to half price, Frieda told me too that you should take as much money as you can, whenever you can get it, from wherever you can."

"So what are you going to do about the fact that your negotiation partner told you that?"

Benno pressed his hand to his forehead and shook his head in exasperation.

Having your negotiation partner point that out to you really was a bit embarrassing, I had to admit. But overcharging hurt my stomach.

"But there has to be a limit to how much you markup the price. Going against fair pricing... my stomach really hurts, so please, let me off the hook."

"A merchant taking money while clutching his stomach? Honestly... Well, it only reduces your own profit. As long as you collected the full price for the second one, that's fine. There are customers who'll show up and demand a second one free if word gets around that buying one here gets you the second free. Learn to judge whether it's worth conceding or not."

I'd never even considered the existence of customers like that.

It felt like I was being warned not to act on my own common sense alone, and I hung my head deeply.

"Ugh, I didn't think that far ahead. I'm sorry. Anyway, this is the thread Frieda entrusted me with, but I need white thread to match it. The length should be, um..."

I pulled a measuring tape from my tote bag and stretched it from fingertip to fingertip.

"About this much... around one hundred feri in length, please."

"Got it. Tomorrow, come by with Mark to the thread wholesaler. While you're at it, pick up thread for the winter handicrafts too."

"Yes."

Since I was told I could leave, I headed home with Lutz.

Now I truly understood the feelings of an exhausted office worker.

I wanted to go home and be healed.

"I'm home!"

"Welcome back, Myne. What kind of girl did you meet today? Did you make friends?"

Turi, who was on cooking duty, stirred a pot while smiling warmly.

Looking at Turi — with her cute face, her caring nature, her gentleness, her steadily improving cooking skills (in progress), and her sewing skills from her tailor apprentice work (also in progress) — I felt something deeply moving welling up in my chest.

"Turi~!"

I hugged her tightly, and Turi frowned slightly as she leaned in to peer at my face.

"What's wrong, Myne? Did something bad happen?"

"Turi, you're an angel. You're my healing. You've always been the best big sister, and I realized today that I'm not just a sickly, useless burden. Lutz told me today that I've been a deceptive-looking weird little sister this whole time. Sorry, Turi."

"Haa... You just realized that now?"

She sighed, ruffled my hair a few times, then pointed toward the bedroom.

"Myne, you're in the way of cooking. Put your things away and come help."

"Okay."

I set down my tote bag and helped Turi out.

Even though everyone kept saying how small I was, I'd grown a little taller, so I could stir the pot without too much danger as long as I stood on a platform.

I stirred the pot to keep it from burning while reporting everything that happened today to Turi.

"So, this girl's name is Frieda, and she's really cute, but her hobby is money. Apparently, her favorite thing is counting gold coins."

"Gold coins!? I've never seen those. To have enough to count — she must be really rich."

Turi's attention seemed to leap past Frieda's eccentric hobby and land squarely on the quantity of gold coins. Around here, most people would never see a single gold coin in their entire lives, so the impact made sense.

"Her house was amazing too. It was filled with decorations and fabrics, and it was so beautiful. Oh, and Frieda told me that my illness is called Self-Eating."

"...Never heard of it."

Turi didn't seem to know the name either, and tilted her head. Very few people ever learned of it, so that was only natural.

"It seems to be a very rare illness. Otto and Benno said they'd never heard of it either. The only reason Frieda knew about it was that she has Self-Eating too. But she said the cure costs an incredible amount of money. If even someone that rich says it's expensive..."

"We definitely can't afford it."

Turi arrived at the same conclusion as me almost instantly. There was no need to even think about it. In our financial situation, even if I collapsed from a fever, we couldn't afford a doctor.

"...Yeah. But she told me how to keep it from getting worse."

"Really?"

"She said it's fine as long as you have a purpose or goal and are giving it your all."

"I see. You've been doing well lately because you've been living the way you want, Myne. Before, you used to cry and complain that it wasn't fair that only Turi got to do what she loved..."

"Ugh..."

Come to think of it, Myne's memories were full of times when I'd cried every time a fever hit and caused trouble for Turi.

If Turi was casually comparing me to how I used to be, that probably meant she'd noticed the changes after all.

While I was lost in thought, Turi hurriedly patted my head.

"Don't be sad. I'm just glad you're doing better now. So, how did the hair ornament turn out?"

"I asked Frieda about her favorite colors, and I got some of the thread she used for her dress embroidery. I'm planning to make the ornaments. Frieda ties her hair in two sections, so she needs two ornaments."

"Oh, got it."

While the two of us were preparing, Mother came home, and Father — whom we hadn't seen much of due to his consecutive night shifts — returned from his first daytime shift in ages.

We all ate dinner together for the first time in a while, and I told them about the Guild Master's house. It was unusual for someone to visit a wealthy household like that, so everyone listened with great interest.

Mother was most fascinated by the tapestries and cushions on display, Father was interested in the varieties of alcohol lined up on the sitting room shelves, and Turi was curious about what Frieda wore and owned, peppering me with questions almost entirely about Frieda's belongings.

After the livelier-than-expected dinner, I caught Mother and asked her to return the crochet hook I'd lent her for making thread crafts.

"What are you going to make?"

"Hair ornaments. I told you yesterday, remember? Frieda wanted them. I officially took the order today. She also asked me to make them using this thread from her dress embroidery, so she entrusted it to me."

"Let me see that thread."

Mother, who was skilled at sewing and worked in dyeing, couldn't hide her fascination with the thread Frieda had given me. She pulled out her sewing box, took out a crochet hook, and gestured for me to hurry and get the thread.

The moment I pulled the thread from my tote bag and set it on the kitchen table, Mother picked it up and stared at it intently.

Turi, who was apprenticing as a tailor, was also clearly interested in thread used for a wealthy lady's clothing, and came bustling over to have a look.

"To dye something this deep red, it takes an incredible amount of work."

"They really do use fine thread, huh."

While the two of them gazed at the thread dreamily, I got my crochet hook ready.

"She said hair ornaments are rare, so they sell for quite a high price. So I'm going to work hard to make them."

"Something like the ones I made?"

With Turi's ornaments, I'd prioritized saving thread above all else and made as many small flowers as I could from the few colors we had left. But with the red thread Frieda had given me, there was plenty to work with.

And since I'd been adding such generous markups, I intended to make something much more elaborate than Turi's ornaments. It was my way of showing sincerity.

"I'll make the flowers bigger. I've got plenty of thread."

The image in my mind was a bouquet of several red mini roses and baby's breath. My apologies for the impoverished imagination that immediately leaped to roses when picturing what a wealthy young lady would want.

But roses really were showy and eye-catching, after all.

I crocheted with the image of creating a lacy, jagged edge that, when coiled up, would look like petals.

Once it reached a suitable length, I coiled it up, sewed the base end in place with thread, and spread the petal side out slightly — and a small rose took shape.

"Wow, it's so cute!"

Encouraged by Turi's praise, I was just about to start on a second one when Father, who'd been watching while drinking, noticed Mother gazing at my hands with barely contained excitement and spoke up.

"Hey, Effa. If you're that interested, should I make you another crochet hook?"

"Father, I want one too, so make two!"

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Mother hugged me, and with Turi's adorable request added on top, Father happily began whittling wood. He'd made a crochet hook for me once before, so he was able to produce delicate ones in a relatively short time.

Turi grabbed the first completed hook and started crocheting alongside me. She'd gotten noticeably more dexterous since she'd started her tailor apprenticeship, and after a quick lesson, she was working the yarn smoothly. Honestly, faster than me.

Mother, who had been watching my hands as if trying to devour the sight with her eyes, gripped the crochet hook Father had made for her with a beaming smile and began crocheting furiously without needing any instruction from me.

"Myne, should I make the hairpin part for you?"

Father said this with a look full of enthusiasm after finishing the crochet hooks and having nothing to do. He meant well, but that was Lutz's job.

If he took that from me, I'd lose my excuse for bringing Lutz along to Frieda's — the justification that we were making them together. Besides, Lutz wasn't the type to accept payment without doing any work, which meant if he accompanied me the whole time, he'd end up being the only one not getting compensated.

"I'll just take the sentiment. That part is Lutz's job, so please don't take it."

"Lutz, Lutz — Myne, have you been getting cold toward your father lately?"

Father's sulking was painfully obvious. His excessive love for his family meant he got strangely jealous whenever I spent time with Otto or Lutz, and it was a bit of a hassle sometimes.

I let out a sigh and shook my head.

"Since you're making a hairpin anyway, couldn't you make one for my Baptism Ceremony instead of someone else's? I'm planning to wear an ornament at my ceremony too, and I'd like to have the base part pre-made..."

"Myne, so you don't want me to make one for another girl? Are you jealous?"

That's not it at all.

I had no idea how he'd come to that interpretation.

Whatever fantasy had been playing out in his head, Father began crafting my hairpin with a pleased grin.

Father's mood instantly improved, so I turned my attention back to my crochet hook. Between chatting with Father, Turi and Mother had pulled way ahead of me.

"This many red flowers should be enough. I'm working on the last one now."

We made several more roses of similar size, but with three people working, they were finished in no time. Mother was the fastest. I, who'd actually taken the order, was the slowest.

"Huh? We're already done?"

Turi pouted her lips in dissatisfaction, apparently having been enjoying the work immensely, but I shrugged lightly while shaping the last rose.

Originally, I'd planned three mini roses for each ornament. By the time I noticed, the count had grown to four per side. Considering the size of the ornaments, any more than that would be excessive.

"We can't waste thread that was entrusted to us by someone else."

"Oh, right. We can't waste such beautiful thread."

Turi drooped a little but nodded in agreement and began putting away her crochet hook.

"Next, I need to make lots of small flowers with the white thread Benno is ordering for me. The white thread should match this red, so I think it's good quality too. I'll bring it home tomorrow, so Turi, if you'd like, help me with the white flowers."

"I'm looking forward to it!"

Turi smiled happily, clutching the sewing box.

...Hmm, with Turi in this mood, maybe instead of basket-weaving for the winter handicrafts, it would be better to make hair ornaments together?

The next day, Mark, Lutz, and I went to the thread wholesaler to place our orders. It was the same shop I'd visited with a craftsman when making screens before.

I must have left quite an impression by purchasing Schpinner thread — apparently the highest grade — because the shop owner stood up immediately upon seeing our faces.

"Well, if it isn't the customers who bought that Schpinner thread before. Do you need more?"

"We'll be placing another order with a craftsman for that later. Today, we're here for a different type of thread," Mark said.

From his words, I recalled Benno's plan to have a craftsman make screens by spring.

My mind had been full of Frieda's hair ornament and the winter handicrafts, but I couldn't forget to make arrangements for the papermaking preparations for spring as well.

...I want a notebook. Not a slate that fades when you rub it — a real notebook.

"What can I get you today?"

"I'm looking for white thread similar to this."

I pulled Frieda's thread from my tote bag, and the shop owner examined it closely with a small grunt.

"Quite the premium item. The threads that would pair well with this would be these."

He took out two types of thread and placed them before me.

After comparing them side by side with the red thread several times, I chose the one that made the red look most beautiful and handed it back to the owner.

"I'll take this one for one hundred feri, and that green one over there for one hundred feri as well. After that, I'd like the cheapest thread you have, but in as many colors as possible. Two hundred feri each for those, please."

The thread for Frieda and the thread for the winter handicrafts required separate order forms.

I pulled out the order form set I kept in my tote bag — the wooden tag for order forms, a measuring tape, ink, and a pen made from whittled wood.

Once I'd finished my order, I began scratching out the order forms right there on the spot.

Cheap thread often had poor color saturation, but if I wanted to keep the price around two large copper coins, I couldn't be picky about thread quality.

Hair ornaments were something you'd hardly ever wear in daily life — they were purely for special occasions. Unless the price was one you wouldn't regret paying for a single use, customers wouldn't buy them. And I couldn't use the Guild Master as my benchmark — he was paying six small silver coins for two hair ornaments, all for his granddaughter.

"For the handicraft thread, it'll take some time to prepare. Would it be all right to bring it to the shop once it's ready?"

"Yes. Please do."

I put only the premium white thread I'd be using right away into my bag and left the shop. Since the thread wholesaler was close to home, Mark and I parted ways in front of the shop, and I headed home.

On the way back, I mentioned that I'd finished the parts using the red thread the night before, and Lutz's eyes went wide.

"Huh? Then the hair ornaments are already done? I told you to take your time since there's still a day before the delivery."

"Yeah, I think they'll be finished tomorrow or the day after. Mother and Turi both wanted to help, and they're better and faster than me, so everything came together in no time. If it had just been me, it would've taken much longer."

My original estimate had been seven to ten days, working from dinnertime to bedtime, since during the day I'd have to go to the forest or the shop.

I'd never imagined that all the work could disappear in just a single day.

"Got it. I'll make the hairpin part right away too."

"Yeah, please. Father wanted to make it because he wanted to be part of the team..."

"You're kidding..."

Lutz sighed and slumped his shoulders at the prospect of losing work to my family.

"...I mean, I keep worrying about your family taking your jobs, but that's not really the issue, is it? Merchants earn money by buying and selling things, not by making them themselves. Benno doesn't make anything at all, but he profits from commissions on the things we make."

"Oh. You're right."

Lutz looked at me as if something had clicked.

It wasn't that you had to make things to earn money. Merchants generated wealth by moving goods. Our minds were still closer to a craftsman's than a merchant's.

"This time I told the Guild Master and Benno that Lutz and I would be making them together, so it's hard to suddenly shift our thinking, but let's study more about the merchant's work together, okay?"

"Yeah."

When I brought the thread home, just as I'd expected, the work that was supposed to be mine had been snatched away by Mother and Turi.

While I made one small flower, Turi made two and Mother made four. It was over in the blink of an eye. I'd wanted to try making leaf-shaped decorations with the green thread too, but almost all of it was done by the two of them. Once again, I was pretty much useless.

...Conclusion. I really can't be the sewing beauty after all.

Choosing the path of a merchant apprentice was definitely the right call.

The family made their big appearance for the first time in a while. Turi was my healing. The quintessential heroine. And the hair ornament was completed mostly by my family's hands. Next time: delivering the hair ornament.