Chapter 635: Neck accessories
Second day in Rennesto. I’ve reached my goal of sending the four gauntlet knights, so I can leave this town now, but I’ve sent Neia to talk to the queen, so I’ll have to wait for now until that’s done. It’s not such a rushed trip, but as we saw yesterday……this is a town with a bit too many yahoos to walk around and have fun. So, the only ones who are out and about are Gloria-san and her escort Anzeros and many of them, including the women who are former drug patients, have chosen to spend a relaxing time inside the mansion. Then, as if on a moment’s notice, Laila made an offer.
“I’ll go and check on the fort. It’s been left unattended for a while, so it might be damaged”
“Even if Laila goes alone, you probably can’t fix the damaged buildings, right?”
“Well, I don’t want to do petty work. I can at least lock the doors and block the entrances so animals and birds can’t get in”
“They can’t get in there, can they?”
“Monsters are big, so they’re not good at climbing walls, but if it was a smaller beast, it wouldn’t be surprising if it used the unevenness of the stone walls to get into the enclosure. And if it becomes a bird’s nest, it’s troublesome, the room will be full of feces and urine”
“I understand that, though”
Whenever I returned from a long absence from the crossbow corps for a marching exercise, I would find birds nesting in the rooms of those who had not locked their doors properly. You can smell it, bird droppings. I remember that we couldn’t get rid of the smell even though we used various herbs and I had to ask Dianne to do something about it with her magic.
“I’ll leave it to you then”
“Ho. I’ll take care of it. I’ll be back before the sun comes up”
Laila became a dragon in the garden of the mansion and took off in a blink of an eye. And after I saw her off, I thought about who I was going to do what with and remembered that I was going to make Emma’s accessories at the workshop……. Yes, that’s right. In a way, this workshop is a space where I can create more freely than in Polka. If there’s a use for it, there’s no reason not to use it.
“Okay. ……Maia, Emma, I’m going to work in the workshop, so please guard everyone”
I said this to the void and started walking towards the workshop.
Now, what to make? The orthodox one is a hair ornament. If the base part is ready-made, brooches and hair ornaments are suitable for this kind of quick work, since only the decorative part needs to be designed. Of course, it is preferable to make the base part, that is, the functional part as a tool, by oneself, but it is not possible to work until one is satisfied with the work, making sure that the work is safe and sturdy enough to withstand practical use. Practical products are difficult, aren’t they? I don’t have the genius to guarantee high quality no matter what I do. With limited time, I have to be willing to compromise. Umm. But you know what? There are only so many patterns. I’ve made a few of those for other girls and it’s a little boring, I guess. I know it’s Emma’s first present and it doesn’t have to be different from other female slaves or even interesting, but it’s not good to remember the same ones I’ve given to other girls, my inner obsessive whispers.
“But I don’t have time……”
I mumble to myself as I search through my workshop aimlessly. There are many tools and materials. However, the majority of the materials are not like a blacksmith’s everyday workshop, but are in a store-bought state before being formed and there is no scrap that can be used for modification. Scrap metal is a great thing for blacksmiths to be able to sell with little effort, so most workshops that are doing well have a good stock of scrap metal. However, if they are not in business, there is no way for them to get in. If they don’t have ready-made products as a foundation, it is a problem, but if it comes down to it, I can go out on the town and get some. But if I do that, I might get tangled up with hoodlums again. If I have to go to……with someone as my escort, I guess it would be Emma. I guess I could just let Emma choose what kind of accessories she wants. But I don’t think the merchant I’m talking to would like me to buy an accessory as a remodeling material. ……I could just go and tell her first, but that would be a hassle, too. As I wandered around the workshop, thinking and muttering about various things……I suddenly remembered that I had a necklace. It was given to me by Galatia-san, a girl of Lapal’s pirates (and my own work modeled after it). Of course, I have no intention of altering it and giving it to Emma. But then I thought about the possibility of making a necklace. It would take a long time to make a necklace with a complete metal chain, but a pendant made by threading a string through it would not be so difficult. Besides, there is a 「Silk chain」 for the cord. Or rather, Laila has one. They are perfect for ornaments. After all, they rarely break. In addition to necklaces, it could be used for netsuke or bead-type bracelets. It is very nice to have a durable material. If I make a pendant top out of it, it will be in good shape by the time Laila comes home.
“Okay, then……let’s go with that”
I wonder if I should use gemstones as the main part of the pendant top. Hmmm. But I don’t feel comfortable decorating Emma with extravagant jewelry. I don’t think the beauty of a dragon girl would be at odds with that kind of gaudy, or gorgeousness that people can see at a glance. If you dare to use them, you might not use a pedestal, but rather, you might make a hole directly in a large jewel and hang it on a string……or something like that. However, my specialty is not in such jewelry tinkering. Anyway, it is the processing of metal and other materials. A metal-plated pendant would not be enough for an ordinary girl to wear, but I think it would be just the right presence for Emma’s mysterious, limpid appearance. If she wears it, anything would seem meaningful without relying on the beauty of the material. If that is the case, it would be better to keep the composition simple and focus on the design, so that it would be well-balanced and my work would look like me.
“Okay, let’s go with this. The material is silver……is this sterling silver? Sterling silver is troublesome, too soft. But it’s also a good idea to try out various mixed alloys now. ……True silver is not suited for quick work……or perhaps it’s not available here. That’s right”
The silver is a special metal from Trot´s royal capital region and is a hard metal suitable for swords. It is also resistant to corrosion, so it is generally used for items that you don’t want to deteriorate, but of course it is expensive. It is not something that can be prepared without a specific order, just out of the goodness of their hearts, saying, 「I might use it for something」. But I think gold is too glamorous……I feel that it is just as bad taste as using heavy jewelry. I think it would be nice to use iron jewelry. It might be too plain and rugged, but I still feel that Emma’s beauty would be sublimed into 「Meaningful plainness」. OK. Let’s make a relief-type pendant based on iron. The design would somehow be decided while I was working on it.
And as a result, I ended up with a silver dragon-like pendant holding a quartz mirror. It is a good work, but I am troubled when I am asked to make another one. It is so well done that I can hardly believe I did it myself. The dragon holding a hexagonal mirror between its arms and legs has a strap hole at its throat and the strap is designed to pass under the neck, which is bent inward. By the time I was done, the sky was red and my back was loudly banging as I walked out of the workshop.
“Ugh……feels good, but I feel like an old man”
As I chuckle at my body’s lack of freshness, I see Emma and Maia running toward me from the entrance and roof of the building, respectively, as if they had sensed my presence.
“Is Laila home yet?”
“Yes. I think she’ll be back soon”
“I’m lost. I need a silk chain”
“Ah, I have one too”
Emma took out a bundle of thread from her pocket and picked up a few inches of it and asked Maia to cut it for her. The silk threads are not cut with ordinary scissors, so Maia uses a magically enhanced icicle sword to do the job. Then, I thread it through the pendant top and ties the knot in the loop without connecting the clasp……for the time being. Then, I present the pendant to Emma.
“Here, Emma. Thank you for helping me yesterday. Here is a pendant”
“Eh……for me?”
“I’d be happy if you could have it. If you like it, you can wear it……”
“I, Is this……a collar?”
The pendant is a very good one.
“……It’s true that in the broad sense it’s a collar, but it’s not”
“It’s not a collar……”
……Emma’s face was clearly dejected.
“No, don’t be so disappointed! I mean, there’s a rule that Selenium made that everyone has to be present when giving out collars”
“N-no, well, I was certainly rude. I’m not sure what I should do after Master gave it to me”
“So don’t be so embarrassed, I’m really grateful”
……I see. I guess the 「Collar」 for dragons has a more fundamental meaning than the collars of other female slaves. That doesn’t mean it has to be a collar like the ones you put on your pets, but that’s what a pendant like this does, too. If you think about it, the cultural sphere of dragons is wide and diverse. The difference between the Misty Palace of the nude race and the Crystal Palace of the Eastern culture is not to mention that some cultures may be even more distant from each other. If 「Neck accessories」 are a metaphor for 「Livestock collars」, then even pendants and necklaces can be lumped into the same category……. If that is the case, I can understand Emma’s feeling of being overjoyed……or rather, I feel sorry for her.
“I’m sorry, I’ll make it into something else”
“Ah, no, don’t……take it away!”
When I try to take away the pendant, Emma looks very sad about it. ……Umm. Well, I can understand that……but am I being incredibly mean to Emma from a while ago?
“Th, Then, let’s do this”
“Yes”
“……This is a collar for Emma to 『Play female slave』 with”
“……Eh, umm……I’m already”
“That’s why. Emma may be my dragon in the 『Contract of Power』, but she’s not official as an female slave. We have to do it in Polka with everyone present. So it’s just 『Play』 until then. This is a toy for that purpose”
“……Toy”
“But as long as you wear this toy, you’re a slave”
“……Emm, why do you need to separate every single one of those things……?”
“You have to take the oath of slavery in front of everyone. That’s the rule. So if I give it to you now as a 『Collar』, it has to be temporary”
If I don’t make it so, I’ll have trouble explaining it to Selenium. It’ll be a pain to go around asking her to cover up.
“……It’s complicated, isn’t it?”
“It might be a bit tedious, but bear with me. I’ll be lovely while you’re wearing it”
……But still, why has it turned into a back-and-forth of 「Will I make you my slave, or not?」. Normally, I would forcefully show them that I want to make you my female slave, even if it makes me look like a bad guy. But I couldn’t do it here, in front of Selenium and the others. However, it is still a little distorted and pleasing to have a beautiful girl appeal to me that she wants to be sexually enslaved. So, while I made a troubled face, my mouth was grinning strangely, and I think I have a very uncomfortable expression on my face right now.