Chapter 181
Chapter 181: A small bag of white wolf fur
“Welcome Vincent, my daughter told me why you’re here for. A thread out of an animal’s fur, correct? The process could become pricy as it’s a challenging task, but we can do it.” Abigail’s mother seemed up for the custom order. She seemed interested in making a ball of wolf fur sting.
“We have many years of experience with threadwork under our belt. We once had an order to make a handkerchief out of a rare stringy plant.” Abigail’s Aunt added before she and her sister started asking further questions regarding the job.
Shortly, Vincent finished explaining how he wanted to make clothes out of wolf fur. The two half-elves looked at each other with a puzzled frown and seemed a bit confused.
“We never heard of clothes made with animal fur without magic being part of the process, but we want to try it and add non-magic processed animal fur to the list of our work achievements. This is a challenge we sisters want to take.” Abigail’s Aunt broke the awkward silence with her creative soul burning from inspiration.
“If I bring you an amount of fur, can you estimate how much I would need to make a blouse or a skirt?” Vincent asked with a hint of worry.
Lupa wouldn’t need to worry about losing her clothes or becoming naked after transforming. Furthermore, she could switch back and forth without minding her appearance. But shaving her tail might kill him one day.
“That will do.” Abigail’s mother answered.
.....
*Tula’s family house*
A while later, Vincent returned home. He went to the kitchen and saw that the preparation of the feast was ready. Plow was on the table, looking around as if the cute fox was the supervisor of the occasion.
A moment later, Vincent saw Lenn and Renn slowly preparing to light a small fire in the yard for the BBQ. However, it was a hilarious sight as the twins moved like old men in their nineties from the soreness of overtraining.
“My mate!” Lupa enthusiastically approached Vincent. Then she pointed at the meat with a bright smile and drool appearing on her lips, “Look, look.”
“Looks like you are eager to eat, hahaha.” Vincent then looked at Ester and waved for her to come.
“Need something?” Ester didn’t know what Vincent wanted other than to ask when the food is ready. ‘Did he buy us a gift?’ She thought with an eager smile.
“Could you please both follow me for a minute? ” Vincent asked for Ester and Lupa to follow him.
At first, they followed Vincent without doubting his intentions. However, after he led them to the bedroom and then grabbed the sharp knife he uses to cut his hair, doubt with a hint of worry passed through their minds.
“Ester, could you please hold Lupa?” Vincent asked.
Ester stared blankly at Vincent. The more time passed, the more confused she felt.
“M-my mate. Wh-what are you going to do with that? Why are you looking at my tail?...” Lupa flustered and quickly hid behind Ester after recalling how Vincent once cut some of her tail’s fur in the cave.
“I... I don’t want to be naked! Go away!” Lupa became scared. Having a furless tail feels worse than being naked to Lupa.
Ester felt something was wrong with this situation. She knew Vincent didn’t want to bring them harm, so she decided to ask, “What are you trying to do, Vincent? Are you going to cut Lupa’s tail?”
Lupa jumped from fright while Vincent chuckled.
Vincent lowered his knife, and then he started to explain what happened in the cave. At the time when Ester was suffering from the Frost Sigil. Lastly, Vincent ended the story with the Fabioso Fabric shop.
“Ahh, so that’s why.” Ester looked at Lupa and encouraged her by saying, “You are lucky to have clothes made only for you with a material only you can make. I bet you will be the best good-looking beastman in the world with those clothes.”
“But, but... a tail without fur is worse than being without clothes. I feel embarrassed if my mate looks at me... my tail will become ugly...” Lupa didn’t appear to want her tail shaved.
[Breaking Lupa’s iron wall is going to be troublesome. My suggestion is to go Casanova style on that hardheaded wolf girl and make her think otherwise.]
‘Kazumi is right, but I don’t want to see Lupa sad. I wonder if...’ Vincent pondered until an idea flashed in his mind.
Vincent approached Ester and Lupa behind her. Then he raised a smile and said, “First of all, I will not mind about your furless tail, but seeing you act all shy and cute makes me want to tease you. Secondly, how about making you a tail sock to cover your tail? You can hide your tail in your skirt as well. ”
Vincent crossed his arms and continued with a sly smirk, “I wonder how my cute little wolf, my righthand best girl, will look like once the clothes are ready. But... hah... I guess it will never happen.” Vincent shook his head while letting out a sigh.
“Ohh, I’m so sad.” Vincent turned around and tried his best to act sad.
Lupa looked at her soft and furry tail. She felt terrible that Vincent became sad because of her refusal. It seemed Vincent’s performance managed to win over the naive Lupa.
“You promise?” Lupa asked while holding her tail as if she was about to offer her life.
Vincent smiled, nodded, and didn’t answer; thus, the Promised Quest didn’t activate. In a way, Vincent and Kazumi learned of a loophole when it involved making a promise.
The process took some time to finish. Vincent and Ester felt nervous and embarrassed whenever Lupa moaned from the cold blade touching her tail. It felt erotic, yet Vincent forced his lustful mind to think Lupa was a pet and nothing else.
“Could you please cover Lupa’s tail with a bandage for me? Thanks.” Vincent collected all the white wolf fur on the floor at light speed, and swiftly he rushed out as if the world was about to end.
Ester didn’t have time to say yes before the door slammed, and Vincent was gone.
“...” Lupa started tearing because of this. She hugged Ester tightly and sobbed, “My... my mate didn’t like *sniffle* didn’t like my tail and ran away... *sniffle*.”
Ester noticed something when Vincent ran away in a hurry, and she couldn’t believe what her eyes saw. However, she couldn’t tell Lupa the real reason why Vincent ran away in a hurry.
Ester became too embarrassed to mention such a subject. All she could do was to comfort Lupa and covered her tail with a pair of red cheeks.
*Fabio Fabric Shop*
[Relax your heartbeat before entering the shop. Why did you have to run all the way here? But at least, hehehe, your partner is calm now.]
“Please don’t mention what happened. It took all of my strength to resist. I don’t know if I can do it another time.” Vincent raised his head and looked at the bright sky. He took a deep breath and relaxed his nerves.
Vincent entered the shop, and Fabio soon greeted him. Like a gentleman shop owner, Fabio led Vincent to the workroom in high respect.
Sometime later, the two skillful half-elves finished producing a long thread made of white wolf fur. Abigail’s mother and Aunt seemed content by the finished product as this was their first.
Fabio complimented them as a never-seen product was created. Furthermore, Fabio seemed happy with the new type of business opportunity Vincent provided. Fabio was so content about the new business plan Vincent presented to his shop that he made an offer without wasting too much time.
“Fa-Fa-Fabio Fabulous! Valued customer... no, Vincent. If you allow my shop to use this new method of thread work, I will provide two sets of custom clothing using this method and the process of the white wolf fur thread for free.” Fabio tried to purchase the idea for Vincent.
Vincent raised his hand and rubbed his chin as he appeared to be pondering. He was discussing a plan with Kazumi. A few seconds later, Vincent arrived at a decision.
Vincent and Kazumi saw and studied all the processes the two professional seamstresses made with their flexible and trained fingers. However, not even in a couple of years could Vincent manage to replicate the process in creating a string made from small wolf fur. Furthermore, Vincent didn’t have access to a loom either.
“Ahem... I accept my good friend Fabio. I will not talk about this process to anyone. Not only that, but I will only use your shop to buy textile-related products.” Vincent shook Fabio’s hand and continued with a wink, “Discounts will always be nice, my friend.”
“Fabio Fabulous! But we can discuss such subjects when time permits in a meeting with the interest of purchase.” Fabio didn’t decline.
Vincent secretly gulped and kept going with the flow. He used the momentum of friendliness between the two and asked, “Might I also have some white pieces of fabric, white thread, and a needle? I promised to personally make a scarf for my woman as a birthday gift.”
“No problemo Vincent. I shall make the arrangements. ” Fabio accepted in a heartbeat.
No much later, Vincent exited the shop with a smile and waved to Fabio before leaving. The further Vincent walked away from the shop, the smile gradually faded, and a worried frown appeared on his face.
Vincent looked at the small bag with Lupa’s tail wolf fur. Then looked at the other hand with a bag full of supplies need to sew a tail cover multiple times with a sigh in between. As his sewing skills are nonexistent, Vincent didn’t know if he should ask Yula for help since she worked as a maid.
“Heh... how can I explain more shaving sessions to Lupa? How can I tell her that I need about nine to ten more bags like this to make a blouse?...” Vincent deeply sighed. He felt this news might make Lupa throw a slap at his face for the thought of suffering dozens of times to make two sets of clothing or over forty bags of fur.
Midday arrived, and a large bell in the largest royal building chimed twelve times to indicate the time. It seems this method of time telling is the way Lusterfall City announces the time to its citizens.
Vincent, Lupa, and Kazumi were startled the first they heard the bell. The bell chimes the time and then repeats the current time five times with a two-minute interval. It gives people ten minutes to know what hour it is.
Although it was a new thing after living in the forest, the sound became pretty easy to get used to. Additionally, the loud sound of the bell somehow gets dampened to that of a soft whistle not to disturb people’s rest when inside a building.
Vincent and Kazumi guessed that the large bell might be enchanted.