I Will Be Unrivaled With The Skill [Sewing]! They Said It Was A Bad Skill, But With Effort, I will Make It A Hit~ - Chapter 19

Episode 19: Embroidery Mayhem

Seneca had been trying to focus more seriously on her work as an adventurer. However, when she discussed this with Maior, she was met with the following response:

“I’m sorry, Seneca. I feel like I’ll just be a burden, so I’m going to train for a while. I feel like I’m close to something, so I need to pause my activities in the party for now.”

Seneca happily agreed, pleased that her companion was dedicating energy to move forward.

With some free time on her hands, Seneca was thinking about what to do when Emily suddenly visited her dormitory.

“Seneca! I’m so glad I found you! Do you happen to have any free time in the next few days? Apparently, there’s a noble whose marriage has been arranged suddenly, and they have a lot of urgent things to prepare. Could I ask you to do some embroidery for me? Just so you know, the reward will be extraordinary!”

“I’ll do it!”

Seneca eagerly agreed, thinking it would be a good opportunity. However, that turned out to be a mistake, a huge mistake.

The large room in the orphanage was piled high with fabric.

“Though it’s a lot, I thought it would be manageable.”

These were Seneca’s words.

It had started to feel off when Emily suggested using the orphanage’s big room as a workspace. Seneca had assumed the task was to embroider on clothing, but the materials provided weren’t just fabrics for clothes.

Seneca now found herself embroidering a family crest on a luxurious, shiny red cloth. The crest design, featuring an eagle within a circle, needed to be embroidered in a tight pattern across a large number of pieces of fabric.

She didn’t understand why, and she thought it was ridiculous to embroider such a complex design.

According to Emily, the client had requested that if possible, the design should be embroidered, but if it was too difficult, they would consider other methods. The client had approached tailoring shops all over the country with this request, but only the shop that Seneca worked at had agreed to take it on.

Seneca couldn’t help but wonder how things had turned out this way, but as the more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. So, she decided to stop thinking about it.

The basic skill of “sewing” involved stitching fabric with a needle, and Seneca tried to refocus on the basics to reevaluate her skill. But even that became overwhelming after two days. She was now just pushing through inertia.

Yesterday, Emily had come by to check on the progress, but apparently, most of the employees at Toruga’s shop had barely slept. Emily also said that she had been asked by Toruga to work long hours and had been pushing herself hard.

Seneca, too, was working through naps, trying to keep going.

The reward for this job was said to be so high that it would surpass the annual sales of Toruga’s store many times over, which was why everyone was so motivated.

Seneca, with her considerable stamina and seemingly endless magical power, kept pushing herself. As a result, on the third night, she even dreamed about doing embroidery.

While Seneca could use up her magical energy to perform basic sewing quickly, it wasn’t helping at all this time.

In situations like this, she thought that it would be great to have the ability to make the needle move exactly as she wanted just by thinking about it. But the power required for that was vast.

Seneca stopped daydreaming and focused on her work. By this point, her only thoughts were, “If I ever see this family crest again, I’m going to get back at them.”

Even though the reward was generous, Seneca couldn’t shake the feelings that had built up. But she reminded herself that it was her own decision to take the job and continued working diligently.

Kito had been meeting with Maior recently between her studies, discussing their thoughts on leveling up.

It was natural to seek insights from her best friend, who had leveled up faster than anyone in history.

Few people knew about Seneca’s leveling up.

Kito and Seneca had told Yulia, but they had been strictly ordered not to let it slip to anyone else. They were also instructed to keep it a secret from the guild until more than fifteen months had passed since Seneca gained her skill.

Kito and Maior shared this secret and had been discussing it in-depth lately. They also talked to Seneca about it, but the skill was so unique that it was difficult to make sense of.

After their discussions, Kito and Maior concluded that Seneca’s level had jumped so quickly because she had gained a high level of proficiency that would usually only be attainable after reaching level 2.

To level up, one simply needs to forcibly accomplish what would ordinarily only be possible at Level 2 while still at Level 1. If that’s not feasible, then following a path that closely approximates it would likely be a shortcut. That was the conclusion they reached.

Kito threw herself into reading every record she could find about people who possessed the skill 【Alchemy】. With relentless determination, she scoured through the texts.

Eventually, Kito came up with a method that might allow her to reach Level 2 in just a few months, even with her current abilities.

However, she decided not to aim for leveling up just yet.

Kito believed that it was a good idea for Seneca and Maior to raise their levels. 【Sewing】 and 【Detection】 weren’t the only things they needed to focus on, their activities extended beyond those skills. Becoming an adventurer required a well-rounded set of abilities, so it seemed like the right move for them to level up quickly.

On the other hand, for Kito, 【Alchemy】 was the very core of her work. Raising her level without properly gaining experience might not be the right choice. While she could likely handle reaching Level 2, when she considered the tasks that might come after or the challenge of striving for Level 3, she thought it might be better to hold off for now.

After mulling over these thoughts, Kito realized she had been a bit arrogant.

After reaching Level 2? Striving for Level 3?

She wanted to aim for it.

However, reaching Level 3 as an alchemist was something only a handful of individuals in the royal capital had achieved.

She had let herself believe she could easily become one of those exceptional people.

It’s good to have high goals. It’s good to carry hope. But she mustn’t let herself become arrogant. She couldn’t let her dreams dissolve into mere fantasies.

Kito resolved not to level up until the right time came.

However, she decided to steadily accumulate higher-level proficiency so that she could raise her level promptly when the moment arrived.

Maior was deep in thought.

Having told Seneca she was going to train, she couldn’t very well stay at the dorm. She had even gone out to the nearby forest to think and research. Now that Seneca had gone to the orphanage to embroider, Maior was working in the dormitory.

Her discussions with Kito had led to the conclusion that achieving something possible only at Level 2 while still at Level 1 might allow her to level up.

This was no easy feat.

Seneca, with her vast magical reserves, had used all her magic to sew leather—an impressive display in itself. But for Maior, who lacked any standout traits, overcoming such a barrier seemed even more difficult.

Yet, she couldn’t stop herself from aiming to level up.

Honestly, Maior had always thought becoming a hero was beyond her reach.

Even earning a spot as a special scholarship student at the Royal Adventurer Academy had been fueled by sheer stubbornness rather than genuine aspiration.

But Seneca had acknowledged her. Seneca had affirmed her.

That meant more to Maior than anything else.

And so, she kept telling herself this was her last chance and worked hard.

“If I miss this opportunity, I’ll never grasp my dreams. So, even if I look foolish or clumsy, I’ll keep moving forward. I’ll take that step forward.”

That thought guided Maior through her days.

When someone with the skill 【Detection】 levels up, their detection range expands. Generally, the range is the main measure of a 【Detection】 skill’s effectiveness. However, no matter how hard she thought about it, Maior couldn’t imagine detecting something at the range of a Level 2 user while still at Level 1. That seemed impossible, so she had to give up on that aspect.

There was another way, though. It was said that leveling up increased the quantity of information one could acquire. The types of things one could detect also expanded, and it would eventually become possible to perceive things as if they were right before one’s eyes.

Maior wondered if there was room for improvement in that aspect.

She thought that if she continued to obtain higher-precision information, she might get closer to leveling up.

To examine the properties of her skill, Maior activated 【Detection】 to its maximum range.

There were no magical beasts nearby since she was in the city, but there were magical reactions. A particularly strong magical presence was at the orphanage—undoubtedly Seneca.

There were a few other significant magical reactions, though she couldn’t tell who they were.

She re-examined the level of detail in the information.

Within the innermost third of her detection range, the information was precise—she could discern the movements of people walking.

Further out, the information grew vague. Large movements stood out, but identifying something as “person-like” or “maybe a magic stone” was the best she could do.

At the edge of her range, she could only sense that “something” existed, with no clarity about what it was.

Maior narrowed her detection range to just the innermost third and activated 【Detection】 again. This time, the details became clearer.

She could tell that Seneca was moving her hands at an incredible speed. She was probably sewing something.

Wider detection meant diluted information, while narrower detection produced greater detail. Maior began to suspect that the total amount of information within her detection range might be fixed.

If that was the case, she thought, then continuously focusing on narrower, more precise detection might allow her to level up faster.

Maior reduced her detection range to its limit.

Right now, she could only narrow it to about the size of her dorm room.

People with the skill 【Detection】 usually focused on expanding their range as much as possible since the benefits of doing so were immense.

Maior herself had been trying to expand her range ever since acquiring the skill.

However, meeting Seneca had reversed her approach.

In combat, she had begun to use narrowed detection to her advantage.

By focusing on a defined area, she could precisely track the movements of magical beasts and preemptively disrupt their attacks.

For someone with her background, Maior felt that training to improve the precision of her information gathering suited her well.

She didn’t know if this method would truly help her reach Level 2. Maior didn’t have much time. But she had come to realize that failure itself wasn’t what scared her most. What terrified her was leaving her failures unaddressed, letting them become meaningless.

Seneca often failed but always learned from her mistakes. By continually failing and improving, she eventually arrived at the right answer.

Maior had witnessed this firsthand.

Seneca’s ascent to Level 2 might have been due to luck, but not luck alone.

Maior was convinced that Seneca was truly extraordinary.