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 58

Volume 6 (Interlude): The Desert Boy Arc

Episode 58: Cotton Magic

A boy walked through the rocky desert.

His face was youthful and gentle.

A rustling sound came from the ground, sand shifting beneath his feet. A faint tremor ran through the earth.

The boy sharpened his gaze and drew the sword from his back. His delicate features took on a striking intensity.

As he leaped backward, a Giant Worm burst out from where he had just stood.

Without hesitation, the boy stepped forward and slashed through the creature’s body in one swift motion.

The severed worm wriggled violently for a moment before stiffening and losing its strength.

How many of these have I taken down now?

That thought drifted through the boy’s mind.

He had spent enough time in this land to grow accustomed to life here.

“I should head back to Mof.”

Muttering to himself, the boy set off at a leisurely pace.

Back at the base, a drowsy-eyed boy with honey-colored hair was waiting.

“Welcome back, Lucius. Any progress?”

Lucius brushed off the sand clinging to his clothes as he responded.

“I’m back, Mof. Nothing new today. Just another pile of dead Giant Worms.”

Mof stretched lazily, looking thoughtful.

“We might need to change our approach soon. Especially with school starting.”

“Yeah… The Desert Rose, huh? ‘Unravel the secret of the treasure bestowed upon humanity once every five years.’ That’s way too vague.”

“It’s just a cover story my grandpa came up with. But it’s practical, and it’s got that sense of adventure. Gotta admit, I wanna know what it’s all about.”

“Same here. At first, I thought it was just about incense, but if it’s related to skill leveling, we can’t ignore it.”

“Exactly. Still, I never expected to leave the Romnus Kingdom and enroll in a school in the Kemenez Empire.”

Mof gazed into the distance, lost in thought about the road that had brought them here.

Mof had always been an adaptable child.

Born as the grandson of a former cardinal, he naturally stood out among his peers. But he had no interest in power, preferring to live as he pleased.

Children of influential families underwent knightly training at the church even before acquiring skills. Mof, despite his lack of enthusiasm, excelled at an alarming rate.

At some point, however, he realized that his path was leading straight into the Church Knights—an elite, rigid, and oppressive order. Once caught in its ranks, escape would be nearly impossible.

Mof had no devotion to the church, no lofty ideals. He simply wanted an interesting life. But to live freely, he needed strength. The problem was, if he honed his abilities within the church, he would be bound by its constraints.

So he trained in secret, away from prying eyes.

A few high-ranking figures, including the Grandmaster of the Knights, recognized Mof’s true potential. But since he was still just a child, they chose to watch over him quietly.

At the age of ten, Mof awakened his skill—Cotton Magic.

Its effect? Producing cotton from his hands.

Since there was no record of it in church archives, it was classified as a Unique Skill.

However, unique skills held little value in the church. The organization was deeply conservative, wary of anything outside established doctrine. Those who did not fit were cast aside.

The church preached that all people and all skills are equal, but the closer one got to its inner workings, the more evident the bloodline and skill-based hierarchy became.

Mof was sick of the contradictions—spouting equality while engaging in power struggles behind the scenes. So when his skill was deemed unworthy of the church, he felt relief rather than disappointment.

For a full year, Mof secretly trained his skill.

His family’s high status shielded him from open ridicule, allowing him to focus on himself.

“Someday, I’m getting out of the royal capital.”

Carefree as he seemed, Mof held this one conviction deeply.

One year after awakening his skill, on the Night of the Moonlit Hymn, the church was shaken to its core.

For the first time in sixty years, a wielder of Holy Magic had appeared.

And the one who verified it? Mof’s grandfather.

Grand Cardinal Gradius was a rare figure—a man who had risen through pure virtue rather than politics. After witnessing the corruption within the clergy, he abandoned high office, traveling the nation as an ordinary priest.

When this very man declared himself the patron of the new Saint, speculation ran wild within the church.

But once he made it clear that he had no intention of forming a faction, the chaos settled.

From the sidelines, Mof observed it all.

And among the many rumors and speculations swirling within the church—

One name kept surfacing.

Lucius.

The Church was still embroiled in a fierce struggle between the Papal Faction and the Saint’s Faction, both sides relentlessly clashing with each other.

Each faction was desperate to bring Lucius into their ranks. There were even incidents that bordered on brainwashing, but Lucius was strong-willed and did not waver in the slightest.

Realizing that he had become the cause of these conflicts, Lucius wanted to distance himself from the center of it all. While both the Pope and the Saint treated Lucius as an equal without any reservations, those who sought to exalt him did not share the same sentiment.

As power struggles and traps swirled around him, the longer time passed, the more the Church’s operations were affected.

Thus, the Pope and the Saint granted Lucius’s request and allowed him to embark on a journey. However, it was not just any journey but a pilgrimage, accompanied by his guardian, Gradius.

By a strange twist of fate, the interests of all factions aligned perfectly, allowing Lucius to leave for the outside world without much resistance.

The one chosen to assist Lucius on his journey was Mof.

Lucius and Mof quickly grew close and, without permission, went ahead and registered as adventurers.

Gradius, Mof’s grandfather, was furious at their recklessness, but after realizing that disguising them as his escorts would be more convenient, he permitted their actions.

Once they set out on their journey, Lucius rapidly honed his swordsmanship, and Mof, not wanting to fall behind, refined his magic.

Lucius had received guidance from the Saint on how to raise the level of his Holy Magic, and after about a year, he reached Level 2. However, having encountered certain doubts, he eventually sought a different method to improve his proficiency.

Mof leveled up about six months after Lucius. After developing a way to use Cotton Magic in combat, he quickly raised his level and nurtured his abilities to an extraordinary degree.

By the time a year had passed since Lucius acquired his skills, another debate had erupted within the Church.

This time, it was about Lucius’s education. While he had been learning etiquette and general knowledge from former Cardinal Gradius, it was not considered sufficient. Since twelve was the typical age to enter school, discussions arose once again over what should be done.

Additionally, another significant issue emerged—the Desert Rose incident.

The Desert Rose was an aromatic incense used in rituals, known for its sweet and noble fragrance. It was said that using it accumulated special proficiency points and bestowed beneficial effects on those with holy-related skills.

However, permission from a cardinal was required to use the Desert Rose. Unfortunately, a certain cardinal from the Papal Faction had been abusing its use for many years, leading to a complete depletion of the stock.

With this scandal exposed, the Church’s power dynamics shifted, plunging the institution into chaos, where it became unclear who was an ally and who was an enemy.

Gradius, having meticulously gathered intelligence through his own network, decided to send Lucius and Mof abroad.

Fortunately, their names were not widely known. They could live peacefully in the outside world, and when they were ready, they could return. If not, they could use their exceptional talents to continue as adventurers.

While prioritizing their happiness, Gradius also set forth a task to provide an official reason for their absence from the Church—”Unravel the mystery of the Desert Rose.”

Lucius and Mof walked back into the city of Padokia.

Padokia was a place where stone buildings were common, with dwellings carved into caves and an extensive underground district.

Their residence was a rented house on the outskirts of the city—an old home said to be over a hundred years old. It was within walking distance of Padokia Magic Academy, which had a large student population and a relatively safe environment. Since Lucius and Mof were set to enroll in this academy, they decided to rent a place nearby.

Padokia Magic Academy was one of the most renowned combat-oriented schools in the Kemenez Empire. Due to its naturally fortified geography, Padokia had historically been a site of frequent warfare.

Currently, the empire maintained good relations with the neighboring Romannus Kingdom, so war was unlikely. However, due to tradition, children of soldiers, adventurers, and influential figures from the desert frequently attended Padokia Magic Academy.

Despite its name, the term “Magic Academy” in the Kemenez Empire applied to any institution that involved the use of magical energy, meaning that nearly anyone could enroll.

Upon returning home, Lucius immediately changed his clothes and began practicing magic.

“You really like that, huh?”

Mof, too, conjured cotton with his magic, absentmindedly altering its shape as he played around with it.

For Lucius, who had spent his days wandering, his greatest source of emotional support was his promise to Seneca.

There were countless times he had wanted to write letters to Seneca and Kito. However, he refrained, fearing that revealing his location unnecessarily might bring trouble upon them. He had no choice but to endure.

Lucius liked looking at the moon. Sometimes he would simply gaze at it absentmindedly, and other times, he would watch it while thinking about his homeland.

There were moments when he felt sentimental, wishing that his unspoken prayers could reach Seneca through the moon. However, he reminded himself that for now, all he could do was endure and grow stronger, so he continued his training.

Lucius pondered what to focus on for today’s training. 【Holy Magic】 was so versatile that it was difficult to decide on a growth strategy.

The current Saintess was known as the “Saintess of Healing,” having cemented her reputation with her specialized ability in recovery magic. The previous Saintess, on the other hand, had been called the “Saintess of Destruction.”

According to the church’s teachings, the Goddess sends forth a Saint or Saintess according to the world’s needs at the time.

Thus, it was commonly interpreted that in the previous era, the world had lacked “healing,” and before that, it had lacked “destruction.”

Devout believers who knew of Lucius’s existence saw his growth as a means to understand what kind of power was needed in this era.

However, to Lucius, their expectations felt eerily unsettling.

He had met the current Saintess, who was seventy years old, many times.

Every time, she told him, “Live as you wish.”

Apparently, in the past, the rules regarding the Saintess had been even stricter than they were now. However, the current and previous Saintesses had vehemently opposed this confinement, causing such an uproar that many of the restrictions were eventually relaxed.

Gradius, who was well-acquainted with the current Saintess’s younger days, often remarked, “She was an absolute wild one.”

In her youth, she had used the church’s network to travel the world, seeking to help as many suffering people as possible. Thanks to this, she remains immensely popular even now.

These days, she mainly treated those who visited the royal capital, but in times of crisis, she could also use 【Holy Magic】 for both defense and offense.

“What should I do…?”

After going through his usual basic training, Lucius lay down with his greatsword in his arms.

Today was a training day for Lucius and Mof.

“Let’s start with sword training.”

Saying this, Lucius drew the greatsword from his back and advanced. The benefits of leveling up had made him incredibly fast, and his refined footwork made him appear even more agile.

Mof, in response, channeled mana into his hands and conjured high-density cotton.

Lucius, as if waiting for this moment, infused his sword with magic and swung down with all his might.

“I did it!”

Feeling a solid impact, Lucius was thrilled. Breaking through Mof’s Cotton Magic was no easy feat.

As he moved swiftly left and right, attempting to close in on Mof, the latter repeatedly launched cotton shields to keep him at bay.

Their battles often ended in a stalemate like this. Mof’s 【Cotton Magic】 was both offensive and defensive at once—if one carelessly took a hit, they would get tangled in cotton. On the other hand, if they tried to evade, Mof would exert pressure from all sides to trap them, making it difficult to escape.

This time, Lucius decided to take a more three-dimensional approach. Since the volume of cotton Mof could summon at once was limited, Lucius figured he might be able to work around it.

Using 【Holy Magic】, he created small footholds in midair and jumped onto them. Though the mana efficiency was poor, he could only sustain two at a time.

Mof adjusted to Lucius’s movements, launching cotton in response.

The exchange of Lucius closing in and Mof repelling him repeated several times, until finally, Lucius decided to go for a more aggressive tactic.

“【Armor】!”

A white-green light enveloped Lucius’s body. The armor lasted only a brief moment but could nullify nearly all attacks.

“Here I gooo!”

Lucius charged toward Mof, utilizing both his armor and sword.

Mof, in response, scattered fine cotton around him before murmuring:

“【Cotton Bomb】.”

“BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!”—the cotton exploded outward in a massive burst.

Lucius desperately slashed at the approaching cotton, but he was eventually overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks and found himself completely entangled.

“Alright, now it’s my turn to train.”

Mof spoke to the cotton-covered Lucius, and in the next moment, the entire cotton cocoon glowed bluish-white and dissolved, revealing Lucius within.

Sheathing his greatsword, Lucius instead drew a large knife.

Mof took a deep breath, exhaled, then unsheathed his estoc before dashing forward.

Several fist-sized light bullets flew toward Mof. He nimbly dodged them, and for those he couldn’t evade in time, he used highly compressed cotton to neutralize them.

“As I thought, long-range combat isn’t my forte…”

Mof’s voice was barely audible over the sound of the wind.

Activating 【Cotton Magic】 while running, multiple high-rebound cotton walls appeared around him.

Mof flung himself into these walls, using them to bounce at high speed.

Each time he hit one, a strange “boing” sound echoed—but there was no room for complacency.

He controlled his linear trajectory, weaving in curves and sudden changes in speed while swinging his estoc*. (also known as Tuck, type of sword)

Lucius, meanwhile, dispelled the cotton walls with magic while parrying Mof’s sword with his knife. He had lost to this tactic many times before.

After a prolonged exchange, Lucius finally muttered, “I think it’s about time.”

As Mof thrust forward, Lucius abruptly leaped backward at an angle, twisting his knife to hook and twist the estoc away.

“Ahhh!!!”

Mof’s surprised cry rang out.

Seizing the moment, Lucius kicked Mof’s wrist with all his strength, forcing him to drop his weapon. The fight was over.

“Man, you got me. When you use a greatsword, you’re both precise and bold, and when you switch to a knife, you use that weirdly flexible wrist of yours to slash, twist, and deflect in unpredictable ways. I can’t win in a pure sword fight.”

“That’s just because I’ve gotten used to your high-rebound tactics. Remember how badly you beat me the first time?”

“Yeah, but you figured it out by the second fight, and after that, I didn’t stand a chance…”

Complaining back and forth, the two resumed their training, pushing each other further.