Arachne Chapter 2

Arachne (Second Part)

The brown-haired woman's name is Aize Foren.

She's the daughter of a wealthy merchant in the town of Rihak, located near this forest. According to her, she was on her way back from a business deal at the neighboring village when the bandits attacked.

I just randomly made up a story that goes something like 'I was living together with my mother in the forest, but she died of sickness, so I left and tried to go to the town', but thankfully, she believed and sympathized with me.

I also explained that my strength came from being trained by my ex-adventurer mother, and again the woman doesn't hold even an ounce of doubt.

…So that means this world has adventurers.

…Well, I did have my suspicions from seeing mother turning the table on all those people who often came to challenge her.

And so, when I said I want to work at the town, she said that new immigrants to the town requires a guarantor, and that she can guarantee for me if I want.

Indeed, one shouldn't hesitate to save people.

And then she continued to say "That's not nearly enough to show my thanks!"… Which led to me being dragged inside the Foren house immediately after we entered the town. Right now, I'm being a.s.saulted with food by the Foren family at the dining table.

"Miss, we simply can't express our grat.i.tude enough for saving Aize when she was in danger… Ah, this grilled Horned Wolf's innards is exquisite, you know?! And how about this Lesser Dragon's tail steak?"

"Indeed… Aize is our house's only child… The Foren family line just barely managed to survive today. Ah, I've heard that this Ogre Bear paw soup has some good medicinal qualities. Please, don't be shy."

"Really, no matter how much I give my thanks, it won't be enough! Ah, this hamburg steak made from wyvern and sea dragon meat is amazing too, please have some!"

Umm… How do I say this…

Everyone in the Foren family seems to have the hobby of eating some really strange food.

They spent some big money without hesitation to collect all these rare ingredients, and I'm grateful for this generous feast, but…

No, I mean, I'm still an Arachne, you know?

I don't have any problems with eating these food, even if it's a snake or a wolf or anything.

Just that, my [Predation] skill has been reacting non-stop ever since a while ago.

So it turns out that this skill even activates with prey I don't hunt myself…

When the dinner's over, even though my level was just 7 (it went up from defeating the bandits), my stats went insane.

______________________________________________

HP:     126     (Max 126    (Predation Bonus +960))

MP:     78       (Max 78      (Predation Bonus +490))

Basic Stats    (Lv Bonus)   (Predation Bonus)

STR     18                   (33)               (+399)

VIT      18                  (33)               (+460)

DEX    18                   (33)               (+405)

SPD     18                  (33)                (+335)

INT     13                   (21)               (+124)

MID    13                   (21)               (+226)

Learned Skills:

Dragon Scales, Intimidate, Breathe Underwater, Super Strength, Gale, Steel Threads, Fire Breath, Water Breath, Fire Resistance, Water Resistance, Wind Resistance, Earth Resistance… etc

______________________________________________

No no, I'm not exactly aiming to be a hero, you know?!

I'm fine with being a run-of-the-mill citizen! I'm going to be a dressmaker in this town!

Yeah, so this status isn't something I can show to people… If they see it, I'm absolutely going to get dragged into the mess that is 'defeating monsters' or 'becoming an officer for the country' or, in the worst case scenario, 'becoming a test subject'.

I didn't see my stats. Yup.

After the meal, while I'm still dizzy from seeing my extreme stats, Aize sidled up to me and started talking.

"…So, does Lady s.h.i.+ori have any plans while living in this town? If not, then you can just stay here like this…"

…For some reason, that sent a chill running down my spine. This feeling is a lot like when my sisters were chasing after me.

Aize, why are your cheeks so red? Wait, actually, what's your hand doing on my thigh?

"N-No, I already got the reward from defeating the bandits, so I was thinking to use the money to start up a tailor…"

"…Oh, is that so… What a pity. But if that's your plan, then we will help with advertising!"

"Y-y-yes. Thank you very much…"

And so, I opened a tailor shop in the town of Rihak.

※

Three months since then. My tailor shop is doing well.

After Aize introduced to me a cheap place, I rented it and hung up a wooden sign, and I got my own store just like that. While it's just a small store, right from the very first day I began business, a sea of adventurers poured inside and filled up every single standing s.p.a.ce of the shop, thanks to Aize announcing to the whole adventurer's guild about how my dress stopped a bandit's blade (apparently, the escorts who got downed by the bandits were people hired from the guild). And that's why my shop is doing so well.

Well, I said that, but the only products I can make are Arachne silk clothes, so rear-line adventurers probably make up most of my customers.

These days, the shop finally calmed down compared to its hectic first days, but I still get plenty of profits.

While I'm the only sewer in this shop, and most of my orders are custom tailored clothes so I can't make a lot of them, but since I get my materials practically for free, I'm raking in cash.

"Oh? So this is the clothing store I've been hearing about quite a lot these days, is it?"

"That's right. Their clothes has more defense than even some lower tier hard leather armor, they go well with magic buffs, and best of all, they're cheap! This is the best place to buy clothes for people in the mid-rear position of the party, like me!"

The people who opened the door and came inside the shop was a man and a woman, both looking like adventurers.

The woman is a customer who recently bought a tailored robe from me.

So a repeat customer, is it. I'm grateful for your patronage.

"That so… But in the end, they're still cloth armor, right? This place doesn't have Hydra Leather Armor or Dragon Scale Armor, right?"

"Don't ask for the impossible. This place specializes in clothes and cloth armors, you know?"

"Tch, I knew it, gotta hunt for them myself… Useless store."

…Ah, he just ticked me off.

That was a challenge, right? A challenge, right?!

I smiled at the adventurer – most likely a warrior – bearing the face of a man who just barely stepped into adulthood, and opened my mouth.

"Customer, I sincerely apologize for our lacking store… If you can wait for a while, around a month, we'll have some new items in stock, and I hope you'll visit us again then."

"Uh… What?! You're… the owner?"

"Yes, I am s.h.i.+ori Arachne, owner of this Arachne Tailor. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The adventurer's face turned red like a tomato, his eyes kept staring at my face dumbfounded… Is he a lolicon?

Well, I'm someone with the appearance of a 13 years old, real age of 4 months counting from my birth, and mental age of 24 years old. That's the sort of messed-up existence I am, so I'll forgive his rudeness.

"Aaargh! Geez! Just ignore what this oaf says, s.h.i.+ori! You're cute like always!"

The female adventurer, who's probably a magician, hugged me from behind and rub her cheeks against mine.

In these sorts of situations, the fact that she's of the same s.e.x as me, and thus doesn't hold back at all, only makes it more difficult to tactfully deal with her…

"Mish… Miss cuffomer… Pwease calm down…" *Pomf*

As I'm getting knocked down and petted by the woman, I make a promise to myself to expand the shop and hire more employees as soon as possible…

※

To the east of the town of Rihak is the sprawling Forest of Magical Beasts.

I had been diving into this place since three days ago.

I came here because I heard that this is where I can find not only Lesser Dragons and Hydras, but also Adamant.i.te Turtles, Silver Fang Wolves, etc… These monsters are the source of super-first-rate armor materials, and this forest is their home.

While my level is just 7, my stats is practically equal to S-rank adventurers thanks to [Predation]. Which means, if I return to my real form – my Arachne form – and if I only stay in the shallow parts of this forest, nothing can hurt me.

Furthermore, the meat of the preys I hunted can't be used as materials, so they went on an express train to my stomach.

In the end, I grew even more powerful thanks to [Predation].

I'm already more powerful than mother now… probably.

The basis for my guess came from the fact that the forest where I was born doesn't have many strong monsters, so after my sisters ate each other, their growth rate would slow down quite a lot.

"Hmmm, as I thought, there's only Silver Fang Wolves and Fire Foxes in the forest's shallow areas… Maybe it's time to dive deeper. My level went up enough, anyway."

I activate Tactile ThreadSensor Web and check my status.

______________________________________________

Name: s.h.i.+ori Arachne. Age: 24  Female

Total level: 38

Race: Arachne

Cla.s.s: Dressmaker

HP:        684    (Max 684    (Predation Bonus +1130))

MP:        254    (Max 254    (Predation Bonus +595))

Basic Stats     (Level Bonus)  (Predation Bonus)

STR     25                   (118)                 (+440)

VIT     25                    (118)                 (+510)

DEX    18                    (85)                   (+640)

SPD    18                    (85)                   (+490)

INT     13                    (61)                  (+320)

MID    13                    (61)                  (+390)

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As my level rose, I also gained the skills [Will-o'-the-wisp] and [Bite].

Thankfully, seems like I can still use these two skills when in human form.

…Yeah, this is probably enough to hunt a standalone Lesser Dragon or Hydra in the deeper areas.

I'll hunt for around two days more and then return to the shop to start production.

Hahahah, just you wait!

When I'm done with this, not only can my shop supply for support-type adventurers, but I can also attract adventurers who fight on the front line.

Let's aim to become the number one tailor in town!

…I have a feeling my shop is slowly becoming an armor shop instead of a tailor, though…

※

After returning from the Forest of Magical Beasts and spending another 3 weeks to make the armors, I finally somehow managed to display my new goods in the store within the one month time limit that I promised the adventurer.

And right now, in front of my eyes, among the ma.s.s of customers visiting my store is exactly that warrior, who is currently staring at a display stand in a daze.

"Hydra Leather Armor, Dragon Scale Armor… and over here is a breastplate made from Adamant.i.te Turtle materials…? What's more, this price… is even 30% cheaper than the market price…"

"Hohoh… Customer, did something catch your eyes?"

"Ah, yeah… Miss, can I [Identify] it?"

"Yes, the Hydra Leather Armor and the Adamant.i.te Turtle breastplate, is it? Please feel free to examine it."

By the way, [Identify] is a skill to examine the details of non-living objects. It can be said to be a skill that all adventurers should know.

After getting my permission, the warrior closely examine the Hydra Leather Armor and the Adamant.i.te Turtle breastplate.

"…So this is no fake… And the durability is quite high compared to those on the market… And with this price?! How the h.e.l.l?!"

Wahahah, feast your eyes on my high-quality armor and be impressed! They're completely different from those pre-made goods on the market!

Normally, in armors utilizing high-quality materials like this, the first thing to break isn't the protective plate, but the leather fasteners or the thread bindings.

With that in mind, I made the fasteners and bindings from my own thread. They're fire-proof, water-proof, and tough to boot.

The result is a maintenance-free high-quality set of armor, with not only high defense but good durability as well.

Furthermore, I get the materials by myself, so I can sell it for cheap.

"…buy…"

"…Yes?"

"I'm buying! This and this and this! I'm buying everything!!"

"Understood! Thank you for your business!!"

Hahaha, I won! I'm not going to let you go home with a single coin left in your pockets!

It won't be long until my shop becomes the number one tailor in town!

※

…Even I had such naive thoughts, once.

"Hmmm…So this is the shop I've been hearing about recently. How disappointing."

…Huh? Déjà vu?

"Indeed, looks like there's some good stuffs, but true first-rate armors should be made from True Dragon scales at the very least… And the best robes should be made from feathers of the G.o.d Bird Lemire… It'll be much too risky to use this shop's armors to go hunt Corrupted Dragons."

Standing there is a knight who's whispering loudly enough for me to hear him, while constantly throwing his glances my way… If I remember correctly, he's the leader of the knight squadron of this town.

Grr… Argghh… That's it. You've done it!

I don't care about this town anymore, my shop is going to be the best one in this whole country!

"Customer, I deeply apologize for my lacking store… If you can wait for a while… about one month, I shall have new items in stock, so please come back at that time."

"Oh? I've heard that True Dragons and Lemire birds only live on Dragonfang Mountain in the Greenroad region. It seems you have a way to acquire the materials… If possible, can you make enough for everyone in my squadron?"

"Yes, I will certainly fulfill your demands."

"…I see. Then I shall be expecting your delivery."

I actually haven't thought about how to get those materials at all! I was just retaliating to your provocations!

So, that so-called Dragonfang Mountain, and 1 month… Counting the time needed to make the items, then it'll be around 3 weeks… I wonder if I can do this.

※

One month later.

I somehow managed to reopen my shop after dragging a body full of wounds back home.

I barely managed to defeat a True Dragon and the Lemire bird and take their materials after losing a spider leg.

Well, I only lost a leg. After a while it'll grow back, so I don't really mind.

Furthermore, I grew to level 58 after this journey, plus I ate True Dragon and Lemire meat, so my stats rose to absurd levels.

Utilizing my high stats, I made 30 sets of each new armor types in three days.

My products should be more than enough to satisfy the knight captain's orders.

"Hm?! This is…"

And right now, that knight captain is standing in my shop, holding a 'G.o.d Bird Robe' in his hand, and mumbling to himself.

"This, this is indeed a G.o.d Bird Robe… Arachne silk is used as the base, is it? And quite high-quality silk, too. And… what's this? No signs of any sewing. It's as if the fabric was in the shape of a robe from the beginning…"

Exactly.

I weaved the cloth into the shape of a robe from the start, which made the robe even tougher and improved the texture.

I'm the only one who can make this sort of clothes, thanks to my ability to control the threads to a certain degree at the moment they're created.

"And the True Dragon armor, too… Arachne silk was used for the lining… True, this means there's no worries the armor will slip out of place, so that's good. No need to wear additional cloth armors, which means better maneuverability."

Indeed, three whole sleepless nights was really quite tough on me, but it was worth it. The knight captain also seems very much satisfied.

"Wonderful… I'm also surprised at how you managed to acquire True Dragon and Lemire materials during such a short time period, but more than that is how you even use such high-quality arachne silk, not as the main materials, but as the lining… and furthermore, so effectively! I must apologize, miss, I only looked at your appearance and made a poor judgement. You are indeed a master of your craft, and no one in this country can be your equal! Please allow our squad to purchase these! Of course, at whatever price you wis.h.!.+"

After he apologized for his rudeness a month ago, he purchased 20 sets of True Dragon Armor and 12 sets of G.o.d Bird Robe without a word of haggling.

And the rest were sold out completely within 3 days of sitting in the shop's inventory. The shop's capital is quite abundant now.

I should probably move over to a bigger place and hire more employees soon.

Then hire maybe a designer specialist, and focus more on the designing phase when making armors…

—And right when I was daydreaming about my future plans, they appeared.

*Creaks*. The shop door opens, and the hero party I've been hearing about these days entered the shop.

And after having one look around the shop, the oh-so-great hero granted me his opinion in a whisper.

"…As I thought, you can't get anything good from shop equipment. Probably just going to have to hunt for drops if I want anything better… Wearing these stuff to fight the demon king would be tough going."

Ha.

Hahaha.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Fine!

I just need to supply you your equipment, right!

Equipment good enough to beat the demon king!!

"Hero, if I can have your guarantee that you'll buy my goods, then I can acquire what you need in a month."

"…Really?! Alright, I'll make that promise. I'll be expecting your new equipment."

And then, one month later.

I sold the hero a four-pieces set of super armor at a reasonable price. The set includes a Demon King Cloak (Enhanced), Demon King Boots (Enhanced), Demon King Clothes (Enhanced), Demon King Pants (Enhanced).

Well, just look at the names of the items and you can guess what they were made from.

In a daze, the hero take the armor set that has already lost its raison d’être in his hands…

s.h.i.+ori's stats at the end of this chapter:

Name: s.h.i.+ori Arachne. Age: 24  Female

Total level: 69

Race: Arachne

Cla.s.s: Dressmaker

HP:         1725     (Max 1725 (Predation Bonus +3230)) in Arachne Form

HP:         1242    (Max 1242 (Predation Bonus +3230)) in Human Form

MP:         449      (Max 449 (Predation Bonus +1308))

Basic Stats   (Level Bonus)   (Predation Bonus)

STR     25                 (195)                   (+999)

STR     18                 (140)                   (+999) *Human Form

VIT     25                  (195)                   (+999)

VIT     18                  (140)                  (+999) *Human Form

DEX     18                (140)                   (+999)

SPD     18                 (140)                   (+690)

INT     13                 (101)                    (+605)

MID     13                (101)                    (+710)

t.i.tle:

Weaver Princess, A Ruler Who Does Not Rule, Artisan Master

Personal Skills:

Charm, Thread, Soft Threads, Steel Threads, Sewing (Ex), Weaving (Ex)

Armor Creation (High), Evasion Rate Up (Large), Escape Rate Up (Large)

Tactile ThreadSensor Web, Web s.h.i.+eld, Predation

Human Transformation, Detect Presence (Unavailable in Human Form), Regeneration, 4 Strike Combo (Unavailable in Human Form)

Dragon Scales, Intimidate, Breathe Underwater, Super Strength, Gale

Fire Breath, Water Breath, s.h.i.+ning Breath

Will-o'-the-wisp, Bite, Flight Magic, Spirit Absorption, Spirit Enchantment

Demonic Light, Release Miasma, Dominate Magical Beasts

Fire Resistance, Water Resistance, Wind Resistance, Earth Resistance, Darkness Resistance

Equipment:

Arachne Silk Dress (Enhanced)

Arachne Silk Pack (Enhanced)

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By the way, the demon king's level is 150-200.

The hero's level is 100-120.

The arachne mother's level is 30-40.

The only reason s.h.i.+ori won was because of her predation bonuses.