I was sitting in the shade of a tree on the eastern side of the village, across the stream. A few houses in view, fields stretching between them, villagers working the soil in quiet concentration.
After leaving the elder and Piuri — one beaming, the other smirking — I'd been wandering the village trying to figure out what to give her.
"A gift for the village elder…"
I was staring into the middle distance and muttering when a voice came from beside me.
"What's troubling you, then?"
I looked over. A red winged cat was standing there.
"Oh — Robert. It's nothing, just…"
A red winged cat named Robert. Apparently several hundred years old. Looked like an adorable cat; talked like someone's grandfather.
"Actually — Robert, do you know what the elder likes?"
They'd been friends for a long time, as far as I knew. He couldn't know nothing.
"Ho ho — are you courting her, lad?"
No expression readable on a cat's face, but he was clearly delighted by the thought.
"No, no, that's not — look…"
I gave him the short version of what had happened with Melanie.
Robert made a considering sound, then said, "I see, I see. You're an honorable one, aren't you."
"What I know of her — she enjoys sewing as a hobby. She also keeps things very clean, and she grows flowers. Whether that's of any use to you."
The elder likes sewing. Keeps things tidy. Grows flowers.
Hm…
"Right then, I'm going to have a look at Piuri's wares before I head off to catch some fish. Remember — what matters in a gift is the feeling behind it."
With that, Robert flapped off slowly in the direction of the village entrance where Piuri was set up. I'd seen him playing near the river occasionally — so that was what he'd been doing. Fishing.
I spent a while after that wandering the village, turning the problem over in my head.
Eventually I looped back around toward the entrance and looked in on Piuri's stall again.
"Welcome back~ It's only been a little while!"
Piuri greeted me brightly. Melanie and Robert seemed to have already come and gone — I was the only villager there now.
"Looking for something to give Melanie?"
Piuri was wearing an expression somewhere between a smirk and a grin.
"Hmm…"
Melanie had already looked through the stock here. Giving her something from the same stall felt off.
She likes sewing. Grows flowers. Something useful for sewing — could I manage that?
I scanned the merchandise. Sewing tools, fabric, cotton. Those were there.
Sewing… In home economics class back in school, we'd used a pincushion. I had no idea whether this world had pincushions, but if it didn't, one might genuinely be useful.
I looked through the sewing tools on display. No pincushion.
But just buying something and handing it over felt too thin. Maybe it was only self-satisfaction, but if I wanted to actually express gratitude, making something seemed right.
A small wooden box to put it in — that might make it feel more like a real gift.
"Piuri — I'd like these sewing tools, and some fabric and cotton."
"Sure thing~ Ten Rant for all of it~"
Piuri rummaged in the pouch at her hip and handed me something extra. "A little bonus for you."
After finishing at Piuri's stall, I stopped by the workshop of Mururus — an Orc who did woodworking in the village — and bought a good-quality wooden board and some nails for five Rant. He also walked me through how to make a basic wooden box while we worked on it together.
About an hour later I was back at Teok's house. Teok was still out drinking, so I had the place to myself.
"Tired, but — not bad, I think."
A box, roughly thirty centimeters on each side. Plain, a little crooked in the way that amateur work tends to be, but it looked decent enough — probably helped by the fact that the wood itself was good quality. The satisfaction of having made it didn't hurt either.
"Next: the pincushion."
Making a sewing tool with sewing tools was a slightly absurd loop, but with cotton and fabric it should be doable. My sewing hadn't been exercised since school, so I wasn't particularly confident.
"I'll use the failures for myself, and see how it goes…"
The fabric and cotton I'd bought were in decent quantity. Any leftover would be useful for patching clothes — nothing would go to waste.
I spent the rest of the day until evening entirely on that task. I might be less handy than I thought.