203 アキラの仕立服
クガマヤマ都市の下位区画の相場では高級店に分類される衣類店で、店長のカシェアが店番をしながら最近の客層について思案していた。
売上は右肩上がり。客数も客単価も増えている。経営は順調。その申し分の無い状態にケチを付けるとすれば、客に堅気とは思えない雰囲気の者達が少々増えていることだ。
下っ端のような品性に欠ける者達ではなく、ある種の礼儀を
(......あの手の客層が増えた時期から考えて、多分あのヴィオラって人の人脈なのかしらね)
カシェアの予想は大体正しかった。彼らはスラム街やその付近の組織の幹部達だ。会合等でシェリルの服を見て興味を持ち、
ドアが開き、来店のベルが鳴る。見覚えのある稼ぐハンターの顔を見て、カシェアは愛想の良い笑みを浮かべて接客に移った。
入ってきたのはアキラとエレナとサラだった。アキラはいつも通り強化服を着用している。エレナ達は少々
「いらっしゃいませ。御来店ありがとう御座います。本日はどのようなものをお探しですか?」
アキラが少し緊張した様子で答える。
「えっと、仕立服を注文しに来ました」
「ありがとう御座います。仕立服の要望を伺ってから、料金等の御相談に入らせていただきます。当店自慢の職人を呼びますので、お掛けになってお待ちください」
カシェアがエレナ達に椅子を勧めようとするのと同時に、サラがアキラに声を掛ける。
カシェアが離れていくエレナ達を見て
「あ、すみません。仕立服は、俺のです」
カシェアはごまかすように笑うと、セレンを呼びに急いで店の奥へ向かった。そして戻ってくると、アキラの対応をセレンに任せてエレナ達の接客に向かった。
セレンはカシェアに比べれば接客が苦手な方だ。しかし仕立職人として客の要望を聞き出す
「あ、はい。お願いします」
逆にアキラは基本的にその手の能力に欠けている。加えて服の仕立てはハンター稼業とは全く関係ない上に、人生初の経験なので妙な落ち着きの無さを出していた。
「では先ず、御希望の服の要望などをお聞かせください。どのような服を御希望でしょうか?」
「あー、すみません。よく分かりません。えっと、何というか、いろいろあって、服を仕立ててみようという話になって、その、服に対して具体的なイメージがある訳じゃなくて......。あ、別に服が欲しくないって訳じゃないし、気乗りしないって訳でもないんだけど......」
「お気になさらず。そのようなお客様も珍しくありません」
みながら対処を思案する。考えなしに注文して、出来上がりに何か違うとケチを付け、支払いを渋る。その最悪の客の第一歩を踏み出そうとしているアキラを、何とかして軌道修正しなければならない。
「では、その仕立てた服を着て、誰と、どこへ、何をするのかを想像してみてください。服を見せる相手に与えたい印象。場のドレスコード。そこでの目的。様々ですが、そこが決まれば服のデザインも自然と決まるものですから」
セレンはアキラがいろいろ悩むだろうと思って待つつもりだった。だがアキラは納得したような顔を浮かべるとすぐに答え始める。
「ああ。そういうことか。そうだよな。服ってそういうものだよな。それなら、恩人とかそういう親しい人達と、クガマビル上階のレストラン......確か店の名前は、シュテリアーナ、だったかな? そこに一緒に行って食事を楽しむ
「あそこですか......。親しい方とは今日のお連れの方々などですか?」
「ああ。あともう1人いて、4人でそこで食事をする予定を立てているんです」
「そうですか。......その予定に相応しい服のイメージを
アキラは服を仕立てることになった経緯を思い返しながら話し始めた。
アキラに仕立て服を勧めたのはシズカだ。皆で食事に行く予定を相談した中、シズカはそもそもアキラが普段着と呼べるものをほぼ全く持っていないことを知った。
ハンター稼業ではない場合でも強化服が基本。外食時も同様で、それもハンター稼業の延長のような感覚。遺跡探索の合間に暇があれば家か荒野で訓練。下手をすれば風呂と睡眠時ぐらいしか余暇と呼べるものはない。それさえも次の訓練や遺跡探索の
「私もお客様が一時の穏やかな非日常を楽しむのはとても良いと思います。私が仕立てた服がお客様のその一時を充実したものにする助けになれれば幸いです。では、その食事の場に適したデザインを基本にすると致しまして、何かデザイン等に御要望がありましたらお聞きします。デザインの例などもあります。御覧になりますか?」
セレンが持ってきた端末を操作し、仕立服の例を表示してアキラに見せる。そこには落ち着いた雰囲気の服や少々派手な雰囲気の服を着たファッションモデルが表示されている。アキラがそれらを見て少し
「文句を言うつもりはないので、全部お任せしますってのは駄目ですか?」
「駄目ってことはありませんが、基本的に変更の利かない既製服とは異なり、お客様の細かい要望を追求できるのも仕立服の
にそのような額にはなりません。それは一見普通の服ですが実は防護服とか、そういう特殊用途の服になります。当店では受け付けておりません」
「あ、そういうのは無しで問題ないです。欲しいのは戦闘とかとは無縁な普通の服ですから」
セレンは目の前の少年が非常に稼ぐハンターだと改めて理解した。たとえ支払額が1億オーラムであっても、難しいだけで不可能ではない。それほどの相手だと実感した。
自分にそのような者を満足させるほどの服を仕立てられるのか。その
ここで引いては仕立屋が廃る。セレンはそう心に刻んで意気を高めた。
「......分かりました。では、大変失礼ながらお客様がハンターであることを考慮いたしまして、全額前払いで600万オーラムとなります。それだけお支払いいただければ、私はお客様の要望を満たした服の仕立てに全力を尽くすとお約束します。
セレンなりに覚悟を決めて答えたのだが、アキラはあっさりと答えてハンター証を出した。セレンが受け取ったハンター証を端末に近づけて支払処理を進める。処理はすぐに終わった。
代金は受け取った。もう後戻りはできない。する気もない。セレンは職人魂を燃やして
その視線に気付いて不思議そうにしていたアキラが、自分なりに推察して尋ねる。
「ちゃんと採寸するなら上も脱いだ方が良い?」
セレンは邪念を振り払って採寸に入った。だが
「あー、なんか実は変なデザインだったりします? 遺跡で手に入れた遺物を自分用にとっておいた物なので、旧世界製の衣服だから変なデザインかもしれません。着心地とかは良いんですけどね」
肌に貼り付くような状態の下着には筋肉の凹凸が浮かび上がっている。激しく動いても布地の摩擦等などから生じる不快感は全くなく非常に頑丈だ。この高性能さも旧世界製の衣服に高額を出す者が絶えない理由だ。
で本音が少し混ざっていた。セレンが妙なことを口走ったことに気付いて更に焦るが、アキラは逆に納得していた。
「ああ。そういうことか。最近死にかけて入院した時に再生治療並の治療を受けたので、その時に大きな古傷とかは消えたんだと思います。結構高めな回復薬も多用してるんで、最近はちょっとした傷ぐらいなら跡も残らないんですよ」
ハンターのくせに古傷も無いのは変だ。アキラはそう誤解されたと判断して補足した。
「そうなのですか。その治療費ってやっぱり高いんですか?」
「病院での治療が5000万オーラムぐらいで、回復薬が100万とか500万とかですね」
アキラの口調にその額を高いと感じさせるものはなかった。入金額も出金額も桁違いに増えて、その間隔も短くなってきたことで、アキラの金銭感覚は大分
「......よし! やるか!」
その表情にかつての傑作を超える服を仕立てる意気込みを乗せて、セレンは笑って作業を開始した。
エレナはサラと一緒にカシェアの接客を受けながら店内の商品を見て回っていた。今も勧められた服を鏡の前で体に重ねている。そして気乗りしない声を出していた。
「悪くはないと思うんだけど、似たような服はもう持ってるし、もう1着ってほどでもないのよね」
「特に考えてないわ。私達はアキラの付き添いで来ただけだしね。あ、先に予算を言っておかないと出せない服もあるの?」
「隠している訳ではありませんが、そのような品も御座います。例を挙げますと、旧世界製の下着などは価格も仕入れ数も相応のため、
エレナ達が買ったのは前にアキラがシズカの店に持ち込んだ品だ。本来の中間業者を通さずに、その先頭に割り込んで買ったので、実際にはそこまで高額にはなっていない。だがカシェアにはその事情など分からない。
(......前に1億オーラムの予算を提示した人もいたし、あのアキラってハンターの連れはそんな人ばっかりなのかしらね。稼ぎが違うわ。
の最善の接客方法を思案していると、採寸を終えたアキラが戻ってきた。
「エレナさん。サラさん。お待たせしました」
「もう終わったの? 随分早いのね。どんな服にするのか長々と相談すると思っていたから、もっと時間が掛かると思ってたけど」
「あ、その辺は任せたので、採寸取って終わりです」
だし、頼んでみようかな。仕立服なら多少の注文は通ると思うしね」
サラは服選びに豊満な胸による制限がかなり入る。保有ナノマシン量による体型変化まで考慮すると選択肢は更に狭まる。仕立服でその辺りに対処できるのであれば、多少の出費には前向きだった。
「実際に御注文を頂けるかは別にしまして、御興味を頂けたのでしたらまずは当店の職人と相談をお勧めします。連れて参りますので、お掛けになってお待ちください」
カシェアは3着分の仕立代の売上に心を弾ませながらセレンの仕事部屋に向かった。
真剣な顔でデザインを練っていたセレンがカシェアから話を聞いて顔を
「お姉ちゃん。悪いんだけど、それ、断れない? 私はアキラさんの注文に集中したいの」
「セレン。仕事中は店長って呼べって言ってるでしょう。それに断るなんて冗談じゃないわ。うまいこと行けば常連になるかもしれないのよ? 逃せないわ。セレンだって既製服の調整には飽きてるって言ってたじゃない。何で仕立ての注文を嫌がるのよ」
「嫌がってる訳じゃない。タイミングが悪いだけ。それに、アキラさんの服に合わせるとなったら、代金とかも相応に合わせないと駄目になる。おね......店長、その辺を分かって言ってるの?」
「当たり前よ。大丈夫よ。あのアキラってハンターが随分稼いでいて、仕立代が結構高額になったから心配しているんでしょうけど、連れの2人も
セレンが浮かれている姉を見て真面目に念を押す。
「店長。一応注文履歴を確認して。その上で本当に同額の注文を出すのかとか、3人分のデザインを合わせて仕立てる分だけ仕立期間が延びるとか、その辺をちゃんと交渉してきて。それでも注文を出す確認を取れたのなら、採寸するから連れてきて」
頭を抱えて悩み始めたカシェアを見て、セレンが少し反発気味だった口調を緩める。
「店長としての経営判断で追加注文を受けるって言うのなら、私もその判断に従うし、追加の仕立てにも全力を注ぐ。仕立ては職人としての私の
Ch 203
Inside a particular high-class clothing boutique in the Kugamayama city's lower district, the head manager of that boutique, Kashua, was wondering about the customers frequenting her shop lately.
Her revenue did go up and there were more people coming to her shop. In short, her business was doing well. If she was allowed to make any complaint regarding her business, it would be that the customers coming to her shop were not the kind of customers that she was hoping for.
It was not like the customers were rowdy or anything like that, as a matter of fact, they were all well mannered to an extent, they would not do anything as rude as degrading the shop. They also properly paid a good amount of money. Basically, there was nothing to complain about them. The only problem was that they were not exactly the customers Kashua was hoping for.
[...Considering that there are more of these kinds of customers coming here, I wonder if they have something to do with Viola?]
Kashua was actually more or less correct, these people were officers from gangs and other organizations from around the slum city. They caught a glimpse of Sheryl's dress and got interested in it, then after a short conversation with Sheryl, they found out that Sheryl got that dress from Kashua's shop.
The shop's door suddenly opened, the bell rang and Kashua saw a familiar Hunter coming into the shop as she smiled and welcomed him.
It was Akira along with Sara and Elena. Akira was using his usual augmented suit. While Elena and Sara were wearing a rather stylish dress. From her experience, Kashua could immediately tell that Sara and Elena were actually Hunters too, but since they were wearing rather good quality dresses, she skipped treating them as Hunters and went straight to treating them as potential customers.
"Welcome! Thank you for coming to our shop. What are you looking for today?"
Akira nervously replied.
"Uhh, I'm here to order a custom suit."
"Certainly. Let us know about your preference and wishes. But before that, please let me call our prized staff first, so please wait for a moment."
As Kashua offered them a seat, Sara suddenly said to Akira.
Seeing Elena and Sara walk away, Kashua looked a bit confused. Akira noticed Kashua was misunderstanding something and apologetically said to her.
"Ah, sorry, it's for me."
Kashua smiled, trying to hide her surprise, as she went to call for Celene. When she returned with Celene, she left Akira with Celene and went to tend to Sara and Elena.
Compared to Kashua, Celene was not that adept at tending to customers. But she understood that she at least needed to have a certain level of communication skill in order to ask for the customer's wishes. So then she politely bowed and said to Akira.
"Ah, yes, I'll be in your care too."
In contrast to Celene, Akira was utterly lacking in his communication skills. Not only because it was not an essential skill for a Hunter, but it was also his first experience, that was why Akira was looking rather nervous.
"First of all, let me ask you what kind of custom clothing you are looking for?"
"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't really know it myself. Uhhh, what can I say, things happened which somehow ended up with me thinking about ordering a custom suit. So, it's not like I have a clear image of what kind of suit I'm looking for... Ah, but it's not like I don't want to get a custom suit and it's not like I'm doing this because I'm forced to either..."
"Please don't worry, it's not that rare for customers to come with that kind of thought."
Celene smiled and said so as she thought of her next move. Seeing how Akira took the first step to be one of those customers who put a vague order, complained about the result, and did not pay the full price, Celene was thinking about how to get Akira away from that route.
"In that case, where are you planning to go with that suit? What are you planning to do with that suit? And who are you going with while wearing that suit? Let's start with these questions first. In the end, clothing is something that you use to leave an impression on others. Thus, of course, the design of the suit would depend on the dress code, goal, and other things regarding where you are going, and what you are going to do with that suit."
Celene was expecting to wait for a bit since Akira would take some time to think before answering. But on the contrary, Akira replied back firmly almost immediately.
"I see, that does make sense. That's exactly what they are for in the first place after all. Well, so, I'm planning to go to a restaurant in the upper part of the Kugama building... If I'm not mistaken, the name of that restaurant is Sterian... And I'm planning to go there with some close friends and someone to whom I owe a favour. So basically, it's a suit to go for dinner there. I guess that's all?"
"That restaurant, huh... And these close friends are the other two who came here with you today I presume?"
"Yes, and another one too. So I'm planning to go there with a party of four."
"I see... In order to get a better image for a suitable suit, is it okay if I inquire more details?"
Akira then started telling the chronology of how he ended up deciding to get a custom suit.
The one who recommended Akira to order a custom suit was Shizuka. When they were talking about eating out together somewhere, Shizuka noticed that Akira had no outfit that could be called a casual outfit.
Even when he was not doing any Hunter work, Akira was usually using his augmented suit. He also used the same augmented suit when he went out eating as well, thinking that it was just another extension of his job as a Hunter. When he was not exploring ruin and had nothing to do, he spent most of his time training in the wasteland. His only free time was basically when he was taking a bath or sleeping. But considering he did that to maintain his body in tip-top shape when he went to explore the ruin or for training, even those could even be said to be an extension of his job as a Hunter as well. If someone asked him about his opinion about his lifestyle, Akira would reply back that he had no complaints at all.
"I also believe that it would be a good chance to take a rest from the harsh daily life of a Hunter. It would be great if the suit that I create is able to help you achieve that. Now then, I will base my design to be suitable for that restaurant. Do tell me if you have any wishes regarding the design. I have some samples too if you would like to see them."
Celene operated her information terminal and showed Akira some examples of custom suits. Akira could see the picture of models wearing all kinds of designs starting from a cool looking sleek suit to a flashy suit. He hummed for a bit and looked slightly troubled, he then said with a serious look.
"Is it possible to just leave the design fully up to you? I won't complain about the result."
"It's not like we can't do that, but a custom suit's main characteristic is that, unlike normal standard clothing, you can customize it to your heart content. But once we move on to the production, it would be difficult to make any big changes afterwards. If it's just a small change, I'll do my best to do it, but of course, there's a limit on how far I can go. So, are you really okay with no particular wish regarding the suit?"
"O-Of course it won't be that expensive. That is, as long as it's not an armour that looks like a suit from the outside or anything like that. In the first place, our shop doesn't handle that kind of clothing."
"Ah, I don't want anything like that. A normal suit that has nothing to do with fighting will do just fine."
It reminded Celene that she was talking with a Hunter who was earning a healthy amount of money. Even if that Hunter had to pay 100 billion Aurum, it would be difficult, but not impossible. She was dealing with that level of Hunter.
She was questioning herself if she would be able to make a suit that would satisfy such a Hunter. That fear caused Celene to waver, but making a custom suit for such a person might allow her to use as much money as she wanted to realize the design that she had envisioned. That temptation overpowered her fear and completely wiped out any hesitation from her heart.
As she made her resolve, Celene told herself that if she backed out here, it would be the end of her as a tailor.
"...Very well, but considering that you are a Hunter, it would cost about 6 million Aurum. If you could pay that much, I'll do my best to answer your expectation."
To be honest, Celene was half-expecting Akira would say no, but he casually said so and handed over his Hunter ID. Celene received that Hunter ID and used her terminal to process the payment. The payment went through smoothly.
She had received the payment. There was no turning back now and she had no plans to step back in the first place. Celene was smiling as her soul of a tailor was burning hot. She then guided Akira to one of the rooms inside the shop.
Akira noticed her glance and found it weird. He made his own guess and asked.
"Should I remove the rest to get a better measurement?"
Celene banished that thought from her mind as she started taking measurements. But it did not take long for that thought to come back. Akira noticed it too.
"Uhhh, does it look weird? It's originally an old-world relic, so it might have a weird design. But I have nothing to complain about as long as it is comfortable."
The skin-tight underwear stuck close to Akira's skin and completely followed the contour of his body build. It was made of a mysterious material that would not tear no matter how he moved, while at the same time, it was also comfortable to use. This was exactly the reason why many people would spend a lot of money to get old-world clothing articles.
Celene's real thoughts slipped out since she was so flustered. The moment she realized her blunder, it only made her even more flustered. But instead of finding it weird, Akira seemed to get what she said.
"Ah, I see. Well, I had some close calls recently and got hospitalized afterwards, so I believe most of my injuries and scars were removed back then. After that, I've been using some expensive medicines too, so it must have completely healed all the smaller wounds."
Akira had misunderstood, thinking that it was weird for a Hunter not to have any old scar.
"I see, as expected, that kind of treatment must be pretty expensive, right?"
"Yeah, the one when I got hospitalized was 50 million Aurum, while the medicines that I'm using right now is about one to five million Aurum per box."
Akira said casually as if it was an insignificant amount. He had been earning and spending a huge amount of money on a regular basis and it had dulled his sense of money.
"...Alright then, let's do this!"
She pumped herself up in order to challenge herself to make a suit that would surpass her past masterpiece and started working with a huge grin on her face.
Elena and Sara were browsing the clothes in the shop with Kashua as their guide. Even now, they were looking at the mirror with the dress that Kashua recommended to see how they looked. But then Elena sounded disappointed as she said.
"It's not bad, but I actually have a similar dress and I have no plans to get another one."
"We haven't really decided on the budget. We're basically here just to accompany Akira. Ah, is it like you have some special articles that you only show to suitable potential customers?"
"It's not like we're keeping them secret, but we do have those kinds of articles. As an example, we have some old-world underwears which of course we can't just show to all of our customers."
Elena and Sara actually bought them from Shizuka when Akira brought them to her shop. Since they bought them before they were moved to other merchants, they actually did not pay that much money. But of course, Kashua did not know about it.
[...Last time, that Hunter Akira brought with him someone who had a 100 million Aurum budget too. I wonder if everyone around him is that loaded? They're completely out of my target customer range. As expected, I don't have that level of expensive clothing in this shop, I guess I'll start with recommending the most expensive dress that I have huh...]
When Kashua was thinking about what was her best option to tend to Sara and Elena as her customers, Akira, who had finished taking his measurements, returned.
"Elena-san, Sara-san, I'm sorry to make you wait."
"You're done? That was rather fast. What kind of suit did you order? I thought that you would take longer, you know."
"Ah, I basically left the design to the tailor, so I only needed to take the measurements"
"Hmm, well, since we're already here, might as well order one, huh. Since it's custom, I should be able to put some custom details in after all."
With the size of her chest, Sara usually had a limited number of choices. Not to mention that the size would change depending on her nanomachine reserve, it even further narrowed her options. If she could order a custom dress that took care of that problem, she did not mind paying more than usual.
"Leaving aside whether to order a custom dress or not, how about both of you try to have a talk with our tailor first to get a good view of what you can expect? I will bring her here, so please wait for a moment."
Kashua was excited, expecting that she would be able to get 3 custom clothing orders that day as she went to Celene's working room.
Celene, who was putting all her focus into working on her design, frowned when Kashua told her the news.
"Onee-chan.I'm sorry but can you refuse that order? I want to focus on Akira-san's suit."
"Celene, didn't I always tell you to call me manager when you're on duty. And also, are you seriously asking me to refuse it? If it goes well, they might be our regulars, you know? I won't let them get away, you've been saying that you're bored working on refitting dresses all the time, right? So why are you saying no to a custom order now?"
"It's not like I don't want to do it. It's just that the timing is bad. Not to mention, if it's a similar design to Akira-san's, it won't be cheap... Onee- Manager, you do know that very well, right?"
"Of course, but it'll be fine. I know that you're worried since Akira is a Hunter who is earning well, so it won't be weird for him to order an expensive suit. But don't worry. The other two are also great Hunters. They said that they even have enough old-world clothing as reserves, you know. As I thought, successful Hunters are so different from those common Hunters."
Seeing her excited sister, Celene then said with a serious tone.
"Manager, check the order history first. If they are really going to order a similar design, make sure to let them know that it would take some time. If they're still okay with it, then bring them here for measurement."
Kashua started ruffling her hair, seeing which Celene lowered her tone.
"If you still accept that order as the manager of the shop, then as the staff of this shop, I'll do my best to complete the order. It's my job as the tailor to work on the custom orders after all. So similarly, I'll leave the negotiation part to you since it is your job."
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
非公開