Chapter 242: Preparations for War
So once all matters regarding her behavior were cleared up, Ryan proceeded with the next step. He reached into the small dark portal of his magical inventory and pulled out the collected material.
It was the massive, heavy bundle of spider silk they had obtained a while ago in the A-rank dungeon. Ryan walked a few steps and placed the large roll of white fabric directly onto the lounge table.
"That looks to be of very good quality," Ivis commented from her seat.
The dragon woman looked at the material closely, recognizing the natural resilience of the threads just by looking at them.
"And it is," Alisa intervened immediately, confirming the observation.
The young artisan no longer looked lazy or frightened. In the blink of an eye, she was already standing right in front of the wooden table. Alisa took one end of the silk in her hands with great delicacy and fascination.
She began to stretch the fabric, checking its quantity, its immense resistance, and its natural density.
"There is enough material here to make..." She cut her own words off suddenly.
Alisa looked up and swept a very quick glance over all the inhabitants present in the lounge. Her mind worked at high speed, calculating the measurements and sizes of each of them.
"At least seven complete outfits," Alisa added with total certainty in her evaluation.
"Are you sure there’s enough for seven?" Ryan asked, looking a bit surprised.
He thought that material would barely be enough to cover no more than two of the people fighting on the front lines.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the young wolf replied without taking her hands off the soft white silk.
"Just by looking at you all right now, and detailing the way your current outfits are made, I could very quickly deduce that this bundle will be enough to tailor seven custom uniforms."
"With that, Miss Karol and Miss Beatrice will also have their own uniforms," Alicia added immediately.
The wolf assistant nodded her head, very satisfied with her younger sister’s excellent news.
"The entire main attack group will be well reinforced for the battle. There will even be one new uniform left over, just in case one gets torn in the future."
"Left over?" Ryan intervened suddenly, frowning.
He looked at his personal assistant with some confusion over her words.
"If it’s seven uniforms in total, then it is exactly enough for everyone."
"Exactly enough? Now I understand what you mean," Alicia said, realizing an obvious detail.
She turned her head to look toward the other side of the room.
"One of those new outfits will be for Lady Ivis, won’t it?"
"Absolutely not," Ivis said from her spot, rejecting the offer without hesitating for a single second.
The dragon woman remained very calm, still sitting comfortably in her chair by the window.
"I will only wear the combat attire provided to me by my lady Ophelia."
Ivis showed her enormous pride and unwavering loyalty toward the demon queen with that simple sentence.
Alicia observed her in complete silence, blinking a couple of times as she understood the dragon’s rejection.
Seeing his assistant’s enormous confusion, Ryan smiled slightly.
"I wasn’t referring to Ivis," Ryan clarified with his deep voice.
Then, Mirian and Helen advanced a few steps toward the center of the lounge.
Both girls let out a long sigh upon seeing how clueless the strict wolf girl could be.
"You are so smart at organizing everything, but so slow for these kinds of things," Helen added with a mocking smile.
"Ryan is talking about you, isn’t it obvious?" Mirian said directly.
The archer raised a hand and placed it gently on Alicia’s shoulder to make her react.
"Oh, sister," Alisa said, shaking her head at seeing her older relative’s lack of common sense.
"What... but me, Your Majesty?" Alicia asked, her eyes widening in sudden surprise.
The wolf assistant took a step back, feeling unworthy of receiving such a valuable gift.
"But these are the best magical materials you possess in the villa."
Alicia looked at the shining fabric on the table and then looked at her king.
"I do not believe I deserve to wear something like that. Only those of S-rank should use it."
"Don’t be foolish," Ryan said, cutting off her doubts with an indisputable commanding tone.
"You are my personal assistant. You must have the best possible equipment."
Upon hearing her leader’s direct confirmation, Alicia’s face filled with profound gratitude.
"Your Majesty," Alicia said, bowing her body in a perfect and respectful reverence.
"I promise you I will take great care of that new uniform."
"Well, I suppose I will have to adapt each outfit to your own personal tastes," Alisa added.
The young artisan took control of the situation once again, stroking the spider silk.
"I already have a very clear idea of how all of you will look, so leave it in my hands."
Alisa spoke with a resounding confidence that demonstrated her true years of experience in the craft. After clarifying things about how the uniforms would be designed, Alisa asked for something else.
She explained that she also needed a good magical core to be able to adapt it to the fabric. It was a crucial step to fuse the energy with the A-rank spider silk Ryan had given her.
Alisa took a breath and began to explain her working method to the group.
She detailed that common adventurer attire is usually created with cores that alter stats. That was the norm all over the world, something they had probably already noticed on their travels.
However, Alisa explained that her years of captivity served to teach her something vital. When she worked as a slave for the demon king, she noticed a massive problem with that method.
Making armor in that classic way was not efficient at all in the long run. When an adventurer surpasses their own level and leaves behind the equivalent rank of their equipment, failures occur.
Those expensive magical garments end up losing their natural synchronization with the wearer. The stat-boosting effects are practically lost or rendered useless in real combat.
And since every person present in that room far exceeds the power of a standard A-rank. Creating new clothes following that old human logic is just a massive waste of materials.
Instead of that, the young wolf proposed a completely different system. She told them that the most efficient way is to adapt the garments from the core so they function like sponges.
The outfits would be designed to absorb the wasted mana of the wearer themselves. During an intense fight, the mana from attacks is always released very abruptly into the environment.
The new attire will harness all that invisible surplus in the air to use it as its own energy. That constant flow of power would end up making the fine fabrics twice as resistant to cuts and attacks while maintaining their agility.
Those present in the spacious lounge fell into complete silence, impressed by the clear explanation she had given. Even Ivis, who usually looked down on human and demi-human knowledge, nodded with respect.
The dragon woman said that they didn’t even make armor that way in the advanced kingdom of Morrisen. And Alisa, proudly showing that smile once again, replied that it was only natural.
Even though she had discovered and perfected those innovative methods herself, she never shared them with her captors. Alisa always made the demon king’s cruel generals think she constantly failed in her research.
While she didn’t have the physical strength to defend herself from them or escape her cells.
She would also never allow those monsters to strengthen themselves with the valuable knowledge and effort she could provide.
Ryan listened to that revelation in silence, feeling renewed respect for the young artisan’s cunning. And after agreeing on all the pending matters regarding the design of the new combat attire, Ryan concluded the meeting.
The group began to disperse throughout the house to continue with their routines.
Ryan offered Ivis to sleep in Karol’s comfortable room while she was away from the villa.
But the dragon woman refused immediately with a wave of her hand.
Ivis said she preferred to be in the stone refuge inside the sky dungeon, and withdrew by crossing the magical portal.
Alicia and Alisa also withdrew from the lounge together, taking the heavy bundle of silk with them to start working.
The day continued its natural course until the sun set completely, giving way to night in the villa. Then, after eating dinner in complete tranquility and taking a good hot bath to relax his muscles.
Ryan walked down the hallways of the house and went directly up to Helen and Mirian.
Both girls were resting, but Ryan had other urgent plans in mind.
"In just four days, we will face the demon king Rigal in his territory," Ryan said with a firm voice.
He stopped in front of the two heroines, looking them in the eyes to make the immense gravity of the situation clear.
"So I intend to abuse my skill this very night. Using the two of you all night to accumulate power," Ryan added with total seriousness on his face, pointing directly at them with his extended palm.