CH76 Failure to Launch
Under a week of rainy fall weather, Alex and Fufi prepared to set sail. They journeyed south along the waterway, and after about thirty minutes, Alex was drenched.
“Ugh, I really didn’t think this through.” Alex wringed out her long black hair. Being a completely different person still felt off.
“Can you put the carriage on the boat and control it from inside? That outfit doesn’t look cute when you are all wet.” Fufi commented about the soaked state of Alex’s apparel.
Alex shook her head. “No, this boat isn’t big enough to float the carriage it would sink.”
“Why didn’t you build it enclosed like the carriage then?” Fufi wondered aloud.
"There are two main reasons," Alex explained. "First, this water isn't very deep. The boat's 'draft' , how deep it sits in the water ,is only about a foot. If we remove the daggerboard and rudder, it would be even less, but then we'd have to use it like a rowboat. Larger boats require deeper water.”
The magical girl continued. "Second, an enclosed space can quickly become a death trap. If this boat capsizes, we'll simply be thrown out. But if it had a cabin, I believe that's the correct term, anyone inside could be trapped.”
"A distant third reason would be the boom," Alex gestured to the board hinged to the mast with the sail. "The boom is low enough that we have to sit down to sail this boat. It's crucial not to make it top-heavy. That's why I stuck with a design from my world. I'm not an engineer, so making significant changes seemed like a recipe for disaster."
“But sacrificing cuteness remains a bad idea for any magical girl.” Fufi stated flatly.
Alex didn’t answer, and just gave an annoyed look at the bird.
After an arduous effort tacking the ship upstream, they finally reached the dock. Other small sailing ships were present, braving the rain. Burly men, seemingly unfazed by the weather, went about their tasks. One tribesman, however, struggled with tacking and resorted to rowing against the current, displaying remarkable strength and endurance that astonished Alex. The very purpose of sails was to obviate such strenuous rowing, a feat Alex, with her meager strength, found impossible but others managed with ease.
Upon docking, they secured the boat and disembarked. Following some surprised greetings from the tribespeople, who hadn't anticipated their swift return, the magical girl summoned her carriage in an open space. They then prepared tea in a magic kettle. Eager to assess the damage, Alex consulted her phone to check her stats.
Name: Alex Parker
Class: Magical Girl
Level 2
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Strength: 11
Constitution: 9
Dexterity: 17
Intelligence: 7
Cuteness: 14 (-2 from wet, disheveled clothes)
Skills:
Cleaning: 2
Cooking: 1
Dancing: 2
Tailoring: 4
Toymaking: 2
Feats: Empower Doll
Spells: Animate Doll
Lesser Grow Plants
Traits: Mental Resistance: 3
The magical girl grumbled, “My cuteness went down by two after being out in the rain for an hour. This is frustrating. We went to the temple of purity and the snow storms were much worse.”
“Well, you were dressed for the part on that excursion.” The pink bird annoyingly added.
“Am I supposed to just put on a hat and become a seaman…er… seawoman… sea person? Whatever.” Alex stomped a bare foot on the floor.
Fufi remained quiet, giving Alex time to calm down.
Alex frowned in frustration, mostly because Fufi was probably right. “Fine, maybe we might have overlooked making a new outfit for maritime travel.”
“Let's get to it. I’m sure Charlotte has some bolts of cloth we could use to make an outfit. What kind of flourishes should it have?” Fufi sounded excited.
Alex pulled out the feather duster and dusted the wet clothing. The water evaporated in a couple puffs of steam, leaving the clothing dry. “Huh, I’m sorta surprised that worked. Anyway, there are a couple types of clothing if my memory serves me.”
The magical girl pulled out a piece of paper and a quill. “The first more modern kind is very practical. It has a shirt, pants, a white hat and a kerchief that wraps around the neck and hangs down over the back. I think they have a thick wool coat called a peacoat as well though that might just be for cold weather. The other stuff, it is just stuff from fiction though based in reality. There is a bicorn hat and a tricorn hat.” Alex drew a picture of Napoleon wearing his iconic bicorn hat. It wasn’t great but got the picture across. “Then there is the tricorn hat.” Alex just drew the hat this time, showing it folded back in three places. “I don’t like the term, but I think sailors from olden days called the outfits they wore slops for some reason. They’d wear some poofy pants that went down to just below the knee where they tighten it with a belt or cloth or something. Then they’d wear a loose shirt with short sleeves. Fancy people would wear a vest and a big coat. There was this one pirate that lost his hand to an alligator and had a big coat with an elaborate gold trimmed coat. Also, said pirate had a wide brimmed hat with something like a feather boa hanging off of it.”
“I think the one with all the feathers is best.” Fufi pointed with her wing feathers.
Of course a flamingo would like the outfit with the most feathers. Alex gave the bird a look. “How about we make out all of them and see which one gives the best bonus? I’m a lot better at making patterns for clothes than trying to draw outfits for some reason.”
“That is just because you are using a tailoring skill and not a drawing one.” Fufi unhelpfully explained.
Alex drove the carriage, with the rolled-up drawings beside her, back into town. The town entrance was unguarded, its ruined walls adorned with peculiar, smiling sunflowers. Could plants truly serve as gatekeepers?
Upon reaching the warehouse, they found the day as dreary as their journey. Alex changed back into her crafting clothes from the dungeon. Charlotte was engrossed in spinning thread, surrounded by an abundance of fabric bolts that now overflowed the shelves, hinting at the need for a larger space.
While Alex meticulously worked on patterns for new clothing from her concept drawings, Fufi was busy experimenting with her windup clockwork power armor. The intricate embroidery on the jacket of one elaborate outfit promised to be a challenging task.
Snip, snip, snip. Stitch, stitch, stitch.
The first sailor outfit, a simple ensemble of a white hat, blue shirt, and blue pants, came together swiftly, its only distinctive feature being the kerchief at the back. Alex tried it on and proudly showed Fufi her phone.
“Oh, looks like that one gives +1 to sailing.”The stat screen confirmed she was on the right track. She had completed the outfit in just over an hour, once she started cutting and sewing, with the clock function showing the precise time. The only element that consumed a significant amount of time was the elaborate flourish on the kerchief.
The second outfit presented more of a challenge. Alex found the poofy pants with belts just below the knee a bit strange and wasn't enthusiastic about them, feeling they looked a little silly. While the shirt was straightforward, the hat required several attempts. Alex, having limited experience with hat-making, had to lean heavily on this skill. Her initial attempts to craft the tricorn hat from available cloth bolts were unsuccessful, resulting in a "droopy" outcome. She sought assistance from the nymphs, who helped her locate a tribal tanner. In exchange for a second hat, Alex acquired several tanned leather pelts. The tricorn hat she then made turned out acceptably, giving off a majestic rather than cute impression. After creating the second hat for the tanner, Alex was thanked, and the tanner, looking pleased, put on the hat.
After the brief exchange, Alex tried on the new outfit and pulled up her phone to look at the results. “This one gives +2 to sailing.”
Fufi inspected her from several angles. “I think this one is more pomp than cute. It is better than the first one but I don’t think it suits you.”
After half the day, a light lunch was served. Workers from the warehouse and those at the tailoring stations joined in.
The third outfit was Alex’s silly doodle from an old animated movie. A wide-brimmed hat with a cluster of feathers extending halfway down the back seemed impractical, serving no purpose for anyone but a cosplayer. "Whatever, we’ll just try the best we can and see how it turns out," Alex thought, starting with the hat. She used purple suede, making the brim stiff and the head-fitting part softer. Stitching leather required thicker thread than cloth, but with her tailoring skill, Alex managed a presentable, albeit flamboyant, hat.
The rest of the outfit, though challenging, wasn't too difficult. The below-knee pants weren't poofy like the previous style. Alex skipped making the hose, which reminded her of the lack of a cobbler skill and the limited footwear selection. The frock coat was made of red-dyed wool with gold-colored trim.
Not wearing any hose or shoes, Alex tried on the outfit. “What do you think?” Alex asked the crowd that had formed after stepping out of a change room.
“I think there might be a problem.” Fufi carefully intoned. “Without any socks and bottoms that end just below the knee it gives the impression that you are not wearing anything underneath.”
Alex blushed. “I’m not a flasher!” A bare-footed stomp followed.
“Maybe try some leggings with that then? I think your doodle had them.” Fufi tried not to snicker.
Alex sighed then got changed. Making some thin wool leggings wasn’t hard. It only took a few minutes after finding a bolt of cloth and sketching a pattern. Wearing the dance shoes because they were the closest thing to the single buckled shoes from the doodle Alex got changed yet again and tapped the status screen app on her phone. “Looks like this outfit gives +2 sailing and +1 cuteness.” Alex’s face screwed up at this. This outfit had the best bonuses but was by far the most flamboyant. But she agreed to give things a shot so that is what she’d do.
Alex’s wardrobe now looked like this:
[Pink robe]
[Crafters outfit +1 toy making]
[Priestess robes]
[Magical girl dress +2 cuteness]
[Fur dress +2 warmth]
[Heart-shaped diamond earrings]
[Wooden sandals]
[Dancers shoes +1 dancing]
[Feather duster +1 cleaning]
[Pink undergarments]
[Pirate outfit +2 sailing +1 cuteness]
Alex opted to keep only her favorite of the three outfits, donating the remaining two to the settlement. There, individuals of similar stature could utilize them to gain an advantage in operating the new vessels.
Following dinner with Ki and other nymphs, Alex retired for the evening. She preferred not to sail at night, postponing her journey south until the following day. Her gaze fell upon the troublesome tea party invitation before she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, they returned to the docks in a ticking carriage. After bidding farewell to the robust, yet stylishly dressed tribal members, a small blue slime girl secretly boarded the sailboat.
Alex, happy to see the toddler-sized slime overlocked the fact that she snuck aboard. “Well look who decided to join us. It looks like Kaide was able to deliver you a message. We haven’t seen you in over a week, Merumeru. What trouble have you been up to?”
“Meru ru ru ru me.” Merumeru explained her fun time that she had with magical girl Cosmos. Also that they built some cool stuff at her cabin that she wanted to show her when she got a chance.
Alex didn’t understand. “Well that’s nice. Shall we depart? Let's head south and see if we can’t find the nereids that are keeping watch in the swamp.”