Interlude 01: Memé’s Management Journal (Before the Festival)

Interlude 01:
Memé’s Management Journal
(Before the Festival)

 

“That’s why I want to get better at talking to people. I want to become the best version of myself that I can. Do you get it?”

“I-I get it…”

“That’s why I need your accessories, Memé-chi.”

Memé was feeling nauseous.

The reason was obvious. Plum Murdrac was sitting at the counter of the store Memé managed, the Kuklo Accessory Shop, and she wouldn’t leave.

Memé appreciated that Plum came often and bought a lot, but she also liked to chat a lot. Memé couldn’t work while she was there. According to Plum, she wasn’t very good at making friends. In order to hide that, she dressed outrageously, decking herself out in leather and lots of accessories.

But if you asked Memé, Plum—who hadn’t stopped talking since she came in—had no problem interacting with people.

She was just like the others: Lulala, ever popular; Illy, who talked to everyone and feared nothing except Memé’s eye; and Sioux, who didn’t seem to have a single care in the world. They were all bright, positive women who were skilled at communicating with others, Plum included.

Ugggh.

Memé scratched her head.

What Memé didn’t know was that Plum could speak so comfortably because she admired Memé and already thought of her as a friend. When it came to people she didn’t know, she hid her true self behind a haughty demeanor. The accessories she wore were an important part of that protection, but this wasn’t something Memé could comprehend.

“Hey, Memé-chi, are you listening?”

“I-I’m listening. But I need to finish this.”

“What? Something new? Are you gonna put it in the shop?”

“N-no. It’s a special order. I have a deadline…”

“Whaaat? From who, from who? What are you making? Is that a ring?”

“I-I can’t give out information about special orders! Just go home!”

Memé cried out in her heart for help.

Just then, someone entered the small shop. It was someone familiar to Memé, someone she’d become even closer to lately.

“Hey, there! Oh, look…a new face.”

“Arahnia, welcome.”

It was the arachne, Arahnia.

She was becoming more and more well-known as a designer, and was recently engaged. Memé looked up to her.

“Oh, mentor?!”

“Wh-who are you calling mentor? I’ve never taken an apprentice.”

“B-but you’re so cool!”

Plum looked Arahnia over, taking in every inch of her. Arahnia was confused, which didn’t happen often, though it was a perfectly normal reaction to a young woman she’d never seen suddenly calling her mentor.

“Mentor! Mentor! I have so much to ask you! What type of outfit would look good on someone who has trouble talking to people?”

“Hmm?” Arahnia handed a bag to Memé. She must have come to check on how Memé was doing, which Memé was grateful for…though given Arahnia’s boisterous personality, she could never say that out loud. “Well, I can’t resist fashion talk. Go ahead, ask me whatever you want.”

“Oh, thank you, mentor!”

“Stop calling me that,” Arahnia snapped, looking disgusted.

 

***

 

“Hmmm. I see.”

Plum spoke frankly to Arahnia.

She told her about how she hadn’t left the graveyard city in years, and how she’d come to Lindworm for the first time to visit Memé’s shop. She explained how she’d drunk Dr. Glenn’s blood because her impulse had flared up, and how she was cured of it. Then, Plum told Arahnia that she wanted to dress up more and become her best self. Finally, she told her how she wanted to get to know everyone in the city. She left nothing out.

“I see, I see. You’re a bit clumsy, aren’t you, Plum?”

Arahnia glanced over at Memé.

Memé knew Arahnia was thinking that Plum’s difficulty getting along with people was similar to Memé’s. She averted her eye, feeling awkward.

“Well, I’ll save my thoughts on you attacking my sweet man and drinking his blood for another day…”

“Wha? Eeek!” Plum shrieked.

Apparently, she was shocked to learn that the mentor she respected and the doctor she was indebted to were engaged.

“Clothes are your most powerful weapon. You can look however you want. You can become whatever kind of person you want to become. They’re like magic. Finding clothes that allow you to be yourself is a universal problem.”

“But isn’t dressing your best pointless if you don’t look good already?” Memé cut in, unable to hold back anymore.

Arahnia snickered. “That sounds like something Aluloona would say. She’s got flowers, and she’s already beautiful, so why bother with clothes and dressing up? But not everyone’s a flower, nor would everyone think that way, even if they were. You don’t have much confidence in yourself, do you, Memé?”

“Er…”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t need to show off. Plum probably wears the clothes she does because she wants to look hot. If she keeps it up, her inside will eventually catch up to the outside. Until then, why not dress the part?”

Memé didn’t answer. She was wearing the clothes designated by the workshop. In the confines of her own room, she often tried on the dress that Arahnia had made for her. But she couldn’t show that side of herself to anyone else. She didn’t think it suited her at all.

Yet…Plum was different. Even though they both lacked confidence, Plum was making an effort. That was why she spent so many hours in the shop.

“Now, I’ve got good news for the two of you.” Arahnia pulled something out of the pouch strapped to her leg.

It was a folded piece of paper. On it was the official notification that the harvest festival would be happening.

“Are either of you interested in modeling for me?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Neither Plum nor Memé had expected such an offer from the legendary Arahnia.