High-Quality After High-Quality

The moment everyone realized what I had been making was thread, the students at the windows erupted into an uproar.

“A-amazing, Leo-kun! You actually made thread!”

“No way—can you even make thread!?”

“I sew as a hobby, but I had no idea thread could be made like that…”

The two most shocked were the teachers.

“N-no way… you can’t tell me you made thread from scratch in a leathercraft class…!? Leopin-kun… what kind of student are you…!?”

“N-no! Th-that thread is obviously unusable, zansu!”

“We’ll see about that.”

I said, climbing back in through the window and returning to the classroom.

The students who had been watching at the windows parted for me like the sea splitting.

When I returned to my seat, I threaded the freshly made Daija Vine Thread through the magic iron needle.

With the threaded needle in one hand and the Flying Dragon Leather in the other, I cracked my neck with a sharp pop.

“All right, here we go. …Uooooooo—!!”

…Dababadabadabadaba—!!

I activated the Leather Crafter skill, Leather Equipment.

With ferocious speed, I began stitching up the Flying Dragon Leather.

One of the girls stared in disbelief and murmured,

“I-it’s incredible… it’s like a magic sewing machine…”

While everyone stood frozen in astonishment, the single sheet of hide in my hands transformed into finished leather gear.

The first to notice what was happening, as expected, was Instructor Filaphy.

“A collar!? And sleeves!? A-and even pockets!? D-don’t tell me, Leopin-kun—you’re trying to make leather clothing!? But leather clothing is something we do much, much later—it’s incredibly difficult equipment…!?”

“I-it’s done…! A Leather Coat…!”

Without even wiping the sweat from my brow, I held the jet-black coat up toward the ceiling.

It was so black it seemed to swallow light—and yet it began to glow faintly.

“A-ah, that shine…!? D-don’t tell me that coat is High-Quality…!?”

Behind her glasses, Instructor Filaphy’s eyes went perfectly round.

Shock rippled through the classroom.

“E-eh… EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?”

High-Quality.

In crafting jobs, it was an effect that occurred only very rarely in produced items.

In combat-job terms, it was close to a “critical hit.”

It meant you poured every bit of your ability into the work and struck the true core.

High-Quality crafted goods gained bonuses, and could also draw out the magic power hidden within the materials.

I only had my one uniform, so I made the Flying Dragon Leather into a coat because I wanted clothes, but…

“M-my… to think a student who can make a magic item would appear this early…!”

Instructor Filaphy staggered toward me with pupils blown wide.

When she reached out toward the Flying Dragon Coat, I handed it over, and she stroked it as if cherishing it.

“Ugh… this patterning, this stitching, this finishing…! Not a single stitch out of place…! I-it really is High-Quality…!”

Instructor Filaphy looked up, on the verge of tears.

“I, the teacher, have never once made High-Quality myself… Even professional leather crafters say it happens maybe once in ten years… And you made something that extraordinary so effortlessly… Leopin-kun, you’re a once-in-a-decade genius…!”

“Yes, Leo-kun is a genius! There’s no doubt!”

Monaka said happily, clapping her hands.

Once Instructor Filaphy acknowledged it, the students’ eyes on me changed completely.

Everyone stared at me with admiration… but then—

“No! That is a huge misunderstanding, zansu! Leopin-kun’s coat became High-Quality thanks to my needle and scissors, zansu!”

When I looked, the vice principal was dramatically tucking the magic tools he had loaned me into his breast pocket.

“These are heirlooms passed down in my family: the Divine Needle of Soigu and the Blade Shears of Kirsha, zansu! With these, even an idiot can make High-Quality goods, zansu!”

Instructor Filaphy flinched.

“W-what!? Those legendary god-items!? B-but those two aren’t god-items… I thought they were school equipment…”

“No! These are my personal belongings, zansu! Now, I’m a busy man, so I’ll take my leave, zansu!”

The vice principal forcibly cut off the conversation and hurried out of the classroom.

The moment he stepped into the hallway, that familiar scream thundered out—“Kyeee!”

The students who had gathered around me looked completely deflated.

“Oh, so that’s what it was.”

“If you use god-items, then yeah, anyone can make high-quality stuff.”

“Man… I’m an idiot for even almost respecting a guy like that.”

The students returned to their seats with a bored, cooled-off air.

My standing had completely returned to what it was before—“unemployed trash”—but I didn’t care.

“I believe in you! I’m sure it became High-Quality because you’re amazing, Leo-kun!”

Because Monaka was the only one who still cared about me the same way.

“Um… I want to become an amazing craftsperson like you too, Leo-kun! Could you please teach me how to use a needle?”

I was a Leather Crafter, and she was a Tailor.

The fields were different, but I could at least teach needlework technique.

“All right. Then let’s try it together.”

“Yes!”

I sat close enough that our shoulders nearly touched, and I advised Monaka as she worked on her patch.

“You don’t have to rush. Move the needle slowly, and push it through with a steady aim.”

“Yes, Leo-kun-sensei.”

Monaka answered obediently, then started carefully poking the patch fabric with her adorably crossed eyes.

“The key to making things is putting your feelings into it. If it’s something you’ll give to someone as a gift, imagine their smile. If you do that, you’ll naturally become more careful.”

“…That person’s… smile…”

Monaka paused her hands and closed her eyes, as if offering a prayer.

She was probably picturing someone she liked.

“Oh—also, for the border, it’s better to use a stitch that combines Satin and Long-and-Short. It’ll look nicer when it’s finished.”

Before I knew it, Instructor Filaphy had popped up at the edge of our desk.

Nodding, she scribbled notes nonstop.

“…Mm-hm, imagine their smile and put your feelings into it…

For the border, combine Satin and Long-and-Short, mm-hm…”

“I-it’s done! Leo-kun-sensei! Filaphy-sensei!”

As Monaka said that, her hands were wrapped in a familiar light.

When Instructor Filaphy was bathed in that glow up close, she flipped backward in shock like she was about to do a somersault.

“A-again—High-Quality…!?”