Vacation was also approaching soon. Also, Rudin was planning to return to his hometown of Plemil, where his parents lived, in March after working as a cleaner for the first three months of his initial contract. Therefore, his encounter with that unique and strange man might be the first and last time.
As he pondered this and that, drowsiness washed over him. He needed to wash up and eat dinner, but his eyelids kept drooping heavily. Rudin fell asleep without realizing it.
"Rudin, wake up and come out quickly."
At the quiet voice, Rudin groggily opened his eyes. A person's legs were visible at the entrance of the cat house. After confirming that it was his brother Garnet, Rudin slowly crawled out. Garnet shook his head.
"I told you to wash up and come eat a while ago, but you're still like that."
Garnet was the only person in the world to whom Rudin could show his Snicat form without shame. That's why he shared the door lock password with him. Rudin, who scurried into the bathroom and returned to his human form, shouted from beyond the door.
"I'll wash up now!"
"It's already past eight o'clock. I'll go up first, so wash up and come up within 10 minutes."
"Okay!"
Rudin quickly showered, changed into comfortable clothes, and went up to Garnet's house two floors above. Rudin's favorite grilled fish, fried chicken, cucumber salad, and miso soup were neatly set on the table for two. Rudin's small mouth widened up and down.
"Grilled sablefish!"
Garnet, who was scooping rice from the steaming rice cooker and transferring it to a bowl, chuckled.
"I paid attention because it's your first day at work. From tomorrow, expect cereal or cup noodles."
"Anything is good as long as I eat with you, whether it's cereal or cup noodles."
The two sat facing each other and began to eat. Rudin chattered to Garnet about what he had experienced at FDS during the day. Of course, he didn't leave out the story of Calevik.
"I've heard about the Alstadt Family's troublemaker youngest son before. It's often consumed as gossip, but the person himself doesn't seem to bat an eye no matter what the public says."
Rudin, who had stuffed his mouth with food until his cheeks were bursting, replied with a muffled voice to Garnet's words.
"I was surprised that he learned fashion design for two years but doesn't know how to use a sewing machine."
Garnet, who handed his younger brother a cup of water, smiled faintly as if bitter.
"It would have been really nice if you could have taken that class instead of him."
Garnet, who knew that Rudin was usually timid and quiet but that his eyes changed when it came to fashion-related matters, could only feel sorry. Rudin, who had lowered his eyes for a moment at his words, raised his head and smiled brightly.
"Hey, why would I take such a basic class? I'm already a sewing machine master. Isn't that right?"
"That's true. You could teach the kids instead of the professor."
The two tried to brush away their disappointment with laughter.
After finishing his meal and even getting ice cream for dessert, Rudin went back down two floors and returned home. He said he would do the dishes, but Garnet chased him out, saying he wanted to rest alone now, so he couldn't help it. He was grateful because it was obvious that he was considerate of Rudin so that he could rest after cleaning all day.
The room Rudin rented was a fully furnished room with basic necessities such as a bed, table, and refrigerator. The only things he brought separately were a blanket and the cat house that Garnet had given him as a gift.
Rudin, who had changed into his favorite cream-colored pajamas, turned off the lights and crawled into the cozy lemon-colored blanket. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet, but he was tired and wanted to go to bed early. He needed to conserve his depleted energy well in order to handle the cleaning job without difficulty.
I hope I can see more places tomorrow than today.
Rudin soon fell into a comfortable sleep.
***
After about two weeks, Rudin became accustomed to the cleaning job. He became more skilled at sweeping and wiping faster and cleaner, and he also figured out when, where, and in what order to clean in order to encounter students as little as possible.
Although the majority of the students were upper-tier species above Cheetahcat, Pussycats were often found here and there on campus. There were also people like Rudin who worked as cleaners, and most of those who worked in the school cafeteria, cafes, and convenience stores were Pussycats.
Perhaps that's why students didn't pay any attention to Rudin even when he walked around the campus. Rather, they often treated him as if he were invisible, which Rudin was grateful for. He always covered his face with a hat and mask to avoid being noticed, and when students came in groups, he quietly turned to the wall and diligently wiped the floor.
Rudin worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He received a master card key that allowed him to access all areas of the Fashion Design Department's dedicated floor for cleaning, and his favorite place was the large archive located at the eastern end of the 7th floor.
The archive had bookshelves with 20,000 books and a pleasant reading space. There was also a digital space equipped with computers capable of graphic design practice and a multimedia room where content could be viewed.
Most of the books were about art and design, and there were a variety of books, not only domestic books but also foreign books. A vast collection of books imported from Canidia, the country of canine beastmen among neighboring countries, Aviria, the country of avian beastmen, and Reptilia, the country of reptile beastmen, was available.
The moment he entered, Rudin's heart fluttered as if he had become a student of the Fashion Design Department. He enthusiastically wiped the floor with a microfiber mop until it sparkled and even cleaned the dust off the bookshelf shelves, which he wasn't even asked to do. He felt happy as if his knowledge was growing just by reading the titles on the spines of the books while wiping the bookshelves.
The Fashion Design Department's archive was surprisingly deserted. It was partly because Rudin deliberately went to clean in the late afternoon, which was the students' dismissal time, but it was strange that there were hardly any students who came here to study after class. Perhaps they all went home to study, or they went to the central library, which had hundreds of thousands of materials and vast reading rooms in a separate building.
Sometimes, when luck struck and no one was in the archive, Rudin would stop cleaning for a while and pick up a book to read. There were times when he stood and read for over an hour without realizing it. When he opened rare materials that were difficult to obtain from the outside, such as "FDS Fashion Design Department Graduation Work Photo Collection" or "Feladia Ancient Costume History Illustrated Book," he felt a thrill throughout his body.
Was it because he was so excited? Rudin didn't realize at all that a pair of bright eyes were secretly watching him from afar.
One afternoon, a few days before the winter vacation, Rudin opened the door and entered the clothing construction practice room to clean it and was startled.
He had clearly confirmed that all of the day's classes were over before entering, but a group of students were sitting in the practice room chatting. One of the female students, seeing Rudin entering with cleaning tools, urged her friends.
"It looks like they've come to clean. Let's go now."
While they were getting up from their seats, Rudin stood motionless in the corner of the practice room. After seeing the students heading towards the back door, Rudin finally moved and his eyes widened when he discovered something in the place where they had been. He shouted out in a hurry.
"Excuse me!"
Those who were about to open the door and leave all turned to look at Rudin at once. The six or seven students were all slender and tall upper-tier species. Rudin's face turned red, embarrassed by the fact that everyone's attention was focused on him.
"Yes?"
A Lioncat male student with a neat impression asked with a curious expression. Rudin resolved in his mind not to be intimidated just because they were upper-tier species.
"You left the fabric here."
After practice, there were always a lot of threads and fabric scraps on the floor. But what Rudin found was quite a lot of material, more than just leftover scraps, and they were obviously very valuable and luxurious fabrics at a glance. Rudin thought they had forgotten to take their precious fabrics.
"That's all leftover, so please just throw it away."
A Jaguarcat female student with an intellectual feel replied indifferently. Rudin was silently horrified. To just throw away such expensive and good fabrics…?
"Um… well…"
Rudin stammered. The Lioncat male student, tilting his head slightly to the side, asked back as if puzzled.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
"Um…, if you're going to throw it away anyway…, I was wondering if I could have it…."
At Rudin's words, the students looked at each other and giggled. He felt a little upset at the situation, which felt like begging, but they were fabrics he wanted to have at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing his pride. The Lioncat male student chuckled.
"Yeah, well, you can have it all if you want."
Rudin bowed deeply to the students.
"Thank you."
The Lioncat shrugged. The students completely disappeared out of the practice room, chattering arbitrarily that Pussycats seemed to just pick up anything they saw.
Left alone, Rudin rushed to the large practice table. Fabrics of various types and colors were scattered haphazardly. The remaining amount was also considerable, with some fabrics being as large as 1 meter in width and length.
Of course, it was far from enough to make human clothes. But for dolls… It was enough to make at least ten outfits, even if he kept it to a minimum.
'I'll be able to upload high-end new products to the Ruby Doll Boutique website!'
Rudin was excited at the thought of making new clothes and selling them at his handmade doll clothes store.
As Rudin carefully rolled up and organized the fabrics one by one, he picked up one fabric and stopped. Rudin's heartbeat gradually quickened as he fixed his gaze on the fabric, which was as blue and beautiful as a cloudless autumn sky.
He wanted to make clothes.
Even right now.
Rudin sat down in front of the practice table as if possessed. Opening the sewing tool kit placed at each seat, Rudin took out a large pair of scissors from inside. What came to mind as soon as he saw the blue fabric was the Alice dress for 30cm dolls, a popular item at Ruby Doll Boutique that he had made over dozens of times so far. He had all the patterns in his head because he had made it so many times.
If he could make that dress with such expensive and luxurious fabric….
Rudin cut the fabric with scissors without even drawing cutting lines. His hands were busy making puff sleeves and pleating the skirt. He threw off his hat and mask and immersed himself in sewing.
It wasn't just the fabric that was luxurious. All the sewing machines in the practice room were the latest 'Alsewing-s77' models from Alstadt Electronics, equipped with the highest specifications and even an LCD screen. They were expensive products costing over three million cables per unit, so Rudin couldn't afford them, but he had deliberately visited a new product fair hosted by Alstadt Electronics to try them out because he was so curious about their performance.
Given Rudin, who was already skilled at sewing, equipment with excellent performance, it was truly smooth sailing. He completed the dress at an amazing speed, and he even made an apron with pretty frills like wings using white scrap fabric.
Time flew by. Rudin hand-sewed a small snap button on the back of the dress, which was in the sewing tool kit. The dress was completed by layering the white apron over the blue dress and tying the waist strap behind it in a ribbon shape. He felt somehow overwhelmed when he held the result, which was much better than expected, in his hands.