Returning the Inheritance

"Every generation of our family was supposed to send someone to maintain the Magical Textiles there regularly. No one had gone for so many years; those fabrics should have turned to dust long ago."

Margaret seemed to take it well and reached out to hold down the suitcase.

"It would have been the same no matter who went. We were the ones who lost the key's location. You needn't feel guilty about it, nor do anything extra to make up for it."

Clearly, Margaret thought Manus was offering compensation for damaging the textiles, but those things had already been ruined before he went there—before he had even been born.

"No, Margaret. What I mean is... although those textiles were damaged, I still did my best to preserve them in their final state."

Manus opened the suitcase even as Margaret held it down, and the irresistible force made her freeze in surprise.

By the time Margaret came back to herself, Manus had already taken a dress form from inside.

The delicate fabric had been draped over the dress form, remaining utterly still in the windless room. Even though it had swayed slightly while being taken out, the fabric itself remained as steady as a rock, without the slightest movement.

"This is...?"

Margaret's eyes widened.

"I used a few methods to solidify those textiles, which had become incredibly fragile with time and retained only their appearance. They can no longer be worn, nor do they possess any magical effects, but they can at least be displayed... like exhibits in a museum."

Manus did not take out many—only two dress forms. Any more, and the living room would not have had room for them.

After half a month of work by Huginn and Muninn, the field that had originally roughly enveloped the entire