Zabuton

Biodata

Appearance

• Body: Black, flat, and square, initially resembling a cushion or neatly folded quilt. Her body alone covers roughly the area of two tatami mats 2.
• Legs: Eight unusually long legs, arranged symmetrically; with them fully extended, she covers approximately six tatami mats 2.
• Hair: Both her body and legs are covered in fuzz 2.
• Gestures: Raises a leg to greet others, reassure Hiraku, or acknowledge someone at a distance 3 15.

History

Joining Hiraku’s Household

Kuro Four leads Hiraku to Zabuton near the unfinished waterway, where Kuro Three is waiting beside her. At Kuro Three’s signal, she produces a shiny, fifty-centimeter-square cloth with spider-themed embroidery in about five minutes. Hiraku realizes that the wolves have found someone who can make clothing for him 2.

Hiraku welcomes her as a housemate and gives her the great tree as a home. She makes clothes, curtains, and bedding materials, helping him prepare for winter. He names her Zabuton after his first impression of her cushion-like appearance 2.

Becoming a Village Mainstay

After her first winter with Hiraku, Zabuton reappears surrounded by fist-sized offspring. More than a hundred children join the household, helping protect crops and later assisting with earthmoving and harvesting. In subsequent springs, many leave on silk carried by the wind, while others remain and new broods appear 3.

As the settlement becomes Big Tree Village, Zabuton and her descendants serve as its tailors and elevated lookouts. She supplies furnishings for new homes, makes ropes used in construction, and sounds an urgent warning when a wyvern approaches the village 3 4.

Zabuton later becomes the first recipient of Hiraku’s miniature contribution trophies for making the village flag: a green banner with a large tree woven in gold thread. She has flags for the other villages ready before Hiraku asks for them 27.

Personality

Zabuton is intelligent, attentive, and highly capable of understanding spoken requests despite being unable to converse with Hiraku. She remembers his directional alarm code after a single explanation, measures him before making clothes, and produces designs he repeatedly considers more tasteful than his own 2 5.

She takes visible pride in her craft. She claims needles, yarn, and leather from traded goods, participates in fashion shows, and appears satisfied with an aristocratic outfit even though Hiraku cannot wear it for farmwork. After receiving her flag-making trophy, she carries it around the village before displaying it in the entrance hall 4 14 27.

Her care extends to both her children and other residents. She reassures Hiraku when her offspring depart, watches Pillow’s tournament participation with obvious happiness, and carries drunken children on her back during a gathering. She also shows tact in competition: after defeating powerful dragons, she lets Dragon King Death preserve his standing in their final match, according to Death himself 3 10 15 29.

Abilities & Skills

Silk Production and Tailoring

Zabuton spins thread from her rear and manipulates it with her front legs to produce finished textiles and clothing 2.

• Weaves fine cloth with embroidery; her first demonstration takes approximately five minutes 2.
• Takes measurements and makes fitted clothing, curtains, sheets, sacks, ropes, and towel-textured cloth 2 3.
• Tans hides and combines pelts with her own fabric 2.
• Changes Ursa’s and Nat’s clothes into beautiful dresses with rapid movements of her four front legs 20.
• Develops camouflage outfits after seeing Hiraku paint one of her children in jungle camouflage; the high elves adopt the designs 22.
• Produces silk clothing so fine that minotaurs and centaurs consider it too luxurious for everyday workwear 15.

Surveillance and Communication

From her home in the great tree, Zabuton watches the surrounding area and warns the household about unusual activity 2 4.

• Uses a wooden board rather than vocal sounds to communicate alarms 2.
• Later also pulls a naruko clapper so signals can be heard inside Hiraku’s house 3.
• Communicates through leg movements and other gestures; Hiraku explicitly states that he cannot converse with her or her children 5.

Combat and Thread Restraint

Zabuton uses thread to bind opponents and combines it with exceptional evasive ability 15.

• Suffers injuries during the exhibition competition but later watches Pillow’s match from the sidelines 15.
• Demonstrates magic, although the supplied account does not identify her spells 5.
• Demon Spiders possess Stun Bash, a mental attack affecting first-time encounters; Fraulerm loses consciousness when meeting them 5.

Practical and Organizational Skills

• Butchery: Suspends hunted animals with thread to simplify bleeding, gutting, and skinning; Hiraku considers her skinning more skillful than his own 2.
• Guest reception: Welcomes Doraim while Hiraku is away and coordinates food, entertainment, and drinks before the other caretakers settle who should host him 16.
• Team leadership: Captains Team Zabuton from the rear during the festival’s pole-removal game, leaving the physical play to her children 21.
• Performance: Leads her children in a synchronized, tap-dance-like routine after defeating Raimeiren 15.

Children and Descendants

Zabuton’s descendants are not all the same species, and their individual strengths determine their work. Types mentioned include Shadow Spiders, Curse Spiders, Draw Spiders, Trap Spiders, Death Spiders, and Death Hanging Spiders 5 7.

Growth and Seasonal Dispersal

• Her first observed brood numbers over a hundred, initially with fist-sized bodies 3.
• Some grow to magazine size after molting; the earliest-born later reach approximately one-quarter of Zabuton’s size 3.
• Many depart each spring by releasing silk into the wind, while some stay in the settlement 3 14.
• Hiraku estimates approximately fifty descendants in each village at one point; later, some residents of the satellite villages have grown as large as Pillow 14 20.

Work in the Settlements

The rebuilt mansion includes dedicated spider passageways beneath its ceilings, with routes between floors and entrances outside. These accommodate fist-sized children, but not individuals as large as Pillow 15.

Equipment and Items

• Wooden alarm board and naruko — Used to warn residents and indicate directions 2 3.
• Wooden mannequins — Hiraku gives her models sized for himself and Lu after discovering that she likes them 3.
• Needles, yarn, and leather — Sewing materials she takes from the village’s traded goods 4.
• Miniature contribution trophy — Awarded for making Big Tree Village’s flag; displayed beside Hiraku’s sample Kuro trophy 27.

Relationships

• Hiraku — Housemate and village chief who regards Zabuton and her descendants as family. Their partnership begins with an exchange of shelter and food for her textile skills 2 7.
• Kuro and his descendants — Cooperating guardians. Kuro Three and Kuro Four arrange her introduction to Hiraku; later, their descendants work together in defense and dungeon exploration 2 5 8.
• Pillow — A named child and tournament competitor. Hiraku chooses the name because Pillow is rounder than Zabuton; she watches the child compete with evident pride 10.
• Lu — Fellow household member and recipient of her clothing and furnishings. Hiraku makes Zabuton a mannequin in Lu’s size 3.
• Guraru, Doraim’s wife — Calls the spider who saves her an old friend. The spider moves her out of the path of Hiraku’s attack after it penetrates her defenses 5.
• Dragon King Death — Tournament opponent who credits Zabuton with deliberately allowing his official victory 15.
• Ursa and Nat — Children who climb onto her back; she instead seats them in front of herself and dresses them in elaborate outfits 20.

Habits and Trivia

• Zabuton prefers potatoes despite being able to eat many foods. Her descendants share this preference, though some favor raw potatoes and others steamed ones 2 7.
• She hibernates through winter in the great tree, while some children remain active inside the mansion 3 20 23.
• She and her children rapidly consume a raw Bloody Viper; Zabuton also crunches up its magic stone 9.
• She particularly likes Grappler Bear hides 5.
• During her visit to Sun Castle, the succubi’s underwear-like outfits attract more of her interest than the castle itself 27.
• Hiraku creates sculptures of her, including one titled “General Zabuton Commanding While Drinking Coffee” 9 21.