By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 14

Chapter 7, Episode 14: End-of-Shift Meeting

After leaving the construction site, I headed back to the shop. I had planned to meet the people who had walked out of the conference, just like I had discussed with Darson and the others, but there was something I had to take care of first.

“Right, let’s get started.”

The seven helpers from the duke’s had gathered at the shop office, where we were going to catch each other up on the day’s progress before Darson and company would arrive. That being said, we were at the construction site that morning, and the only ones who weren’t with me after that were the three maids.

Libiola—the ape beastkin—seemed to have her eye on me. “May I speak for the maids?”

“Please do.”

“After leaving the construction site, we began preparations for acquiring the land, establishing the security company, and hiring new personnel at the Merchant’s Guild for the rest of the morning; there were no problems. We just need Ryoma, Hughes and Jill to sign a few documents later. Also, come tomorrow morning, every guild with a branch in Gimul will hear word of our company’s establishment and recruitment information.”

“Thank you. Guess that settles the paperwork, then.”

“Yes. We were here for the afternoon, and received word from Master Lible that many of the residents who had been holding off on volunteering to move their residence have agreed to do so. The owners of other orphanages who had been unresponsive sent their apologies for a delayed response and enthusiastically agreed to the project.”

“Wonderful!”

The people of the slums had been pretty cooperative to begin with, but some had been hesitant to accept our offer. It was only natural for them to take their time. Moving was an ordeal, and I imagined they feared losing their home in the process, particularly when it came to the orphanages, where children’s livelihoods were at stake. Since they were now enthusiastic about it...

“Chalk it up to my magic show this morning, I suppose.”

“Indeed. I had my suspicions when you began the construction right after the demolition; no wonder you made such a spectacle of it.”

“I really did want to experiment, but I thought it’d be a good advertisement for how quick the process can be. I was certain we could at least use it for demolition purposes... We’re going to garner attention when we start up several businesses at once. We’d have to deal with some complications because of that, I’m sure, but if I came off as some powerful mage, maybe that will deter some of them from trying to mess with us. Best of all, I have you all to help me.” I smiled in a way that conveyed my trust.

“You could tell us that before you try experimenting next time,” Libiola chuckled.

“The next message comes from the manager of the next orphanage in line to be demolished. Apparently, they spoke with the manager of this morning’s orphanage, and the children are moving to the newly constructed temporary housing tonight. The former orphanage is ready to be demolished anytime.”

“They’re moving already? Can the place accommodate those children, however many there are?”

“Just like the former warehouse you’ve demoed this morning, the next one had rotten floors, crumbling walls and ceilings... With much of the building uninhabitable, they were already living packed tight in the confined space. The children are perfectly fine with the space, and even happier that there won’t be any drafts in the new building.”

“If they’re okay with that... Let’s pay out the children for their trouble as soon as tomorrow. It’s great that we can take down the next building, though. We were going to purchase that land to build the security company HQ.”

Hughes jumped in. “Oh? Does that mean we’re getting our home base ahead of schedule?”

“I suppose so. I’ll use sand magic for the demolition and construction.”

Since we had planned to build a proper home for the children, I had only built their temporary housing by constructing the rough shape with sand magic. When it came to the security company, I was going to design more details and waterproof it with sticky slime solution. This would double as an opportunity to observe the short-term effects of waterproof coating or paint on my sand magic buildings.

“Hughes, Jill, Zeph, Camil. I would like you all to collectively come up with the facilities and features the building would need.”

“Got it.”

“The last message of the day is from the duke’s residence, about the recruitment of a trustworthy doctor. A letter has arrived, asking for four apprentices to accompany the doctor.”

“They’re not canceling? And they’re sending five doctors for my benefit?”

“Not exclusively, it seems. The arrangement has been suggested by their mentor, Master Alaflal... I believe you’ve met.”

“The duke’s live-in elf doctor? Yes, I met him briefly when I was staying at the duke’s. He gave me advice on the magic recovery potion for Ox.”

“That must explain it, then. He was quite impressed by your knowledge, Master Ryoma. So much so, in fact, that he suggested this arrangement the moment the duke requested his service. He is eager for his apprentices to venture outside of their comfort zone. He also mentioned that the apprentices have learned enough to start gaining experience in diagnosis and treatment.”

So basically, they’re interns. Who knows what they have to learn by coming to me, but if Alaflal thinks it’ll be a learning experience...

“Well, I see no reason to decline. Better safe than sorry if we have any injuries, at least.”

“I will inform them of your acceptance.”

“Thank you.”

That concluded our meeting for the day...save for one more thing.

“One more question from me. Do you think I could keep a few goblins in the northern mines where I live?”

The seven shared a look before Lulunese spoke. “As long as you form familiar contracts, there shouldn’t be an issue, but this seems rather sudden.”

“It started with my lesson the other day... If someone is going to the trouble to teach me something, I want to spend adequate time on it and give it my best effort. I wanted to start delegating my work to you all so I can have that time to learn. Seeing those workers in action today, I realized that having extra hands on deck for manual labor can be really helpful. For example, it’s not that I don’t enjoy feeding my slimes every day, but it’s been taking up more and more time as I gain new species of slimes.”

Now my point seemed to click with the group.

“How many slimes do you have now, Ryoma? I remember you having at least a few thousand...”

“I thought slimes of the same species could merge together.”

“You’re right, Jill. I just need more than a hundred of the same species. With more and more variety, and me trying to acquire as many slimes as I can, I’d have to do another headcount soon to find out an exact number. The stone and weed slimes are multiplying quite literally by the day, for example.”

I was beginning to feel like a zookeeper. Not that I’d ever worked as one, but I could certainly see the resemblance.

“Even if you’re passionate about them, it would be more work to take care of them the more you have,” Lulunese said, to the group’s agreement.

“I saw goblin tracks on my way here this morning. Apparently, they sniffed out my potato farm somehow. I’m counting on them showing up again soon. I was thinking, I’d have to deal with them one way or another, so...”

“So you decided to make them your laborers.”

“Lucky goblins. Better that than getting exterminated, I suppose.”

Jill and Hughes took the words right out of my mouth. While I didn’t adore goblins like I did my slimes and limour birds, I didn’t want to hurt them for no reason. If they could do work for me, I’d provide them with food and shelter. No different from how I treated the clever chickens that provided me with eggs.

“Why not hire some help rather than going through the trouble of using goblins?” Lilian asked.

“When researching slimes, sometimes I discover evolutions and abilities that I can’t necessarily tell everyone about, so to maintain confidentiality... Goblins wouldn’t share any sensitive information with anyone else.”

“That makes sense. Sorry for butting in.”

“No, I appreciate the input. I can always be wrong, and I do foresee hiring human help someday.” The variety of my slimes had drastically increased with just one trip, and I could see it exponentially growing depending on how my experiments would turn out. “So, I wanted to hire goblins as labor and to feed cleaner and scavenger slimes.”

The group exchanged a few words before concluding that, despite the hurdles involved, I could handle it myself.

“Right, I’ll capture the goblins the next time I see them.”

“Oh, Ryoma. There’s something I meant to talk to you about.”

“What is it, Hughes?”

“Well, you know that there are nobles involved in how the state of our city is, right?”

“That’s what I’ve heard. I don’t know who they are, though.”

“Then I think I should tell you some more about that... What do you think?”

“If you’re willing to tell me, I’d like to know.”

Hughes and I turned to the remaining six.

“Ryoma is already involved... He’s even volunteered to help us. It’s only fair that we provide him with some information.” With a stern look, Jill went on to give me a detailed explanation. “Not that you’d ever meet them or need to know their names... But we’ve discovered that Baron Ransor, Baron Reefled, Viscount Fargatton, Viscount Danielton, and Count Sandrick are secretly involved in the matter.”

“Five of them...”

“Correct. However, Baron Ransor has no reason to oppose Master Reinhart or his family. It seems the other four have coerced him into cooperation.”

She went on to explain that the Ransors were a small noble clan ruling a small and unremarkable land. During the reign of the previous baron, he apparently discovered a gold mine in their land and struck it rich in the blink of an eye... The truth, however, had been contested. The baron Ransor at the time had no knowledge of mining or defending mines. He reluctantly sought help from Viscount Fargatton, who wasted no time in ensuring that the mines could not be operated without the other four nobles.

“Baron Ransor appears well off because of the gold mine, he sends copious amounts of money and gifts to the other four nobles under the table. Somehow, he is both the sponsor and the lowest rung, slaving away for the other four.”

“Enemy or not, I rather pity this Baron Ransor character.”

“Don’t worry. Master Reinhart is trying to detach the Ransors from the rest of them. Cutting off their finances. I’ve heard we have plenty of ammunition to execute that plan. While Baron Ransor is partially responsible, Master Reinhart has stated that, since the baron was coerced, he would settle the matter with the Ransors by means of financial restitution. He will even offer to help run the mines instead of those other nobles.”

I see... Reinhart’s ready to take over the position of the other four houses.

“I didn’t mean for the whole Reinhart house to join me.”

With Darson and company approaching, we put a pin in this conversation.

“The Reinharts will make their move during the year-end high society ball. With a loss in their financial resources, they won’t be able to do much. We just have to make it until then.”

A goal. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.