By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 20

Chapter 7, Episode 20: One Fateful Night

There stood a bar in Gimul where passersby could see people walking through the door despite the “closed” sign that hung on it. Tonight, nine men had entered the bar in total. They had arrived in groups of three, one man from each group taking a seat at the table in the center, and the other two each taking up a table behind their group’s representative. The tension in the bar was thick enough to cut with a knife, and nowhere was this more evident than at the table in the center.

“You got some serious explaining to do, Wanz...”

“Go on, then. Let’s hear you smooth-talk yourself outta this one.”

“I’m not sure what there is to explain... I will admit we haven’t made as much progress as I had hoped for. But can the same not also be said of yourselves?”

One man at the center table was Wanz, the host of the tumultuous conference Ryoma had walked out of.

“You wot?!” Another representative shouted at the remark.

As the men readied themselves for a situation, the third occupant of the center table frustratedly clicked his tongue and spoke up.

“That’s enough. Causing a scene won’t do nobody no favors here.”

“He speaks the truth! All was going well on my end until I started the Gimul Union of Small Businesses and assembled every merchant I could—”

“Key word bein’ was, eh? Go on, then,” snarled the man.

“Yes. All was going well, until he showed up. I thought everything ahead. I had plants in the audience. I had ’em all dancing to my tune, and then that little brat went and ruined everything...!”

Wanz’s words dripped with contempt, but that contempt wasn’t easily spotted on his face.

“I almost thought he was takin’ the piss. He sure wasn’t born yesterday.”

“The name Ryoma Takebayashi isn’t known for nothing. That punk’s been putting us through the wringer. Here I went out of my way to have my mooks pretend to be job hunters starting fights around town to try and make his workers look bad...”

“Nothin’ we ain’t been through ourselves. We’ve been pushing for the poor to turn to crime, just so they can hope that kid’ll hire them en masse... But he’s already taken on hundreds, and I hear there’s more openings coming. How loaded is he, anyway? Should we just stop running and open our own damn laundry shop?”

Wanz chuckled. “I doubt his laundry business is all that profitable. He’s offering all the new hires housing, food, and even medical treatment, in addition to a regular salary. As well as he has done for himself with his little venture, it’s highly unlikely that the revenue covers the cost of his new venture. And we can’t be the only ones who’ve noticed that. Rumor has it, the little bastard has a huge inheritance from his grandparents that’s paying his bills. I, for one, think it’s rather too convenient; he couldn’t have been hiding something like that all along. Even if he did have an inheritance, why throw it all away like this? He’s either a living saint, or too dumb to understand the worth of money. Since it's readily apparent he’s screwing up our plans, I think it’s safe to assume that he’s in the pocket of the duke. That little...brat is just a distraction. Perhaps he is clever enough for his age to play the puppet.”

Wanz seemed to regain his composure as he finished speaking; it showed in the softening of his language.

“It’d make a lot more sense than the kid orchestrating the whole situation on his own. He’s got some of the duke’s staff in his inner circle... So what now? The security company’s going to start patrolling the city, apparently. That’d make things hard for the ‘thieves.’”

“It’s difficult enough already... That company spread some awareness through the guild, topped off with info on some of our sweet spots and tactics. Looks like they got someone who knows our business.”

“Same here. Some of the abandoned buildings in the slums we’d been eyeing as potential hideouts and spots for deals have been taken down. What’s worse, the ‘rezoning’ gives the slums more ventilation.”

“So the ‘acquisitioners’ are suffocating too, then. What about the ‘grifters’? Do they have enough intel? If we know the time and route of the patrols, we can go after specific shops or ambush the patrol, and that’d also give the ‘acquisitioners’ a break. That was the deal, wasn’t it?”

“Unfortunately, we haven’t rooked enough people yet. Some at the conference have grown skeptical of us, so we’re pulling teeth with every negotiation. We need to take our time and regain their trust.”

Silence filled the room for some time before Wanz spoke again.

“Let us stay the course for now. So what if he has a noble’s support? We do too. We can still anticipate a steady stream of job hunters; there’s no shortage of jobless yokels in this town.”

“No turning back now... We’ve accepted a quest, after all. Abandoning a quest is a death sentence for creatures of the underground like us. Even if we were to get away with our lives, we would never find peace.”

“He’s right. Things may be tougher now, but the game’s not over yet.”

Urgency was written all over the faces of everyone present.

■ ■ ■

Meanwhile, in a room of the security company’s headquarters where most employees had retreated to the dorms for the night, a congregation had formed. Present were the four guards and three maids from the duke’s, as well as Maflal, the doctor, and Serge, who had happened to stop by this evening.

“Well done today, everyone! Let’s drink to that!”

“Cheers!”

As the attendees of the gathering raised their glasses in a toast, Jill asked Hughes with a stern expression, “Are you sure you want to make the report here?”

“Lighten up, Jill. There haven’t been any issues we didn’t anticipate; it’s just a once-over. We can do that over drinks. Besides, we can’t really get all neurotic about it after we told Ryoma to loosen up a bit, can we?”

“You have a point...”

“Besides, you’re putting Serge on the spot.”

“Oh, pardon me... Wait, you pulled Serge in here in the first place! I apologize for Hughes’s behavior.”

“No need. Hughes invited me in so my trip wouldn’t be for naught.”

“I appreciate that.”

Then, Camil spoke up. “Why did you make the trip here, Serge?”

“I have a package for Ryoma from a magical item maker I frequent. I accepted the errand, since I wanted to have a quick chat about the factory’s production with him...”

“They just missed each other. You know how Ryoma’s been going home pretty early lately, right?”

“He has, ever since he started keeping goblins.”

“Makes sense, since he contracted them as familiars. Master Ryoma must need time to get to know the goblins. And I understand that any familiar, even a goblin, can become more aggressive or fall ill while they’re acclimating to their new environment.”

“Whatever makes Ryoma go home earlier is fine by me. He’s nothing if not prone to overdoing things.”

The party collectively expressed their agreement. With the ice of the night broken, Lilian spoke up. “Master Serge? Is there something wrong at the factory that you wanted to speak to Master Ryoma about? If it’s an urgent matter, I’ll send my familiar to deliver the message.”

“I appreciate the offer. It’s not particularly urgent, so that won’t be necessary. I was only hoping to discuss some details about the plan of production and products to focus on moving forward, as well as some merchandise Master Ryoma has ordered from me.”

“As long as it’s not an emergency. I thought the factory was focusing on waterproof fabric; do you have plans for anything new?”

“Yes, the factory will mostly produce the fabric waterproofed by sticky slime secretion. However, he has spoken to me about a separate line of merchandise using slimes... Not to change the subject, but I assume everyone has heard that part of my store was burned down.” The group confirmed this. “It seems that Master Ryoma was greatly concerned about the incident. He had so many ideas to share, from how to prevent fires, equipment to extinguish fires in case they happened, how to rescue people from burning buildings, and even special equipment for the rescuers... Come to think of it, it was as if he had come up with them all on the spot. Every single suggestion was worth great consideration, so I want to prototype all of them, and put them on shelves if they turn out well.”

“Now that you mention it, Ryoma suggested rescue training in the future, once we’re done with basic training... And to train volunteers in first aid.”

“Perhaps the burning of Serge’s shop had a great impact on him.”

“He has always been a caring boy, striving for solutions to help others. That’s why I feel like I got to help him out,” Zeph said, much to the agreement of the group.

Hughes crooked his neck in contemplation, garnering the attention of the others.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well, Lulunese... It just occurred to me how well Ryoma’s getting along in this city.”

“Yes. That’s how he’s planned and executed these ventures with the help of not only us but many others in the city.”

“Right? And Ryoma has a lot of friends. Wouldn’t you agree, Jill?”

“His adventurer friends helping with the security company, three guild masters, top of the city council, the leader of the slums, a merchant like Serge... He has them all.”

“He knows a lot of people in the city as well. There are some business owners he made friends with recently, and I’ve heard older kids from the slums that know him work in the trash plant. Plus he goes to church often and donates good money.”

“I haven’t known him as long as many of you here, but I still see how much attention he pays to the little things. Sometimes he does have a unique perspective, almost like his thought process is totally different from other people.”

“I’ll buy that for a sute...” Hughes agreed with Liviola, and contemplated some more.

Jill spoke up, with a faint shade of concern on her expression. “What are you going about? You never think about anything this much. Are you sick?”

“Just introspective, I guess. Or maybe just surprised. He’s changed a lot since we first met him. Remember how he used to live in the forest?”

“That’s right. I almost forgot, seeing him fit so well into the city.”

“I know, right? Back to how he’s made a lot of friends in the city, I don’t know how to put this, he’s just getting along so well... He always said he wasn’t a ‘people person,’ but I’m starting to doubt that.”

Maflal chimed in, after having largely remained silent during the discussion. “I definitely think he’s a people person. He made sure we were all as comfortable as we could be when we arrived. Before the security business even opened, I heard he assigned tasks to everyone without hesitation and spent all of his free time laying the groundwork for his venture.”

They each thought about what had been going on lately.

“We’ve been too busy for me to pay it too much mind, but he took the initiative and did all of that himself.”

“Hm... Can’t really say he’s not a people person, can we?”

“Well, that’s the thing; he still thinks he isn’t one. He always did have low self-esteem, so maybe he’s just overestimating his own faults.”

“Wait... I think I get it now. Serge has a point. Ryoma tends to do a lot of things on his own, but it’s not like he can’t rely on other people.” Hughes knocked back his glass in relief, looking as happy as a clam.

■ ■ ■

Meanwhile, in the divine realm...

“All seems to be well.”

“Yep. Those working from Gimul’s shadows haven’t given up yet, but Ryoma has friends in high places. Plus, the city’s gotten more peaceful now.”

“I wonder what he’s up to now?”

“He just finished preparing food for his newly contracted goblins and slimes, and started cooking his own dinner...while experimenting with nonperishable foods.”

“B’y’s also started ta study farmin’, like I dun told ’im to. Still learnin’ the basics fer now, but he’s growin’ better crops already.”

“And he’s even dabbled in a little mixology. Looks like he’s working on growing ingredients for that drink popular in Gimul and testing recipes out. I’m sure having those goblins motivated him to take this on, but I’m just glad he’s in the mines. It’d take some work, but there’s certainly worse places to try and age a drink. Knowing Ryoma, he might actually be able to pull this off.”

There stood six gods watching Ryoma, his friends, and the city at large, holding their drink of choice and leisurely exchanging information they had gained about the world below.

Then, two more gods materialized out of thin air.

“How’s it going?”

“Kiriluel. All taken care of?”

“Far from it. But given the state of him now, I say he could use a bit of a break!” Kiriluel threw the other god, whom she had been carrying on her shoulder, down on the ground. Serelipta groaned in pain, but his body remained motionless.

“Y-You could have let me down more gently...” Serelipta squeaked.

“I think not. You haven’t even served your full punishment yet. I’m only doing this because I don’t want to kick someone when they’re down, but you ought to be grateful for any breaks you get.”

Kiriluel’s gaze focused on the gods. “Wait, where’s Fernobelia? She didn’t show up at her shift about this.”

“Oh? Did she go AWOL on us?”

“She went home, actually.”

“Huh? What for?”

“Ryoma started combining slimes and magic, which was a really good match. So much so that it produced some amazing effects, like he found a loophole in the design.”

“She said she’d look into it and then, poof! Gone.”

“Magic is her forte, I suppose. And you know she’s got a perfectionist slant.”

“Huh... Well, whatever. How are things here?”

“All clear. Serelipta hasn’t done anything to influence events in the human realm.”

“Oh, come on, you seriously thought I did that?”

“Seeing how you gave Ryoma a little prophecy, we needed to make sure you didn’t pull any tricks.”

“Hey, even I wouldn’t go that far... I just told him what I thought would happen after seeing how things were in the city.”

“If only your past record didn’t make you so untrustworthy.”

“Yeah, yeah, excuse me, princess... How is Ryoma, anyway?”

“Hm... I suppose there’s no harm in showing you. Here.” Gain held his hand up to Serelipta’s head.

“Ah... I had a feeling something like this might happen,” Serelipta said, still sprawled on the ground.

“Did you, now? Is that down to you pulling a few strings?”

“Even if I hadn’t told him anything, I had a hunch about it... Things were already getting hotter in the city, so of course he’d find out as soon as he got back, especially with what happened to Serge’s shop. And for the record, it was Serge who told Ryoma about foreign nobles lurking in the shadows, not me. My hands are clean.”

“Fair enough...”

“It’s not rocket science; of course he’d take action over all that. Screwing around with a city just to sully the name of a noble would practically amount to a declaration of war. It looks like Reinhart wants to avoid violent conflict as much as possible, and only we know what will come of it for sure, unless we use our powers. Ryoma can’t see the future; all he can do is prepare for the worst-case scenario, so the only difference he’ll ever notice is how quickly he’ll be able to react in the event things go south... Of course, saving precious time in a dire situation may prove very valuable.”

“That uppity-puppity tone of yours is why we don’t believe you.”

“Wilieris, dear. You really should try using that dormant organ inside your head from time to time.”

“Stop it, both of you!”

“I swear, every time we put you two in the same room... Leave it to Serelipta to cause a scene literally without even moving a muscle...”

“Can we get this discussion back on track now?”

Kiriluel, the goddess of war, took the initiative. “Ryoma’s making all sorts of preparations... You could say he’s gearing up for war. Like that thing just said, what’s going on could lead to a war between nobles. No matter what Reinhart wants, violent confrontations are sometimes unavoidable. If it gets to that point, the soldiers at the security company would add to the duke’s forces, his preserved food used to feed his fighters, and even his medical knowledge and technology will serve them well on the battlefield. Not that Ryoma would ever force his employees to serve in a war, and they wouldn’t come close to the caliber of full-time soldiers or mercenaries, battles are fought in more places than the front lines. With basic training, they could serve well in the back end. Civilians have been drafted to serve in many wars. If it never leads to war, they only have to worry about protecting the city as planned, so growing this business can’t go wrong for Ryoma either way.”

“This is Ryoma we’re talking about,” Serelipta chimed in.

“Hm? It sounds like you saw this coming.”

“Well, duh. I did see it coming; Ryoma does have the talents the gods of Earth threw at him, after all.”

“The ones about violence and crime...”

“Those gods are older and more powerful than us, regardless of their moral compass. They’re quite powerful talents, which gives Ryoma a good intuition when it comes to stuff like this, like he’s predicting his opponent’s next move from his surroundings. His experience dealing with a lot of malicious people in his previous life must have something to do with it, but that could evolve into a Sixth Sense skill or something with the right training. I did say that talents for violence had been planted in him, but what are talents if not a toolbox? It makes life easier if you have them, but it’s not a requirement to achieve what you want to achieve. And it all depends on how you use them. Talents don’t dictate how humans live their lives.”

All the other gods agreed, even Wilieris, prone to butting heads with Serelipta as she was. “Yes... Even an affinity for crime can be used to help and protect others. Perhaps Ryoma’s starting to prove that without even realizing it.”

“Maybe he chose the best way for him to prepare with a sort of pseudo-sixth sense based on his talent and experience.”

“We can’t credit all of his friends solely on our blessings either.”

“Honestly, Ryoma has zero social skills. Still, he tried for thirty-nine years in his old life to get along as best as he could with other people, and he’s kept up that effort in his new life. That’s why he has so many friends who are ready to lend him a hand.”

“Isn’t it pretty much because of the Earth gods’ sabotage that he didn’t get along with people there? Whenever we go to check on things down on Earth, I get the impression that at least half of Ryoma’s ex-coworkers couldn’t hold a conversation with someone for more than five minutes without the police being called.”

“Right... They can keep their toxic little workplace. If I had to put up with people like that, you probably couldn’t stop me from knocking their teeth out.”

“B’y’s got a helluva lot of patience. Prob’ly a lot more than most people, if ’e can put up with arseholes like that.”

“Grimp’s right. Of course, he probably wasn’t so good at it when he was younger, and he probably carried a lot of bad memories into adulthood. When you’ve spent a literal lifetime thinking you’re good for nothing, of course it’s going to be difficult to shake that mentality. I can only hope he starts to clue into his surroundings a little more... Of course, he’s only a teenager, while we’re literal gods. We have all the time in the world to watch him grow.”

The gods shared some warm smiles.

“Well, Serelipta, I hope you enjoyed that little respite, because it ends here.”

“What...? I-I’m not sure what you’re— Wh-Why can’t I move my everything...?”

“The lady doth enjoy the sound of her own voice too much, methinks. Since you seem to be in better spirits now, if you’re quite done with your little spiel, we still have the matter of completing your punishment to attend to.”

“Wait! You don’t have to carry me—”

“Oh, no need to be shy. I’ll carry you alllll the way there.” Kiriluel said, throwing Serelipta over her shoulder again and shuffling off.

“Can’t get any peace and quiet around here...” Gain muttered, to the amusement of the other gods, as they returned to watching the world below.