By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 4

Chapter 7 Episode 4: Carme’s Concern, Part 2

~Carme Norad’s Story~

“Good morning!”

The next day, our boss arrived at his usual time. I noticed that he wasn’t so tense, but was also a bit too cheerful, like he was trying to make up for that.

“Good morning, sir. Were you able to rest well?”

“Yes, I did go home and get some sleep. Albeit later than I intended. I noticed that more of my slimes had evolved, so...”

“Still? Please, try not to overwork yourself.”

“Don’t worry. I slept enough that it wouldn’t affect my work, and I think the whole evolution frenzy is dying down. The slimes seemed to have stored up nutrients from the mountains of trash I was feeding them in Fatoma, so that prepared many of them to evolve. Two slimes evolved last night, and both of them evolved from sticky slimes that ate water spiders, which are commonly used for food in Fatoma. One of them is a spider slime, with skills like Nesting and Capture, and that makes me think that the water spiders were actually spiders, when I’d thought they were crabs at first... That doesn’t really matter, though. The other one became a crust slime with the Molting ability. They each share their basic abilities and appearance with a sticky slime, but—”

“AHEM. Anyway, the laundry shop across town responded to your offer.”

“They did? That’s quicker than I expected.”

I didn’t want to cut off his little monologue, but when it came to slimes, he could talk your ear off for literally hours about them. The letter of reply from the rival laundry shop seemed to snap him out of it quite nicely. I wouldn’t have minded listening to him during my lunch or after closing time, but as long as we were open for business, I needed him to get his head together; seeing the boss and his second banana standing around doing no work whatsoever would set a bad precedent to the other employees. Of course, I knew that he knew this, and he had enough common sense in him that it probably wouldn’t be a major issue.

“Hm...” He pored over the letter, looking pensive. “It says we can drop by their shop anytime. I’m guessing that includes today?”

“Let me see.” I took the letter from him and read it myself. His hypothesis checked out. “Seems like we can take it at face value. Unless they’re busy, I wouldn’t imagine they’d mind if we dropped by today.”

“Wonderful. Then let’s make our way there in the afternoon, after lunch. I would like us to be presentable and to avoid intruding on their lunch if we can help it.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll make the appropriate preparations.”

That moment, perhaps because he had just mentioned being presentable, something on his arm caught my eye.

“Is that a bracelet? I’ve never seen you wearing one of those before.”

In fact, I had never seen him wearing any jewelry whatsoever. Some people wore culturally significant accessories, regardless of age or gender, but I’d never heard him mention anything like that. And yet, clear as day, I could see a metallic strand wrapped around his left arm and looped together by a gem.

“Oh, this?” He began to chuckle, seemingly amused. “Does it look like a bracelet?”

“Isn’t it a bracelet?”

“I mean, I would hope it looks close enough to one, but this is actually a slime; a wire slime that evolved in Fatoma, to be exact. It can stretch itself into thin strands. Figured I could test out combining it with a gem, so it’ll look like jewelry.”

“Really...?” I wondered if there was any point in substituting a slime for jewelry. Though, seeing how much he was enjoying the conversation, I decided not to bring that up.

I waited for a break in his speechifying to return his attention to the shop.

■ ■ ■

After lunch, the boss and I had gotten ourselves in order, and we found Hudom ready to accompany us on bodyguard duty.

“Thanks for coming along, Hudom.”

“No problem!”

Hearing that our boss had personally asked him to guard us, I was secretly surprised; he hardly ever had guards accompany him.

I knew by this point that he was an adventurer, and a very capable one at that, but I mostly saw him as an unusually precocious child when we first met. Once the shop began to do well and we started facing disruptions, I recommended that he hire dedicated guards numerous times. While he usually was very receptive to suggestions from me and my sister, he would always refuse any security in a gentle but firm manner, reassuring us that he was an adventurer who could handle himself. The only exception was when I asked Fey to accompany him, as a formality, to the Duke’s residence.

He had recruited quite a powerful team—Fey, Lilyn, Dolce, and Ox. When it came to guarding our little shop, this group was practically overkill. But he had zero interest in hiring guards for himself. Of course, your average bodyguard may be less of a protective force and more of a hindrance.

“Is something wrong, Carme? I feel like you’re staring at me.”

Now that he mentioned it, I guess I was. “I just never expected you to ask for a bodyguard.”

“What...? Right. You and Carla have always been pestering me about that.”

He seemed to remember how he had turned down those suggestions too. He looked away, feeling awkward.

“I’m not upset. I understand how capable you are, sir. I’m just genuinely curious as to why you decided to invite Hudom.”

“I hear the city’s becoming more dangerous. I saw people getting arrested just this morning. Besides, my suit is a bit restricting when it comes to movement. Oh, but maybe I could use a moveable suit made from monster hide or something.”

“Formal wear you can move around in?” Hudom chimed in. “I don’t know if it will suffice in combat, but it might have demand on its own. No harm in being more comfortable.”

Come to think of it, on his commute from the northern mines, he would pass the north gate, where the penitentiary was. That explained why he saw people getting arrested, but this was not his first time there... Was it just for added safety because of his outfit?

“Even just the joints...” Their discussion continued.

“I was at this place one time, and...”

“With that sort of hide and plants?! There are so many different monsters out there. I suppose you could...”

But this wasn’t the time for a lengthy discussion on designing breathable formal wear.

“Sir, I admire your creativity in generating new ideas from everyday conversations, but you’re being a little too enthusiastic right now.”

“Oh, sorry. We’ll pick this up later, Hudom.”

“Yessir!”

He certainly had a one-track mind... As a man of business, I couldn’t let them openly discuss a potentially huge venture in the middle of the street. On a few occasions, I had considered Master Serge and the guildmaster to be overprotective, but seeing him act like this must have been concerning.

I followed the pair as they shifted to discussing various things about the scenery we were passing.

■ ■ ■

“Um... Carme?”

“Yes?”

“That’s the laundry shop, right?”

“Pretty sure...”

We were halted halfway down the street the laundry shop stood on. There was a swarm of people a few steps from the establishment, comprised of well-built young men holding hammers and pieces of lumber. They didn’t look like patrons, and there was palpable tension in the air.

“Might’ve come at a bad time, Chief. What now?” Asked Hudom.

“Some of them have already noticed us... Even if we reschedule, we need to ask what works for them first. If things get dicey, you know what to do,” he added, his tone having gotten more serious, and dauntlessly approached the crowd. Hudom and I stayed close to him on either side. As we grew closer, many investigative looks came from the crowd.

“Excuse me.” Once we were about a horse’s length away from them, the boss spoke up. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened here?”

The crowd muttered for a few seconds before one of them answered, “Nothing.”

It sure didn’t seem like nothing.

“I see. Could you let us through, please? We have business with the shop over there,” our boss answered.

The man’s expression rapidly switched from one of indignation to rage. “Business? What kind of business?”

“Um, are you a representative of the shop?”

“None of your damn business!”

“It is, actually,” I interjected. The man shot a nasty look at me; nothing I didn’t expect, though. “We’re here to negotiate with the owner of this shop. We have no obligation to disclose the nature of our meeting; after all, this concerns our own reputation as a business. Obviously, we’d want to be sure of who we’re speaking with, yes? The owner has already been informed via mail. If you are not representing the shop, I’ll have to ask you to move aside.” That seemed to quash any retort he might have been concocting.

After a few seconds, he snarled, “All that crap about... I knew it! So you’re the one trying to steal this shop with some phony contract!”

“Huh?” What was he on about?

“Surprised you brought this little punk along. Guess that explains why he ain’t afraid.”

“No, our boss simply—”

“Enough talk! We know all about that letter! You intended to buy out that shop, in writing!”

“But—”

We had indeed sent a letter introducing the idea of a buyout, but they had gotten the wrong impression entirely. I could recall the contents of the letter. Our objective was to provide greater convenience for customers and to separate the clientele into multiple locations in order to lighten the load on the shop. Our offer was to buy out their workshop and homestead, or the workshop alone; this was, of course, open to negotiation. In the event of a buyout, any employees who wished would be permitted to continue their employment, and no one would be asked to vacate the premises. The main difference would be the change in workdays; we would have them follow the main of Bamboo Forest. That being said, we would try our best to not disrupt any existing employee structure.

That was the gist of it, I was sure. We had no intention of kicking out the family. In fact, we would even prefer that they kept working here, so I didn’t think it was fair for us to be met with this kind of response.

“Hold on a minute,” I spoke up. “Let’s have a calm, collected discus—”

“Bullshit! We know exactly what you people do—you fleece others into giving you their hard-earned money, or even their homes!”

“Damn straight!”

“You know how many of us got no roof over our heads thanks to you?!”

“You think we wouldn’t remember that shady-looking guy trying to force them into selling the place?!” The others started joining in.

So from the sound of things, there’s already been a few evictions, and someone’s already been here trying to put the screws on the owner to sell the workshop...

“Carme.”

“Yes, sir. I have the same feeling as you.”

“This is definitely a case of mistaken identity.”

We had been hearing about the problems plaguing the city, and this part of town was no exception. I believed these men when they said someone was out there duping people into selling their homes. But that wasn’t us.

“I think I understand what you are talking about. We are not affiliated with those people. We run a laundry shop on the east end, Bamboo Forest.”

I followed my boss’s lead. “The owner of this laundry shop has extended an invitation to us to stop by any time.”

“Bamboo Forest? I know that place.”

“Our workshop uses them.”

“She answered their letter?”

“Rumor has it, a kid manages the place... Is that the kid?”

It sounded like some of them knew about our establishment.

Just as the crowd became more vocal, and their animosity towards us began to fade, the man who first accosted us shouted, “Don’t let him sucker you! Those scammers like to claim they’re from legit businesses!”

“R-Right!”

“But I heard business is booming there.”

“Yeah. Maybe if we just let him talk to—”

“Use your damn heads! How many other people got that idea and then signed a contract that screwed them over? Once you ink that contract, the guild won’t lift a finger to help you! If that lady and her kids lose their home, her husband’s gonna be spinning in his grave!”

With that, the expressions of those who were considering hearing us out began to darken. Maybe some of them were victims of the con artists themselves. It was a bit concerning that the guild wasn’t doing anything about this, though.

“So you wanna screw our laundry shop over? I don’t care how old you are! You’re gonna regret you ever came here, you little shit!”

So much for the diplomatic option...

Then, our boss muttered something I couldn’t hear. I turned to look at him, and he had a fire in his eyes like I’d never seen before. Sometimes I’d catch him feeling sad when reminiscing on his past, but this was different. In this moment, he seemed utterly despondent.

“What’s the matter, sir?”

“I’m just disappointed. I’m sure they’ve been through a lot... But they’re acting like a bunch of damn thugs.” His voice was leaden and hopeless.

I understood where he was coming from, but...

“Excuse me?!”

This was hardly the right time to make that remark. Hudom moved to step between us in the crowd when the boss stopped him.

“Are you sure?” Hudom asked.

“I ran my mouth, so I’ll face the consequences. Just keep Carme safe, please.”

“Yes, sir...”

“You got some nerve, punk.”

“The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

The situation grew all the more tense, but our boss remained defiant. “All I see here is a bunch of grown men waving weapons around, who can only shout down and intimidate anybody who gets in their way, refusing to even listen to reason. How are you any different from the thugs destroying this city?”

“Y-You little...”

I couldn’t disagree, but I don’t think I would have come right out and said all that directly to these people’s faces. It probably wasn’t doing him any favors to be this upfront with them.

“Hudom, I think I understand what you were talking about yesterday,” I said.

“How so?”

“I can’t quite say for sure... He usually smiles and brushes off pretty much everything. I’ve never seen him react like this.”

I was prepared to resolve this situation by force, but then...

“You there, cowering behind the door. Might you be the owner of this shop?”

I had been too focused on the conflict at hand to notice. The door to the shop was slightly open, and a slender woman was peering through the tiny crack. She seemed to be the owner of the laundry shop.

“What the hell are you doing?! Get back inside!” The man called.

“I...”

“May I talk to you?” our boss asked.

“You shut up!”

“I just want to have a word.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll keep you and the kids safe!”

The owner looked from us to the men, back and forth, and the man kept reassuring her.

“I’m sorry...” Finally, the owner retreated into her shop.

“Fine, then. Let’s just leave,” our boss declared.

In spite of the situation, he’d seemingly given up completely on his objective and turned to leave. This seemed to take the man by surprise as well. “Wha— Hey!”

“Apologies for the intrusion. I think she’s made her intentions clear, so I’ll be going now. I’m fairly certain you won’t see us again, but if you still have complaints to voice, you can make an appointment at my shop.”

“An appointment...?”

“You can make arrangements to see me directly. I assure you, I will not chicken out. You can even bring one of your little weapons along, if it makes you feel better. But if you harm or threaten any of my employees... Well, let’s just say I will deal with you appropriately.” His voice was quiet, but extremely ominous.

“Let’s get out of here, Hudom,” I encouraged.

“Got it!”

The boss had already walked quite a ways ahead of us, and we soon caught up to him.

“Sir. What was all that about?”

“I’m sorry, Carme. Just forget about buying out the shop... I’m over that idea. I hate to say it, but we’re better off looking for another laundry shop or building a new branch from scratch.”

“If you say so. We are hardly in any hurry. Back to the drawing board, as they say.”

“Yes.”

After that, the conversation died, and we kept walking in silence. Our boss had a bad habit of overthinking things, and it seemed that habit had reared its ugly head in particularly egregious fashion today. I could imagine why he was so upset, but in any other situation, he would have simply brushed it off. Maybe he was stressed out enough that it was easier for this situation to get to him?

“Sir, are you sure you’re all right? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you’re burning yourself out.”

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He seemed unable to deny my accusation. After a few moments, he sighed. “Yes... I think you’re right about that.”

“If there’s anything on your mind, I would be happy to hear you out.”

“Right... Personally, I don’t expect anything to come of this. But I like to err on the side of caution. That’s why I have you in my shop, after all. Not to be judgmental, but if that shop’s owner were to take your place, I wouldn’t feel safe leaving her in charge of things.”

“I completely agree. At the very least, it seemed like all that support allowed her business to stay afloat.”

“True. I’m not around the shop too much, but if there’s one thing I know, it’s that anyone in charge of the shop, whether it’s me or somebody else, has a responsibility to keep the shop and its employees safe.”

Since he had realized that the lady from before couldn’t do that herself, I took it to mean that he trusted me with that responsibility.

“That being said, there’s no avoiding the unexpected; it usually comes without warning. No matter how careful you are, stuff can still just happen; we’re only human, after all. It only takes the slightest oversight or moment of neglect to lose everything we may hold dear.”

He spoke with the wisdom of a man who had lived a whole lifetime, and then chuckled. “Here I was, constantly trying to be careful, trying to mitigate as much of the unexpected as I could...but I guess that was causing me more stress than I realized.”

“Maybe the state of affairs in this city played a role in that as well?”

“For sure. But ultimately, the onus is still mine. We’re no different from anyone else in this city—we do what we must in order to make a living. I don’t think we’re cutting corners. But some people will never be content, no matter how careful you are.”

“That’s true.”

“I need to work on that, but it’s still in my nature to think about that sort of thing. So I’m afraid you’re stuck with me,” he said, flashing a sly grin.

“Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”

He smiled. “True.”

We continued on our way back. The tension in the air had dissipated, and he seemed to have more of a spring in his step as he walked.