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By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 30




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Chapter 5 Episode 30: Reunion under the Moonlight

“Who’s there?” I asked.

“Just a maid. I was assigned to care for you.” A woman in a maid’s uniform appeared, her straight black hair glimmering in the moonlight. Despite having emerged from the woods in the opposite direction of the paved venue, she had declared her identity with a straight face.

The fact that she was hiding in the woods was suspicious enough, but...

“I’ve never seen you before.”

“The duke’s manor is quite expansive. That shouldn’t be a cause for concern.”

“The duke may have staff I’ve never seen, but you’re no maid.”

With some exceptions, like the younger girls the other day who had been temporary hires, I had been told that maids allowed to show themselves to the duke’s guests had all gone through appropriate training. In fact, Araune the housekeeper, Lulunese, and Libiola had all treated me with refined etiquette. On the other hand, the woman who had just shown herself had not so much as given me a proper introduction or a bow. Not that I expected the staff to always bow to me... But she even retorted at me combatively when I said that I had never seen her before. Nothing about her demeanor seemed maidly. What’s more, she didn’t even seem convinced I would buy her story.

“What could I possibly be, if not a maid?” she demanded.

“A brownie.”

She didn’t deny it, and a smile crossed her face... Well, more of a smirk, but it seemed like I’d hit the mark.

“When did you notice me?”

“I’ve sensed your presence from the beginning.” I was trying not to worry about it since I’d heard about brownies before, but the sensation was unmistakable. I had felt it so many times. Still, I would have never expected a brownie to show itself.

“I thought people were acting a bit weird... No wonder.”

Our conversations were natural, but I hadn’t been told anything about eating out here beforehand, while my four friends came out with food and drink like we had planned the whole thing together. Why did we have to eat outside, anyway? No one ever suggested going inside, nor did any member of the staff come to retrieve me. The fact that everyone here had always been so attentive helped me come to that realization.

“So, you decided to eat and drink things brought by people who you thought were acting completely beside themselves?”

“I did make sure the food wasn’t drugged or poisoned when I brought out the slimes while we were getting ready.” When I called out a bunch of scavengers from Dimension Home, I had brought out a medicine and poison slime along with them. “Poison slimes and medicine slimes really like poisons and drugs, respectively. I figured the food was safe when neither of them showed any interest in it.” I never felt a sense of danger then, and I didn’t feel one now. That was just a precaution. The quote-unquote “maid” simply nodded along at my explanation.

“I didn’t think you used any appraisal magic. Now that makes sense,” she said.

“For an idea I came up with on the fly, I thought it was pretty good myself. Heck, it might be worth doing further research into. I could probably teach slimes to detect drugs and poisons.”

“You may find demand for that in noble society... But I’d rather not get into discussing slimes with you. We’d be here all night otherwise.”

That comment only made me want to talk about them more, but I swallowed that urge. “So, are you a brownie?”

“Close, but no cigar. The people of this manor do call me a brownie, but I am technically a fairy that lives in the manor.”

She quite easily admitted that she was a fairy, so I doubt she was really trying to hide her identity. But it made me think of another question.

“What’s the difference between fairies and brownies?”

“We are born in a similar way, but brownies and other fairies that occupy inanimate objects are closer to undead monsters. They just happen to benefit humans.”

She went on to explain thoroughly how fairies are corporeal beings born of magical energy abundant in nature.

Generally speaking, fairies were innocent and free-spirited. They mostly preferred to live where they were born, but there were some rare exceptions who traveled far out of curiosity or wandered into a human city. Fairies looked like adorable, tiny people, but wielded powerful elemental magic. Brownies (or any fairies that occupied objects) were born from magical energy and thoughts that had slowly seeped into the house or object from its inhabitants or users. They lacked physical bodies for the most part, and couldn’t wander too far away from their own house or object. Their nature was strongly dependent on the mentality of their human inhabitants or users; they could be helpful or harmful to humans.

In Japan, Shinto has a similar concept. The most significant transference of magical energy and thought occurred at the moment of that person’s death, and was the cause of undead monsters like zombies or walking skeletons. Judging from the way she spoke, fairies apparently didn’t like to be conflated with brownies.

“Now, I know I’ve already said this,” she added, “but I am a fairy. I was born from natural magic in a forest somewhere.”

“I see... I’ve heard of fairies before, but I never thought I’d meet one.”

At the same time, I assumed that her explanation was a generalization of fairies, seeing how the woman before me was full-sized, and seemed more thoughtful than innocent. Moreover, she was undoubtedly the one who manufactured my current situation. From how she spoke of the manor, it didn’t seem like she had signed a contract with anyone there. She may have some hypnosis-like power that manipulates people. Some fairies, from my impression of them on Earth, certainly manipulated people. The fact that she was completely in human-form and seemed rather intelligent made me think that she was an advanced species of fairies.

“So, what does a fairy like you want from me?”

“I never intended to show myself to you... But I do have a question.” I waited for her to continue, and she asked, “Do you need help with anything?”

“Help?”

“More specifically, is there anything that’s troubling you?”

“I don’t think so...” Well, aside from her catching me off-guard with that question, that is.

“There must be something troubling you. Getting used to life in this world, for example.”

“Nah, I’m pretty—Wait, what did you say?”

This world. I heard her say that loud and clear. My ears weren’t just playing tricks on me. While I still didn’t feel any sense of danger, I couldn’t help but raise my guard.

“Hm? Why do you... Oh.” She nodded with understanding after a moment of confusion. “I suppose I haven’t told you. It slipped my mind, since I hadn’t planned on seeing you... My name is Yui. I used to be a familiar to Shiho, who came from Earth, just like you.”

Shiho Jamil... A person from Earth, the ancestor to the duke, and the founder of familiar magic. Could it be that the woman before me was really her familiar? Now that she mentioned it, she seemed more Japanese than anyone I had seen in this world—her black hair, black eyes, and her facial features... It was a shock at first, but I supposed there was no reason for her to lie.

“Before her death, Shiho left two instructions for me. The first was to watch over her children and descendants as much as I could. The other was to subtly assist the next person who would come from Earth. Shiho was a kind girl. While this was partly brought on by her own recklessness, she was often troubled by aspects of life in this world. I suspect that was why she had asked me to help the next Earthling in any small way I could. Fairies can live for hundreds of years, as long as we’re not killed. Having known Shiho, I could tell at once that you were also from Earth.”

“So that’s why you asked if anything was bothering me.”

“I didn’t intend for our conversation to last this long.” She then confirmed that she did possess hypnosis-like powers, and had planned to sneak into my bedroom and force me to divulge my troubles that way before giving me any solution she could think of, and blurring my memory to make it seem like a dream. “But, although you are a human, my powers don’t seem to work on you. As a result, I was forced to show myself. I was told that people from Earth are given some powers by the gods. Is that why you were unaffected by me?”


“Unaffected? Oh, sorry, that’s all me. Apparently I’m super resilient to mind games like that.”

“Is that so...?” she quietly said, visibly offended. I guess it really did matter that much to her.

She went on to confess that she had used the four people close to me to try and get me to spill what was bothering me. Then she told me that she had also manipulated Hughes to divulge what was troubling him, which had led to our conversations mostly revolving around him. She barely heard me talk about myself all night...

“Why did you want to hear Hughes talk about his troubles?”

“Huh? Oh... Just out of personal curiosity. It’s not uncommon for me to discover a couple in the making under the roof of the manor, when you’ve lived there as long as I have. I like to nudge them a bit from the shadows, setting the mood or causing ice-breaking coincidences with my powers, and giving subtle hints if it’s a matter of shyness. Oh, but I would never manipulate anyone into it, of course. I just encourage them to pursue their feelings. If all goes well, I would watch over them until they get married. It’s a hobby of mine.”

“What kind of kibitzing spinster are you?!”

“I strongly resent that. At any rate, this shall be couple number 1032 to be wed under my guidance. Though if I’m to include couples who have made it to courting, the number would be at least five times higher. I’ve been told my name means ‘to tie the knot’ in Japanese. Yui the Matchmaker, that’s me.”

“That’s a self-proclaimed title, I’m guessing. I don’t know how long you’ve lived in the manor, but have you really been providing your, uh, guidance for hundreds of years without anyone knowing?”

“Would you be able to survive for centuries without any entertainment? Food may be easy to come by here, but all work and no play, as they say. Besides, I’ve honestly never liked any human other than Shiho. They usually enslave and sell off our kind.”

As she had just explained, fairies were famously adept at magic and possessed great magical energy, and looked adorable to boot. They had a high-purity magic crystal in their hearts, born from their raw magical energy. As a result, they were of great use to humans, whether in combat, in the sheets, or in the ground after harvesting their magic crystal. Ever since olden days, there were plenty of people who were willing and eager to catch and sell fairies.

“I thought all humans were against our kind at first, but luckily for me, Shiho was the one who bought me. I don’t hold a grudge against those who enslaved or sold me, since they’re long dead... But I prefer to avoid the human gaze whenever possible. On the other hand, Shiho wouldn’t want me to hurt anyone for my entertainment, so I thought I could at least provide some encouragement to budding couples and see how they turn out. In a way, I’m making these humans dance in the palm of my hands.”

“One could say so.”

“Incidentally, my very first matchmaking involved Shiho. She was just an ordinary commoner at the time, and I protected her from nobles who took notice of her abilities, all the while encouraging her grand romance with her colleague and sponsor for her familiar’s magic research. I pulled all sorts of tricks to make the marriage happen, down to having a noble adopt her to make it more acceptable... That marriage was quite a big win for the team.”

It was an intriguing story and all, but I still wasn’t sure how much of it was true. For all I knew, this really was a precious memory to her, but how was I supposed to react to this monologue?

“Oh? It seems you’ve managed to drag that story out of me.”

“I didn’t even do anything...”

She cleared her throat. “Well, never mind that. It’s about time you told me what’s bothering you, don’t you think?”

“We’re circling back to that...? I’ve told you already, I’m good. I’ve always been happy in this world. There’s nothing I want to do that would require your assistance.” Can I at least take a rain check here?

I asked, and she almost scowled. “I’m already averse to showing myself, and I’d rather it didn’t happen again.”

“Really now? Well, I call shenanigans. Weren’t you the one who approached me?”

“Fairies are self-centered by nature, don’t you know? There are things in this world that entertain me or mean a lot to me, and things I could not care less about. Right now, I just want to honor Shiho’s wishes. I’ve grown some patience over my centuries of existence, but I don’t want you coming crying to me to fix every little thing. In purely personal terms, I don’t like you at all.”

“Little miss subtlety over here.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” she declared, almost with pride.

This was our first meeting (as far as I knew), after all. I wish we could have become friendly, but I could see how she wouldn’t want someone with whom she wasn’t close following her around. She seemed to have her reasons, so I couldn’t argue with her when she was this clear about not wanting to build relationships with people. I was thinking along similar lines when I was a forest hermit, so I decided not to push it. Her bluntness was kind of refreshing, anyway.

At any rate, now I definitely had no problems at hand, with the possible exception of my drunken friends surrounding us... Oh, crap!

“I completely forgot...”

“Sounds like you might need help with something.”

“I don’t have a wedding gift... I meant to pick out something good, and it slipped my mind.”

“And that can’t be your wedding gift? I can’t think of anything better.” She pointed to the venue, and the altar and three divine statues within.

“That’s neither here nor there. I didn’t build the venue myself; I had a lot of help. As for the statues, those were paid commissions.”

“I don’t think anyone would expect anything on top of them from you... But if that’s how you feel, there won’t be harm in another gift. Still, aren’t wedding gifts rather run of the mill...? I’ve seen my fair share of wedding ceremonies.”

“Then, from your experience, what’s something that would make an appropriate wedding gift which won’t put too much pressure on them? Preferably something less run of the mill.”

“Let’s see... Hold on, are you sure this is what you want me to help you with? I told you this was going to be a one-time deal.”

“Yes, absolutely! This is my biggest concern right now!”

Night had already fallen. If I was going to buy something, I had to do it early the next morning. What was the best gift I could get in my situation?

“I see... This is hardly what I expected, but that’s fine. As a professional matchmaker, on the names of the 1000-plus couples whom I have helped happily marry, I will enlighten you with a gift that you can prepare in time for the ceremony that should be greatly appreciated by the couple.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. Lend me your ear. Why not try making...”

I couldn’t believe what she had whispered to me. “Seriously? For a wedding gift?” I asked, just to be sure.

“I wouldn’t advise it under normal circumstances, but you do have a special ingredient for it; something you’ve brought in. I already saw the leftovers.”

“Are you talking about...?”

“Etiquette is a fickle mistress; she changes form according to her company. At the end of the day, the best gifts are those appreciated by the receiver. If you’re still worried about it, when you give it to them, just say...”

And so, the fairy who claimed to be the former familiar of the One Who Came Before bestowed upon me the ultimate gift-giving tip. I was taken aback when I was demanded to make a wish, but it did remind me of something important, so I’d call it a win...

But enough of that, I need to get to work! I had no time to waste if I was going to make this gift something I could be proud of.

On my way back to my room, I asked some workers passing by to tend to my drunken friends.



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