By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 1

by Roy

  “I see... then the Adventurers’ Guild sounds easy to work in. Actually, I was told at the Tamers’ Guild that using slimes would make others deem me useless.”

  “I’ve heard about that from the old gramps over there many times now. So that’s why you came here, huh?”

  “Yes, it is. Slimes aren’t suited for labor work, so I was searching for jobs here that didn’t require brute strength.”

  Worgan nodded in understanding as I explained.

  “I see... Right, we were here to discuss work. I heard you accepted your first job today, and it went well?”

  “Yes, the client was satisfied with the result. I even received a bonus.”

  “Wow, well done for your first job. I only heard it was a cleaning job, which one did you take?”

  “I cleaned the house of the client called Miya.”

  When the guildmaster heard that, his eyes widened.

  “You went and cleaned her house?”

  “Do you know of it?”

  “Why, Miya’s an adventurer of this town, after all. She comes to the guild often and I see her here.”

  “I see.”

  “But... if you completed that request, then that means you cleaned it, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t think anyone would ever clean that house... how did you do it?”

  “I knew just the right magic for the job. It uses a lot of magic energy so it’s difficult to handle, which is why it doesn’t seem to be known much among the general public.”

  “Really now... Then, there’s another job I would like you to take...”

  Could that be...

  “Do you mean the request to clean the communal toilets in town?”

  “Oh what, you know about it already?”

  “Yes, I was hesitating between the two this morning.”

  “Great, that makes things simple. The public office put in a cleaning request at the guild, then told the residents it was the guild’s fault it wasn’t cleaned yet. Now all the complaints come to us. Even though they were the ones originally cheaping out on paying the guys from the slums.”

  “I heard that from the receptionist, but is it really true?”

  “Yeah, it is. You know how the town’s income has fallen these last few years?”

  “I heard the output from the mines hasn’t been as good.”

  “That’s right, that’s why the public office is trying to reduce their expenses... By mostly cutting the budget for town maintenance, shifting the consequences onto the townspeople.”

  Apparently, the brunt of it was taken by the people in the slums. The public office had been gradually reducing their employee numbers until now, but that left them understaffed. And so, when all the work piled up was left unfinished, they blamed the employees for not working properly and reduced their payments by force. After the residents started to complain about this, they started hiring again in large numbers. But this time, they gave the prejudiced reason that ‘people from the slums don’t work seriously’ and offered much less pay, ultimately resulting in no one from the slums accepting the work.

  “No matter how strapped you are for cash, not even the guys from the slums will work for no pay. They’re not even asking for a large amount of money. It’s just... those guys are living in poverty, so if they get a disease, the treatment will be a huge burden on them. There’s too much risk involved to work for practically nothing.”

  Well... that was certainly true.

  “I understand, I’ll make preparations to take it on as soon as possible. Perhaps tomorrow, at the earliest.”

  “That would be a great help, thanks. There’ll be a handsome reward waiting.”

  “Thank you.”

  I should try and have a word with Reinhart too. They were the people with the most influence, and they’d probably ask what I did today anyway. Once they knew about this, they’d probably act accordingly.

  “...Penny for your thoughts, kid.”

  Did it show on my face right now?

  “Nothing, I was just thinking about how I acted on my own today, so the people who accompanied me to the registration yesterday might ask about my day... or something.”

  When the guildmaster heard that, he grinned once again. Jeff’s words certainly came to mind when he made such a wicked face...

  “You’re a pretty amicable chap, aren’t you... Do you think they’ll make a move?”

  “I believe they’d do something once they know about it.”

  “On what basis?”

  “I don’t really have a basis. It’s just that I’m an orphan, and I was living in the forest with nowhere else to go when I ran into them by coincidence. They’ve looked after me in many aspects since then. A stranger like me, you know? I understand they can’t treat each and every person in the slums the same way, but I’m sure they’re not people who would be emotionless about it if they knew.”

  “...I see. I’ll look forward to the result.”

  “Yes. Then... could I take my leave for today? I need to prepare for tomorrow as well.”

  “Of course, I’m leaving that to you. I’ll tell them to prioritize you for the job once you get here. Though no one else would even consider touching it.”

  “Right?”

  We laughed over that, then I left the guild for the inn. On my way back, I searched for a store that sold cheap fabric and a sewing kit to purchase. I also bought myself an empty spool.

  Chapter 1 Episode 16: In Order to Do a Better Job

  Back at the inn room, I gathered my purchases and got to work.

  First, I coated the fabric with the sticky solution of the sticky slime and used a spell called Dryer which combined the wind magic Breeze and fire magic Flame to mass produce waterproof fabric. If I lost control of Dryer, the wind would fan the fire until fierce flames would engulf everything. That in itself was usable as a fire launching an attack spell, which I named Flamethrower — but I had to take care not to do that here. Because of that, it took until the afternoon before I was done.

  While using two magics of the same element was easy, controlling magics of different elements was quite tough... well, that went without saying.

  Next, I had a sticky slime spit out its string and coiled it around the spool.

  The strength of a sticky slime’s string varied depending on the ratio of sticky solution to hardening solution, making it easy to adjust for my purposes. For example, using a ratio of 7:3 sticky to hardening solution resulted in a soft thread for fine sewing, while a 6:4 ratio made a sturdy string. A 5:5 ratio would make a flexible string that could be used in traps while letting people and bigger animals go, while a 4:6 ratio was strong enough to strangle large beasts.

  When I was researching the strength of the 4:6 ratio string in the forest, I tied several threads across some trees and lured a black bear into charging at it. The strings withstood one hit, and the black bear’s body was covered in small wounds from the thread. At the time, I realized this could be used for a fairly dangerous trap and sealed it in a panic. Since then, I haven’t used it on anything other than huge spawns of monsters like goblins. One exception was when adjusting the thickness of the strings on the guitar I tried to make in imitation of the one in my past life. While it was strong, it wasn’t so sharp that it would cut into my fingers, so there may be more use for it with further investigation in the future. Doing simple tasks sure made old memories resurface... Oh, I was done coiling the 6:4 ratio string.

  Next up was cutting the fabric. I carefully cut it into multiple parts. My goal was to make clothes resembling work overalls with rubber boots as per my past life. Since I was going to be cleaning pit toilets tomorrow, even if I could leave most of the work to the scavenger slimes and use the cleaner slimes to cleanse myself afterward, I didn’t want to go in my regular clothes. It would be best to make some preparations in advance. Just as I finished the long boots, someone knocked on the door.

  “Master Ryoma, I heard that you returned. Are you
inside?”

  It was Sebas, so I hurried to open the door.

  “I’m here.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “As far as I’m aware, yes.”

  “I see. The inn worker told me you left in the morning, returned before noon, then shut yourself away in the room without even having lunch...”

  Ah... Come to think of it, I forgot to eat.

  “Sorry, I was concentrating on work... Did I worry you?”

  “If you have the time, please come and join us. My Lady is most eager to see you again. If your work is that needlework, you can continue it in My Lady’s room, and have the two maids help you.”

  I was planning on going to talk to them anyway, so this was perfect timing. Putting the fabric and tools away in my Item Box, I headed for the duke family’s room with my slimes. Once Sebas and I arrived, Eliaria and Elise immediately drew near.

  “Are you unharmed?! Did anything happen?!”

  “Ryoma! Are you okay? Were you hurt at all?”

  “Calm down, you two.”

  “If you press so closely Ryoma won’t be able to speak.”

  Reinhart’s and Reinbach’s words made the two of them back away.

  “Umm... Sorry for worrying you. I’d like to say there weren’t any particular problems, but... I got a little too into my work and forgot to eat lunch.”

  “Oh, that’s a relief.”

  “Goodness, I thought something had happened!”

  “Ho ho, if nothing happened then it’s for the best.”

  “What were you working on?”

  “Sewing. I was making work clothes for cleaning.”

  I took out my tools from the Item Box.

  “Hmm... It looks like you’ve made it all waterproof as well.”

  “Yes, it took me from the end of my job today until the afternoon. I’ve been putting together the clothes until now.”

  “Why did you suddenly decide to make such clothes?”

  I explained what happened today. They said they didn’t mind if I worked while talking, so I did just that.

  “...And so, I ended up accepting that cleaning request. It would be terrible if disease were to spread, so I was hurrying to complete my work.”

  “Hmm...”

  “I understand your reasoning. And I am very grateful to you too. But to hear that the public office of this town has done such a thing. Sebas...”

  “Yes.”

  “Head into town and gather information to confirm whether the public office is really doing such things. If true, then the administrative expenses of the town should have fallen from last year. However, the report we received today stated otherwise. It’s possible that there is some embezzlement going on.”

  “Understood.”

  Sebas promptly left the room.

  “Thank you, Ryoma. We may yet uncover a crime because of you.”

  “Indeed. Embezzlement is already a crime, but taking the money meant for the town and its residents to the point it impacts the lifestyle of the people is unforgivable. The amount to pay the people from the slums was decided decades ago. To cut that lower is unacceptable! Wasting my hard work like that...”

  Reinbach’s hard work?

  “The one who set up the system of employing slum residents to clean the communal toilets was father-in-law, who devised it as a public works project for disease prevention and poverty relief in the Jamil domain.”

  “It’s in the past now, but I had to contact the governor of each town to make them construct the facilities. If they couldn’t believe my order to hire people from the slums, then I had to shake off their attempts to control me and head to the slum areas myself to conduct negotiations. Who knows how long it took to complete negotiations with every town over labor and employment... To think that all that hard work has gone to waste is most vexing indeed.”

  Reinbach said with a truly saddened face. He may have had an emotional attachment beyond his work...

  “At any rate, if this is true then it cannot be ignored. Even if others turn a blind eye, the Jamil family will not.”

  “We are truly grateful to have you here, Ryoma. This way we were able to gain this information while we were in town. At the very least, there is definitely something strange about it. If the system was really operating the way I set it up, then that job request would never have been made.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  “Hmm, you should get the maids to help you make those clothes. Araune, Lilian. Lend him a hand.”

  “Understood.”

  Thanks to the two maids coming to lend a hand, I was able to split my work. Lilian worked on the gloves, Araune did the overalls, and I braided the cords that would be used for various purposes.

  “Master Ryoma, what kind of thread is this? I’ve never seen a thread this sturdy yet thin and smooth before.”

  “Oh, that’s the string of a sticky slime.”

  “Slimes spit out string?”

  “Only the sticky slimes. And possibly just mine, at that. I was mixing the slime’s sticky solution and hardening solution to find a use for it when it turned into a string, so I tried to get the slimes to do the same. They were crucial when I needed to mend my clothes in the forest.”

  I called a big sticky slime over and made it spit some string out.

  “Just like this. The strength of the string can be changed by adjusting the ratio of the two solutions within its body.”

  When I made the slime create strings of various thicknesses to show Araune and Lilian, they asked me to sell it to them.

  “I couldn’t ask for money. I’ve been in your care so much. Please accept it for free.”

  The two of them were very happy when I said that. Apparently, this string was the highest quality thread Araune had ever seen in her many long years of working for the Jamil family in tailoring. I hadn’t considered it to be that special, but I was probably too used to seeing the synthetic fibers made on Earth.

  After that, I consulted with Reinhart until it was decided that the thread could be made into a product along with the rain gear.

  From further discussion, I found out that the Jamil domain’s towns and villages were considered to be very clean environments thanks to the large-scale maintenance efforts of the previous head, Reinbach. And to further improve the domain that his father had established, Reinhart wanted to develop the trade industry. That’s why the slime products I inadvertently invented were very attractive to him. He bowed his head deeply to ask for my long-standing cooperation, so I did the same in return. The people of the Jamil family were all so nice, I wanted to assist them as much as I could.

  We kept working as we chatted until my work clothes were completed. When I tried them on for size, there were no problems, but... I pulled on the gloves and stuck the ends inside my jumpsuit sleeves, tying the ends at my wrist with cord to keep the dirt out. I put on the waterproof work overalls and long boots that reached my body, fastening everything with cord. Everyone gave me the opinion that it looked weird, but seemed to have high functionality for labor, so Reinhart deemed it another product to possibly consider.

  Chapter 1 Episode 17: During the Sanitation Work...

  The next day.

  I grabbed the clothes I made yesterday, got all my slimes ready, and informed everyone I was going out.

  “I’ll be heading out now.”

  “Thank you for your work.”

  “See you later, Ryoma.”

  “Do your best.”

  “We’ll figure things out on our end too.”

  After everyone saw me off, I went to the guild.

  “Good morning.”

  “Oh, you’re the boy from yesterday. Ryoma, right? You came again.”

  “Yes, I want to take a job request...”

  “Yes, so I’ve heard. Thanks for accepting this job. We really were in a tight spot about it.”

  “You’re welcome. Please proceed with the paperwork.”

  “Right-o, leave
it to me... And done! Take this job form and go around the western bloc. This is the key to the cesspit entrance. Don’t lose it.”

  “Got it. I will go now.”

  “Be safe!”

  I left the guild and headed for the western side of Gimul Town, as indicated.

  The cesspit of the communal toilets... Ah, there it was. When I opened the door installed onto the brick wall with the key that was entrusted to me, there was a small building made of the same brick with another door. I went through the first door and tried to close it from the inside but found there was no keyhole. It was designed so that it couldn’t be locked from inside, with two layers of doors. Well, I guess I could keep it unlocked. With the closed door behind me, I changed clothes and opened the entrance to the pit.

  “Urk?!”

  And slammed it shut again. The cesspits had been abandoned for several months and released a tremendous stench. The stimulus to my nose made my eyes water.

  The scavenger slimes seemed fine, so I made them go inside first and split themselves to deal with the cleanup, but I couldn’t quite shake the shock off. It took me a while to calm down. But once I did, I asked a cleaner slime to soak a handkerchief with deodorant solution and wrapped it around my face to deal with the smell. My eyes had also been affected earlier, so I took one of the slimes and put it on my head, like a pair of goggles. Cleaner slimes had high transparency, so it didn’t affect my vision. Hooray for cleaner slimes.

  Once I was fully equipped, I entered to see a staircase that led downwards to a vast underground corridor. Both sides of the path were lined with swarms of scavenger slimes, doing their best to clean the piles of filth.

  From behind them, I used Mist Wash on the ceiling and walls to wash off the filth and my original lightning spell Squall to heat the dirty water and disinfect it. It was just so dirty, I tried it in hopes it would clean nicely... which seemed to be successful. Initially, the status of the ceiling read: