By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 2

by Roy

  “Acid, poison, cleaner, and some of the sticky slimes too.”

  “That will be quite the increase, then.”

  “They did eat a large amount. It’s an increase in strength no matter which type increases, and they’re useful for the production of waterproof materials and for improving the environment... but the amount of magic energy needed to make taming contracts is getting a bit too much.”

  “Since there are many of them, it can’t be helped. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

  “Yes. If I can’t manage today, I’ll split the contracts across two or three days.”

  “That would be good.”

  After that, we ate while chatting about my plans for the future, so I told them about how I was considering life as an adventurer while making money elsewhere at the same time.

  Come to think of it, I hadn’t asked how long they were all staying for... I should ask them that.

  “How long will everyone be staying in town for? I haven’t asked until now, but...”

  “Didn’t we tell you? Until the mass spawns of grell frogs stop. We’ll remain in town for as long as we can, until Elia starts school.”

  Grell frogs were...

  “The monster with the skin used for armor?”

  “Yes, it is indeed used for armor. Its organs are also used in medicine. They spawn in the swamps around here in great numbers every year. We’re taking Elia there.”

  “There’s a red swamp in the forest, roughly halfway between town and the mines.”

  “Are you defeating the grell frogs?”

  I wondered if it was training, but apparently not. They’re training, but only as a bonus. Their real goal was the Limour Bird that flocked around the same time as the mass spawns.

  “They’re a very beautiful monster with blue wings. Their cries are also beautiful and they can fly very fast, making them a popular monster. However, they’re difficult to capture and rarely any are ever tamed, so there isn’t much chance to see them. But they gather around the swamp in flocks. You should take this chance to go see them too, Ryoma. They’re worth the visit to see.”

  So not all monsters were to be feared... but if they ate grell frogs, that meant they were a carnivorous bird... The only carnivorous birds that came to mind were crows, which would pick at trash bags... But the colors made it like a peacock? ...I had no idea, but I was curious. I should go take a look if it’s around, though.

  “I’d love to see it as well.”

  “In that case, you can come along with us.”

  “Please take me with you when the mass spawns happen.”

  “Of course! We’ll definitely go together!”

  I made the promise with Eliaria and left their room after the meal.

  Before sleeping, I let the slimes split and formed taming contracts, but my magic ran out halfway through so I left the rest for tomorrow. I still had some recovery potions, but it seemed like a waste to use them here.

  Chapter 2 Episode 19: Business Discussions (Part 1)

  Monster Subjugation, Day 3.

  Yesterday many people were injured in the goblin king fiasco, and the unruly adventurers were sacked the day before that. Thanks to that, the monster extermination progress was proceeding slower than planned.

  After what happened yesterday, my party was disbanded. Jeff and the others were each given a group of low ranked adventurers to instruct instead.

  In my case, I didn’t need to receive any instructions, but at the same time I was too inexperienced to be left in charge of others. And so, I was acting alone with my slimes.

  It wouldn’t affect my work at all. Cave bats and small rats were easily captured by making the sticky slimes spit their sticky solution onto their poles like birdlime and swing it around. Cave mantises were taken care of quickly by lance-wielding poison slimes that could jab between their blades from outside of their reach, and were then eaten on the spot.

  For some reason, these slimes were gaining their own individual strength on top of their usual power in numbers until now... And for some reason, watching them fight cave mantises reminded me of watching that thing... What was it, that game that was on Earth? It really boomed for a while. The theme song was so light and carefree, yet I remember for some reason the lyrics were rather bloodthirsty.

  I worked at the monster extermination with enough leeway to be thinking about such things.

  And so, the morning ended without any particular incident. Well, things like yesterday shouldn’t happen every day.

  I did spot a group of five goblins, but they didn’t have any reinforcements and when I reported it, it was determined that they were survivors from yesterday, putting an end to that case.

  For the afternoon shift, I started experimenting with sticky slime fighting styles.

  For example, having them proceed down the mineshaft by sticking to the ceiling and hanging their bodies down. The way cave bats flew around everywhere was just so annoying, they reminded me of flies — and so I had the slimes imitate flypaper. As a result, they stuck easily and were quickly consumed.

  Furthermore, when I ordered the most nimble sticky slime to immediately turn its body into a net after jumping, it was able to do it. When I grabbed that slime and threw it, it opened into a net midair and caught many cave bats on its way down to the ground.

  Using another sticky slime, I did the same thing.

  ...And again.

  ...And again.

  ...An average of four to five cave bats were caught each time.

  This seemed like it would be useful for many things too! Sticky slimes were sure useful! It seemed like sticky slimes had a wide range of uses. They were a slime useful in both battle and daily life.

  Excited with this discovery, I continued using the sticky slimes to gather together the small monsters until the work day was over.

  Then, that evening.

  As I was returning to town via carriage after work, the carriage wheel broke down just as we reached the town. Although no one was particularly hurt, the carriage had rocked suddenly and sharply. Since it would be dangerous to continue like that, the other passengers and I alighted to finish the journey on foot.

  “Well, a walk would be nice too.”

  The sun had set over the town, and the scent of dinner wafted in the air. It must have been the restaurants in the area. Eager people were already drinking at this time, as I could occasionally hear cheerful voices. As I was enjoying the peaceful atmosphere on my walk, I passed before Serge’s Morgan Trading Company.

  ...Come to think of it, the magic recovery potions I received from him really saved us yesterday... I might be able to see some bags to use as reference for my laundry service too. Guess I could drop by for a bit.

  When I wandered into the store casually, Serge was talking to a female store attendant at the counter.

  “Welcome, Master Ryoma!”

  He spotted me with his sharp eyes and immediately invited me through to the office. Even though I was happy to wait if he was in the middle of work...

  “What are you here for today?”

  “The magic recovery potions I received from you the other day were a great help in a job I had yesterday, so I wanted to thank you, for one. There’s also something I want, so I was wondering if you knew of any other good stores.”

  “I see, I’m glad to hear the products of our stores were useful to you. It’s an honor to have you visit my store in search of something, what did you need?”

  “I’m looking for a fair number of sturdy bags, it doesn’t matter if the material is cheap. As for the size... I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Oh? May I ask what they will be used for?”

  “It’s a bit of a long story, but actually...”

  Here, I explained my decision to pursue my own independence to Serge’s surprise but admiration, before he showed interest in my idea to run a laundry service.

  “A side job between adventurer work, considering options once you’ve retired from advent
urer work... You are very well prepared for someone of your age, Master Ryoma.”

  That’s because I was actually 42... I’m not sure what I was like compared to other older men in Japan, but I was at least prepared enough to know I was doing a dangerous job. I’d never heard of insurance or pensions in this world either. Even if they existed, the conditions to get them would be very strict.

  “No, no, I’m not that impressive.”

  “You’re too modest... But a laundry service, hmm? One bag for 1 small bronze to 1 medium bronze does seem like a fair price that would be used by both adventurers and commoners. However, you’d also have to hire personnel to do the laundry, and you need to produce results that satisfy the customers. Even if you can manage it alone to start, if your clients increase you may find yourself unable to keep up.”

  Ah, I forgot to tell him about cleaner slimes.

  “There’s one thing I forgot to mention. Please wait a moment.”

  I brought out one cleaner slime from my dimension home.

  “This is my familiar, a type of slime called a cleaner slime.”

  “Oh? I’ve never heard of such a slime.”

  “This is a new species of slime I discovered by coincidence. I submitted the information to the Tamer’s Guild, but at present I am the only one in this world that possesses a contract with one.”

  The gods themselves had told me it was a new species, so there shouldn’t be tamed cleaner slimes other than mine.

  “What does that slime have to do with things?”

  “This slime possesses a skill called cleanse, which allows it to eat only dirt and filth. Naturally, the items it eats the filth off of are then cleaned. More so than if they had been washed normally.”

  At my words, Serge’s mouth fell open wordlessly. I guess it was hard to believe after all...

  I decided to give him a live demonstration instead.

  “It may be hard to imagine with just words. Have a look at this instead. This cloth is a goblin’s loincloth, obtained from the job today. If you’d like, I can show you how the slime eats the filth and turns it into a clean cloth right before your eyes.”

  Serge gulped at my words and nodded, answering curtly, “Yes, please do.”

  “Would you like to appraise it just in case?”

  “Yes, I shall. Though with this wretched scent, there’s no mistaking that it’s a goblin’s loincloth...”

  Serge said with a light laugh, appraising it. After he confirmed from the appraisal result that it was indeed a cloth from a goblin, I handed it to the cleaner slime. The cleaner slime took the fabric into its body like usual, then churned it around like a washing machine. The cloth became cleaner and cleaner right before our eyes, until finally the cleaner slime spat the cloth out onto the table in the office. It took less than 30 seconds in total for all of this.

  Serge hesitantly picked up the cloth that was clearly a different color to earlier and appraised it. The appraisal result must have come up with a clean cloth, as he grabbed my hand in excitement and started praising me for cleaning a goblin’s filthy loincloth into such pristine fabric.

  My hands were still dirty from touching the goblin’s loincloth earlier... Serge seemed to realize that from the look on my face, and frowned slightly. It was the perfect time to explain what it was like to take a cleaner slime bath and let him experience it. On the hands only, of course.

  Afterward, he appraised his own hands carefully, then returned to giving me the flurry of praise.

  This person... I could tell Serge was a good person, he never looked down upon me for my appearance. But being on the receiving end of all his compliments was tiring too...

  “I apologize for acting so shamefully before you. But this slime is truly wonderful! With this slime, I’m sure Master Ryoma’s laundry business can open with no issue. Price, speed, and result... I can see your business flourishing before my eyes.”

  He seemed to be tripping...

  “Anyway, I was wondering what size bag would be good for this? Embarrassing as it is to admit, I have no knowledge of the market regarding this.”

  “Let’s see... Let me arrange for several to be brought here,” Serge said, ordering one of his servants to bring several bags here.

  “As you can see, they increase in size from left to right. The furthest on the left would hold enough for one set of adult clothing.”

  “I think a slightly bigger one would be better. Families would have more clothes than that, and single men tend to find laundry so bothersome they let it accumulate. Also, I think customers would find it more worth their money if they could have four or five outfits washed with one medium bronze coin, rather than one outfit per coin. The amount of labor on my side doesn’t change that much whether it’s one outfit or five, so as long as I can earn the minimum amount I need to live I won’t seek much compensation in exchange. I think it would be more profitable to have a cheap fee so that many people repeatedly use the service.”

  Small profits with quick returns is what I relied on in my previous life too... For example, the beef place I went to for lunch.

  The stores I used to visit were practically all set in stone. From the viewpoint of the stores back then, I must have been a repeat customer. I don’t know how much I paid in total to the stores in my past life’s neighborhood, but I never had complaints. I was grateful that they supported my past lifestyle.

  Based on that thought, securing repeat customers was an important thing, and a cheap fee would be a powerful weapon in doing so. Of course, that’s assuming that the work done was satisfactory.

  As I was thinking such things, for some reason, Serge started watching me with a glint in his eye...

  “Wonderful. Master Ryoma has a wonderful mind for management, looking into the future instead of being blinded by the profits under his nose. I, Serge Morgan, am most impressed.”

  What was this strange feeling? I was only speaking from experience in my past life, but the amount of praise I was receiving had surpassed the realms of discomfort and gone straight into guilt-inducing territory... I felt sorry for the people in Japan seriously studying business administration... Well, I suppose if I thought of it as brainstorming...

  “In that case, what do you think of these bags? A bag of this size could fit two days worth of clothes for an average three to four person family.”

  “Yes, it also seems good as it could also hold a week’s worth for one person. I shall go with that. Could you prepare two to three bags twice that size, as well as five times that size?”

  “It can be arranged, but wouldn’t that be too large?”

  “If the earlier bag is to be used on an individual level, the twice as big bag would be used for small groups, such as adventurer parties. The five times as big bag could be used for large groups, such as blacksmiths with many apprentices, or workers at construction sites.”

  For example...

  “At a rate of one outfit per day, the individual bag can hold seven outfits worth. Twice that would be 14 outfits, and five times that would be able to hold 35 outfits. If the individual bag is 1 medium bronze, it’d be 10 sutes. The double sized bag can be 1 medium bronze and 8 small bronze coins, at 18 sutes. Then the five times large bag can be 4 medium bronzes, or 40 sutes for a group discount. What do you think of this? More people would consider the service if it had a discount, and if there aren’t enough people to fill a group bag then they might gather others, spreading news of the laundry service... Also, more people would mean dirty laundry would also build up faster. One person would take 14 days to fill a bag, but 14 people would take one day... The more customers I have, the more money I can collect daily, and the customers would pay less per person. Looking at it from a long-term perspective, it would definitely bring a profit, so I think I should push for that to gain business.”

  Brainstorming — the act of suggesting ideas without evaluating the contents. It had been a while, but I was still surprisingly capable.

  “Blacksmiths and
construction sites are particularly dirty workplaces, so their clothes would definitely need cleaning. In those cases, the workers who come to learn about the laundry service through their jobs might bring their personal clothes on an individual basis too. They’re also mostly filled with men, so there should be quite a few people who hate cleaning, or find it bothersome. In fact, when I asked some adventurers today... If they spread word of it at their jobs, then those types of clientele too could...”

  It was at this point that I noticed Serge’s state.

  ...Ah. Ah! I messed up... Serge was frozen with rounded eyes... I’ve always had the bad habit of talking too much one-sidedly... Who knew how many times I failed at creating social and work relationships in my previous life because of this... Was my focus slipping because I hadn’t talked about work-like things in such a long time?

  Chapter 2 Episode 20: Business Discussions (Part 2)

  At any rate, I had to do something about Serge...

  “Sorry, I have a bad habit of rattling on and on by myself sometimes... If I’ve made you feel uncomfortable, I apologize.”

  “Oh, no no no! Not at all, not at all! I’m just a little surprised. Master Ryoma is only 11 years old, yet you keep coming up with such effective sounding ideas.”

  Really?! ...Come to think of it, I was an 11-year-old child. Even if it was something simple, I suppose anyone would be surprised to see a child thinking about business strategies... There were parents that would wildly rejoice just to see their baby stand up. Normally no one would ask a baby to do the same things as an adult. Perhaps that was why I was seen so highly?

  And they were less my ideas and more my interpretations of modern advertisement strategies... They were simple calculations full of flaws. Rather, didn’t they have discounts here?

  “Umm, do people not do discounts normally?”

  “There are discounts, but I haven’t heard of their use as a permanent tactic... Most are applied when merchants want to seem better to their customer, or when they want to make a quick sale. Discounting recklessly would only increase losses. Otherwise, they’re sometimes used to make annoying customers leave faster... or in some nastier stores, some merchants will set the product to an outrageous price and discount it to make it seem like a steal.”