By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 1

by Roy

  “Is this barrier magic? That’s an unusual magic to use. Is it for a camouflage effect?”

  “You can leave... any time... Don’t worry.”

  “I see. Thanks for that...”

  After he answered with a simple nod, he slipped past us with his small body and went further into the cave.

  “It looks like we made him worry needlessly.”

  “So it seems, Lord Reinhart.”

  “The kid’s leaving, you two.”

  “Yeah, we’re right behind you.”

  After Zeph called out to us, we went further into the cave to find a room with neatly leveled walls, decorated in furniture made from wood and stone. Magic stones were embedded into the wall as lights, making the interior fairly bright.

  “This is...”

  “It’s a much better home than I was expecting.”

  “Injured person... lie down... here.”

  “Thanks. Hold on, Hughes, we’re lying you down.”

  “O-Okay...”

  “Potion... will get.”

  Once Hughes was lying in the bed, we watched him walk down the corridor opposite the entrance.

  “Phew, at least we can take a breather now.”

  “Yes. This is more than sufficient, certainly more than I expected. Hughes should be able to rest well here.”

  “We’ll have to thank him.”

  “...”

  Hmm... After lowering Hughes into the bed, Zeph was looking around the room sternly. Zeph had the most knowledge about hidden traps and stealth among the escorts, so he was the one in charge of scouting. If he was making such a grim expression, then...

  “Zeph, is something the matter?”

  “Don’t you find this room odd? Not that I think it’s a trap, but there’s only one set of furniture, despite the traces of someone living here for a long time.”

  It wouldn’t be strange for a campsite to be understocked, but upon closer inspection, the walls were covered with drawings of animals and a map of the forest, and there were musical instruments resting in a corner of the room. It was plain and unrefined, but it somehow felt like a child’s bedroom. And like Zeph had said, there was only enough furniture for one person. That was indeed strange.

  “Is that boy living here alone?”

  “Impossible. I was surprised by how the boy could use taming magic, barrier magic, and earth magic, but there’s no way he could live in this forest alone. There surely has to be someone else living nearby.”

  “It’s possible he’s older than he looks, too. Though he didn’t seem like an elf...”

  As Camil and Jill discussed the possibilities, the boy in question appeared with his slime and a large number of bottles.

  “Potions...”

  “Thank you, we will definitely repay you for this.”

  “No... I make them... Have lots.”

  Those words made everyone look between the boy and the potion bottles, before Camil yelled in surprise first.

  “You made these potions?!”

  The volume of his voice made the boy flinch, but he immediately nodded his head in assent. Camil was being a little dramatic, but the potion from earlier was in no way inferior to those sold in the shops in town. What a mysterious child indeed.

  “Have water.”

  While I was thinking, the boy brought over some stone mugs filled with water. Pieces of ice, most likely made from magic, floated in the water, chilling it to perfection.

  “Thank you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Much appreciated.”

  “Thanks again.”

  “...Oh.”

  “Hmm? What is it?”

  “Name... is Ryoma.”

  Come to think of it, we hadn’t introduced ourselves yet.

  “So your name is Ryoma? Apologies for the late introduction. My name is Reinhart Jamil, Duke of the Jamil domain. Thank you for lending your assistance in my subordinate’s moment of crisis.”

  “D-Du...?! Please forgive my insolence!”

  I tried to address the boy named Ryoma as gently as possible, but the moment he heard my introduction, his already-stiff expression completely froze over and he bowed his head deeply.

  Although it was a little surprising how smoothly his words were suddenly coming out...

  “No, no, please be at ease. You’re our savior, there’s no need for you to adjust your speech.”

  Judging by his reaction, he didn’t know I was from a ducal house. I had him raise his head for now, but he looked too troubled to speak any further. I didn’t think he had been rude at all...

  “Umm, I’m Camil, a magician serving as Lord Reinhart’s escort. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you so much for earlier, I was out of magic so I couldn’t use my healing magic. If you hadn’t appeared, who knows what might have happened to Hughes... Ah, Hughes is the injured one lying down. Also, you really don’t need to worry about how you speak. Lord Reinhart isn’t the type to get angry over the slightest thing.”

  Camil, who had also been watching him, spoke up too.

  “He keeps people like us around, after all. Ah, I’m Zeph, the scout. Nice meeting you, kid. And this guy here is...”

  “Jill. Sorry for pointing my sword at you earlier.”

  “No... Natural... to be cautious.”

  “I’m grateful you see things that way. I’m a noble too, but I didn’t find your manners unpleasant at all. That’s why, well... Lord Reinhart is a very accepting person. You can just be yourself.”

  “...Thank you very much.”

  Zeph, and even Jill — who wasn’t good with kids — spoke gently to avoid scaring the boy, who thought for a moment before replying. The tense look on his face eased slightly. His words were still stiff and awkward, but there was no need to point that out.

  “We’re the ones being offered medicine and a place to rest. We should be thanking you.”

  “No problem. But... why?”

  Was he asking how Hughes had gotten his injury? Or was he asking why we had come that far into the forest? Let’s see... I’d better explain things in order.

  “We were on our way back to my home in Gaunago Town, detouring around the forest on horseback, when we were attacked by bandits.”

  “Bandits... hurt him?”

  “No, the bandits weren’t powerful enough. I only had these guys as escorts due to short notice, so they probably thought they could overwhelm us with numbers. Hughes was actually injured by a black bear that came out of the forest during the battle.”

  “Hughes was unlucky and got attacked in the middle of another duel.”

  “While the victory was ours, the horses ran away and we wanted to get Hughes to town as quickly as possible to treat his wound. That’s why we gave up on the detour and tried to go through the forest.”

  After the explanation from me, Jill, and Camil, the boy nodded in understanding.

  Great, that was the perfect opening for me to ask some questions myself.

  “What are you doing here? You said you were hunting earlier, and it looks like you’ve been living here for a long time. But to be hunting at your age, using all those spells, and even making potions... I’m surprised.”

  “I learned... from grandparents. Former... adventurers.”

  Oh, so he had grandparents.

  “Are the two of them out right now?”

  Hearing that, the boy lowered his head.

  “Passed away.”

  “I see... Sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay. It was... three years ago.”

  ““““Three years?!””””

  “How long have you lived here alone?!”

  “Three years ago, I left... village... Was outsider... everyone hated.”

  Was it a nativist village? That was probably the gist of it. Some places were worse than others, but...

  “Before... they died... they said... go to different town.”

  It was from that point that he became unsociable, wandering around while living
off the skills his grandparents had taught him until he took up residence in this forest. Since then, he had never left this forest. If he hadn’t left the forest in three years, then he would have had zero social interaction.

  His level of speech had bothered me at the start, but... I’d heard about the rare cases where criminals imprisoned for extended periods of time lose their language skills because of their limited interaction with others. This could be one of the reasons for his struggling speech.

  “I understand your situation. However, I don’t believe you should continue to live in the forest like this. There are strong beasts and monsters in the forest. Even if you have the skills, it’s still dangerous.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve lived here... three years.”

  “Still...”

  “That’s right! Wait a minute.”

  Camil suddenly interrupted, digging through his belongings to take out a small crystal that fit in the palm of his hand.

  “Here it is! This should do it.”

  “What... is that?”

  “This is a miniature identification crystal! It’s an easy way to prove your identity and check your four highest-level skills. It’ll glow red if a criminal touches it, and blue otherwise. After that, it’ll show your name, race, age, and the four top skills. If you have any high-level combat skills, I won’t oppose you.”

  I see, so he was going for the skill approach to make his point. Not to mention, if we used that...

  “Okay...”

  The boy agreed and reached for the crystal, before pausing as though remembering something.

  “Before, bandits... They attacked, I killed... Would that be... crime?” he asked Camil.

  “If they were bandits, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  He seemed to accept that and touched the crystal, which then glowed with a blue light. Killing bandits aside, this meant that he had never committed a crime. Strictly speaking, the true function of the crystal wasn’t to ‘identify criminals,’ but it still provided another source of relief for us.

  ......?

  When I looked at Camil’s face, I noticed his expression had paled while watching the crystal.

  “Wh-What in the world...”

  “What’s wro—?!”

  Jill looked over his shoulder and gasped too. When Zeph and I peered at the crystal next, we found a rather shocking issue with his skills.

  The skills that had appeared were as follows:

  Housekeeping 10, Mental Pain Resistance 9, Physical Pain Resistance 8, Health 7

  What were these levels?! Housekeeping was still excusable, as it was fairly common. But his physical pain resistance, mental pain resistance, and health were all seven or higher. Just what kind of an environment would result in levels like this... Not to mention, if he was 11 now, that meant he had been living here since the age of 8.

  “What’s... wrong?”

  “U-Umm... Unfortunately, no combat skills came up...”

  That’s what you want to focus on?! I would have said that aloud, but one look at Camil had me realizing the other two were reacting in the same way. We kept communicating with our eyes, but no one wanted to break the silence.

  Because pain resistance skills were only obtained by growing accustomed to pain, one could only conclude that he had suffered pain equivalent to his level. There were probably memories he didn’t want to recall as well. Asking questions carelessly could end up hurting him more. Considering his actions up until now and the fact the light had glowed blue, there were still some unclear points about him, but he didn’t seem dangerous. It was better for us to leave this discussion aside for now.

  “Excuse me, may I use your toilet?”

  “I need to go too.”

  “I’ll accompany ‘em.”

  “Toilet is at back... Lots of slimes... Don’t attack.”

  “It’s all right, I’m a former tamer myself. I won’t lay a hand on your familiars.”

  Thus Camil was left to look after Hughes while we followed the boy...

  “This is amazing...”

  “Yeah... I’ve never seen so many slimes at once.”

  An immense number of slimes were freely wriggling about in the back room and connecting corridors. They parted to make way for us on Ryoma’s command, but if they hadn’t, we would have definitely stepped on a few.

  “Ryoma, are all of these slimes your familiars?”

  “Yes... For research.”

  “What kind of research?”

  “Evolution... of slimes.”

  Now that he mentioned it, practically all of the slimes within view were more than just normal slimes. Sticky slimes, poison slimes, and what were probably acid slimes. There were also two other types of slimes I didn’t recognize. They must be another kind of advanced species.

  Slimes were monsters that could be found anywhere. It wasn’t unusual for advanced species to be found in random locations, but there hadn’t been reports of such discoveries in this forest for years. Like Jill, this was my first time seeing so many advanced species at once as well.

  “Doing research at your young age is impressive. It’s a little unfortunate that they’re all slimes, though...”

  “Are slimes... bad?”

  I personally believed that taming all these advanced species was a feat to be commended. However, the general public’s perception of slimes was quite low.

  “This isn’t the nicest way to put it, but slimes are weak even after evolving, so they’re seen as worthless. They’re used by tamers and summoners as a safe way to learn the basics, but... Most tamers will discard their slimes and move on to the next familiar once they’ve learned the basics. Even when it comes to pets, other monsters like the horned rabbit are much more popular.”

  “...Harsh world.”

  Were those the thoughts of an eleven-year-old?

  “But that’s just the opinion of the majority; not all tamers think that way. At the very least, those who underestimate poison slimes and acid slimes will pay for it. They even have more combat power than a horned rabbit.”

  “Slimes... very useful... Help out a lot.”

  I thought he would be disappointed to hear they were seen as lowly, but that wasn’t the case. He didn’t seem bothered at all. That in itself wasn’t a bad thing, but children his age would normally be more active in seeking the approval of others. His background was unclear, but he didn’t seem dangerous.

  If anything, he was a good kid who had helped us out in a pinch. However, he definitely wasn’t a normal child. I couldn’t leave this boy alone, for many reasons.

  That was what I strongly felt...

  Chapter 1 Episode 3: Parting

  “Ugh...! Hah, hah...”

  When Ryoma and the others returned to the room, Hughes’s condition had worsened.

  “Hughes!”

  “Hang in there!”

  “The bleeding stopped thanks to the potions and healing magic, but now he has a fever. And a fairly severe one at that...”

  “Fever reducer... I have.”

  While beads of sweat ran down Hughes’s flushed face as he groaned at the voices calling out to him, Ryoma went running into another room at Camil’s words.

  “Good thing we ran into that kid, right boss?”

  “Yeah. If we hadn’t met him here, there’s no doubt Hughes would be beyond saving.”

  “It’s still too early to relax, but my healing magic wouldn’t have been enough without him. Healing magic can’t reduce fevers, after all.”

  “He may have been fine under normal conditions, but after losing as much blood as he did...”

  Once they finished discussing the state of their companion, the topic changed to Ryoma.

  “So what will you do? The kid shouldn’t be living in this forest alone, it’s dangerous.”

  “He’s already lived here for three years, so I think he’s aware of the dangers.”

  “He’s survived here up until now, after all... Not to mention those resistance
skills he had. With those levels, his village must have been a terribly harsh environment. Would he understand if we told him the town was safe...? Seeing people may scare him into a sudden rampage.”

  “Yeah... There was someone who caused such an incident before, if I recall.”

  “As a father, do you have any ideas, Lord Reinhart?”

  “You’re the only one among us with a kid, boss. We have no idea what to do.”

  “The same goes for me. I can’t leave him alone, but I can’t imagine anything good would come out of forcing him away... Either way, I want to return first and discuss this more with Father and Elise.”

  A silence fell between them, until several minutes later Ryoma returned with a slime carrying a jug of water and medicine. Ryoma himself carried a blanket made of fur under one arm, while the vital medicine and water was being carried by the slime.

  “Umm, thank you.”

  “Treatment first.”

  Ryoma said, covering Hughes’s body with the blanket before transferring water from the slime’s jug to a drinking cup, then handing it to Camil.

  “Tilt it... and drink.”

  Ryoma pointed at Hughes’s mouth and Camil moved to obey.

  “...It looks like he was able to drink it.”

  Hearing those words, Ryoma next offered the medicine.

  “Fever reducer.”

  “Thank you, that’s perfect,” Reinhart said, accepting the medicine and feeding it to Hughes.

  Roughly an hour later, Hughes’s condition had stabilized enough for Reinhart and his men to relax. That was when Ryoma suggested they stay the night, as it was already getting dark. The party decided to gratefully accept his offer, having deemed Ryoma to be friendly from what they had gone through, and in consideration of Hughes’s condition.

  That night’s dinner was a stir-fry of Ryoma’s own cave-grown bean sprouts and rabbit soup. While it was a simple meal to Ryoma, Reinhart’s party was more than grateful for all the hospitality and medicine provided. And thus, the night wore on.

  ■ ■ ■

  The next day.

  Thanks to the medicine and nursing, Hughes showed better recovery than expected overnight. He could stand on his own feet and was able to leave Ryoma’s home with Reinhart by noon.