By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 3

by Roy

  “So that’s why you want me to have that necklace?”

  “That’s right,” Eliaria declared.

  “But isn’t it precious to you? Are you sure?”

  “If I weren’t, I would never have brought it up. I trust you, so give it back in three years, please.”

  It was hard to say no now. Especially if this was customary. It meant she sincerely wished to see me again.

  “All right, I’ll take it.”

  “Really?!”

  “But I’m going to give it back to you one day.”

  “Naturally.”

  I accepted the box and placed it in my Item Box. As long as I left it there, I didn’t have to worry about losing it. If I wanted to follow this custom, though, I had to give Eliaria something too, but I didn’t know what was precious to me. Money or animal fur would be unwieldy to store, and I didn’t value it that much. I had stones, ingots, and waterproof cloth too, but none of that fit the bill. After living a life of hunting and self-sufficiency, I began to view everything of value in terms of the component parts required to create it. None of these materials could be considered precious. In the end, I called up my Dimension Home, took out a healing slime and a scavenger slime, and held them up to Eliaria.

  “Ryoma, what are these slimes?”

  “I was trying to think of something precious to give you, but I don’t have much that’d work. My slimes are at least something I value, and I think they’ll be useful to you, so you should take them.”

  Eliaria was confused for a moment, then she held her mouth to stifle a laugh. I guess it was a strange choice. I only picked slimes because there was nothing better, and I did have to question whether they were appropriate as a gift. Maybe I could have thought about it a bit longer.

  “I’m sorry, Ryoma, this is just so typical of you. I’m happy to take them.”

  “Really? Thank you.”

  “No, thank you for lending me your precious familiars.”

  I placed the slimes on the ground and canceled their contracts. Then I watched as Eliaria formed contracts with them.

  “The contracts are a success. I’ll take good care of them.”

  “Please do.”

  We discussed slimes and magic, then trained together.

  “This is an ice spell I use a lot.”

  “I can use Ice Cube too, but I can’t use Cooler yet.”

  Ice Cube was a spell for making ice cubes to put in drinks, while Cooler mixed ice and wind elements to produce a cool breeze. Both were valuable in the summer.

  “Mist Wash.”

  “Oh, it worked.”

  I discussed water magic with Sebas as well. I taught him how to use Mist Wash, and of course, he picked it up after only a few attempts.

  “Interesting. This uses quite a bit of magic energy, but it may be helpful for washing stains out,” he said. He could likely use a more complicated spell too, so I taught him to use Water Cutter, the spell I actually devised Mist Wash for. But all I said was that it involves condensing water and launching it, then demonstrated on a nearby rock. He watched it with fascination.

  “Like this?” he asked and cast the spell. “Perhaps that didn’t use enough energy.” He tried it five times. His first time was already much better than when I first started practicing, but on the fourth attempt his spell was more powerful than mine, and on the fifth, the rock I used for the demonstration was split in half. If someone more experienced in water magic used this, I wondered just how strong it would be.

  ■　■　■

  When the sun set, we used space magic to return to town. On the way from the gate to the inn, I checked on the store and found that it was packed with adventurers that went to the swamp, along with doctors holding bags that reeked. It was good to see that we were busy.

  “Welcome back, Ryoma.”

  “Thanks for looking after Elia today.”

  “No problem, I enjoyed it.”

  “Ryoma taught me a lot of magic. I can’t use it that well yet, but I’ll keep trying!”

  “Good for you, Elia.”

  “Also, he lent me a healing slime and a scavenger slime!”

  “Oh, did he? Take good care of them.”

  “Of course.”

  Back at the inn, everyone had already recovered. We talked all about what we did that day. It was our last day together, so we chatted long into the night.

  ■　■　■

  The next morning, it was time to say goodbye. At the carriage station behind the inn, the duke’s family and their guards had already boarded the carriages. They yelled to me from the windows.

  “Stay healthy.”

  “Don’t work too hard.”

  “Remember to rest when necessary.”

  “If anything happens, contact us right away.”

  “If you’ve ever got the time, come stop by for a visit.”

  “Good luck out there, Master Ryoma.”

  “Take care.”

  “Hang in there.”

  “I pray that you find continued success.”

  Even the servants had words for me.

  “I wish all of you the best, too. Thank you for everything,” I said and bowed. I never knew what to say at times like these. I wished that I could express my feelings better.

  “Ryoma.”

  “Yes, my lady?”

  “That.”

  “What?”

  “When you gave me your slimes yesterday, I was wondering, can we consider each other friends?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Then call me Elia. All the people I’m close with call me that, and it’s not as if you serve my family. It seems odd for a friend to call me their lady.”

  “Oh, I see. That makes sense. I can call you Elia, as long as that’s fine with you.”

  “Yes! Ryoma, I’ll get much better at magic by the next time I see you, all right?!”

  “So will I.”

  Finally, we wished each other good luck and laughed. It was time for the carriages to depart, so the guards’ carriage moved out first. Elia and her family waved to me from the windows. I waved back as I watched them go. The carriages shrank away in the distance until they were out of sight.

  I stopped by my store, then headed to the mine. Starting today, the mine was my home. Elia said she would do the best she could, so I wanted to do the same.

  I needed to secure a new home for myself. There was no time to waste, so I got walking. Things were going to be a bit different now, and it was time to get my new life started.

  Chapter 2 Episode 47: In the Realm of the Gods

  Side Story

  Somewhere in the realm of the gods, a thin man was approached by three other gods.

  “Ugh, I’m tired.”

  “You’re finally back?”

  “What, Fernobelia? You came?”

  “We don’t see you come out of your territory too often.”

  The thin man was Fernobelia, God of Magic. The other three were gods who brought Ryoma out of his world, Gain, Kufo, and Lulutia.

  “I was taken here by force, but there is something I’m curious about.”

  “By force?” the other three asked. Their answer came when four more gods appeared from nowhere and surrounded them.

  “Uh, hey, what’s the big idea?”

  “Why are we being surrounded?”

  “Could you explain yourselves, perhaps?”

  One of the gods took a step forward. It was Tekun.

  “How ’bout you ask yourself? Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

  “What are you so mad about?!”

  “Come now, Tekun, take it easy. This is no way to have a conversation.”

  “Yep, chill out and have a drink or something.”

  The two gods who held Tekun back were Wilieris, the Goddess of Land and Bountiful Harvests, and Grimp, the God of Agriculture and Livestock. They were among the most gentle of the gods, with the former taking the appearance of a graceful middle-aged woman, and the latter l
ooking like a middle-aged man with a hoe. These two were also married. Grimp drank with Tekun to calm him down while Wilieris explained the situation. They tried to come to an understanding.

  “We’re doing this because we heard that you’re heading off to play around in another world. Tekun was the first to hear about it, and he was upset that he didn’t get to have any fun, so he got us together,” Wilieris said.

  “Tekun made me use my power to find you three,” Fernobelia added. “He called Wilieris and Grimp just so they could gang up on me.”

  “Speaking of which, didn’t you go as far as using your divine power to keep Tekun out of your territory?”

  “He’s good at making things, but he’s a loud, annoying drunkard otherwise. He’s a nuisance.”

  “Hey, I heard that!”

  “You seldom have any business with me anyway. Besides, you’re not the only one that I keep out of my territory. Putting that aside, we aren’t supposed to interfere in other worlds. What are you thinking?”

  “Hold on, who told you this?” Lulutia asked.

  “Don’t play dumb,” Tekun spat. “Ryoma told me that he heard about it from Kufo. Read his mind too, bad as I feel about that, and he wasn’t lying.”

  “Oops, I told him not to tell other humans, but never said not to tell a god,” Kufo muttered. Chairs materialized from nowhere so they could sit down to talk.

  “Now, could you tell me what’s going on? Or, y’know, just let me come with!”

  “Whether it’s for pleasure or not, you can’t travel to other worlds too often and expect us to ignore it.”

  “Tell us about it, c’mon.”

  “Mhm, so you see, we wanted to check on the Earth god.”

  “I think we told you before about how the Earth god was interfering with Ryoma’s life for some reason.”

  “You did. I was shocked to hear this god was doing such ungodly deeds.”

  “Yeah, so we were just going there to look for them sometimes.”

  “You weren’t just screwing around?”

  “We haven’t told Ryoma anything about the god of his world, so we’re trying to avoid that subject.”

  That was enough to quell Tekun’s anger.

  “Huh, so that’s it?”

  “Tekun, were you just mad that they were having fun without you?”

  “Frequently visiting another world is still a pretty big problem.”

  Fernobelia and Wilieris were appalled by Tekun’s response, but Fernobelia pulled himself together quickly.

  “Won’t this cause some issues?” he asked. The other gods grimaced.

  “It shouldn’t, but...”

  “We’ve been sneaking in there, and it’s been rough.”

  “We haven’t found anything that notable, but something’s strange. There have been a number of other people with misfortune deliberately thrust upon them, although nothing quite on Ryoma’s level. But the happiness stolen from them doesn’t seem to have been used for anything.”

  “At first, we thought that the stolen happiness was given to the god’s followers or something, but when we looked into it, that didn’t appear to be true. They kept everything they stole for themselves.”

  “That world has also been poorly managed. The people there have such advanced technology that maybe there’s little left for gods to do, but keeping other gods from interfering in your world is one of the basic rules. We were always careful about sneaking in, but it’s been almost disappointingly easy to do. I worried about that for nothing.”

  “We feared that it may be some sort of trap, but in the end, nothing happened. Were a devil to attack them from another world, they would likely respond too late.”

  “They’re being that careless? That makes it sound like they’ve abandoned their divine duties.”

  “Perhaps they have.”

  “What’s the point of stealing people’s happiness, anyway? Not like we gods have any use for it.”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “If the humans no longer believe in you, it’s possible to use their happiness to sustain your power instead. But if their world is safe, they should at least have the minimum power required of them. What of that?”

  “We were thinking the same thing. The Japanese do have particularly little faith, but there are other countries that are quite devout. Their lack of faith has yet to be a problem for the world. Environmental destruction is causing ever more damage to nature, but not to such an extent that their divine power would be impacted. That’s why they have magic energy available to send to this world.”

  “Indeed, that was a foolish question. But in that case, they really have no use for human happiness. What possible purpose could it serve?”

  Nobody had an answer, so the one god who had yet to speak so far decided to say something.

  “Does it matter? We would never steal our people’s happiness, so we wouldn’t know, but maybe there’s actually some use for it. Isn’t that a good enough explanation? We’ll crush them if they pick a fight with us. Other than that, who cares?”

  “Kiriluel, you take such a simple view of every problem. Do you ever use your head?”

  Kiriluel was the Goddess of War. Her armor hid her fit body, and she rested her hand on a sword hanging from the side of her hip. She was tough and muscular, but many parts of her were also soft and feminine. She tended to sound rough and masculine, but she was a full-fledged goddess.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?! I use my head plenty!”

  “Maybe for military tactics. That’s only one thing.”

  “Doesn’t mean I’m not using my head! At least I’m not isolating myself in my own territory like you do. That’s not healthy.”

  “We have perfect health by nature. I don’t think that’s much of a concern.”

  Kiriluel and Fernobelia’s personalities and lifestyles were polar opposites, so they always argued like this when they met. The other gods were used to it.

  “Let’s put that aside for now,” Gain interrupted before it devolved into a shouting match. “Why are you here? Tekun didn’t call you, did he?”

  “What are you talking about, old man? I’m the Goddess of War. Arguments are like tiny wars, and where there’s war, there’s me! I sensed Tekun’s anger and asked him what was up, and he told me you guys were screwing around in another world. I was thinking you three could use a punishment.”

  “That won’t be necessary!”

  “That’s not funny!”

  “You’re a god too. That’s dangerous!”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything this time. I know something weird’s going on with Earth’s god, and I hear that something’s up with this Ryoma kid’s soul because of that. If we get more visitors from that world in the future, something could be wrong with their souls too, so I can see why we’d want to be cautious. But they’d have to invade our world before I’m getting involved.”

  Kiriluel was the best fighter of all the gods. She protected their world from all who would bring harm to it, and enacted judgment against their enemies. In the rare situations where humans did something that could bring severe harm to the world and the gods had to stop it, she was the one for the job. There happened to be four gods judging the crimes of three gods in this scenario, but she could have handily taken on Gain, Kufo, and Lulutia by herself. If she used her full power, she could even have destroyed the three of them, albeit not easily. She had no reason to go that far, of course, but the three gods could imagine the pain Kiriluel might put them through, so they were relieved to hear her response.

  “I thought I might have a heart attack.”

  “That cut some years off my life.”

  “You shouldn’t threaten an old man like that.”

  “Gods don’t have to worry about hearts or lifespans. Well, looks like I’m not needed here, so I’ll be going. There are fights going on as we speak, so I’m relatively busy.”

  “Sure, sorry about that.”

  “It’s not
like you asked me to come, Tekun. I came because I felt like it. Gain, Kufo, Lulutia, keep your visits to Earth to a minimum.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “You’re right, we should.”

  “We’ll take turns going from now on.”

  “You’re not going to stop outright?”

  “I still haven’t―” Lulutia started, only for Tekun to interrupt.

  “Still haven’t what?”

  “Nothing, really.”

  “We’ve yet to figure out what’s happening there, you see.”

  “Yeah, that.”

  Gain, Lulutia, and Kufo tried to act unconcerned.

  “You’re still hiding something, aren’t you?” Wilieris asked.

  “You’re not lying about looking into their god, are you?” Tekun followed her up, sounding prickly once again.

  “No way.”

  “Of course not.”

  “We were investigating over there.”

  “You apparently found out that someone is stealing happiness, so sure, I believe it. But is that all you’re doing there?” Tekun continued. The three gods grimaced and looked away. “Well? Kufo, from what I heard from Ryoma, you said you were going sightseeing on Earth.”

  “Yes, well, we were searching for people who had their happiness stolen. You end up seeing a lot of the local scenery in the process. I called that sightseeing to avoid being specific with Ryoma.”

  “In other words, if you wanted to go sightseeing, you could do that?” Fernobelia muttered.

  “Hey, that’s a leading question!” Kufo shouted as he trembled.

  “Kufo, you make it sound like you were going out of your way to sightsee during your search,” Grimp pointed out, further fanning the flames of Tekun’s rage.

  “Gain, I heard you got into ‘idols’ or whatever, what about that?”

  “Idols are entertainers on Earth who sing and dance. They have these boxes on Earth called ‘televisions’ that display images, and those often show idols. I saw them a fair bit on the streets of Earth, but by no means did I ever seek them out.”

  “Singing and dancing, eh? We’ve got that in our world, so who cares?”