By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 3

by Roy

  “The boss apparently won’t be coming to the office again. We should be able to leave on time.”

  “Sounds good. We may as well take the opportunity to drink, then.”

  Disregarding our work, we agreed to go out later that night.

  ■　■　■

  “Cheers!”

  Fifteen of us gathered at a bar we were trying for the first time. It was just about the only time we went drinking together without any problematic people present. Of course, we still found it somewhat hard to take it easy. I didn’t know what Baba suggested this outing for, and had to wonder what he wanted to discuss.

  “Here you go, Tabuchi.”

  “Thank you,” I muttered. I had a million questions, but Baba seemed to be waiting until everyone had their drinks.

  “This stuff’s delicious!”

  “Seriously, this food’s great.”

  “Right? I’m the one who recommended the place. Be sure to keep it a secret from the boss.”

  “So this is like your secret hideout, Baba?”

  “Actually leaving work on time to go eat good food and drink good drinks? This is great!”

  “We got to leave on time two days in a row. I think that’s a first for me.”

  It was something that could normally never happen, but now there was nobody to stop us. I was excited by this precious opportunity, but I couldn’t truly enjoy it. An uneasy air filled the room.

  “If only the chief were here,” said Hara, the youngest member of our department. Everyone else went quiet. “Oh, sorry!” the petite woman apologized, sensing that she said something rude. She bowed to everyone around her, almost bursting out of her tight clothes as she did.

  “Don’t worry about it. We’re all thinking the same thing, right?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Baba’s right, Hara.”

  “Anyone could die at any time, but I never thought it’d happen to the chief.”

  “Same.”

  “Me neither.”

  “I knew it was on everyone’s mind.”

  “I don’t remember the chief ever taking a day off except on the weekends.”

  “He even came in when he was supposed to get days off, actually.”

  “But he never once seemed tired or sick.”

  “Do you know how old he was, Tabuchi?”

  “Thirty-nine.”

  “What?! He was still in his thirties?!”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  “Speaking of which, when did Takebayashi join the company?”

  “I joined seven years ago, and he was already here at that point. If anyone knows, I guess Baba would.” Everyone’s eyes turned to Baba.

  “I don’t know exactly when it was myself. I was reassigned to this department from the sales department.”

  “I never knew that.”

  “This was over a decade ago now. But he received a commendatory gift for fifteen years at the company last year, so I suppose he was on his sixteenth year.”

  “Sixteen years at our company?”

  “The guy couldn’t have been human.”

  “But if he didn’t tolerate this company for sixteen years, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” The room grew painfully silent.

  “Oh, uh, what was it you wanted to talk about today?” I asked to try and change the subject. Baba thought for a moment.

  “I wanted to talk about what’s next for us,” he said so solemnly that it made me tense. “What are everyone’s plans going forward?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want to keep working for this company?” he asked. Nobody answered. “Takebayashi is gone. It’s extremely unfortunate, but you have to think about your own futures too. You don’t have to answer this question, but do you think you can tolerate working at this company without Takebayashi? I’ll be honest, I took advantage of his kindness and let him do some of my work. I used him to reduce my workload. That’s how I survived to be this age despite the trials of working in this department. Now that he’s gone, I don’t think I can take it anymore,” he admitted and looked around at the rest of the group. Everyone he looked at turned away. They had all come to the same conclusion. “So I have a proposal. Why don’t we all quit?”

  “All of us?”

  “Were it only so easy.”

  I didn’t know what I was supposed to do then. I’d be out of a job, and it was hard to find a new one. We all tripped over each other voicing our objections, and he calmly accepted them all.

  “Your concerns are understandable, but I actually found a new workplace already. For all of us,” he said, to our shock. “Like I said, I used to be in sales. I gave some old clients a visit, some I hadn’t been in contact with for ages, but they still remembered me. They were surprisingly easy to talk to.”

  It was hard to believe, but Baba showed us a list of company names and contact information, as well as related business cards. He even had documents from some of the companies. I checked them once they were passed around to me, and if he was lying, he put a lot of effort into it.

  “Of course, it would be impossible to get us all working in the same place, but plenty of them are happy to accept experienced engineers. I checked their conditions, and if they think you’re good enough, they’ll even consider paying better salaries and offering future promotions. Either way, you won’t end up in a worse position than you are right now. I think all these jobs should be tolerable. Best of all, you’ll never have to work during vacations unless absolutely necessary. You’ll get paid overtime. Their rules about this are better than our current company.”

  “Seriously? I’ve heard of this company.”

  “They’ve been performing pretty well recently, haven’t they?”

  “I know about them too! They’re supposed to have a gym and a nap room at the office, aren’t they? And they make employee benefits a priority.”

  “These other companies have their good points too.”

  “What if they’re just trying to make themselves look good?”

  “I understand your suspicions, but regardless, it couldn’t be worse than continuing to work at this company could it?”

  “Well, I guess not.”

  Unable to believe how favorable these conditions were, Kumatani voiced his dissenting opinion, but later went silent. Everyone else was the same way. We were already at rock bottom, so there was nowhere to go but up. A chance for a better workplace and a better life had come before us. But I still didn’t know what to do.

  “Baba, may I ask something?”

  “What, Tabuchi?”

  “Why wait until now to do this?”

  I knew Baba was busy at work too, and if he wanted to change jobs, he could have simply searched for himself. Maybe he just happened to find these jobs now, but I didn’t see why Baba would look for jobs for all of us in the first place.

  “It’s hard to explain, but I suppose I feel like there’s something to gain from this,” he said. Everyone looked at him, somewhat confused. Baba looked down, his voice strained.

  “Takebayashi asked me to take care of the rest of the department if anything happens to him.”

  “The chief said that?”

  “A long time ago, but yes. I forgot about it until the other day. I hated Takebayashi.”

  That stirred everyone up even more. As far as I knew, they had always gotten along.

  “It was only back then that I disliked him. Back when I was in the sales department, the upper brass went about some secret dealings, like looking after the child of an executive from one of our clients in exchange for work. I disapproved of their methods, so they transferred me to another department,” Baba said self-derisively. “Takebayashi was the one who taught me everything I needed to know for my new job. My generation is all about seniority, so I took issue with working under a man younger than I was. I was ashamed, to be honest. I only paid attention to the bad things about him, so I grew to hate him even more. All my frustration over my de
motion was directed toward him. I never said so, but I think he noticed.

  “Still, he persisted in teaching me. Some ten years after I learned to do the job on my own, I finally changed my mind. We were working overtime and I was frustrated, so I started lecturing Takebayashi, saying he didn’t know how to handle business and that’s why work always got pushed on him. When I think about it now, I was awfully cruel. But then he told me it was fine, that he knew everyone was busy, and that he had enough stamina to deal with it. He vaguely smiled, and no matter what I said, I couldn’t make him mad. Then I just said that it would hurt us all if he worked himself to death, trying to end the conversation.

  “Then I said that as long as he was around, everything would work out. I expected him to retaliate after everything I said, but he just laughed. I could never get mad at him again after that.”

  “The chief was never one to hold a grudge.”

  “Even when you bugged him, yeah.”

  “I was worried it would be the opposite. I thought he might actually be angry.”

  “I can see why. He wasn’t always the best at communicating.”

  We went silent for a while, but it was a more peaceful silence than before.

  “I’m sure he forgot what he told me, but I still wanted to do what I could.”

  Thinking about it logically, it was nearly impossible to improve the company. That was why Baba went as far as finding new workplaces for all of us and suggesting that we quit.

  “I want everyone to consider it. Do you want the company to keep abusing you, or do you want to take a risk with a new workplace? I won’t make you do anything. Make a choice that you won’t regret, but I at least wanted to provide you with a chance,” Baba said, then stood up and bowed. He came across like someone on an apology tour, but I understood how he felt. At the same time, hope for the future was in sight.

  “Thank you, Baba!”

  “A toast to Baba and the chief!”

  It wasn’t long before everyone applauded and cheered.

  Afterword

  Hello, this is Roy, writer of By the Grace of the Gods! Thank you for purchasing Volume 3! I’ve gotten three books published now, and there’s even a manga version of my story running at the same time. To my surprise, I’ve even been getting fan letters lately! I know this doesn’t reflect well on me as a writer, but I can’t find the words to express how happy I am. Honestly, I never thought I’d get fan letters. I’m sure many of you know this, but By the Grace of the Gods was originally published on Hina Project’s website, Shousetsuka ni Narou. I still use my account there. The site has many functions that can be used for free, including a means of sending messages and posting impressions directly, so I only expected people to do that (and there are plenty of comments that I appreciate). But some people are even taking the time to write a letter and pay the postage cost to send it. That gives me a whole new level of happiness. It warms my heart. Of course, I’m glad to receive messages on the site as well, but physical letters certainly feel a bit different. Thank you so much for all your support, everyone! I’ll keep writing the best story I can, so I hope you’ll continue to support me in the future.

  Bonus Short Stories

  Serge and the Twins

  “You may use this room for a while. Your luggage will be brought to you.”

  “Thank you.”

  After Bamboo Forest’s opening party came to an end, the invitees left by foot or carriage. The twins had only just arrived in Gimul and had no home as of yet, so Serge led them to a guest room. Before he left, he asked them a question.

  “How does this store look? What do you think about the boss?”

  “To be honest, I would say they’re odd. Both the store and its owner,” Carla responded.

  “It’s a fine store, it seems like it will be simple enough to run, and the food is delicious. There’s something unique about it all. That includes the manager.”

  “I get that. When I was first introduced to him, I thought the same thing. I still feel the same way now.”

  “Just who is he? He seems to be on good terms with the duke’s family and many high-ranking adventurers, but he said he wasn’t a noble.”

  “Judging from his conversations, he’s fairly educated. Is he the son of some affluent merchant?”

  “I met him through an introduction from the duke’s family. His grandmother was an intellectual with a love of education, apparently, but he seemed to have lived a difficult life. Ever since his grandparents passed away three years ago, he became frustrated with people and hid away deep in a forest.”

  When the twins heard that, they were surprised and dubious. “He didn’t look that misanthropic to me.”

  “I agree with Carla. He seemed very sociable, if anything.”

  “I don’t understand it either. Maybe his wounded heart has healed, or maybe he got tired of a life of solitude. In any case, I want you to watch him closely.” Serge paused for a moment. “But that doesn’t mean I want you to investigate him. There’s no need to leak any information you learn through working with him, nor do you need to take any action to benefit my company. I only ask that you assist him. He can even do things that would be advantageous to my company, as long as it’s legal and helpful for his business.”

  “Are you sure?” the twins asked in unison.

  “It’s hard to keep a business going without getting dirty sometimes. Remember to always work with him in good faith. In his case, I think accommodating his passions would be ideal,” Serge said and told the twins everything he knew.

  “He isn’t concerned with money or fame, then?”

  “He only decided to start a business after someone else suggested it to him.”

  “After the guildmaster first met him, she said that he seemed like he might up and leave at any moment, but I want him to stay in this city. That’s partially at the request of the duke’s family, but I also have some personal interest in the boy. Staying on good terms with him could lead to profit down the line, of course. I’m sure you recognize that,” Serge said. The twins didn’t hesitate to nod.

  “I did say he was odd, but if he has a unique perspective, then I’m sure there’s plenty to learn from him,” Carla answered.

  “And from what I saw at the party, he has incredible knowledge and great connections. Knowledge and conections are the lifeblood of a merchant,” Carme added. Serge was satisfied by their responses.

  “He at least knows he’s an amateur when it comes to business, and he’s been happy to ask for my input on plenty of occasions. Just tell him if any of his suggestions have issues, and he should understand. In the event that he ignores your advice and his business declines, I promise that my company will hire you again. Don’t worry about the future, just work for him earnestly and see what there is to be learned.”

  “Thank you for giving us this opportunity,” the twins said. With renewed determination, they began work at Ryoma’s store the following day.

  The Reality of Research Jobs

  “What was the monster research lab like?” Jane asked the three ex-researchers one day after work, when all the employees were chatting over dinner.

  “Oh, are you interested in research? Or just monsters?”

  “Both! I’m not that smart, though, so I’m really fascinated by scientists!”

  “Ahaha, well, don’t get too excited.”

  “I think we’ll disappoint you, but ask whatever you like.”

  “Thanks!”

  Caulkin, Tony, and Lobelia sat with the fascinated girl.

  “But where should we start?”

  “Can you tell me how you become a researcher?”

  “That’s simple. You just need to be employed by a research facility. They hire sometimes, and if you have a teacher they can offer a recommendation. You can also personally visit a laboratory and negotiate for them to recruit you.”

  “They’ll usually have some conditions for new applicants. For example, the Royal Monster Laboratory that I used t
o work at only hired people who earned high enough grades from an academy in the capital. You also have to pass a test on monster studies, then go through an interview process.”

  “Once you’re hired, you’ll usually be assigned to some laboratory somewhere and start as an assistant to a more experienced researcher.”

  When Maria heard these answers, she had her own question to ask. “What do you do if you’re not part of a laboratory? You and the boss aren’t associated with any labs, are you?”

  “You’re a sharp one. We still do research, but we aren’t officially recognized as researchers. We’re treated as self-proclaimed researchers, so to speak. If we wanted to present the results of our research, we would have to personally submit a thesis to a research facility or have it judged by several different guilds. Our work is almost never viewed favorably, though,” Caulkin said, and the three ex-researchers’ expressions clouded.

  “Why’s that?”

  “They have a lot of pride. In a bad way.”

  “You see, research tends to cost money. Research facilities dump tons of money into paying for workers and materials. You don’t want researchers from outside your facility to get results, because that may mean losing funding to someone else.”

  “And if those results come from a researcher affiliated with no laboratory, it puts the laboratories in a bad light. They’ll always be pressured to meticulously look for flaws in our work. They have powerful people in charge.”

  “Huh, so researchers with no laboratory don’t have any opportunities for success?” Jane asked. When she heard about the reality of research jobs, she frowned over how unfair it sounded.

  “When you publicize your results, it’s always possible that a research facility will seek to recruit you. But like any organization, laboratories have hierarchies and factions, so joining a laboratory doesn’t necessarily mean upward mobility. In fact, the struggle only gets worse from there.”

  “You’ll still get the same meticulous criticism and pressure as before, and any objections are considered complaints about the boss. Low level employees can’t point out mistakes without earning someone’s ire. The boss may also pass off your research as their own. Everyone’s always trying to get in everyone else’s way too.”