By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 2

by Roy

  As the men objected to taking the matter elsewhere to be resolved, the impartiality within me started to lean towards the six kids instead. That was when one man who had been observing until now spoke up.

  “I agree with the kid, there’s no point in continuing this conversation here.”

  “Sacchi?!”

  The bearded man named Sacchi spoke up. It seemed like he was the leader after all, as the others fell silent. Well, he did seem the strongest.

  “You sure have guts for a kid. But how did you get so close without us noticing? I had my guard up for monsters and all.”

  “I used to support myself through hunting, so I’m good at hiding.”

  “I see... You lot, there’s no point in arguing any further. Like that brat said, it’s almost time to gather. So let’s put an end to this.”

  Similar words to my own left Sacchi’s mouth. His attitude was so dauntless, it was hard to imagine him as the leader of that rowdy group of adventurers. The men that had been yelling earlier showed no signs of defying him.

  Then, the men that had been blocking the way before the six kids snorted as they each...

  Drew their weapons.

  Chapter 2 Episode 11: Unruly Adventurers

  “Earth Fence.”

  “Nwah?!”

  “Yowch!”

  Stone posts the height of two adults shot out of the ground, separating the six kids from the men that had shown their true colors.

  One man had been caught by a post and was lifted alongside them, but he fell the moment he flailed about. The sudden appearance of the fence had them backing away warily. I deliberately stepped into the space that opened up. It saved me the trouble of having the kids taken as hostages.

  “Oww, what happened...?”

  “It’s magic!”

  “What is this magic? Is it your doing?!”

  “You drew your weapons, so I acted reflexively. This spell is called Earth Fence. It repeatedly uses a magic called Earth Needle to create the individual posts of a fence. As a result, the top of the fence is a little sharp... If that person had been one step closer it would have made a gory sight. Thank goodness it didn’t come to that.”

  I explained the magic as a distraction to the situation, making several people including the man that was lifted up stiffen in expression at the image.

  That aside, even though the leader had said the same things as me about wasting time, gathering at the square, and ending this... They had taken his words in a completely different way. Language sure was difficult!

  ...Well, jokes aside, it seemed like these people were fairly used to this kind of business. At first, the men had drawn their weapons to point to me, but two of them had pointed them at the six kids. They were probably going to use them as hostages.

  Even before Sacchi gave the command, no one had discussed anything. Which meant they had either planned this in advance, or were so used to this situation they didn’t need to discuss it at all.

  Though they were adventurers with rough jobs, their speech was bandit-like and their movements clearly weren’t adapted for only monsters. It was looking clear to me that these men were at fault here, but they could have other crimes too.

  “Don’t give me those pathetic excuses, you morons.”

  “Boss...”

  “A brat’s magic won’t amount to much. Stop him from using it and he’s finished. Are you guys so weak you’d turn tail and run from a single brat? I ain’t got no use for weaklings like that.”

  “H-Hey... Hey!”

  Hm?

  As Sacchi was reprimanding his underlings, the shortest human boy from the group of six whispered at me. He was grabbing the posts of the fence and leaning his body out like a jail cell, but I clearly remembered him as the boy that called me a hindrance.

  “Run away! These guys are serious. Even if you’re good at magic, you can’t go up against their numbers.”

  It seemed like he had accepted my magic skills, but he still considered me weaker than this lot.

  “In that case, you should prepare to run too,” I said using the wind magic Whisper, adding that I’d remove the fence when I had the chance.

  However, it wasn’t easy to discuss things before the enemy’s eyes.

  Perhaps they had heard the whispering words I sent to the kids, or maybe they had noticed the kids’ change in attitude, but Sacchi gave another order.

  “Oi, you lot watching over there! You help too. The brat said he’s good at running and hiding.”

  “Hehehe. Thanks, Boss.”

  “Too bad for you, huh? If only you hadn’t come this way.”

  “No point in saying this now, but we woulda let you off easy if you had just handed over the money quietly, y’know?”

  “Was it a lie that they stole your kills?”

  “No, we consider them stolen. Those brats are from the slums. People who take from others when they’re strapped for cash.”

  “If you’re willing to pay in their place, we’ll let ya go. You seem much richer than those brats, after all.”

  “With armor like that, you must be. We take payment plans too, y’know? If you can’t pay up now, how about we go to your parents directly?”

  At Sacchi’s words, the people who had been observing with the weapons sheathed hesitantly drew them, making the men even more arrogant.

  ...What a pain in the ass.

  There had been bandits that looked down on me for being a child, but even they hadn’t pissed me off as much as the men before me. This may actually be the most irritated I’ve been since coming to this world. I didn’t know the reason why I was affected so much... Was he just asking for it?

  My parents were long dead in my past life, and I didn’t have any in this one. If anything, I had the stand-in parents Gain and the other gods prepared. They were dead too, so my only options were the dead, or the gods. Out of these two options, neither could be consulted directly.

  I was indebted to the duke’s family, but there was no way I was letting them pay people like this. Before that, they wouldn’t even be able to meet them. I wouldn’t let them.

  I glared at the men who were overconfident in their numbers. But just then...

  “W-Wait!”

  One of the formerly observing adventurers said. Everyone turned their cold gazes at the young man that had interrupted, but he was panicking with no care for them.

  I... haven’t done anything yet, though...?

  “That kid — isn’t he the one from the rumors lately?! You shouldn’t touch him!”

  “...Oh, yeah. There was talk about a kid with slimes showing up at the guild.”

  “Wasn’t it about a brat loitering around the guild and town in weird clothes?”

  “What about it?”

  “Are you just chickening out from fighting?”

  The men that had drawn their weapons early sneered at the young man.

  “Someone said they saw the kid in the weird clothes enter the high-class inn that the duke was staying at! He might be involved with them, you know?!”

  “A brat like this?”

  “No way someone like that would be here.”

  “Hey... Wasn’t the client for today’s request... the duke...?”

  “N-No way!”

  “But I did hear that the duke was staying in Gimul Town... The public office got hit with a heavy penalty recently too...”

  His panic suddenly made sense. The reason why he hadn’t followed his friends’ example was because he feared the wrath of the duke. Though it was a little too late for that...

  However, his suspicion and confusion spread, giving us the perfect chance.

  There were exactly six enemies to the left and the right, and the square was to the left. The six kids... were ready. Time to go!

  “Create Block.”

  “Oi!”

  I changed the ground beneath the fence into a lump of stone and enhanced myself and the fence. Ignoring Sacchi’s voice, I pulled out a fence post and
swung it to the left.

  “Stop!”

  “Gah!”

  The post turned into a large blunt weapon, sending three men flying.

  “Run now! That way!”

  “Right!”

  “Don’t let the brats get away.”

  “Hold up! Grr!”

  This time, angry yelling faces closed in from the right, so I swung the post that way.

  “Hah?!”

  “Wai—?!”

  Five of the men after me were squished under the stone lump like flies. The only one that got away was Sacchi, who glared this way menacingly as he held his axe at the ready as I flung the slimes on my shoulders to the left.

  “!”

  To prevent the two men who escaped from the blow earlier from attacking the kids, I had thrown two slimes at the sides of their faces. They reflexively tried to defend themselves by swinging their swords, but it was ineffective without reaching the core.

  A sticky splashing sound echoed rather loudly as the two slimes clung to the swords. The next moment, screams roared throughout the vicinity.

  “Geh! Urgh! My body... my feet...”

  “Gaaah! My arms are...! They’re...?!”

  The slimes I had thrown were poison and acid. They had released their poison and acid respectively to gnaw away at them.

  “You little...!”

  A single-edged axe came swinging for my neck. But I avoided it by distancing myself.

  “You’ve done it now, brat...”

  What happened to his confidence earlier?

  Veins were popping in Sacchi’s red face as he swung his axe.

  “How long are you idiots gonna sleep for?! Get up and catch ’em already!”

  The men pinned under the fence post crawled out. Those that had been mowed down with the first blow held their bodies as they stood up. The exception was the one man hit by poison.

  “Don’t stop! Keep running!”

  It would help me too if they ran away faster. I yelled at the six kids that were about to stop, and they gave me one more look before scampering away.

  “Damn it! You’d best catch ’em or die trying! Whether this brat is connected to the duke or not, you know what’ll happen if they tell the guild! Newbies abandon jobs all the time, catch ’em and teach ’em a lesson!”

  “B-But Boss... This is bad!”

  Because I had prioritized opening a path, the men who were standing weren’t seriously injured. But they were getting cold feet. It seemed like they lost all their attitude along with their advantage.

  “I’ll do it. It doesn’t matter if the duke’s backing him. I’ll educate him so he won’t go crying to them. That’s what I made you practice all that healing magic for, no?”

  “But...”

  “Shaddap! There’s no other choice! Follow my lead!”

  Sacchi yelled, then swung his axe with a roar. He closed the distance between us like a beast. His aim was my collar, huh? He didn’t seem to have any killing intent, as he was swinging with the blunt end of his axe. But even without the blade pointed this way, it was a blunt metal weapon. There was enough force behind it to break a human body.

  I stepped forward and used my left arm to knock Sacchi’s axe-wielding right arm off course.

  “?!”

  His right elbow had been straightened as he was swinging down, so I wound my right arm around it and kicked the back of his right knee. That was enough to knock him off balance, and when he fell to his knees I fortified my arm, allowing me to witness his shell-shocked expression as he went down. I added strength into my fortified arm until I heard a dull sound from his shoulder.

  “Gaah?! Oww!”

  When I released Sacchi’s arm, it dangled down loosely. He dropped the axe he was holding, no longer able to pick it up.

  Sweating through the pain, he attempted a backhand blow with his left hand. But it was pathetically weak. I grabbed his hand and stepped on his kneeling right leg, putting strength into it. After a sensation like stepping on a twig, I also broke Sacchi’s left arm with a hand chop.

  “...!! Guuhh...”

  “...Huh?”

  “Boss...”

  “Was wiped out in an instant...?”

  Sacchi collapsed with a groan, bending over the ground. Two broken bones and one dislocation must have hurt, but that one must have been his pride. I doubt he expected this situation. The other adventurers behind him had all frozen with stiff looks.

  “Who would like to go next?”

  I said with a beaming smile.

  “U-Uh... We’ll pass...”

  “!”

  “Ah?!”

  “Hey! Don’t flee without us!”

  “Teleport.”

  I appeared before the man who tried to run.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Eek?!”

  “Space magic?!”

  “Just what is this guy?!”

  “Forgive us! We couldn’t defy Sacchi’s orders!”

  “Please save those words for the guildmaster. For now... I don’t want you chasing after the kids that got away, so you’re staying here with me for a bit longer.”

  After that, I listened to the wails of the disorderly gang as I spent a surprisingly long amount of time restraining them with my slimes’ power, just in case.

  I was definitely late for the gathering time.

  Chapter 2 Episode 12: Monster Extermination at the Mines, End of Day 1

  “That should do it.”

  After I set enough countermeasures against the unruly adventurers’ escape, I got ready to go call for help when two sets of footsteps approached. I was a little wary of more enemies, but I soon relaxed.

  “It seems thou hast has already settled things?”

  “Asagi! Leipin! What are you two doing here?”

  “A panicked youngling came crying for help, stating they had been cornered by a group of ill-natured adventurers and left someone behind to hold them off.”

  Those kids must have called for help, huh?

  “He mentioned slimes, so I got to thinking... So it was you after all, Ryoma. I’m glad you’re safe. What happened over there?”

  “It doesn’t seem like the other party is dead... Though there is no movement.”

  The two said, looking at the adventurers I restrained.

  In order to prevent the unruly adventurers from fleeing when I left, and to also act as their treatment, their limbs had been fitted with a plaster of sticky slime hardening solution over splints and a mouth gag made of stone with breathing holes had been inserted into their mouths, before I paralyzed them with poison to restrict movement.

  Finally, to prevent them from being attacked by monsters, I made my slimes surround them as guards... But there may have been a few too many.

  “They look like they’ve been buried alive...”

  “Hmm... I shall watch over here. Ryoma, thou should move the slimes and return to the reception. Jeff and the others await you.”

  “Oh! In that case, I should hurry.”

  “I shall go make a report too. I’ll bring you with me with my magic.”

  I took Leipin up on his word.

  Despite being slightly surprised by them, I quickly moved all my slimes back into the Dimension Home.

  I was truly late right now.

  Thus, after returning to the reception and explaining everything to the receptionist, I was ordered to return to work.

  I passed the guildmaster on my way out and was told I’d be informed of my penalty later. And so, what I had to do now was...

  “I’m sorry for being late.”

  I apologized to the five people in my party for my tardiness.

  They had heard the situation already, so no one was really angry and just teased me a little.

  Then, after work.

  As adventurers piled into the return carriages one after another, I was summoned by the guildmaster.

  “You’re here... Well, have a seat.”

&n
bsp; The guildmaster urged me into a chair of the temporary reception, looking a little haggard.

  Whatever the penalty was, it was a consequence of my actions... Would it be serious?

  “...Just so you know, there’s no penalty for you. So you don’t need to look so prepared for the worst.”

  “You mean I’m being acquitted?”

  “You considered the safety of the kids being picked on and determined it was too dangerous to leave them and call for help, no? In reality, the kids only got away unharmed thanks to you. The testimonies the six of them gave to the reception matched yours. As for Sacchi and the others, well... You were a little over the top with the restraints, but it can pass if you consider it was for their own safety. Your tardiness was excused for the legitimate reason of helping others. And so, you have no blame in any of this! It’s not like you want to take a penalty for fun, right?”

  That was true, but why was the guildmaster so worn out then?

  “Ah, and also... About Sacchi. This is another one of the reasons why you’re not to blame... They weren’t to be trusted.”

  “You mean their claims were inconsistent?”

  “Even before that, up until last year they were a gang of ruffians.”

  “Up until last year?”

  I felt there was a deeper meaning to that.

  “You wouldn’t be able to tell now, but Sacchi used to be an earnest and skilled leader in the past.”

  I couldn’t picture it at all, but as I listened silently to the continuation, I learned that Sacchi’s behavior started after he became C rank.

  “It’s quite a wall for adventurers to advance from rank C to B, with most never making it past C. As the standstill continued, Sacchi gradually lost his will.”

  In order to advance ranks, his demands of his friends grew higher, and with alcohol and in-fighting thrown in, he went through quite a rough period.

  “Then he suddenly grouped up with new adventurers. And not those of the good sort. Ever since, he had been hiding his bad behavior... until today. The guys that caused nothing but problems stopped causing problems, and they seemed to be getting stronger and achieving more steady results... I doubted it at first, but I gradually began to believe Sacchi had turned over a new leaf and was helping the youths grow. Well, it turned out he just got better at hiding it... It’s a shame.”