By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 2

by Roy

  The six of them looked unsettled by the sudden gratitude, but I brushed it off and told them that the Adventurer’s Guild was currently managing cleaning of the pit toilets. They listened intently when I informed them that the pay wouldn’t be messed with anymore. It seemed like they were willing to work seriously.

  In the future, I should only pick up the toilet jobs when my scavenger slimes were low on food.

  Chapter 2 Episode 16: Group Battle

  After my reconciliation (or an unreasonable facsimile thereof) with Beck’s party and asking them to spread the news about the pit toilets, it was time for the plan to commence.

  “Is everyone in position? The enemies may appear immediately! Be careful!”

  Everyone was fired up at Ploria’s words, a tension hovering over the area.

  I was also on high alert with my bow in hand, and ten minutes later the first goblin appeared.

  “They’re here! Three from the front! More following behind!”

  “Got it!”

  Beck reported the discovery first from the top of the tree he had climbed, to which everyone around us responded. The goblins had noticed us too, but they charged at us in a straight line. They weren’t very smart creatures to begin with.

  Out of the three goblins, one of them didn’t notice the pit and fell in on its own. The second one noticed and came to a stop, but the long scythe-wielding adventurers dragged it into the pit, while the third one tried to leap over it but couldn’t reach the other side.

  The goblins screamed as their skin was melted by the acid, but their cries of suffering quietened in a few seconds. The following goblins continued to meet the same fate.

  Occasionally a goblin archer or goblin mage would appear and remain at a distance, but those were taken care of by adventurers with bows and magic.

  For the record, all the arrows we were using had been coated with poison from poison slimes. Since the enemies were put to an end even with a light injury, we were yet to suffer any damage through arrows and magic.

  Archers were identifiable immediately by their bows, and goblin mages could be detected with the magic detection skill, and it wasn’t as though they were any good at using them either. They were so slow, there was plenty of time to detect their magic energy before firing an attack.

  The conditions for us were far superior. But there were many more than we expected in numbers... There were no injuries yet, but I had never seen so many before. We’d soon surpass 500, the number that was predicted to be the nest total. Had something happened in the main fight?

  The acid slimes were gradually falling behind in their consumption and goblin corpses were beginning to build up in the pit.

  It wasn’t enough to panic yet, but at this rate... The adventurers around me had noticed too and reacted in confusion.

  “Isn’t this strange?!”

  “Indeed, there’s far more than there should be.”

  “At this rate I’m going to run out of arrows!”

  “I only have a few arrows left too!”

  “You there! Don’t let your arrows go to waste!”

  “Hah... Hah... Why are there so many goblins... How long will they keep coming for?!”

  Goblins were weak and only as tall as a human child, but they had the intellect to use weapons. And most importantly, they could reproduce and multiply their numbers rapidly. If you underestimated them for being weak, you’d be swallowed up in no time at all.

  They ate both human and animal meat. Though they had similar bodies to humans, there was no friendship to be had there.

  Even if their skills were poor, having that many of them swing around bladed tools was dangerous and more than any person could handle alone. Based on our meeting earlier, there were over 100 people on our side too, but most of them were F and G rank. They could only barely take on a goblin one-on-one, at most. There was no way they would be allowed forward, where things could get messy.

  Thus, only E rank adventurers could be at the front line, out of necessity. But we didn’t have enough in numbers. E rankers were still practically newbies themselves, having trained enough to have some form of ability.

  Furthermore, not every E ranker was capable of close combat. There were those who used magic and bows, and others who specialized in healing magic. That’s why there were only 28 people in charge of close ranged combat. I could already see fatigue in them from holding the frontline until now. Several had been injured and treated with magic before returning to the battle. It was clear they would reach their limit at this rate.

  Our plans could have covered a large number of running goblins, but there were just way more than expected. It was a small mercy that the goblins weren’t streaming out like an avalanche, making it somewhat manageable...

  This was bad... The frontline was finally running low on steam.

  “Ploria, could my slimes and I take over the frontlines for a bit? It looks like the battle will be a long one, so the frontline can rest in that time.”

  “Ryoma... the guildmaster said you were above E but... All right, can I count on you? Buy us as much time as possible, without pushing yourself too hard.”

  When I suggested the swap in positions to the commanding leader, she answered within seconds.

  “Understood.”

  “Frontliners on both sides! Ryoma and his slimes will be joining you! Swap over and rest as much as possible!”

  I called over all the sticky slimes, poison slimes, and scavenger slimes that had been waiting at the back and sent them to the front lines on both sides. Then I jumped down from my high platform and leaped over the pit before giving my orders to the slimes.

  “Show me the results of your training up until now against the goblins!”

  At that moment, all the slimes started quivering in a display of enthusiasm. Each one extended a feeler towards the goblins.

  One sticky slime picked up a stick discarded by a goblin and began handling it nimbly. As a group, they beat the goblins and sent them rolling, or otherwise used sticky solution to halt their movements.

  A poison slime picked up a shabby spear used by the goblins and spat poison over the tip.

  The scavenger slimes slipped under the feet of the goblins and tripped them up with their feelers. Or they would allow themselves to be stepped on before rolling their bodies out to trip them, then cover the faces of the fallen goblins.

  Lacking in pure strength, they couldn’t punch the goblins to death, but fighting one-on-one they could hold their own. The slimes acted as a group, attacking the goblins in their own ways, putting an end to them.

  Especially the poison slimes, whose secretions proved a powerful and especially effective weapon.

  It looked like I could leave this to them.

  Beside them, I drew my two daggers.

  I was probably seen as a target. I closed the distance to an approaching goblin and stabbed it through the heart.

  Withdrawing my dagger, I slashed the throat of another goblin passing.

  “Gukeeh?!”

  “Gowah!”

  “Gweeh!!”

  A goblin tried to raise its sword in a completely open stance, so I slashed the tendons in its wrists and kicked it down. The rest the slimes could handle.

  “Geeeeh.”

  I evaded the goblin’s spear coming from behind and circled around. When my dagger pierced its medulla oblongata, it collapsed like a puppet cut from its strings.

  One of the traits of a goblin was how similar in shape it was to a human, but that applied to both their appearance and their organs. They were sturdier than humans, but they could be finished off in a single blow if their vitals were struck with accuracy, and rendered immobile by cutting their wrists and carotid arteries.

  At the very least, the goblins I had fought until now died like that. Just like now. So it shouldn’t be a problem to deal with it as I have until now.

  Every time I killed one, blood would spurt everywhere as the goblins screamed, but I ignored them
all and single-mindedly continued to hack away at them.

  However, they really kept on coming. Where were they hiding such numbers?

  The goblins were still steadily coming, and combat power-wise we were starting to struggle. Since we had the advantage of numbers we had a little more leeway now, so I ordered the slimes that weren’t fighting to collect arrows.

  “Hold on... hah... Isn’t that kid... way too strong? ...We were struggling... so much...”

  “We’ve been saved...”

  “It looks like we can leave it to that kid for now... We’ll rest up as much as we can while he buys us time! Then we’ll swap over!”

  “Right!!!”

  “Huh, are those really slimes?”

  “Those slimes... they’re good at using spears. Even better than me...”

  “They’re good... wait, why are slimes using weapons?!”

  “So many weird things are happening, but at least we’re saved... Hmm? An arrow?”

  “Oh?! Bow team! The slimes have gathered the arrows! Hey you, move it! Let the slimes pass!”

  I could hear the voices of the frontline, so it seemed like they were resting properly. That aside, I guess it was rare for slimes to use weapons, huh... Or rather, were they really so carefree as to worry about that right now?

  Just as I thought that, I felt more magical energy. Another goblin mage, huh?

  I returned my right dagger to its sheath and took out throwing knives instead, finishing it off that way. The slimes and I continued doing that until the others had recovered their stamina.

  Chapter 2 Episode 17: Fight Over, Fight Ongoing

  The battle continued with several turns resting and healing the injured, until the goblins finally stopped coming at over the 2000 mark.

  Thanks to the efforts of the healers and healing slimes, there were no serious injuries among the adventurers, but there were so many goblin corpses along the front line there was no space to stand.

  Then suddenly, four men appeared through space magic.

  “What’s the status here, everyone?!”

  “Sorry we took so long! What is the situation?”

  “It looks like everything’s okay? ...Wow, there’s a ton of corpses here too.”

  “Leipin, Asagi, Gordon, Sher. You came for us.”

  They must have had a hard-fought battle themselves... Other than Leipin the magician, everyone was covered in blood splatters.

  “Oh! You’re safe, Ryoma!”

  “It seems like you’ve been through a lot yourself. There’s blood all over you.”

  “We’re not ones to talk, though.”

  “That’s true. But what was with those numbers? Over 2000 goblins came this way. Though judging by your appearances, you had to deal with quite a few on your end too...”

  “Indeed, we owe you an explanation about that.”

  “Erm, who’s the person in charge here? We’d like to ask about the situation here.”

  “That’d be me!”

  Ploria ran up to the four men and explained the situation until now.

  “...I see. So that’s how it went.”

  “Yes. We were able to endure it thanks to Ryoma and his slimes. Our team would have been wiped out otherwise.”

  “With this many numbers... it’s a miracle you all survived practically unharmed.”

  “At any rate, it’s great that everyone’s safe.”

  “Umm, how did things go in the main army?”

  “For now, the situation has come to an end. However...”

  “While there were no deaths, there were some serious injuries. Their numbers were far beyond what we expected when scouting, and there was even a goblin king. It had crowds of goblin knights as lackeys.”

  “There was a goblin king?!”

  Ploria’s shout stirred our surroundings.

  “You lot! The goblin king has been dealt with already, so don’t worry!”

  Gordon’s single statement calmed everyone a bit, before they burst into cheers. As they did, the explanation continued.

  “We planned our strategy around a map of the mines, but it seemed like the goblins had dug their own mineshafts and expanded their village. The scouts’ probes couldn’t reach to the depths of the mineshaft, which actually turned out to be connected to another shaft that wasn’t on the map.”

  “The village we thought we were attacking was ultimately a small piece of a larger whole. Their numbers had grown significantly on the other side, so they continuously streamed from their nesting hole. We only noticed that the real village and boss was on the other side of the shaft some time after we began our attack. Because of that, many goblins fled through a different route and ended up surging through here. We were completely inadequate; forgive us.”

  “So that’s what happened... None of us were severely injured, so we don’t have anything in particular to say about that, though... How did a village of that size go unnoticed until now?”

  “We believe their numbers grew that large because they never approached the town and stayed hidden in the mineshaft, feeding off other monsters. There were an enormous number of small rat and cave bat remains left behind. And it seems like no one has approached this abandoned mine since last year, so...”

  “Because the folks at the public office were negligent. With no more iron being harvested, maintenance of these mines are nothing more than an expense. However...”

  Leipin looked around at our surroundings.

  “You truly did very well, managing to escape unharmed against this many enemies. If there are no problems here, may I take several of your healers with us? I’d like to get the injured on the other side treated.”

  “I understand. Anyone with healing magic and enough energy left, gather up!”

  Four people including me stepped forward at Ploria’s words.

  “Hmm... Unfortunately, three is the maximum number of people I can take with space magic. I’d have to ask one of you to make your own way there...”

  “In that case, I’ll stay back. I’ve started learning space magic myself recently, so I’ll catch up in no time.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “Ah, Leipin. Are you able to take a few more things?”

  “As long as they aren’t very large.”

  Hearing that, I called forth my two healing slimes.

  “Then please take these two slimes. I can still only teleport myself.”

  “I understand. But what type are they? These slimes.”

  “Healing slimes, slimes that can use healing magic.”

  “Oh ho! So these are healing slimes! I’ve studied monsters for a long time now, but this is my first time seeing one. All right, I shall take responsibility for these two.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  “No problem. We’ll be waiting on the other side. Warp.”

  As soon as he said that, Leipin took the three others with him and teleported. I bid farewell to Ploria and the others before setting off too.

  “Ploria, I’ll be leaving my slimes behind, so please take care of them. You can just leave them alone.”

  “Leave it to me. Thanks for taking care of the other side.”

  “Yes. Now then... Teleport.”

  I repeated my short distance teleportation until I reached an isolated location, then used the intermediate spell Warp.

  ■　■　■

  The location I arrived at had many injured people receiving treatment.

  “Ryoma! This way.”

  Leipin was there. I ran over to him and received my two healing slimes from him before I was led to the recovery supervisor and given orders.

  The two healing slimes and I were first allocated to those with comparatively lighter wounds. They were all conscious and surprised to be receiving treatment from a slime’s healing magic.

  Once I finished my work there, I was immediately ordered to assist with the treatment of the more severely wounded patients.

  Since I was running low on magic
energy, I drank the magic recovery potions I received from Serge the other day as I went about treating patients.

  There were only a few people who were wounded to a life-threatening level, but those people were bleeding profusely and being taken care of by several healers with the intermediate healing magic High Heal. The wounds were too big for us to treat, but I helped out all the same, as it would provide temporary relief. I distributed a few of my potions on hand to the other healers as well.

  “Guh...”

  We had to stop the bleeding as soon as possible. If the magic stopped, the person before me would be closer to death.

  The bustling movement here was on par with a battlefield. There was no time to think.

  “Huh?!”

  As I silently continued giving treatment, someone looking after a different patient to me suddenly yelled out loud.

  “What’s wrong?! Do you need assistance?!”

  The man who was healing the same patient as me shouted back.

  “N-No! There’s no problem here!”

  “The slime assisting us here suddenly used High Heal, so we were surprised!”

  ...WHAT?! My healing slime?! The healing slime should only have been able to use Heal, though? It’s never used anything else before...

  When the man heard their answer, he looked to me as though asking if my slimes could really use High Heal.

  “I think they only learned it just now. I’ve never seen them use it before.”

  “The more help, the better!”

  And with that, we returned to healing. Not too long after, a different person looking after another patient also yelled when the other healing slime started using that spell. It was an unexpected development, but it was a success.

  Process aside, their treatment efficiency rose dramatically, and with the large number of magic recovery potions I retrieved from my Item Box, we somehow succeeded in healing the patient. He would still need some time before he could get back on his feet, but his life was no longer in danger.

  With the urgency of treatment slightly relieved, I appraised the healing slime’s skills to find its healing magic skill had risen to level 3. Additionally, when I looked at my own status board, I found I was now level 2.