Chapter 7, Episode 18: Changes in the City and Sher’s Conundrum
The next morning, I saw clear change in the streets of Gimul. The main street was bustling as ever, but now, the faces in the crowd seemed to be glowing.
“Hurry, hurry, folks!”
“Best price in the city!”
“Five sutes for each skewer! Don’t sleep on this offer, it ain’t gonna last!”
Even the calls from the food stands and pop-up shops carried more energy.
After walking down the street for some time, I passed by a certain shop in the alley and overheard a group of ladies chattering away.
“Good morning, ladies.”
“My! It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other.”
“Yes, I was hesitant to come to this part of town...”
“Right? Especially with all those men from who knows where sleeping on the street.”
“I know! It’s a shame how they came to the city looking for work and couldn’t find any, but we can’t have them sleeping on the streets. I wouldn’t go near them.”
“They weren’t around this morning, so I decided to come this way again.”
“Me too!”
“I actually haven’t seen any of them today; there would always be at least one in the area before... I wonder where they’ve gone? Not that I want them back on the streets.”
I walked past several more groups noticing the same, and even mentioning that the city felt nicer and safer. While the workers didn’t have any ill intent, and had no other option than to sleep on the street, a street corner with a congregation of workers sleeping on the ground could carry a different air than a street corner without them, and it could affect passersby differently.
The laborers had moved into the dormitory the previous day. Starting this morning, they should be hard at work at the security company, trash plant, or at the factory I partnered with the Morgan Trading Company to build. Even though they had contributed to the rise in crime in the city, most of them had come to the city simply in search of a job and not to commit a crime. Of course, people had strengths and weaknesses. There was more than one type of job at the security company, for example. Guards would need stamina and combat prowess, while administrators required more clerical skills. Different departments required different skill sets.
Based on my personal experience in Japan, people struggling to make ends meet can become desperate under the anxiety and pressure of poverty. They sometimes applied for jobs with no regard for their strengths and weaknesses. The interview the day before was my attempt at sorting out the applicants into general groups to try and fit them with a job that best met their talents, rather than selecting a small portion to hire. By the end of the day, we had hired 546 laborers. While we didn’t have a good count on the total number of job seekers in the city, we could, hopefully, steer them clear of committing crimes just to put food on the table.
While I was taking in the changes in the city, I had arrived at the headquarters of the security company, where I could overhear the sounds of the new hire training. I was already beginning to feel reassured and invigorated to further this venture.
I entered the medical ward of the headquarters to fulfill my part in getting to know my new doctors better, and for us to enrich each other’s learning!
■ ■ ■
“Ryoma! Tell me more about this ‘serum’ of yours!”
“No, let’s hear about the medicine slime first! It’s useful enough that it can generate bodily fluids with all sorts of medicinal properties! So many applications, especially in regions without doctors or that have trouble accessing medical supplies!”
“I would like to hear more about the nutritional supplements.”
“Alchemy... Talk about convenient... Simplifying the pharmaceutical process, and it looks like you could even extract new medicinal properties, or even create a whole new type of medicine...”
“As an elven doctor, I thought I knew much about medicine, but it seems there is plenty of unknown territory for me. Very interesting.”
While I was to temporarily be their employer, I was also seeking their tutorage. We established that I would treat Maflal as my teacher and his apprentices and I would treat each other as equals, which I think helped in breaking the ice between us. At the same time, I came to discover how ravenously curious they were. Perhaps this should not have been a surprise knowing that they were sent my way by Reinhart; as soon as I was done explaining a few applications of my slimes and alchemy, as well as my research into supplements, they started chomping at the bit for more information immediately after I opened the floor for questions. Three out of the five had uttered those questions, eager to address their topic of interest first, while the fourth listened with a smile and the fifth began pondering on their own.
I did feel a sense of camaraderie with them, but I was lost at how to handle this situation... When I noticed it was already noon.
“Uh... Can we take a break first? It’s close to lunchtime.”
“Yes,” Doctor Maflal agreed. “Best that we get our thoughts in order over lunch.”
His four apprentices also concurred, and we headed to the dining hall...
“It’s packed...” I noted, seeing the inaugural class of 120 guards nearly fill the hall. There were some open seats, but I was scouting for six seats together, when...
“Ryoma!”
“Huh? Oh, Sher!”
He was waving to me and pointing at the seat adjacent to his. It looked like a party had just vacated his table, and he was now saving those seats for the six of us.
“I think we have our seats.” I gratefully waved to Sher, then approached the counter to order our food.
“We can choose from a menu here?” One of the doctors asked.
“Food is what we need to survive, after all. We picked out workers who had experience cooking or working at restaurants to lead the kitchen,” I said.
The food was free to employees, of course. This day, the kitchen offered a sandwich or a plate of bread, sausage, and vegetable soup. It was understandable that they could only offer two options, considering how many ingredients they had to prepare... And it was our first day of operations. I’d let the dining hall staff run for a while and see how it went.
I took the platter since I wanted to taste the soup, and the doctors picked their preferred option before heading to the table where Sher was sitting.
“Thank you, Sher.”
“Don’t worry about it, Ryoma. And they are...?”
He would naturally be curious. I had no reason to lie about who they were, so I introduced the doctors to Sher before introducing him to them.
“Sher is very well respected in the city, and a talented adventurer, trusted by the guild.”
“C-Come on, Ryoma. Don’t oversell me like that.”
Despite his humility, I valued Sher’s talent and considered him a genuinely nice kid. It felt strange thinking this when I was technically younger than him, but he was mature beyond his age.
“You’re a much more talented adventurer than me,” he added. “It’s hardly been a year since you registered, and you’ve already caught up to my rank.”
Indeed, we were both D-rank now, but his comment wasn’t made out of frustration or jealousy; Sher had always accepted me, and I was grateful and appreciative of that.
Back when I volunteered as a trainer of new recruits at the Adventurer’s Guild, the looks I got from others were not necessarily friendly. Some adventurers quite blatantly began to avoid me after I participated in a sparring session; not that I could blame them. As much as adventurers adhered to the merit system, it could not have been pleasant to be overtaken by someone younger or someone with less experience.
To simply accept that change in dynamic, and continue to work hard without giving up... While probably morally correct, the fact was, humans were emotional creatures. Not everyone could easily accept their reality, including the attendance of the guild’s training session. Back on Earth, I could remember several times when people surpassed me at work, and I had met countless people who were better than me at something. Of course, I struggled to accept some of those instances.
I shared this sentiment with Sher, omitting certain details, and he scratched his cheek. “It’s kind of embarrassing when you put it that way... I’m not very talented, so I can only put in the effort. I get jealous of people too, you know. If anything, I’m surprised you ever felt inferior to or jealous of anyone, Ryoma. You’re strong, smart, and know so many things.”
This made me wonder how exactly Sher perceived me...
“I think I can compete with most when it comes to stamina or combat, but I was average or below that with everything else, especially social skills.” I had only gotten to where I was after struggling in life for almost forty years. Of course, I couldn’t expect him to know that from seeing me now.
“Besides, being knowledgeable isn’t the same thing as being wise. Knowledge is a tool, and being wise means using that tool well.” There were plenty of people smarter than me in that way without having to look far, and my education through college was paid for. On top of that, I felt like I had experienced a bigger variety of things, for better or worse, and had knowledgeable people around me who I could learn from, not to mention the mighty internet. All things considered, “I was lucky, when it came to my environment.”
“Really...? I’m sure there’s more I can do,” Sher said.
With how much respect he had earned from the guild and the people of the city, I’d thought that he was already doing pretty good... But there was nothing wrong with his enthusiasm, I supposed. I would always support him, for one.
“What would you say is your weakness, Sher?” I asked. From what I had seen so far, he seemed the balanced type that handled most things with ease.
“Hm... It’s kind of hard for me to gain muscle, so I’m not confident in simple strength. The guild master told me to work on technique over physical strength as well.”
He went on to explain that he had earned his reputation by going around town taking on the more menial quests through the guild when he first became an adventurer in order to make ends meet, and to gain stamina, when he had neither strength nor technique. It seems his jack-of-all-trades style was built on hard work. At the same time, inspiration struck.
I might be able to help Sher out.
“I don’t mean to pry, but what kind of exercises do you do?” I asked. “Like, well, you wouldn’t have protein here...”
No one had mentioned it in this world, and not even the five doctors had heard of it.
“What is this ‘protein’ you speak of? It sounds like some sort of medicine that strengthens your muscles, from the sound of it.”
Contrary to Sher’s—and probably most people’s—impression, powdered protein was composed of the same materials that make up not only muscle, but organs, hair, and nails as well; it was the same material found in many natural foods.
“Is protein a form of supplement, then?” said Clarissa, who had been interested in the supplements I was researching.
“That’s a good way to put it. Protein is an important nutrient in both building muscle and staying healthy. That’s why, not only maintaining but building muscle requires a considerable amount of protein. If you try to take in that amount of protein from food, meat, for example, you would consume a lot of unwanted substances like fat, not to mention fill you up, which would make it more difficult to consume that protein. Protein powder or supplements are isolated forms of the nutrient.”
“No fluff, just the stuff you need. It’s like packing for a long journey.” Sher gave this analogy fitting of an adventurer.
I further explained that the effect of protein can be enhanced by taking it at the right time and combining them with more efficient training.
“That’s incredible... Are you sure you want to tell me that?” Sher asked.
Sher helped me out with my work, and this was a bit of information that would help me train the guards. More ideas came to mind as we discussed, like using healing magic to aid in muscle recovery. If Sher was willing to volunteer as a test subject, that was great for me since I didn’t want to build too much muscle on my young body. When I offered this, Sher silently outstretched his right hand. I immediately took it, and we shared a firm handshake.
“Can I join you in that research?!” asked Tint, the athletic doctor. Great news for me, but I saw a flicker of passion in his eyes. “When I was younger, I didn’t want to be a doctor, but rather a knight in service of the royal family... That was a path I could no longer pursue after I injured myself when I fell from my horse during training. I chose to study medicine in hopes of preventing others from losing their dreams due to an injury or illness. While building muscle isn’t the same as healing injuries, I’m very interested in the process!”
His background might have explained his energetic demeanor and voice. Plus, he was the one who was the most interested in serums.
“I see no reason to refuse; I would love to have you on board.”
“Thank you!”
Over lunch, I had managed to gain a new subject of research and two allies for it. However...
“We have quite the audience now, you two,” Doctor Maflal informed me.
Naturally, as we were in the dining hall, we were the focus of many gazes, seemingly wondering what we could possibly be so excited about.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login