By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter SS

Special: Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm...

“All’s well that ends well, don’t they say?” Serelipta, the god of water, muttered.

The earth goddess Wilieris’s usually gentle features twisted sternly. “That’s rich, coming from you. You made sure Ryoma was alone when he was attacked.”

“I just gave him a little advice... We all knew he didn’t want to get anyone else involved, if he could have helped it. I think I was respecting his wishes. It’s not like I directly caused the attacks. What’s your problem?”

“I am not telling you not to speak to him. We speak to humans directly on occasion. But why did you have to intentionally throw him into a dangerous situation?” Wilieris asked.

“Ryoma could have been in the heart of the city, and they would have carried out the attack. That’s why they had amassed such a large team. No matter how secure Gimul is on paper, there would be some gaps in security during emergencies. They were planning the attack on the city for five years. There were plenty of ways they could have gone in and out of the city without being detected. They’d picked up on Ryoma leaving the city. If he was going to be attacked either way, I think Ryoma was safer alone, so he didn’t have to worry about anyone else.”

“You always—”

“Knock it off, Wilieris,” the goddess of war, Kiriluel, grumbled. “Serelipta’s annoying. That’s not news. And you know more than anybody there’s no talking sense into him.”

“Ryoma was unhurt,” Lulutia chimed in. “Nor did he interfere in anyone’s actions but his own. And he only gave advice to help Ryoma get what he wanted...”

“Regardless of how you feel about him, it’s a tough call if he’s broken a code or not,” said Tekun. “I know the fact that he pushes the line makes it even more infuriating.”

“Don’t you both get tired of this?” Kufo asked.

“You’re wasting your time if you’re trying to reason with him,” said Fernobelia.

“Let’s just calm down a bit, now,” added Grimp.

“I’ll admit, I am a bit frustrated,” Wilieris said. “But why isolate Ryoma when he was going to be attacked, regardless?”

Serelipta shrugged. “With or without my advice, Ryoma would have handled the situation the same way. So I made sure to tell Ryoma things ‘might’ clear up. It didn’t make a major difference. I just recommended a course of action that had a slightly better chance of working out for Ryoma than the alternative did.”

“You can’t expect change to come so suddenly,” Wilieris said.

“You need more of a sense of urgency, Wilieris,” Serelipta countered. “A decade or two is a blink of an eye to us, but a long time for a human. That’s why change comes so suddenly to them. Why they’re always changing.”

“And what if Ryoma had chosen to throw everything away?” asked Wilieris.

“Not that I could guarantee it, but I highly doubt he ever would have done that. He really does treasure his lifestyle, and he’s not the type to get carried away by violence. In fact, he’s much more restrained than the average human, so much so that sometimes he can’t get his head above the water. He wouldn’t throw away everything, forsaking his responsibility as a business owner and disregarding the harm he’d do to others. If he had been the type of person who could be so reckless, with no regard for those around him, he would have snapped in his previous life,” said Serelipta.

Wilieris remained silent. Serelipta continued, “Well, even if he goes to one extreme, I wouldn’t mind it. Humans kill each other all the time for selfish reasons. Even animals kill for survival. Ryoma deserves to choose his own path and follow it. Besides, the fewer people around him, the higher his chance of survival is. Where he fought, he could have used his slime magic without reservations. No concern for roping anyone in or protecting someone who would only slow him down.”

“You may have a point,” Lulutia said.

Tekun grunted in agreement. “Even if Ryoma couldn’t have beaten those brothers, he wouldn’t have died.”

“Ryoma made sure to fight atop one of his slimes,” Kufo noted. “Even with his magic disabled, he only needed to give one signal to set off a trap or make an escape. He’s very thorough, for one thing.”

Kiriluel responded, “Nothing wrong with being thorough. Even the best soldiers can be taken out by anyone because of one mistake. There’s no guarantee on the battlefield. That being said, I agree that it’s highly unlikely for Ryoma ever to lose a fair fight. If he hadn’t been a casualty of the stupid games the Earth gods were playing, he would have made his name as a martial artist or something. At least enough to open his own dojo. It’s regrettable how much potential had been locked out of his life.”

“Apparently, the weapon of choice in Earth wars in his time period are firearms. And Japan is a peaceful country. His talents didn’t match up with his time period or environment, even though his environment had been tampered with for that very purpose. He was surrounded by morons who loved nothing more than to spew their moral high ground...” said Serelipta.

“Good or bad, it isn’t easy to change preconceptions that have been drilled into him for decades, especially since his youth. There’s a fine line between education and brainwashing. It’s the same repetitive process.”

Gain stopped sipping his boba tea to say, “Hm... Correcting those preconceptions would have been far more difficult if he had been older. Perhaps it’s for the best that he’s become self-aware of it now.”

Wilieris sighed. “Maybe so.”

“What’s the matter?” Serelipta asked.

“I don’t make a fuss about things just for the sake of it. As infuriating as your smug expression is, I understand why you spoke to Ryoma, after the katana incident...and our world will become more active, thanks to the replenished magical energy. Considering more monsters will appear in the future because of it, allowing him to use his strength will be to his benefit and to the benefit of those around him... That, I can accept.”

The other gods looked relieved, as the quarrel between Serelipta and Wilieris seemed settled. Quarrels weren’t uncommon among the gods, but a drawn-out conflict could cause some inconveniences, and it just wasn’t fun to watch.

With the mood in the area relaxed, Lulutia said, “If Ryoma becomes stronger and more stable, why don’t we give him those katanas?”

“As worrying as those blades are, they are still his father’s keepsake. He’s got more right to them than we do. As long as we’re confident he can handle it, we can hand them over to him,” Tekun said.

“That will be more in the future, but it’s worth considering,” Fernobelia said. “In fact, some troubling monsters are appearing in the Sea of Trees of Cyrus.”

“Whoa! They gotta be serious if you’re calling them ‘troubling.’”

“They’re confined to a very limited area, so they won’t damage the ecosystem. If the sea of trees takes care of them naturally, great. Otherwise, I’ll consider stepping in.”

“You’re in charge of that place, so we’ll leave that up to you. If that’s happening in the sea of trees, we better keep an eye out on other places.”

“Monsters have destroyed countries before,” Kufo muttered ominously.

Serelipta answered with his usual nonchalance. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Countries fall because their people are unprepared. Monster populations increase gradually, so as long as armies deal with them properly, any country will prevail, perhaps with some casualties.”

“Hmm... It’s not easy to see humans die because of it. Without replenishing magical energy, the entire world will collapse. Then, all lives would be lost. I’d like nothing more than to find a way to fix this...” Gain seemed to speak for every god there.

“To be honest, I can’t stand the situation we’re in. Never was okay with it, but I’ve felt worse since we learned about what the Earth gods did.”

“We feel the same way, Tekun. Speaking of, Fernobelia. You mentioned once that Ryoma’s research showed promise to improve our situation, didn’t you?”

“I spoke of improvement, not a solution. Something that would allow us to delay the next replenishment for a few decades or so—as everything stands now, of course. It’s possible more breakthroughs could be reached, which would change everything. That’s why I look forward to his results. The lack of magical energy in this world is a problem we have to bear. Even if Ryoma is fully willing to cooperate, we can’t rely on him too readily.”

“That’s true,” Lulutia agreed. “Ryoma has his own life... Wait a minute. Ryoma’s already heading to the Sea of Trees, right? Where those troublesome monsters were born in the first place.”

The gods shared a look.

Tekun managed to organize the information quicker than the rest. “Preparations are almost done. Just one more task: to raise his adventurer rank. Judging by how Ryoma’s doing, he plans to take on a bunch of monsters and monster-hunting missions to rack up his rank all at once. If all goes well, it’ll be maybe half a year until all the conditions are met.”

“Probably faster, knowing him,” Grimp said.

“Yes. He would cram in as many tasks as he could possibly handle,” Wilieris said.

Their assessment seemed entirely plausible to the other gods too.

“Very possible. Likely, I’d even say.”

“He’s gotten much better than before, but I suppose the habits of a corporate slave were hard to forget,” said Kufo.

“Still some time before the city is rebuilt, but I won’t be surprised if he starts another project during his downtime,” Serelipta said.

“He’s already looking into system reforms around the city.”

“He’s training in the use of physical energy and combat-centered magic. He’s gearing up for this, fast.”

“Definitely preparing for a hunt, then. He’s gathering intel through the various guilds too.”

“At this rate, we’ll never get a break! We don’t dare look away from what fascinating things Ryoma’s going to cook up.”

“Frankly, we never know what he’ll do if we look away.”

“Of course we should keep a close eye on him, and why not? He renewed his resolve to go on another adventure after speaking to us,” Gain said.

The gods agreed, and centered their focus on Ryoma, who was busily working away. His new departure was moments away.