By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 1

Chapter 8, Episode 1: Every End Is a New Beginning

Since the duke and duchess’s visit to Gimul, the city’s reconstruction had grown exponentially faster. Supplies began to arrive from other cities, and by the end of January, snowfall became lighter and lighter, opening up the roads—and the city’s commerce with them.

Now there was hardly anything around the city that required my help, so I’d been picking up some nearby hunting quests while I prepared my businesses to be transferred away from me. The security company was already out of my hands and into the duke’s, as we had discussed before I started the venture. Almost half of the employees—former day laborers—had returned to their hometowns with their pay, and the other half would be employed directly by the duke or referred to another job by him. The same agreement had been made for the hospital attached to the headquarters, but that facility was now being used by medical professionals whose places of practice had been damaged in the attack. They were joined by Doctor Maflal and his apprentices, turning the place into a sort of university hospital where doctors both treated patients and conducted research.

Although I still owned Bamboo Forest, I’d appointed Carme, who had been helping to run the business so far, as manager. He would take over managing that location entirely, while I worked as the newly appointed Sales Director. My job now was to travel from city to city, scouting out potential locations for another branch, and to advise Carme on how to garner clients. In reality, all I had to do was make note of any locations or information that would be useful for the business in my travels as an adventurer and report it to him whenever I came back to Gimul. Same job as before, for all intents and purposes, but this gave me more freedom.

My other businesses—the trash plant, the construction company, restaurants, and hotels—had all been delegated to trusty managers I had hired. Many business owners had lost their storefronts in the attack, so I was able to hire from a pool of displaced store owners. I think all of us made the best of the situation.

Perhaps because of my bolstered reputation from becoming the duke’s engineer, plenty of employees who’d lost their workplaces in the attack—along with tamers who worked for the security company or the Tamer’s Guild—applied to work for my businesses. Interviewing them ended up being more time consuming than the actual process of transferring the businesses, but the large pool of employees helped me make sure all of my businesses were in good hands; I was able to hire a few extra pairs of hands at Bamboo Forest too. The four departments of the laundry shop chain—front of house, accounting, security, and slime management—were each training the new hires. Many of them, as I’d been told, were easy to train because of their prior experience in business or customer service.

Training was being led by the staff of the Gimul headquarters and the three slime researchers I had hired as prospective branch managers. Conveniently, the Lenaf branch contacted me at just the right time to tell me how the trio had successfully completed their training and could be trusted with running the branch. Each of them were also in charge of their own branch, in addition to training.

Once these new hires learned our business, I was sure Carme would trust some of them to run a branch of their own in the future. We would never pressure them, of course. If they just wanted a job so they could rebuild their own business or just keep their head above water, that was their prerogative—as long as they didn’t intentionally hurt my employees or steal cleaner slimes or anything.

The duke was paying me more money than I needed to cover the expenses of all of my remaining businesses, as my engineer’s salary or direct payment for the businesses I’d relinquished to him. Not that I expected this setup to last forever, but there was no need for me to worry about how I’d pay my employees.

Now two months had passed since the attack, and I was really focusing on my adventurer work. Using long-range space magic that utilized limour birds and other familiars as markers, I took on most any quest I could get my hands on. And whenever a quest required a multiperson party to take it on, I invited others to join me.

Most of the time, I went with Fei and Hudom, who were both certified adventurers whose schedules I could easily navigate. If not them, I joined the young, formerly delinquent adventurers, with whom I still kept in touch. For quests near the city, I sometimes worked with Miya and the others. I kept up the grind for three months.

“Completion of the quest is verified. With that, Mister Ryoma Takebayashi, you have passed the C-rank exam. Congratulations,” declared the Guild receptionist.

“Thank you,” I said. I had met the requirements to take the exam on my last trip, and I’d completed it as soon as I reached a guild branch. However, climbing the adventurer’s ladder had come at a slight cost. “Just to be sure, the rank is being awarded to me through proper procedure and fair judgment on the part of the Adventurer’s Guild, right?”

“Of course. Your achievements, although with far more emphasis on monster and bandit hunting than most, exceeded the quota for C rank. Now that you’ve completed the second test by completing this quest, you have earned this rank through proper procedure... I am terribly sorry for what happened the other day—”

“I don’t need an apology.” I cut her off unintentionally. “From the Guild’s perspective, I can see how my progress could arouse suspicion. Still, I was assumed guilty without proof, and I was threatened with detainment and revocation of my adventuring license. I don’t want further unfounded accusations after my new rank has been processed. If they were, I would be forced to seek out the duke’s aid and influence. So I only wanted to make sure we were on the same page, at least on the legitimacy of my new rank. I don’t intend to sue anyone here either.”

The tension in the lobby had been palpable since I’d walked in. Now, the receptionist and a flock of employees—as well as the other adventurers—seemed to relax a little.

“Then allow me to update your guild card. One moment, please,” an employee said, and took my card into the back.

While I waited, I let my attention wander.

“Why’s no one talking? What’s that kid whining about, anyway—”

“Shut up, you idiot!”

With the exception of a few people who apparently didn’t know what had happened when I’d first arrived at this branch, everyone kept quiet and avoided making eye contact with me.

This was far from the first time I’d found myself in this situation, and I could explain it quite easily: I’d take on a quest to the very best of my abilities; upon checking in with the completion of the quest, guild representatives would accuse me of falsifying my report; and then, adventurers who’d overheard the conversation would start a fight with me on the spot, or shortly after leaving the building.

In this case, it was a guildmaster stuck in his ways and a nasty exam admin who was obviously working for him. Word had apparently spread more widely than usual, because they had made my first exam public in an attempt to humiliate me. This had to be about the eighth time this sort of thing had happened when checking into a guild branch. I never thought I’d run into such a cliché isekai story beat after all this time...

They’re far cries from warm welcomes, but I wasn’t the one starting these fights, so I didn’t have to worry about trying to defuse the situation peacefully. For the most part, they were just inconveniences. Besides, this only happened where I was relatively unknown; never once had I been suspected of anything in Gimul or its surrounding areas. In fact, some of the locals there had started calling me “the Cleaner.” I’d been told that those who made a name for themselves were sometimes given a moniker based on their characteristics or accomplishments. From what I could tell, my moniker came from my careers as a laundry shop owner and freelance cleaner. However, for other adventurers and guild workers who knew me, the name had a double meaning: someone who “cleans up” monsters and bandits without a trace...

The thought made me blush, but I’d decided to take it as a show of their confidence in me. In that sense, I was on the right track.

“Thank you for your patience.” The receptionist returned to the desk and handed me my guild card.

Not that I expected them to give me a counterfeit to frame me with it later, but I inspected it nonetheless. From what I could tell, it was genuine. Of course, if they were trying to frame me that way, they wouldn’t make it obvious.

“Is something wrong...?” the receptionist asked.

“No. Just letting my new C rank sink in. Thank you. I’ll be on my way.” I wasn’t going to hold a grudge or demand an apology for their accusation, but I certainly wasn’t going to trust them.

I left the guild branch and jumped to the city gates with space magic so I could walk out on foot, then jumped again to the limour birds I had sent ahead.

We were halfway up a rocky mountainside. The bare path curved along a craggy ridge, over which I could see the outer walls of a city.

“Oh? We’re...almost to the next city. You guys flew far,” I said to the birds, and they whistled proudly in response.

Their mobility was nothing to scoff at. My next destination, the city I now held in my sights, was the westernmost settlement in this country. To get here by land from where I’d been a moment ago, I would have had to climb three steep mountains, which would have taken me no fewer than three days. Even though the birds didn’t have to battle the harsh terrain, I had only sent them flying a few hours prior. Saving days in my journey like this was extremely helpful when I was in a hurry to increase my rank.

Even if I had been pursued, I would have lost them in the jump. From here, it was only a leisurely walk down to the city of Teresa, and I’d make it there before sundown. Then I’d be in arm’s reach of the Sea of Trees.

Untroubled by the minor setbacks I’d faced and reinvigorated by my new C rank, I started for my destination.