By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 5

Chapter 8, Episode 5: New Gear and the Familiars, Part 1

The day after my sparring match with Sever, our party traveled a long way through the valleys that stretched west of Teresa.

The Valleys of Trell were a natural labyrinth, formed over the centuries. A wide, well-paved road connected Teresa to the border due west, but we were traveling through taller and tighter valleys, bound for the City of Lost Souls, which was to the northwest of Teresa. From what I’d been told, the City of Lost Souls wasn’t too far off from Teresa as a crow flies. Our path, however, would wind through a complicated series of turns, with a lot of ups and downs, including a few cliffs we’d need to rappel down. We knew we might have to change our route depending on conditions, so we’d planned to travel for two whole days.

Fortunately, Sever knew the valleys well and had volunteered to be our guide. He told us that the valleys and the City of Lost Souls itself often hosted field training for rookie knights in the Order; he had taken this path several times during his career.

“A little farther, and we should get to a clearing. It’s a little early for lunch, but we should rest there awhile,” Sever proposed. “The road becomes more challenging beyond the clearing.”

“Sounds great,” I replied.

“Hmm. By the way, Ryoma, your gear today looks different from yesterday’s. As far as I can tell, those aren’t off the shelf either. You had those made?” he asked.

“Yes. I actually have a few well-paying side hustles besides adventuring. That allows me to order the development of gear that utilizes slime material. It’s mostly just a hobby, but the gear comes in handy.”

The slime gear I had always ordered through Darson at Digger Armory had become more powerful than ever this spring. For one thing, the blacksmiths now had a variety of materials to work with. In addition to the sticky slime strings they had been incorporating into the slash-proof armor, they now had fiber slimes that absorbed and melted other materials into string, spider slimes that created webs with their secretion, and wire slimes that could essentially turn into durable wire.

Another reason their products had improved so much was that I’d begun to work as Reinhart’s engineer. All the smiths who had been working with me personally were now officially hired on as my “research assistants.” In fact, the entire workshop that handled my armor-crafting now worked for me full-time. They’d given me several reasons why they’d agreed to do this: they were looking for a challenge, my projects tended to provide young apprentices with ample experience, and, of course, the money was good. Rather than trying to sell mass-produced pieces in a competitive market, they’d decided they would make better money working for me. Not that I thought money was the most important thing, but I had to admit that deep pockets made things run more smoothly.

“That’s how I ended up with the new set of armor I’m wearing now,” I explained. “A kind of cloth armor, you could call it. The base is spider slime silk—it’s durable yet flexible, so I can maximize mobility.”

My new armor was so durable that I could wear it on its own, as a kind of work outfit with no impediments to my mobility. I’d first conceptualized this armor as a sort of tracksuit, because of how comfortable the material was. The description I’d given the smiths was only meant to serve as inspiration, but lo and behold, the armor on my body looked identical to a tracksuit from Earth. For a little extra protection, slash-proof patches had been strategically sewn in. The material had managed to stop blades and arrows fired at close-range (as long as they were not enhanced with physical or magical energy) and had even cushioned some of the blow.

While it offered little more protection than the previous model, I was happy with the strict upgrade.

“Aha! I was wondering if you weren’t wearing a chestplate because I broke the old one,” Sever remarked.

“Well, it gave me an excuse to switch out my armor,” I said. “I always hesitate to use new gear if the old gear’s still in good condition... Oh, and I’m not wearing them now, but I also have a vest and jacket that I can wear over this for extra protection.”

The vest and jacket each had a slot for a plate of metal or pseudo fiberglass-reinforced plastic (made from mixing fiberglass into the hardening solution board). After experimenting with giving a fiber slime every ingredient I could think of—fluff from a fluff slime, to name just one—I had discovered that fiber slimes could transform metal fiber too, not just plant-based! While I’d have to find the right materials and set aside enough time for the fiber slimes to process them, they would no doubt be very useful to a variety of projects.

“Of course, the material will eventually fall apart if it continues to be damaged. But even a large, C-rank monster could not destroy it in one bite or slash,” I added.

Remily was showing interest now. “Oh, that’s not bad for how light it must be. Just watching you walk around in it, I can tell how much mobility you’ve got. Is this something I could order a set of too?”

“It’s not on the market yet, but I can arrange that. It won’t be hard to convince others that you can be trusted with it, seeing as how you’re Duke Reinbach’s friend and a former royal sorcerer. Feedback from a female perspective could be very useful too—I can’t provide that myself, after all. Oh, and I have some extra pieces of this fabric, if you want to test them out during our break. You can try to damage it in any way you like,” I said.

“I’ll take you up on that. I’ve been thinking of getting some new gear together, now that I’ll be adventuring again,” she answered.

“Wait, you too?” I asked. “You were an adventurer before?”

“Dipped my toe in it before I became a royal sorcerer. Since Sever has his heart set on it, I decided to tag along for a while. I don’t have anything better to do,” said Remily.

“Wow. That...will definitely be something.”

With their famed experience, I could easily imagine this group becoming one of the most renowned parties of adventurers in the nation.

“Well, I don’t know,” Remily countered. “My resume would probably get me an A rank, but I’m not as driven by adventure as Sever is. It’ll just give me something to do with my time. Besides, it’ll take me a while to get the hang of things.”

“Still, her presence will be of great help to us,” Sever joined in. “Her personality aside, Remily is a great sorcerer.”

“See? Plus I’d be worried about this old man going on quests all by himself. I’ll go half in, at least,” Remily said.

“Oh, this old man will have no problem—”

Before Sever could finish, Remily shot him a murderous look, catching me in the cross fire.

Clearing his throat, Sever pointed ahead. “Uh, there it is. Let’s rest,” he said, clearly wanting to distract Remily.

The clearing was a perfect circle—it would’ve been large enough to hold a track and field event, with the right equipment. “It’s much more open than I thought. Man-made too.”

“The Knight’s Order often stops here to rest or camp. It’s not maintained on purpose, but using the same location a few times a year for several decades will even out surfaces. Historically, the Valleys of Trell were used as a grounds to experiment with magic on, and the City of Lost Souls was a prison and gallows. Many parts of these valleys were shaped by human hands,” Sever explained.

“I see... Oh, does anyone mind if I bring out my familiars?” I asked. “I try to let them out of the Dimension Home frequently, and I can ask them to prepare our lunch while I go over my new armor.”

“That’s all right with me,” Sever answered. “Even monsters must feel cooped up, if they’re stuck in a room all day.”

Since the others didn’t object either, I opened my Dimension Home and called out to my familiars within. Cooking outside of the Dimension Home was something I had asked them to do plenty of times, so they should know the routine. I waited for a few moments. An emperor scavenger slime was the first to come through.

“Whoa!” Sever exclaimed.

“What is that thing...?” Remily asked.

Reinbach showed less surprise than his friends; he and Sebas were already aware that I had contracted a great number of slimes, including at least one big slime. “This one’s much bigger than the ones I’ve seen before.”

“You haven’t changed, Master Ryoma,” Sebas simply noted.

I briefly explained how my emperor scavenger slime had come to be.

“I did see you with an army of slimes in tow,” Sever said. “But this big—‘emperor,’ you called it?—is something else. Ten thousand slimes, you said?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my entire life,” Remily chimed in.

“I’ve heard that, while rare, there are some wild big slimes...but I’m not sure if an emperor slime would ever naturally form. Maybe if there were some sort of supermassive outbreak of slimes,” I pondered.

Meanwhile, the goblins marched out of the Dimension Home, wearing clean clothes and gear that showed they were not wild, carrying weapons or other things. This was a familiar sight to me, but everyone else reacted rather differently from how they had towards the emperor slime. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Well... I wasn’t expecting this either,” Remily said.

When I requested an explanation, Reinbach volunteered. “Each goblin horde has its own hierarchy. The alpha always comes first. When they eat, the alpha eats first, then the next goblin in the hierarchy eats from the scraps, then the next, and so on. That is why goblins on the bottom of the hierarchy are ganglier than those towards the top of the horde. An adventurer who’s familiar with goblins can take one look and guess an individual goblin’s strength as well as where they stand in their horde’s hierarchy. The majority of your goblins were born in your care, I assume. Most of them look very well-fed. The skinnier ones are survivors of hunts, born in the wild. Am I wrong?” he asked.

“That’s exactly right,” I said. “They eat as much as a human. That’s more than the amount recommended by the Tamer’s Guild, and that includes supplements for their health and strength.”

Goblins multiplied exponentially. More food meant more goblins, who would grow stronger with each generation. Considering the threat of a goblin outbreak, limiting their food might be the safest recourse. Still, as their master—and as a reward for helping me with my work—it only felt right to provide them with adequate food, shelter, and clothing. I was also curious about the effects of the supplements that I had just started developing.

“Supplements... I see. That hobgoblin there, for example, looks as strong as an average goblin knight. If you don’t mind me asking, have they ever ignored your orders or revolted?” asked Reinbach.

“They have—a few times,” I answered.

Their first rebellion had happened a week after the first generation of goblins was born under my care. The goblins had grown to full-size in no time, and they’d quickly organized against me. The original eight goblins I had captured still followed my orders, but thanks to how fast goblins reproduced and grew, the original generation were soon outnumbered.

“Since it didn’t look like the original goblins would be able to keep the others in check for long, I lured the younger generation into attacking me so I could defeat them. Right now, I am the alpha of their horde,” I said.

“Ah, I do recall you joining a large-scale goblin hunting quest,” Reinbach said. “And I suppose newborn goblins never stood a chance against you, given you can go toe-to-toe against Sever. So you’ve shown your dominance by strength.”

“Yes. I don’t know if this will prove it, but...” I turned to the goblins still marching out of the Dimension Home. They all seemed curious about my companions; most of them were at least stealing glances at them, and some were downright staring. So I sent a command to all of the goblins with Taming magic: Don’t lay a finger on them. At once, each goblin made a nod or salute or sound that indicated their compliance before turning their focus to making lunch. While I didn’t understand their language, their attitudes were very telling. I turned back to Reinbach. “There you have it.”

“You do have a firm grip on their reins,” he said.

“Yes. I’ve learned firsthand how dangerous goblins can be because of how swiftly they multiply,” I said.

“I see... It seems my concerns were ungrounded,” said Reinbach.

“Still, I really do appreciate you bringing it up to ensure our safety,” I said.

This only worked because I was strong enough to take the goblin horde on, and my experience with goblins made things easier. If a rookie adventurer with no prior experience tried to replicate my situation, they would probably be killed—or let some goblins escape, which could lead to others getting hurt. No wonder the Tamer’s Guild strictly warns against overfeeding goblins.

“That makes me feel better, but also like I’m speaking to an adult,” Reinbach said, as if he didn’t know what to do about it. Still, he spoke kindly.

Stumped for words, I turned to watch the goblins working on our lunch.