By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 15

Chapter 9, Episode 7: Guests

Two weeks passed very quickly as I met and caught up with people all over the city. Fully prepared, I was ready to venture into the Sea of Trees.

Before I took that plunge, however, I had returned to the place where my new life began in this world—my home in the Forest of Gana. I had a few reasons for coming here: it wasn’t too much of a detour on my way from Gimul to Syrus; I wanted to make sure I remembered where I came from before I achieved this major goal of mine; and one more reason.

“It’s pretty dusty in here, but that’s about it... Cleaner slimes,” I called, and they scattered to clean every corner of every room and hallway.

Then, I made for the room deep into the house that held nothing but the sculpted depictions of the gods. “I can’t believe I’ve only been gone for a year...” Back when I lived here, I used the room to meditate or train in. Since I’d brought the table and chairs with me, I made quick work of setting them up, making the space guest-ready.

There was still some time left for me to build more sculptures. “I’d only met Gain, Kufo, and Lulutia when I built this place... It’s impressive how many more I’ve met since.”

I dug alcoves into the wall, and used the dirt I carved out to sculpt the likenesses of Tekun, Fernobelia, Kiriluel, Wilieris, Grimp, Serelipta, and Meltrize, bringing my total up to ten. There was one more god I knew of, Manoailoa, whom I’d never met in person. A statue of Manoailoa I’d come across once before was too simple to discern any facial features or clothing, so I only knew that the god was humanoid.

Maybe I’ll ask the gods about it the next time I’m in the divine realm. 

After sculpting and cleaning up the space, I still had enough time left to prepare tea and snacks.

Soon, the stone slimes I’d placed outside notified me of my guests’ arrival. Outside, I found the duke and duchess, Sebas, and their usual quartet of guards. An unfamiliar couple accompanied them, though. There was a man in his early thirties wearing a stereotypical wizard’s robe, whose well-groomed hair, skin, and beard gave off a gentlemanly impression. The other was a well-put-together woman whose steely composure couldn’t quite hide the exhaustion on her face—despite her maid’s uniform, she gave off the impression of a city guard.

“Thank you for coming,” I greeted.

“You can relax, Ryoma. I vouch for them too,” Reinhart said.

“Thank you. Please, come in.” Even though this area was relatively safe, we were still in the middle of a forest. There was no reason to wait when I’d already prepared the space for them.

Once inside, I asked the guards to make themselves at home in the foyer, and led the other five deeper into the dwelling.

“My!” Elise let out a quiet yelp, and the other four shared a look of surprise, though Reinhart and Sebas were relatively calm.

The woman I hadn’t met before stood quietly, her eyes darting from one sculpture to another. The man was just as quiet, but simply moved his head as he took in the carvings.

“I didn’t realize you had a room full of divine sculptures,” Elise commented.

“I just made them, except for the three I had made before,” I said. “Wait. Didn’t I show you this room last time?”

“We never saw this room,” Reinhart said. “We wouldn’t have wandered around your house without permission, especially when we had only just met.”

That’s right, I remembered. This room didn’t need to be cleaned, so I’d had them rest instead of showing them here. Reminiscing about what had happened only a year ago, I offered them the chairs I had set out. Although I’d put out enough for everybody, only the duke and duchess sat down at first, followed by the man. Sebas and the woman seemed content to stand in the corner of the room.

“There’s much we need to talk about, but let’s finish the diagnosis first. Rosenberg?” Reinhart indicated.

The older man, Rosenberg, introduced himself, his voice weighed and steadied by age and experience. As I had been told before, he was the duke’s warlock and the person who was about to examine my curse. I thanked him for his time, and he returned a small curve of a smile.

The examination began with a series of questions, just like a medical one on Earth, except that Rosenberg had held my wrist not to measure my pulse but my magical energy.

“Miss Eleonora, can you give me your honest impression of him?” Rosenberg asked. He must have been told about my curse before arriving.

“My impression of him...? If I have to say, I do feel slightly irritated by him. Although, I’m unable to pinpoint what about him makes me feel this way,” she said.

“How would you describe that feeling? A dislike of his character? Something instinctive? Any descriptor would do,” Rosenberg pushed.

“Instinctive, when you put it that way. Even though he seems like a good person, I keep feeling like... His breath stinks every time he talks, or he has a terrible odor. That’s what it feels like.”

I stink? I had to wonder for a moment. While I understood that her description was metaphorical, as someone who—on the inside—was approaching that point in life where I could have started developing an “old person smell,” I couldn’t help but be sensitive about it.

“You don’t smell, Ryoma. It’s all right,” Elise said. Much to my relief, Eleonora nodded in agreement.

“Thank you,” I said.

“I see... Miss Kremis’s assessment was correct. Let’s move on to the next test,” Rosenberg announced.

He conducted a few tests using magic. It felt like his magical energy was searching for something in me, like a detection spell. He gave me permission to ask any questions, so I did.

“This spell uses magical energy that could be used for another curse—in a way that doesn’t harm the patient. By sensing the reaction of the magical energy, I can determine the nature and severity of the curse afflicting you. Determining an accurate diagnosis takes practice. You could call it a sort of detection magic,” the warlock explained, to confirm that what I’d felt was pretty accurate.

After the magic-based tests, he moved on to medical ones. Rosenberg produced a lab flask of clear liquid, and poured some into a test tube. He asked for a drop of my blood, so I pricked my finger with the needle he gave me, and let a drop fall into the test tube. As soon as my blood hit the clear liquid, it turned bright red for a moment before it rapidly darkened to pitch black.

Rosenberg said, with concern, “This curse is more troublesome than we first thought.”

“Not even you can break it, then?” Reinhart asked.

“Not to excuse my inability... But this chemical shows how deeply the curse has seeped into the patient. The darker the color, the deeper the curse has rooted, making it more difficult to break. A reaction like this classifies the curse as level-7, which is the highest on the scale. Even professionals specializing in breaking would have trouble with this one.”

“I see... I always have faith in your abilities, Rosenberg. Unfortunate as the news is, there’s nothing that can be done,” Reinhart said.

“Thank you for your understanding, my lord.” Rosenberg turned to me. “While breaking the curse is not an option, its symptoms do seem minor. By following a few precautions, you should be able to live normally. It’s also possible that, with time, the curse will weaken and become breakable. Keep your spirits high.”

Rosenberg announced that he’d draft up the diagnosis, and left the room with Eleonora. I’d told them to use the foyer and any other room they needed, so the guards should be able to attend to them now.

I blew out a breath as soon as they left.

“I was afraid I’d made you nervous,” Reinhart said. “I’m sorry about that. And the sudden visit.”

“We wanted to see you before you went into the Sea of Trees, and not just because of the curse. I hope we didn’t impose,” Elise added.

“You didn’t. I can’t say I wasn’t a little nervous, but I had been wondering how the curse would affect strangers, so I feel like this was very informative. Not to mention receiving a warlock’s diagnosis.”

The gods would be breaking my curse, but explaining that to people was too risky. While Remily’s career as a royal sorcerer gave her claims credibility, curses were not in her expertise. Having a written diagnosis from a professional warlock would be a nice backup. I couldn’t be too careful with the demon lord’s curse, even if its effect was dampened by the gods. Reinhart’s offer to visit and have my curse diagnosed was perfectly convenient for me. And I was happy to see the duke and duchess again.

“Knowing that you must have gone through a lot of trouble to make time for this visit, there’s nothing to apologize for,” I said.

Elise smiled gently. “I appreciate that.”

After a few moments, Reinhart took a small, thin tin from his pocket that resembled a business card holder. When its lid slid open, magical energy fanned out from the tin to conceal us.

Reinhart and Elise signaled to Sebas standing outside the dome of magical energy, and he left the room. Judging by the shape of the magical energy and their reaction, I guessed that the tin was a magical item that projected a soundproofed dome. The duke and duchess were about to broach the real reason for their visit.

“There’s much I’d like to talk about, but one topic is particularly important. My father told me that you are a child of the gods. It makes a lot of sense, if I’m being honest, and I can’t say we didn’t suspect it before. Still, I’d like to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Is it true?”

“Yes, it is.” To prove it, I showed him my Status Board and the title of Beloved Child of the Gods marked on it.

Reinhart and Elise shared a look and just said, “Thank you for telling us.”

Then, we had a conversation similar to the one I had with Reinbach and the others when I told them that I was a child of the gods in the City of Lost Souls. Unlike them, the duke and duchess had had the chance to mentally prepare for this conversation. There were no displays of great relief or tears of emotion. They kept gently thanking me for sharing the information with them.

“Our debt to you only grows,” said Reinhart.

“I owe you both plenty, so let’s call it even. You even accept me now.”

“You might have been nervous to tell us, but this news only connected the pieces in our minds,” Elise said.

“Lord Reinbach said he’d suspected it for a while too. I did lie along the way to keep this secret... And I have yet another secret I haven’t been able to tell you.”

“Honesty is a virtue, but blanket honesty can get you in trouble. Especially in noble society where deception is the name of the game. Everyone is vying for an opportunity to get close to you, at the expense of others. Just the other day—”

“Dear,” Elise stopped her husband, just as Reinhart’s expression was darkening.

Reinhart snapped out of it and gave an awkward smile. I’d seen that expression plenty of times in Japan. The duke was adept at hiding it, but his work must have been really wearing him down. “Excuse me. That was an unfortunate display.”

“I didn’t even realize until just now. And, it doesn’t bother me. Please be as honest as you like,” I offered.

“I’ll take you up on that... Anyway, deception is part of our daily lives. You might have lied to keep a secret from us, Ryoma, but that wasn’t to harm us for your gain, was it? That’s nothing compared to what we deal with. Nothing we’d be offended over.”

“No,” Elise agreed. “I’m not even sure I would call what you told us lies to begin with. The things you’ve told us about the start of your life and your family were all things the gods told you to say to make it easier for you to blend into our society, right?”

“They gave me the basic backstory.”

“Backstory... Well, I understand that’s how you see it as a child of the gods. What sticks out to me is that the gods prepared your backstory for you. I wouldn’t dare defy what the gods told you to do,” Elise said.

“From a religious standpoint, I can understand that,” I said.

I’d never followed a particular religion on Earth, but I could understand how people devoted to their faith would be fearful of going against the word of their gods. To Elise, the backstory given to me was another decree of the gods.

“Ryoma receives frequent oracles from what I’ve been told. He’s much closer to the gods than we are, so he may feel differently about the gravity of their word,” Reinhart turned to me. “I do agree with Elise, for the record, and so would many others. Especially those who work for the church.”

“Worst-case scenario, they may even think that you’re defying the gods. I think you should keep using your backstory as much as possible. It would mean less trouble for you,” said Elise.

“I’ll be careful,” I said.

Although I’d expected them to still accept me, child of the gods or no, some part of me must have been bracing myself for rejection. After their calm response and advice, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

“Still, I know how heavy keeping a secret can weigh on your heart. So, if you ever feel suffocated by it and want to talk, you can come see us anytime,” Reinhart offered with a smile.

“Now that we know you’re a child of the gods, I hope you can talk to us without worry. We would love to give you any advice when you need it. Never hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you...” was all I could muster.

The topic of keeping secrets had come up when I last visited the divine realm. Apparently, many children of the gods in the past were troubled by it. Tragedies had resulted from some of them revealing the secret to their loved ones, but also from others trying to take their secret to the grave.

No matter how few, having people in my life who knew this side of me was a huge pillar of emotional support.