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By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 16 - Chapter 3




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Chapter 10, Episode 3: Check-In

After I unexpectedly received a divine relic and valuable information from my visit to the divine realm, I spent a few days returning all the way back to my place in the Forest of Gana. Since I’d prearranged to send the Jamils a message when I reached here, I dispatched a limour bird as soon as I arrived. The Jamils had said that they would make time once they received my letter, so they’d be visiting me soon.

“I could run some experiments while I’m at it.” The next day, I prepared for some impromptu research while I waited for their arrival.

Pretty soon, the weed slimes I placed outside sent me a signal. Despite the short notice, they’d already made time to come see me.

“You are here, aren’t you, Ryoma?” Elise called from the entrance.

“The sign outside said ‘Experiment in progress—please come in.’ I’m sure he wants us in here, but what is he up to so soon after his return?” Reinhart asked.

“Welcome, everyone,” I greeted them.

“Ryoma! Great to see...you?” Reinhart said questioningly.

“Welcome home! Oh?” Elise tilted her head too.

As soon as they entered the room, they seemed to sense something was off. I thought they would only see me sitting normally in a chair next to the table...maybe those who knew me well could see through my trick? Reinbach, Sebas, four guards, and Eleonora followed after.

“Excuse me for staying seated. It’s part of the experiment,” I said.

“I don’t mind, but what are you up to?” Reinhart asked.

“It doesn’t look like you’re experimenting on anything,” Elise said, “and your face seems...stiff?”

“Your voice too. It’s slightly, very slightly, off,” Sebas noted.

“Oh, you can tell. Let me explain—” I said, about to pull back the curtains.

“Hey, don’t tell me you got hurt in the Sea of Trees!” Hughes rushed up and reached to put a hand on my shoulder.

I realized what he was doing too late. The body on the chair slumped over and slid out.

“Watch out!” Hughes caught the body before it hit the ground, but its limbs were slacked. The others rushed over out of concern.

“I’m okay—?!” I tried to say.

“His neck is all twisted!” Reinhart shouted.

“Ryoma!” everyone shouted.

My trying to convey that I was okay made everything worse. Hughes was holding a body with a twisted neck that was twitching weirdly, preventing me from explaining anything. As soon as I realized that, I ran into the room from a hall leading out of it, coming face-to-face with my guests who were holding a collapsed and immobile me...well, the mimic slime disguised as me.

“It’s okay! I’m not hurt!” I said.

“Hmm?! What’s going on?!” Reinbach asked.

“Another Ryoma...?” Jill joined, followed by the others, who all regained their composure even as they seemed confused by the situation.

 

    

 

I finally gave them the full story. I explained that they first saw a mimic slime I tamed in the Sea of Trees that had the ability to shape-shift with nearly perfect fidelity...after I had the slime shift back to its original form.

“So I was sharing my senses with the slime that was mimicking my likeness, using its eyes, ears, and mouth to speak with you. I’d already figured out that I could share senses with it, so I thought if I could have a conversation from a distance through the mimic slime without you realizing, I could still meet with people without being affected by the curse. I’m so sorry I scared you,” I said to the group.

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack... But that was impressive. By looks alone, I would never have guessed,” Elise said.

“Obviously you didn’t mean it as a prank. It’s a good use of your new slime’s powers, I think, especially to mitigate the effect of your curse,” Reinhart said.

“Now it finally feels like Ryoma is home,” Hughes said.

I didn’t know what he meant by that, but the rest of them seemed to agree. Sure, I’d done things off the cuff before, but I didn’t think I’d ever surprised them with anything horrific before...

“I’m sure everyone wants to celebrate his safety and ask about his journey, but do you think we could talk in private first?” Reinhart asked.


Though I didn’t know why, I showed him, Elise, Reinbach, and Sebas to the next room. Just like when we’d met before I went into the Sea of Trees, we set up a magical item to soundproof our conversation.

“Let me ask you right away. Did you do what you went there for?” Reinhart asked, almost at a whisper.

“Yes. I was able to make it to Korumi and recover my grandparents’ inheritance,” I said, guessing that Reinhart was being so careful to keep the identity of my grandparents a secret. “Research notes, weapons, crafting materials, and tools make up most of the inheritance, along with a few keepsakes and diaries.”

“What do you intend to do with them?” the duke asked.

“They’re all valuable, I’m sure, but I have no plans to sell or give away anything except for some of the weapons. I’ve skimmed through the notes and found some that may be useful for my own research...and plenty more that piqued my curiosity in general. Besides...” I hesitated, weighing whether or not I should share this next part. In the end, I decided to trust them, after everything they’ve done for me. “Academically speaking, those notes have to be extremely valuable to the point where any scholar would want to get their hands on them. No doubt, some people would believe I ought to donate the notes of the Sage Meria to national research institutions that can make good use of them.”

“If you understand that much, we’ll stay out of it,” Elise said. “Of course, if you ever feel like you have no more use for them, we would be happy to take them off your hands for the right price.”

“As far as I’m concerned, Ryoma can be the one to decode those notes, or we could buy them off of him and have someone else go through it. Either way, it’ll be beneficial to our family,” Reinhart said, earning a smile from me and the three others.

After that, I went on to explain all about Korumi, especially since I wanted their help with some things. As I continued, their smiles slowly faded until they had completely gone by the time I got to the point where I left Korumi. Behind them, even Sebas stood with a cool expression, though he couldn’t hide the sweat beading on his forehead. “Is everyone okay?” I asked.

“Yes. I think we understand... I think,” Reinhart said hesitantly.

“To be honest, the mimic slime was all the surprise I needed. Sebas, may I have a cup of tea?” said Elise.

“Right away. My apologies, ma’am. The details about the inheritance that I had heard before were not too shocking, so I’d let my guard down. Just a moment on the tea.”

“I can’t believe Sebas missed a beat. He’s usually perfectly on top of those things,” I said.

“That’s how shocking this is,” Reinbach said. “First, the cursed magic gem and now this... You seem to always find yourself in unexpected situations.”

“That I can’t argue with,” I said.

Even though the gods had requested I go to Korumi village, I had planned to go there long before Korumi awakened. If the gods hadn’t asked me to go, I still would have encountered Korumi. There’s no telling if I would have decided to deal with the hordes of Undead without any prior knowledge, though. Then, I remembered that Gain had said something similar—that I had bad luck despite the fact that the gods had given me a boon of luck—something about me defying the odds. If even the gods thought I had some sort of crazy luck—for better or worse—I had to believe I was born with it.

“My luck aside, I have a favor to ask. Several, actually,” I said.

Reinhart leaned forwards, his spirits raised. “Now that is a rare occurrence. If there’s anything we can do to help, don’t hold back.”

“I won’t,” I reassured him. “The first is about the Undead I mentioned that was nearly human—Baron Destoria. Could you deliver his armor Korumi had kept to the baron’s family?”

“It’ll take some time—we don’t have much contact with the Destorias, but we can reach out to them, and I’m sure they would love to have that heirloom,” Reinhart said.

“The Destorias take pride in their family’s military service. It may seem roundabout, but I’ll contact them through a mutual acquaintance—that will make this go smoother. Tell me the details about the baron’s heirloom and his last moments later,” Reinbach said. His own time in the military would make him the best fit for this.

“I’d also like a referral to a saddlemaker who could tailor them for my familiars—one for the luring ostrich the mimic slime can turn into, and the other for the juvenile cannonball rhino entrusted to me by her parents—I named her Rino.”

At first, I was going to name her Rai, after the Japanese word for lightning, after hearing the boss charge and make that thunderous sound, with the hope that the little one would grow up as strong as its parent. However, Korumi had pointed out that Rino was actually female, so I decided to call her Rino instead. If it weren’t for Korumi, I still might not have realized it.

“The mimic slime might be able to adjust its own size, but Rino is going to grow up quickly,” Elise said. “I’ll introduce you to my go-to workshop. They make the equipment for all of my pups, so I can vouch for their skill.”

Elise’s familiars were little fenrirs which, contrary to the name, were large, wolflike monsters. If this workshop could handle gear for them, they’d be able to work with Rino’s equipment as she grew up.

“There’s also something I’d like your advice on, rather than a favor. I want to reach out to the warlock Rosenberg I met the other day.”

“About your curse?” Reinhart asked.

“It’s not unrelated. I actually found some notes on curse-breaking in my grandmother’s inheritance. Apparently, it’s an ancient magic that was used in a city-state that is now swallowed up by the Sea of Trees.”

“Curse-breaking magic lost to time...”

“Exactly. My grandmother had gathered enough information to recreate the spell...and even left a memo that said it could be far more effective than any variety of the spell used now,” I said. Meria had a vast array of interests, but I still hadn’t expected to find documents so relevant to my current situation...no wonder Fernobelia had told me to at least scan the titles of her papers. “To be honest, I could probably cast the spell on my own, using the information she recorded. But I don’t know enough about my own curse, so I’d feel better if a specialist could supervise me. I want to make sure it’s someone I can trust with information about my grandmother.”

“Rosenberg is a good choice—you can trust him,” Reinhart said. “Especially since your curse seems like a powerful one. The last thing you need is to use an unfamiliar spell and worsen it altogether.”

“I’d also like his tutelage in hexes,” I said, just as Meltrize had suggested. Studying hexes could be the key to helping Korumi interact with others. Apparently I already knew everything I needed to know to accomplish that, but the pieces hadn’t snapped together. An expert’s lesson could give me a hint.

“Got it. I’ll follow up with specific dates for the meeting, but I’ll tell him what you’re looking for,” Reinhart said.

“Thank you. Lastly, if I succeeded in connecting Korumi to the outside world, could you introduce me to a teacher who could instruct him on the etiquette and expectations of human society?” I asked.

“A teacher? Can you tell me a little bit more of what you’re looking for?” Reinhart asked.

“I’m not sure how to make it happen, exactly, but if I can manage to set up a way for Korumi to interact with people, he’ll need to learn how to do so correctly. I’ll teach him what I can...but I’m not much better than him in that department. I was a hermit for years, and I—well, every child of the gods—is from a...place, called Earth. It’s a place so distant that no one can come or go from there without the help of the gods,” I tried to explain.

“Of course, you grew up with different customs. Most children of the gods are depicted as eccentric in legends,” Elise said.

“There is a saying where I’m from: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ It means to follow the customs and rules of the land, wherever you go. I do try my best to follow that mantra, but I don’t feel confident enough to train someone else. Besides, Korumi acts like a small child, but his mind-reading abilities seem to have cultivated a lot of knowledge and logic within him. He asked me some questions that I had trouble answering...” I said, adding specific examples from my encounter with him.



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