By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 7

Chapter 5 Episode 7: An Activity Report over Tea

For dinner, Serge, Pioro, Reinhart, Elise, and I all chatted and enjoyed delicious cooking and drinks. I had done a lot over the last year, and these were all busy people, so we never ran out of material to discuss. After dinner was over, we had tea together and continued the conversation.

“I knew about the waterproof cloth, but you were involved in the rest of those as well?” asked Reinhart.

“Ryoma came up with the music boxes as well?” asked Elise.

“Yes, and the Morgan Trading Company’s fame has grown even further thanks to him,” said Serge. “Pioro, I believe it’s been similar for you, yes?”

“You mean with the barley tea? It’s been gaining popularity as a new luxury item. I was only going to start expanding sales of it next year, but it’s been doing well as a test product. I’m thankful that Ryoma told me where I could get the ingredients and everything.”

“I’m glad to hear it’s going well. The ingredients come from the hometown of some of my employees, luckily.”

“Glad that you shared some of that luck with me. Luck’s not something you can achieve through hard work.”

I didn’t often feel unlucky in this world, and if I did, it was only mild misfortune. I had blessings from many of the gods and met with them frequently, so I could consider myself insanely lucky based on that alone. If I had a Luck skill, like in a video game, it would likely be maxed out.

“I heard that Weizen was struggling due to its location, but maybe it could prosper in the future thanks to your company,” said Reinhart.

“If the village is open to it, I would be happy for the Saionji Trading Company to keep buying their crops. As far as barley tea production goes, I’m thinking about supplying all the necessary manpower, tools, and facilities by next year.”

“So the village will produce more crops, use some for manufacturing barley tea, and sell it through the Saionji Trading Company? I hope that goes well. I’ll offer whatever I can for support.”

“That is most reassuring to hear, Your Excellency.”

Throughout the casual conversation, I felt the occasional discomfort. I couldn’t guess how many implications were hidden behind their words. When it came time for me to talk, I just gave an entirely ordinary rundown of recent events. That included the state of the abandoned mine and recent news about my slimes.

“I recently made contracts with a weed slime and stone slime. These are slimes that can camouflage themselves as weeds and stones, and I’ve been having them reproduce. Their food is easy to acquire, and they reproduce quickly, but you’d never be able to tell them apart from their food if you didn’t already know. They seem to copy the local weeds and stones that they absorb in order to blend in with the scenery, and I’ve been thinking about whether I can use this trait to help with security at the mine. I could multiply these two slimes in great numbers and place them all around the mine, then use taming magic to sense any intruders who pass by them. Unfortunately, while they reproduce quickly, I still don’t have enough of them. For now I’m testing them out in a few of the eastern tunnels, where monsters have been dwelling relatively often over the last few months. But based on experiments I’ve done with my limour birds, I should be able to detect the number of intruders and their positions as long as I’m within close enough range of my slimes. I feel they could serve as perfectly good watchmen in the future.”

“Always putting your slimes to the utmost use, eh?” said Reinhart. “If you can know the number and location of intruders before they see you, it sounds like you could set some traps.”

“This would be the best way to use slimes as security, I suppose. I have my familiars watch the garden, and they’ll attack any suspicious characters on sight. It’s interesting how different familiars can be,” Elise said with a smile.

Elise’s familiars were all wolf monsters, and while the one she showed me before was docile enough, it was also enormous enough for her to sit on. Intruders to their estate could only blame themselves, I guess. Still, I could only imagine the bloodbath that took place when they were spotted. Not like I was keen on seeing it anyway, but I sure wasn’t about to stroll into the garden without asking first now.

“How has your business been?” Reinhart asked.

“Pretty good. Maybe it’s something to do with how cold and wet it’s been lately, but more people have been coming to us saying that they’ve been having trouble drying their laundry. It feels like we break our highest daily business record on a regular basis now.”

“I can imagine,” Elise said. “The servants have it harder around this time of year, too.”

Reinhart and Elise were as eager listeners as ever, as were Serge and Pioro. It made me want to describe everything down to the last detail. I talked about the summer festival and my training with the adventurer’s guild. I also talked about the troupe of performers, the new head of the public offices, my acquaintances at the guild, and everyone else I met. The four of them smiled warmly as they listened to my stories intently.

But when I mentioned my interest in going to the Sea of Trees of Syrus, they fell silent. The more I talked about it, the more worried they seemed to look. After I described my rescue of Pedro the other day, they all looked conflicted.

“Ryoma, from the look on your face, I think you already know what we want to tell you,” Reinhart said.

“Yes, more or less.”

“Then I’ll get straight to the point. I don’t recommend ever hiring felons, not even former felons. Yes, some commit crimes because they can’t find employment and need to get food somehow. I have no doubt that some would no longer need to commit crimes if they had jobs. But there’s no reason that you personally have to be the one to give that to them, and I doubt there would be much use in it. The world views felons harshly, whether they later change their ways or not.”

“I’m sure you mean well, but it’s very risky,” said Elise. “Not everyone will understand that you want to help prevent future crimes by hiring them. You could put your business in danger just when it’s getting off the ground.”

“I agree,” said Serge. “The risk is high, and I don’t see what reward you can expect from it. At best, you’ll be seen as eccentric. At worst, you may be suspected of plotting something by hiring all these criminals, however well-intentioned you may be.”

“Unfortunately, that’s just how society is,” said Pioro.

“Well, that’s more or less what I expected to hear. Especially after I talked to Carme about it.”

“You’ve already spoken to Carme?” Serge asked.

“He has plenty of business knowledge and experience, and he’s always happy to listen to me, so I go to him for help a lot.”

“You’re so set on this that a trusted subordinate’s opposition didn’t change your mind? Why?” Pioro questioned me in a somewhat firm tone.

“I had the idea after that experience with the bandits, but honestly, I’m not so sure myself. If I had to give a reason, I guess you could say I just want to.”

“What?”

Pioro couldn’t seem to understand me. The other three were also stunned and disappointed.

“Now hold on, Ryoma,” Reinhart said. “You want to? Is that all? Again, this would be a huge risk with no reward. It’s a bigger burden than any individual can handle.”

“Well, I’m just telling you how I feel.”

They and Carme all said the same thing, and it made sense. Hiring former felons and rehabilitating them wouldn’t meaningfully change society if only one person was doing it. Such policies were put in place sometimes on Earth, but those were enacted by the Japanese government, and that country has a much greater population and many more resources than this one. If I was the only one executing this idea in this world, it wouldn’t change much of anything. It would be like a drop in the ocean; I had a lot to lose if I tried, as they correctly pointed out. That was the rational thing to think.

But I couldn’t change how I felt. It was tough to fully comprehend my own feelings, surprisingly so, but reflecting on my life since coming to this world, this seemed like the natural course of action.

“How should I put this? Well, you know how I lived in the Forest of Gana before I came to the city, right?” I asked; they nodded in response. “My life there was long, tedious, and not very fun, so I won’t describe it in detail, but it was pretty strenuous.” The four of them, especially Reinhart and Elise, all frowned like they’d swallowed something bitter. “But I lived in the forest because I got fed up with dealing with people, and I figured I would live freely there.”

I didn’t want to join human society, so I lived a self-sufficient life alone. Eventually, I took interest in slimes and researched them. Over time, I became curious about what was outside. That was when the duke’s family came, and I left the forest.

“Even after I left the forest, I was interested in being an adventurer. I wanted to live on my own away from you so I could re-train myself, and I opened a business to be sure I had money to live on in case anything happened. But I was negative about the idea of expanding the business.”

The gods told me to live freely, so I took an easygoing attitude and did whatever I felt like doing. This was how I’d lived my life ever since coming to this world; it was the only thing I felt I could confidently say.

“So when I decided I wanted to do that, I thought about how I could do it. That’s pretty much it. Oh, but I’m not saying I’ll do this at any cost and rush to make it happen right away. I’d just like to see things improve at least a little before I die. Is that childish of me?”

“How’s that possibly childish?!” cried Pioro.

“Maybe it’s childish to say you just do what you want, but it doesn’t sound like it coming from you, Ryoma,” said Elise.

“It sounds to me like you’re thinking very much about the future,” said Reinhart.

“I almost forgot that you’re still eleven. You act well above your age at times,” said Serge.

Thankfully, we were able to lighten up again and get back to enjoying the tea.

“Whatever I plan on doing, I’m not just going to abruptly change the course of my business. And I’d like to discuss any plans with all of you in advance,” I said. They were willing to listen to me, and it seemed like they might lend a hand, so I thought it was worth asking. But they gave me the most shocked looks I’d seen all day. Perhaps I said something strange?