By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 3 Read online

  “Please do,” the twins replied. Trusting their input, I hurried out of the store. The problem would best be solved as soon as possible. But as I left the store, I ran into four neighbors carrying a large bag.

  “Oh, Ryoma.”

  “Pauline, Renny, Rick, and Sieg, you’re all together? What’s that you’re holding?”

  “We were hoping to get laundry done at your place. I’m a butcher, so I’ve got blood stains on a lot of my clothes,” Sieg answered. He was Pauline’s husband, and he worked as a butcher next door to the flower shop. I got all the meat I cooked at the opening party from Sieg’s store.

  TV shows and the like always depicted butchers as big and muscular men, but Sieg was the complete opposite. He was fairly tall, at least, but also skinny. Extremely skinny. Like a gust of wind could send him flying. He didn’t look healthy.

  “An adventurer told me that you can even wash blood stains out.”

  “I’d been planning to buy new clothes, but let’s see how you can clean these up.”

  “Thank you. If you don’t mind me asking, do you have any employees?”

  “Ten, myself included.”

  “We offer a service for seven or more people, so I suggest using that. A bag that fits up to fourteen people’s worth of clothes costs a medium bronze coin and eight small bronze coins, so that will be cheaper for you.”

  “Really? That’s a bargain.”

  “We’ll take that.”

  While we were discussing business, Rick butted in.

  “Ryoma, what are you doing? Slacking off from work?”

  “Hahaha, I’m sure that’s the way it looks, but no. I’m on my way to the Merchant’s Guild.”

  “Is that right?” Renny asked.

  “We have more business than expected, and it looks like we’ll be short on staff if this continues.”

  “Seriously?! Didn’t you just open?!”

  “We advertised in a few ways, but I never thought we’d get this many customers. I’m in a rush to hire more employees.”

  “That’s a surprise. There are that many customers?”

  “Yes, I have two employees who’ve been working since this morning, and they’ve gone for seven hours without breaks.”

  After that conversation, I parted ways with them and visited the Merchant’s Guild. They let me into the reception office, where the guildmaster came to see me.

  “Nice of you to visit. But didn’t your business open today? Is there a problem?”

  “We’re unexpectedly busy, so we’re short on staff already.”

  “On your first day? Even I couldn’t have predicted that. You want to hire more staff today? All right, I’ll get together some folks who could start work tomorrow. You can be the one to choose who to hire.” With that, she exited the room and left me waiting in the reception office.

  ■　■　■

  I was told that the potential employees were assembled, then led to a meeting room. There were thirty people of all ages, sexes, and species. Among them was one strange pair standing together. They gave me a brief look, then turned to look straight ahead. Were they appraising me the same way I was them? Many others eyed me briefly, then looked away as if they lost interest.

  “Now then, everyone here can do basic math. Any of them could begin work immediately.”

  “Got it. Nice to meet you, everyone, I’m the manager of a laundromat called Bamboo Forest. My name is Ryoma Takebayashi. Thank you for taking time out of your schedules to gather here today,” I said. Everyone began to whisper to each other. From what I could hear, they thought I was an errand boy, not the one doing the hiring. They must not have been appraising me after all, but given I looked like an 11-year-old, that made sense. After my introduction, I ignored the clearly disappointed people and continued.

  “Ahem, first I’d like to know if anyone here objects to working at my store,” I asked. There were some complaints, mainly from the young people. My childlike appearance was enough to demotivate some of them, and I didn’t need those people as employees. Considering the number of potential applicants who showed up, maybe pay should have been the last thing I discussed. Drawing such a crowd because of the money on offer was annoying. There were more than I could hire, so I had to weed some out anyway.

  Some of them expressed their discontent, so I said I wasn’t forcing anyone to work for me. That led to a whole stream of people flooding out of the room. I didn’t think they would leave so readily. I was expecting them to at least stay for an interview, but I did say they could go if they wanted.

  Five-sixths of them left, leaving only five. I understood the dissatisfaction of those who left, but it was still unfortunate. I would have to thank the few who stayed.

  “For the rest of you, I’ll talk to you assuming you’re interested in working at my store. But before that, I should offer my appreciation. Thanks for being willing to work for such a young man,” I said and bowed to them before I moved on to the topic at hand. “Let me get to the main point. My store, Bamboo Forest, is currently hiring employees to serve customers and carry loads. The loads in question will only be clothes, so you don’t need to be terribly strong, anyone will do. The one warning I’ll give is that I’m a tamer, and my slimes live in the store. I use them as employees as well.”

  The five who stayed behind were surprised. That I was a tamer was normal, but they didn’t seem to expect my use of slimes as workers.

  “So anyone who fears or hates slimes might find it difficult to work for me. Does anyone have a problem with that?” I asked. A woman raised her hand. “What is it?”

  “Are you using those slimes because you don’t have other employees? Or would you use them whether you had more employees or not?”

  “I would use them either way. I know some people may not like this, but I’d want you to treat the slimes like your coworkers,” I answered. The woman and two of the other people refused to work with monsters and left. That left only a middle-aged man and a young woman. I didn’t know if job interviews were supposed to work that way, or if I was doing something wrong.

  The guild simply gathered people who could work right away, and not necessarily ones who wanted to work at my store, but this still came as a surprise. It was clear enough whether they approved or disapproved, at least. The final two were, strangely enough, the ones who drew my attention at the beginning.

  Chapter 2 Episode 29: Hiring

  “To the two of you that are still here, you don’t mind slimes? Everyone else left, so I assume so,” I asked. They quietly nodded. “Then can you tell me your names? And if there’s anything in particular you want before I hire you, by all means tell me. Let’s start with the man.”

  I called out to the middle-aged man on the right first. Both he and the woman had my curiosity. Their clothes were far from what you tended to see around town, like something Chinese people in a kung fu film would wear, so I noticed them the moment they entered the room. The man’s staff and the woman’s hair ornament were especially peculiar.

  “I am Fay,” the man said while I was watching them. “This is my daughter, Lilyn. We would appreciate it if you can hire us both.” He even sounded like someone from a kung fu movie.

  “You’re father and daughter?” I asked.

  “My daughter looks more like her mother, not so much me. There is also one thing I must tell you,” Fay said and showed me his right leg. It had a wooden brace on it.

  “I am a merchant from a country called Gilmar. It has become dangerous due to war, so I fled. But by the time I got to this country, most of my money had been stolen. All I have left are my belongings and my daughter. At first I had no money, so I worked as a miner to make what little I could, but a cave-in broke my right leg. I don’t have the money to ask a healer to cure it, so it will take some time to recover. Can I still work for you, even with a bad leg?”

  A broken bone could be cured with a few casts of High Heal, a mid-tier healing spell. A high tier version called Mega Heal could also
do the job with a single cast. I couldn’t use either, but a healing slime likely could. Either way, Fay could work solely as a receptionist until he recovered.

  “If you don’t mind working at a desk until you get better, your leg isn’t a big issue.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, and receptionist work is a perfectly fine job. If you can serve the customers well, then we don’t have a problem. What do you want for a salary?”

  “As long as I make enough to live on, that’s plenty.”

  “I see. Then let me talk to your daughter next. Lilyn, right? How much do you need?”

  “The same as him. I want to make enough to survive, and I want to be hired alongside my father. If you could either let us live at the store or introduce us to cheap inns or housing, that would also be nice. We currently live in temporary lodging courtesy of the guild, which we’ll have to leave when we find work.”

  “Many say they can’t hire me because of my leg. My daughter is doing odd jobs for the guild, which has earned us just barely enough to take care of ourselves. We actually don’t have much money left. As long as you have somewhere we can stay for cheap, we can’t complain.”

  If they wanted to stay at the store, the lodging I set up for employees was empty, so that was fine. They also said that they could work for low pay, so the amount I had planned should have been enough. They may have been foreigners, but we were able to come to an understanding.

  They also seemed to be hiding some considerable strength. They were as guarded against attacks as Jeff and the like, and they would at least be better fighters than the thieves and adventurers I had taken on before. If I hired them, they might be effective bodyguards for the store too.

  “We do have rooms for employees to live in, so you’re free to use them if you like.”

  “Really?! I’m glad I asked!”

  Everyone else had left anyway, and they seemed capable enough. That left only one thing.

  “I have one last question, but before that, I need to ask the guildmaster something.”

  “What do you need?”

  “Sorry, but can you leave the room for a bit? I’ll be revealing a bit about my store,” I said casually, but seriously wanted her to leave. These people probably didn’t work any ordinary jobs. The smell of death was upon them, I guess you could say. There were plenty of people in this world who killed in self-defense. Even I had killed thirty thieves myself. But these people had likely murdered far more. I had never encountered someone who came across this way, in either my old world or this one. Maybe I could protect myself if worse came to worst, but not if I had to defend the guildmaster at the same time.

  “Why drive me out? If something’s on your mind, tell me,” she asked sincerely in return.

  “Like I said, it’s about my store’s secrets,” I continued to insist, ever wary of the other two.

  “Guildmaster, that’s enough,” Fay interjected. “He figured us out.” Now I felt like my anxiety was all wrong. What was the meaning of this? “Manager, who are you? We’re ex-assassins, but we mean you and the guildmaster no harm.” It was true that I sensed no hostility.

  “Guildmaster, did you know about this?” I asked. The guildmaster sighed.

  “Of course. I don’t know how other places do it, but anyone who gets work through my guild, especially foreigners, must be checked by me personally. If they turned out to be spies, I certainly couldn’t give them any work. These two really did flee their country. How did you figure out the rest, though?”

  “I was trying so hard to act like a normal citizen, too.”

  “You and the guildmaster are the only ones to find out so far. If you picked up on our secret, you can’t be any ordinary person. Very interesting,” Lilyn said calmly, while Fay looked shocked and faintly smiled.

  “I don’t have the eyes the guildmaster does, but I’ve studied combat for a long time, so I can get a sense for how strong someone is. Also...”

  “What?”

  “I noticed that you’re both hiding weapons.”

  “Fay! Lilyn! Is that true?!”

  “Ack, so you found that out too?”

  “I was once taught more about concealed weapons than I ever cared to know, you see. The world’s most frightening creatures are humans because they can use their heads, deceive others, and strike while their guard is down. The best weapons for such a purpose are those that can be concealed. To learn how to protect yourself from attacks with these weapons is to learn the weapons yourself,” I said. That was what my father told me, but thinking about it now brought back memories. “I was attacked a lot in my everyday life.”

  “Just what kind of life did you live?”

  “Are you the same type of person we are? Doesn’t seem like it.”

  “You’re like us, and yet not. Like you only learned the techniques, strangely.” If they could tell that much from looking at me, these people were amazing.

  “I learned them from a teacher, yes. I didn’t begin to use them until three years ago, and only a few times, against thieves.”

  “It’s a difference of experience, then. Our job back in our country was to execute lawbreakers like traitors and thieves. Our country has much fighting and chaos. If you didn’t have people like us to hunt down and kill criminals, nobody would be safe. What I said about being a merchant wasn’t a lie, though, I do normally work as a peddler.”

  “The master we served lost a war, so we lost our country, our jobs, and our purpose. That’s why we came to this nation. There were no jobs we could take pride in. Will you still hire us knowing this?”

  “If the guildmaster approves of you, I don’t see why I shouldn’t. As long as you can work, I have no complaints,” I said. Assuming they were harmless now, there was no reason to get on their case about their past. Everyone has some secrets to hide.

  “Really? I thought nobody’d hire us if they knew that.”

  “We were prepared to run away, even.”

  “Oh, no, don’t do that. I’m short of employees at the moment, and everyone else left. What’s important is the present, not the past. Please do work for me. Also, if I ever need you for an additional job, can you serve as bodyguards?” I asked. If the guildmaster knew their circumstances and still kept them around, it couldn’t have been much of a problem. The guildmaster had a better eye for people than I did. Sometimes I felt like she could tell I was actually over 40, but I hoped I was imagining it.

  “We can do that perfectly well.”

  “We’ve worked as bodyguards as well.”

  “Then you’re officially hired. It’s a pleasure to work with you,” I said. We bowed to each other, then the guildmaster spoke up.

  “Are you finished? Then get going. There should be a carriage waiting outside.”

  “Thank you, Guildmaster.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Fay, Lilyn, work hard. This kid’s store has potential. Also, quit hiding weapons!”

  “But not carrying weapons feels wrong,” Fay and Lilyn said in unison.

  “How long are you gonna keep acting like assassins! You’re merchants now! Sorry, but they’re not bad people, and they haven’t technically committed any crimes. Take care of them.”

  “Understood.”

  “Also, take this. These documents show their work history. Says they have previous experience with military service. Show it to the two folks Serge sent you.”

  “Got it. Wait, shouldn’t you have shown me these at the start?” I asked. The guildmaster cackled.

  “Just wanted to see how good your eyes are. I was wondering if you could pick out some good employees with no prior information. I was surprised when most of them left right away, but you hit the jackpot with these two. They can get the job done. And you seem to have pretty decent eyes yourself, though I don’t know how well they’d work for you as a merchant. Anyway, good luck out there.”

  “Thank you.”

  Fay, Lilyn, and I got on the carriage the guildmaster prepared for me and ret
urned to my store.

  ■　■　■

  There weren’t as many customers when I got back as there were that noon, but there were still tons. The twins looked busy.

  “Welcome back, boss!” they said.

  “Quite a lot of people,” Fay remarked.

  “Is this your store, Boss? It’s doing good business,” Lilyn noted.

  “Give me a moment. Carme, Carla, I’ll help. First we need to serve the customers.”

  “Boss, I’ll help. I can carry stuff.”

  “Me too, laundry’s not more than I can carry.”

  “Thanks! Don’t push yourself too hard, just do what you can.”

  They offered to help on their own, so I happily let them. Fay was only supposed to be a receptionist, but he seemed able to move around to some extent. We were able to make it through the rush of customers that night and arrive at closing time in one piece. I put up the sign saying we were closed and shut the door.

  “Thanks for a hard day’s work, everyone!” I said. They all thanked me back.

  “Master Ryoma, are they the ones you hired today?”

  “Yes, the man is Fay, and the woman is Lilyn.”

  “My name is Fay. Nice to meet you.”

  “I’m Lilyn. Nice to meet you.”

  “I’m Carme Norad.”

  “I’m Carla Norad. It’s nice to meet you too.”

  “The plan was to have them start work tomorrow, but they ended up beginning today, I guess.”

  “We’re living here while we work, so of course.”

  “Helping when it’s busy is only natural. Also, may I ask something?”

  “What is it, Fay?”

  “We carried the laundry today, but when is the laundry actually done? All we did with it was put it in a wall for a slime to take.”

  “Oh right, I didn’t explain how we do laundry, did I?”

  I used the cleaner slime and a goblin’s loincloth to demonstrate to the two of them. They seemed to understand. When they saw how busy we were, they also seemed to recognize the potential that the guildmaster mentioned. They were especially surprised when I told them this was our opening day.