The Man Picked up by the Gods

Volume 2 Chapter 8

I went back to the town and decided on the contents of the advertisement. However, there was one thing I couldn’t quite make up my mind on, the name of the store. For some reason the only thing I’m able to come up with are simple stuff…

“Umumumumumu…”

While I was being troubled, Sebasu-san came.

“Ryouma-sama have you come back?” [Sebasu]

“Yes, I’m here.” [Ryouma]

While I was saying that I opened the door.

“Ryouma-sama, the Ojousama would like to know if you’d like to have tea with them.” [Sebasu]

“Alright. I’m not really making any progress now anyway, so I guess I’ll gratefully accept that offer.” [Ryouma]

As I said that, I went to where Elia and the others were.

“We’ve been waiting, Ryouma-san.” [Elia]

“Come, sit, sit.” [Madam]

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

As the teas were distributed, I took a sip. Then Rheinhart-san asked me.

“Looks like you’ve been working hard. Aren’t you overworking yourself?” [Rheinhart]

“A little.” [Ryouma]

“I heard you were making a store. How is it?” [Madam]

“The store’s been mostly completed already. Tomorrow I plan to plant some flower seeds for the lawn and raise it with my wood magic. And then after that, all that’s left is the store’s signboard and the ‘Open’ sign.” [Ryouma]

“Ehh!? You’ve already finished that much!?” [Madam]

“Ryouma-kun, aren’t you pushing yourself too much after all?” [Rheinhart]

“Not at all.” [Ryouma]

“I heard that Ryouma-sama made the building with earth magic, but I wonder how much magic you’ve been using every day?” [Sebasu]

“I stop using magic just a little before the symptoms of magic exhaustion show up. And as for manual labor, I just do what I can.” [Ryouma]

When everyone heard those words, they all sighed.

“Ryouma-kun, that’s exactly what we call working too hard…” [Rheinhart]

“Ryouma-sama’s magic power is right next to Elia-sama’s. For someone who possesses that much magic power to use magic just a little before the symptoms of magic exhaustion show up, would mean that Ryouma-sama is in fact pushing himself too hard. That amount of magic power is equivalent to at least 40 people exhausting their magic. For that amount of work to be carried by one person, it’s definitely too much.” [Sebasu]

Oh yeah, my magic power is abnormally large.

“You’re making a face saying you just realized it now.” [Rheinbach]

“Now I’m worried. Is it really ok for you to work by yourself?” [Madam]

“It’s fine. Something like this can’t be compared at all to the work I did in my previous job.” [Ryouma]

“Previous job? Did you do some kind of work before?” [Elia]

“Eh?” [Ryouma]

Oops! I accidentally said it, but even if I tell them now that I worked as a programmer they wouldn’t understand, right?... I guess I’ll tell them about my part-time job.

“I did quite a few things… like carrying stuff, or making dolls…” [Ryouma]

“Ryouma-san, you don’t think working is difficult?’ [Elia]

“There were also times where I thought it was difficult… but if I don’t work I won’t be able to live. And also, it’s not like everything is painful. When I said I carried stuff, it was actually the raw materials in a construction site. And though it’s tough work, I think it’s interesting to see the building slowly being constructed. There’s also that feeling of achieving something whenever something was completed. And as for my work involving dolls, all I did was color the parts in the color that I was told to, but even then, whenever we were able to complete one I felt happy.” [Ryouma]

“I see. In the future I’d also like to do those kind of work.” [Elia]

Eh? Elia is going to work? Even though she’s the daughter of a duke?

As I was thinking that, Elia said something unthinkable.

“Oh right! Ryouma-san, since I want to see you making a doll anyway. How about making me one?” [Elia]

“Eh? Ah, umm, that’s…” [Ryouma]

Not good!! I made some for my hobbies and sometimes for profit, but this is really bad for all sort of reasons! While it’s true I accepted any requests and made a bunch of dolls, there’s no way these people will understand. Besides there are things that shouldn’t be shown to a young girl like Elia…

“Is something the matter?” [Elia]

“All I did was paint dolls, so making the doll itself is a bit…” [Ryouma]

Please give up with this!!

“But isn’t Ryouma-san really good with earth magic? In that case, why don’t you just make the doll’s body with earth magic?” [Elia]

… All of the sudden earth magic doesn’t seem all that convenient…

I guess it can’t be helped. Let’s try to make something that won’t offend anyone.

“I understand. I’ll make it next time.” [Ryouma]

“Really!? Thank you so much” [Elia]

“Sebasu-san, where could I purchase art materials?” [Ryouma]

“If Ryouma-sama is in need, then I’ll have it prepared tomorrow.” [Sebasu]

“Thank you very much. I also want to use it for my shop’s signboard, so please provide plenty of paint. Of course, I’ll pay.” [Ryouma]

“Understood.” [Sebasu]

After that we spent the rest of the time together chatting, then I went back to my room. They reminded me again not to overwork myself so I guess I have to be careful.

Speaking of which, what should I do about the store’s name? I should probably make it simple, huh?

‘Clean a goblin’s filth, cheap and easy! Laundry Agency Bamboo Forest’

… yeah, let’s go with this.

Day 8 of the Construction

I thanked Sebasu-san as I got the materials I asked for, then I went to the guild.

When I entered the guild, the receptionist, Meilin-san, called out to me.

“Oh! Ryouma-kun, how are you? I was quite worried, you know? You didn’t drop by the guild at all after the subjugation request finished.” [Meilin]

“Sorry about that. I was really busy.” [Ryouma]

“You’re making a store, right? I heard from the guild master. That’s really amazing for someone of your age.” [Meilin]

“Thank you very much. By the way, there was something I wanted to ask regarding that.” [Ryouma]

“What is it? [Meilin]

“I heard it was possible to advertise somewhere in the bulletin board of the guild. Is it true?” [Ryouma]

“Advertise? There’s no such service in the guild. Most likely what you heard was, ‘that’.” [Meilin]

As Meilin-san said that, she pointed her finger over to a corner of the guild where a small bulletin board stood.

“It’s a bulletin board for recruiting parties. Whenever you need a party, you can write about yourself and the kind of people you need there. As for a bulletin board that advertises stores, we don’t have any.” [Meilin]

“I see, thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

Since things turned out this way, does that mean I don’t have any choice but to laboriously advertise by word of mouth? I can’t distribute leaflets either…

While paper is cheap enough in this world to be used daily, there’s still a problem with producing lots of it, so if I were to use up a huge amount of it, it won’t be cheap.

Toilet papers are an exception though. In the past there was a man (most likely an other-worlder) who created a magic tool that creates toilet paper and tooth brushes, which spread throughout the world.

But I digress… going back to the topic.

“Oh, right. Can you go over to the guild master? He told me to tell you to go there the next time you dropped by, you see.” [Meilin]

“Alright. I’ll go the guild master now then.” [Ryouma]

When I got to the guild master’s room, he welcomed me with a smile.

“Ryouma! You finally came!” [Wogan]

“I’ve been devoting myself to the store, still, it’s only been a week, you know?” [Ryouma]

“Right. I’m sorry for the short notice, but mind taking care of the cleaning job for the latrine pits again?” [Wogan]

“What’s wrong?” [Ryouma]

“I talked to you about it before, right? About those guys who start complaining early. The thing is, in only one week those guys came and started complaining again.

Do you still remember the Fang of Orbtem? I made those guys clean as much as the penal regulations would allow, but as soon as the subjugation request ended, those annoying guys came and started complaining saying it’s no good.

A week passed and their grumbling just got worse. Looks like the five months before you came here was really tough. Having had enough of that experience, they came here desperately complaining that they want the latrine pits so clean that there’s no smell.” [Wogan]

Uwaah… did I make it too clean? Maybe I did, and because of that their living environment leveled up. And now they don’t want to go back to the way it was before anymore. Then again… they did suffer for 5 months…

“Well, it’s not like I don’t understand. After all, that smell really was horrible. I understand, I’ll set off immediately.” [Ryouma]

“I’m counting on you.” [Wogan]

I was planning to take the job from the start anyway, so I accepted it, and then quickly cleaned up the latrine pits.

After I finished cleaning it, I reported to the guild, got my recompense, and headed back to the store.

I then ordered the scavenger slimes to use, ‘Return Nutrients’, making it spit out the nutrients it got from what it’s eaten in the form of fertilizer. I mixed it with the soil around the store, planted the flowers in the lawn, and after watering the soil, I went back to my lodging.

I’ll raise it tomorrow.

Day 9 of the Construction

I go to the store in the morning, and water the soil with my water magic, ‘Water’. Then afterwards I use the wood magic, ‘Grow’, on the seeds I’d planted yesterday, to make them grow faster. 3 hours after I started using the magic, the area surrounding the store blossomed into a fresh and green lawn, finally allowing the store to have that lively feeling I wanted it to have.

Though this magic is quite useful, it takes quite a bit of concentration to use. Moreover, if the nutrients and moisture of the soil is insufficient, then the practitioner will have to make up for that with his magic power, increasing the magic cost. Naturally, by using this magic to speed up the growth of the seed, the soil’s nutrients will be used up faster. In the end, without being able to make the seeds grow up, the practitioner is left with no choice but to wait some time for the seeds to grow. It’s really not easy to use. If it wasn’t for my scavenger slimes, there’s no way I would’ve been able to turn this wide of an area into a fresh and green lawn.

After that I cut the part of the lawn that grew too much with the wind magic, ‘Circle Saw’. At the same time, I had the scavenger eat the cut parts. With this I’ve finished preparing the surroundings. All that’s left is for me to start working on the signboard.

So I take out a plank of wood, and coat it in white. On it I write, ‘Laundry Agency Bamboo Forest’. On its two sides I drew 竹林 (Takebayashi) and on its base, I drew the picture of a slime. Afterwards I dried the board and coated it with the waterproof treatment, giving it a polished exterior.

At the same time, I prepared the price list of the store, created various things for the store, and then ran some final checks to make sure everything’s good to go.

Hmm… everything’s almost complete, but I think I should run some actual tests. How about calling Jeff-san and the others over? Right! Let’s go with that and call over the people I know. Also I might as well include with that the celebration for completing the store.

Having made up my mind, I stopped by Serge-san’s store before going home. He did prepare the essentials for starting the store.

“Welcome Ryouma-sama.” [Serge]

“Good evening Serge-san. Going straight to the point, today I’ve finally completed the store.” [Ryouma]

“Is that true!? That is really quite fast Ryouma-sama…” [Serge]

“Yes. I was told by the people I know at the adventurer’s guild that they were anxiously waiting for it, so in these past week I’ve been doing my best building the store. Since the building’s already been completed, I thought I’d gather the people I know for the store’s debut and to test it out.” [Ryouma]

“In other words, the last checks before opening the store for business, right?” [Serge]

“Exactly. I plan to open the store the day after that, and afterwards I thought of having a light meal while celebrating the opening of the store. If you don’t mind, I’d also like for you to come, however, is your schedule free on that day?” [Ryouma]

“Thank you for inviting me. As for my schedule, I have something planned for tomorrow, but I don’t have anything planned for the next two weeks starting the day after tomorrow. At that time, I’ll be perfectly fine with whatever schedule is good for Ryouma-sama.” [Serge]

“Thank you very much. I’ll decide after speaking with my acquaintances.” [Ryouma]

“Ryouma-sama, would it be alright if I were to bring two other people with me?” [Serge]

“Yes, there won’t be any problems. By any chance are you referring to Pioro-san and the guild master?” [Ryouma]

“No, actually, I wanted to take two of my employees. Ryouma-sama is working as an adventurer, so I thought I’d introduce some people who can assist. And so, in order for them to get used to the work quickly, I thought it would be good to introduce them early.” [Serge]

“Thank you for your kind efforts.” [Ryouma]

Oh right… there was that thing, wasn’t there? Where I decided I’d make a place for the employees to sleep in. Ah… I forgot about the things regarding the employees. As an adventurer I can’t do everything by myself, so this is really quite important. I am really grateful for this.

After that I gave my thanks and then left the store. The next stop was the adventurer’s guild, where I talked the same thing with Meilin-san and the guild master. Hearing about their schedule, they’re apparently free 3 days from now. I also called over to Jeff-san’s group and everyone that participated in that epidemic prevention operation, and it seems that they’ll be coming too. I’ll drop by again tomorrow.

After that I went to the merchant guild. As I was about to ask the receptionist to send a message to the guild master, I was instead brought into the reception room. It seems that this accommodation is the result of paying a lot for the business rights.

“You came. It’s been a week since then. Is your work going well?” [Grisela]

“Yes, thanks to your help. In fact I’ve already finished the building.” [Ryouma]

“Oh? You’ve already finished it? Although it also depends on the quality of the building, still, you’re quite a good carpenter, huh?” [Grisela]

“I can’t build anything else aside from simple constructions you know?” [Ryouma]

“That’s more than enough. After all, there’s no one who’d ask for elaborate houses outside of nobles and eccentrics.” [Grisela]

“So that’s why.” [Ryouma]

“Did you come to report the completion of the store today?” [Grisela]

“Yes, but other than that, three days from now I’m going to test out the store by taking jobs from only the people I know. And then afterwards I thought to celebrate the completion of the store while having some snacks. I’ve been taken care of quite a bit by guild master, so if you wouldn’t mind.” [Ryouma]

“You’re inviting me?” [Grisela]

“I can’t prepare anything special, and there will be other people too, so if it’s alright with you.” [Ryouma]

“Hee hee hee, an easy going party is good, right? It’s happier that way. Because of my position, I haven’t been called into something like that for a while now. Even if I do get invited into a party that seems carefree, that’s only on the outside, and it’s actually really stiff. But since adventurers are going to be coming, it’s going to be a real carefree party, right?” [Grisela]

“Yes, besides I’m also bad with formal events. In those cases even people’s kindness are just to keep up appearances.” [Ryouma]

“Alright, I got it. 3 days, right?” [Grisela]

“Yes. That’s the plan. I still have to confirm it with the others, but once I’ve confirmed it, I’ll leave a message here at the guild. Also, could you tell me how to contact Pioro-san? I’d also like to invite him if he has the time.” [Ryouma]

“Pioro? If it’s three days from now, then he’ll be fine. That guy holds a different town, you see. But he’s staying here using tomorrow’s meeting as a pretext to come here and get a vacation. From tomorrow onwards he won’t have anything to do for a while. So I’ll just let Pioro know for you.” [Grisela]

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

I give my thanks to the guild master, and then leave the merchant guild.

After that I went back to the lodging and then invited Elia and the others to the store’s preopening. When I did so, they were delighted and it was decided that all the four members of the duke’s household, along with Aro-ne-san, Lilian-san, and Sebasu-san will be coming. Oh, and the four guards, Jill-san and the rest, will also be coming.

With this the people attending will be Elia’s 11 + adventurer guild’s 11 + merchant guild’s 5, totaling to 27 people. If you include me, then it’ll be 28. As for where we’ll be holding the celebration, I figured it would be fine if I used the employee’s lounge for that.

After that, I confirmed the schedule with the adventurers, and then contacted the rest.

Day 10

As I went to the guild to confirm, it’s been decided that everyone will be participating. The guild master and Meilin-san were a given, but as for the 9 it seems that they took tomorrow off and are also coming.

Hearing that, I left a message at Serge-san’s store and the guild that the preopening will be in the morning the day after tomorrow, and the celebration will be the afternoon of that day.

After that, I ran some rounds in the mine, killed some monsters along the way, and then went back to the lodging. After I let Elia and the rest know about the plan 2 days from now, I retired to bed.