By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 8

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7183-6912-2
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: By the Grace of the Gods

As the wedding fast approaches on the Duke's estate, Ryoma toils away to add his finishing touches to the venue. The night before the wedding he encounters the mysterious Yui, and gains another glimpse of the inter-dimensional traveler who came before him. After the grandiose wedding, the gods among its attendees, a sense of normalcy returns to Ryoma's life. A new adventure in a new destination may lead to a jackpot of new slimes like this fantasy world has never seen... Sit back, and enjoy the 8th installment in this slow-living, slice-of-slime-ridden-life fantasy.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Roy

Weitere Mitwirkende

Ririnra

Seacord, Adam

Leseproben

Chapter 5 Episode 30: Reunion under the Moonlight

“Who’s there?” I asked.

“Just a maid. I was assigned to care for you.” A woman in a maid’s uniform appeared, her straight black hair glimmering in the moonlight. Despite having emerged from the woods in the opposite direction of the paved venue, she had declared her identity with a straight face.

The fact that she was hiding in the woods was suspicious enough, but...

“I’ve never seen you before.”

“The duke’s manor is quite expansive. That shouldn’t be a cause for concern.”

“The duke may have staff I’ve never seen, but you’re no maid.”

With some exceptions, like the younger girls the other day who had been temporary hires, I had been told that maids allowed to show themselves to the duke’s guests had all gone through appropriate training. In fact, Araune the housekeeper, Lulunese, and Libiola had all treated me with refined etiquette. On the other hand, the woman who had just shown herself had not so much as given me a proper introduction or a bow. Not that I expected the staff to always bow to me... But she even retorted at me combatively when I said that I had never seen her before. Nothing about her demeanor seemed maidly. What’s more, she didn’t even seem convinced I would buy her story.

“What could I possibly be, if not a maid?” she demanded.

“A brownie.”

She didn’t deny it, and a smile crossed her face... Well, more of a smirk, but it seemed like I’d hit the mark.

“When did you notice me?”

“I’ve sensed your presence from the beginning.” I was trying not to worry about it since I’d heard about brownies before, but the sensation was unmistakable. I had felt it so many times. Still, I would have never expected a brownie to show itself.

“I thought people were acting a bit weird... No wonder.”

Our conversations were natural, but I hadn’t been told anything about eating out here beforehand, while my four friends came out with food and drink like we had planned the whole thing together. Why did we have to eat outside, anyway? No one ever suggested going inside, nor did any member of the staff come to retrieve me. The fact that everyone here had always been so attentive helped me come to that realization.

“So, you decided to eat and drink things brought by people who you thought were acting completely beside themselves?”

“I did make sure the food wasn’t drugged or poisoned when I brought out the slimes while we were getting ready.” When I called out a bunch of scavengers from Dimension Home, I had brought out a medicine and poison slime along with them. “Poison slimes and medicine slimes really like poisons and drugs, respectively. I figured the food was safe when neither of them showed any interest in it.” I never felt a sense of danger then, and I didn’t feel one now. That was just a precaution. The quote-unquote “” simply nodded along at my explanation.

“I didn’t think you used any appraisal magic. Now that makes sense,” she said.

“For an idea I came up with on the fly, I thought it was pretty good myself. Heck, it might be worth doing further research into. I could probably teach slimes to detect drugs and poisons.”

“You may find demand for that in noble society... But I’d rather not get into discussing slimes with you. We’d be here all night otherwise.”

That comment only made me want to talk about them more, but I swallowed that urge. “So, you a brownie?”

“Close, but no cigar. The people of this manor do call me a brownie, but I am technically a fairy that lives in the manor.”

She quite easily admitted that she was a fairy, so I doubt she was really trying to hide her identity. But it made me think of another question.

“What’s the difference between fairies and brownies?”

“We are born in a similar way, but brownies and other fairies that occupy inanimate objects are closer to undead monsters. They just happen to benefit humans.”

She went on to explain thoroughly how fairies are corporeal beings born of magical energy abundant in nature.

Generally speaking, fairies were innocent and free-spirited. They mostly preferred to live where they were born, but there were some rare exceptions who traveled far out of curiosity or wandered into a human city. Fairies looked like adorable, tiny people, but wielded powerful elemental magic. Brownies (or any fairies that occupied objects) were born from magical energy and thoughts that had slowly seeped into the house or object from its inhabitants or users. They lacked physical bodies for the most part, and couldn’t wander too far away from their own house or object. Their nature was strongly dependent on the mentality of their human inhabitants or users; they could be helpful or harmful to humans.

In Japan, Shinto has a similar concept. The most significant transference of magical energy and thought occurred at the moment of that person’s death, and was the cause of undead monsters like zombies or walking skeletons. Judging from the way she spoke, fairies apparently didn’t like to be conflated with brownies.

“Now, I know I’ve already said this,” she added, “but I a fairy. I was born from natural magic in a forest somewhere.”

“I see... I’ve heard of fairies before, but I never thought I’d meet one.”

At the same time, I assumed that her explanation was a generalization of fairies, seeing how the woman before me was full-sized, and seemed more thoughtful than innocent. Moreover, she was undoubtedly the one who manufactured my current situation. From how she spoke of the manor, it didn’t seem like she had signed a contract with anyone there. She may have some hypnosis-like power that manipulates people. Some fairies, from my impression of them on Earth, certainly manipulated people. The fact that she was completely in human-form and seemed rather intelligent made me think that she was an advanced species of fairies.

“So, what does a fairy like you want from me?”

“I never intended to show myself to you... But I do have a question.” I waited for her to continue, and she asked, “Do you need help with anything?”

“Help?”

“More specifically, is there anything that’s troubling you?”

“I don’t think so...” Well, aside from her catching me off-guard with that question, that is.

“There must be something troubling you. Getting used to life in this world, for example.”

“Nah, I’m pretty—Wait, what did you say?”

I heard her say that loud and clear. My ears weren’t just playing tricks on me. While I still didn’t feel any sense of danger, I couldn’t help but raise my guard.

“Hm? Why do you... Oh.” She nodded with understanding after a moment of confusion. “I suppose I haven’t told you. It slipped my mind, since I hadn’t planned on seeing you... My name is Yui. I used to be a familiar to Shiho, who came from Earth, just like you.”

Shiho Jamil... A person from Earth, the ancestor to the duke, and the founder of familiar magic. Could it be that the woman before me was really her familiar? Now that she mentioned it, she seemed more Japanese than anyone I had seen in this world—her black hair, black eyes, and her facial features... It was a shock at first, but I supposed there was no reason for her to lie.

“Before her death, Shiho left two instructions for me. The first was to watch over her children and descendants as much as I could. The other was to subtly assist the next person who would come from Earth. Shiho was a kind girl. While this was partly brought on by her own recklessness, she was often troubled by aspects of life in this world. I suspect that was why she had asked me to help the next Earthling in any small way I could. Fairies can live for hundreds of years, as long as we’re not killed. Having known Shiho, I could tell at once that you were also from Earth.”

“So that’s why you asked if anything was bothering me.”

“I didn’t intend for our conversation to last this long.” She then confirmed that she did possess hypnosis-like powers, and had planned to sneak into my bedroom and force me to divulge my troubles that way before giving me any solution she could think of, and blurring my memory to make it seem like a dream. “But, although you are a human, my powers don’t seem to work on you. As a result, I was forced to show myself. I was told that people from Earth are given some powers by the gods. Is that why you were unaffected by me?”

“Unaffected? Oh, sorry, that’s all me. Apparently I’m super resilient to mind games like that.”

“Is that so...?” she quietly said, visibly offended. I guess it really did matter that much to her.

She went on to confess that she had used the four people close to me to try and get me to spill what was bothering me. Then she told me that she had also manipulated Hughes to divulge what was troubling him, which had led to our conversations mostly revolving around him. She barely heard me talk about myself all night...

“Why did you want to hear Hughes talk about his troubles?”

“Huh? Oh... Just out of personal curiosity. It’s not uncommon for me to discover a couple in the making under the roof of the manor,...