The Man Picked up by the Gods - Volume 1   Chapter 7

TL Note: As per others’ suggestions, I’ve changed the names of Lineheart --> Rheinhart; and Linebach --> Rheinbach.

Volume 1   Chapter 7

Ryouma went with the flow and acted as the ojousama’s escort. They kept on like this, on their way to the lodging until Sebasu came to call the ojousama. Right now they were in the lobby confirming their reservation.

“Owwwwww”

“Are you alright, Ojousama?”

“Yes, I’m ok. It’s just that I’ve been running all over, so now my feet hurt. Plus, my butt hurts because of the carriage. How about you? Is Ryouma-san ok?”

“No problem.”

There’s an effect of reduction to the pain experienced by those who possess the Pain Resistance Skill. If it’s only pain at the level of a shaking carriage, then nothing would change for Ryouma who possesses Lv8 Pain Resistance.

“It’s like that at the start, Ojousama.”

“Aro-ne”

“Once you’ve ridden several times you’ll eventually get used to it. By the way, it would seem Ryouma-sama seems to be fine, does Ryouma-sama have experience riding carriages?”

“This is... the first.”

“Is that so? Ryouma-sama seems fine, so I thought Ryouma-sama would certainly have experience riding carriages.”

“I’ve never ridden... although I do have experience running side by side... while pulling”

Actually during Ryouma’s time as a student, he would sometimes pull rickshaws and run side by side with a horse as a part of his running routine. He would also take part time jobs pulling rickshaws. As he reminisced those days, the words came out of his mouth, but Elialia and Aro-ne who didn’t know those things, misunderstood and thought Ryouma was abused and used as a substitute for a horse.

Because of that the conversation stopped and the atmosphere somehow became gloomy. Ryouma, however, was unaware that his thoughtless remark was the cause, so he couldn’t help but be baffled, when Aro-ne’s and Elialia’s expressions suddenly showed grief. Unfortunately though, the Ryouma who has been stricken with stranger anxiety for over 40 years, could not possibly have been in possession of the conversation skills to break this deadlock. In the end, they passed the time without talking.

The one who broke that dead lock was the guard and the Rheinhart who came back to talk about the plans for tomorrow.

“Thanks for you effort for today. Elialia, we’re not sleeping outside today so go get some good rest.”

“Yes, father”

“And... Ryouma. Unfortuantely, we weren’t able to get you the same room as us, my apologies. There’s a room for the servants of the guests, and so I was hoping you could stay there.”

“It’s enough.”

“It’s a big room, but the one handling the procedures is Sebasu so you should be able to get the same room as Zeff and the boys. Even if it’s just a little, knowing the people you’re with, is better, right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

After giving his thanks, they all went to their respective rooms. Ryouma with Sebasu, who had just finished the procedures, and the ojousama with her two parents.

~Room of the Household of Jamil~

The four members of the Household of Jamil were making themselves comfortable, when Rheinhart asked Elialia a question.

“Elia, what were you talking with Ryouma about? The atmosphere was a little weird...”

Hearing those words, Elialia’s body shook, startled.

“A–actually, I touched on Ryouma-san’s past a little...”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. Since my butt was hurting and Ryouma seemed to be fine so, I thought he was used to riding horses but... umm... apparently today was his first time riding horses. He said, he’s never ridden horses before but he has pulled carriages while running lined up with a horse.”

“I get it, but he didn’t seem to mind when I saw him. After that he was also normal. So I think it would be best if Elia also doesn’t mind it too much”

Having said that, the madam followed up.

“Relax, just relax. Don’t just pull Ryouma all over the place until you reach the lodging, but also try to connect with him with that level of cheerfulness.”

“Y–Yes, Now that I think about it... I was really too excited.”

“That’s right, although just a little bit, it was improper”

“*sniff”

“”Ho, ho. being lively is a good thing. Elia is still a kid, so if it’s something like that, you can still call it, charming. But, you can’t be careless. That kind of behavior is like asking hoodlums to come attack you, you know? You need to take care of yourself, ok?”

“Yes...”

“Then, after taking a bath go to sleep, since we’re leaving tomorrow. And we’ll also be camping, ok?”

“I got it, good night, mother, father, grandfather.”

As Elialia said that, she left the room to take a bath. When the three confirmed they were the only ones there, they changed the conversation.

“So... regarding Ryouma-kun, what do you think?”

Asked, the madam.

“Although I told Elia not to mind, but the truth is I, myself, have a lot of things I’m bothered about.”

“Well... he’s not a bad kid”

“I also have don’t have any objections in regards to that. But, exactly what kind of life did he live to turn out that way? Although he said he killed the bandits by sending a Poison Slime, I don’t think it’s just that. I think, he himself is just as strong. While he was being dragged around by Elia, he nonchalantly protected her, you know?”

Said Rheinbach, quite enthusiastically.

“But, the reaction he had when we came to this town was, as expected, really unfavorable”

“That’s right. While I won’t ask him to be on Elia’s level, but, I think it’s better for kids to be a little more excited” Agreed the madam.

“Without being surprised at the number of people and the size of the town, he looked as if he was looking at a stone on the side of the road.”

Rheinbach’s opinions weren’t wrong but, his idea of big varied largely as opposed to Ryouma’s.

It’s true that Ryouma looked at the crowd of people like he was looking at a stone by the road, but that is simply the fault of being someone who lived in Tokyo, Japan, a high populated area, which allowed him to see countless people every day. Having already seen a higher population than the one is this town, and seeing such crowds on a day-to-day basis, seeing something on this level just isn’t worth the merit, so, of course, he wouldn’t be surprised. Therefore, he looked on with eyes that looked like he was looking at a piece of stone by the road. But, to the three people who did not know that, his eyes just looked dead to them.

“To see a prospective young person to have those kind of eyes, what a tragedy.” Muttered Rheinbach.

~Servant Room~

Having been brought by Sebasu, they arrived at the room they will be staying in for the day.

“Excuse me”

“Sorry for intruding”

As they entered while giving their greetings, the ones in there were Jill, Zeff, Camil, and Hyuzu.

“Hey, you’ve come!”

“You’ve finally come”

“It’s only one night, but let’s get along”

“The bed at the end over there is empty”

“Let’s get along”

“Oh yeah, by the way, what do you normally do?”

“?”

“For us who live in the town, we eat dinner and then go out to drink, but you live in the forest, right?”

“Yeah... basically I research slimes... and practice magic. After that, I train my body.”

“... only that?”

“Yes”

“Isn’t it boring/”

“Magic and slime research... is fun”

“For research to be fun, looks like Ryouma has the disposition for a scholar.”

“For me, that’s just impossible”

“By the way, Ryouma-sama, from time to time Ryouma-sama seems to be knowledgeable and use courteous words, did Ryouma-sama study somewhere?”

“I learned them from my grandmother. Studying and etiquette... otherwise will be problematic”

“Ryouma-sama’s grandmother must have been an amazing person”

“She’s a person who can do anything except for matters related to fighting with weapons”

“Ho–, then what kind of person was your grandpa?”

“The opposite of my grandma... a person who can’t do anything except fight with weapons. But, he was exceptionally skilled at handling weapons. The weapons he made... were first class. I can’t win... not in battle, or in smithing”

“Eh, you can smith?”

“Since I helped out... the foundations are ok. But since I didn’t learn properly... and I haven’t been able to, for the past 3 years. Even if I do it now, I can’t make anything except for something dull”

“True, if it’s in the forest, you probably won’t be able to get either ingredients or tools”

“Well you’ve gone through all that trouble to get out of the forest so you should buy what you need. But more than that, isn’t there something you want to do? You can take a stroll outside until supper, you know?”

At that, Ryouma said this.

“Then in that case, where is the church?”

“Church? Unfortunately, the church is closed at this time.”

“Although this town is prosperous, but because of the bad public order, the gates are closed early. In this town, there are two churches, the Church of Genesis, and the Church of the God of Light. Which one do you follow?”

“The Church of Genesis”

“Then in that case, it’s too bad but, you can’t enter the church today. If it’s the Church of the God of Light then if you bring out a big donation then they’ll let you in but...”

“Is that so?”

“Although the scale of the Church of the God of Light is big, in proportion to that, the inside is just as rotten. There’s plenty of degenerate priests there that would do anything depending on your donation.”

“There are people inside that believe in god, but priests and deacons that don’t believe make up a big part of the congregation. It’s because the ones that eye the donation income, all end up there. Contrary to that, the Church of Genesis has plenty of pious priests.”

“Because there isn’t a huge difference in the dogma even if you worship a different god. There’s a lot of people who enter the faith based on the personality of the believers, or the scale of the church.”

“I didn’t know... thank you very much”

“Something like this, I don’t mind. But being asked where you want to go, to immediately want to go to church, you’re quite a pious believer, huh?”

“Really?”

“For most people going to the church once a week is good. There are also people who will only go once a month. In this way, I am also a follower of the Church of Genesis but, I don’t think I go even once a month. I’m fairly close to being irreligion since I can’t go to the church until reach the destination of a trip or a town somewhere.”

“Ryouma-kun, did you go to the church frequently before you went to the forest?”

“Ever since I was born I haven’t even been able to go once.... But... I pray at the stone statue in my house. ... And I also made a stone statue inside the house using Earth Magic and prayed there.”

“Then in that case how about buying some building stones and making a statue? This lodging is also high class, and people who sometimes carve statues every night are also welcomed, so they should have stones for the sake of making those kinds of statues.”

Being told by Sebasu that, Ryouma bought 3 large bricks of stones. However, the stones Ryouma bought were sold by a high class lodging, so the stones he got were also high class, 3 pieces went for 1 small gold coin and were quite expensive.

After that the stone was whittled off with Earth Magic and right after, the exquisiteness of the created image caused Camil to make a fuss, and Sebasu gave me a seal of approval, saying I could make a living from making statutes.

By the way, the reason behind the exquisiteness of the sculpture was because Ryouma had already once met the gods, so the image was built properly. Ryouma also possessed the Magic Manipulation Skill which allowed him to precisely manage his Earth Magic. And also in his past life, Ryouma made figures both as a hobby and for profits, so he was quite used with modelling things like this.

While various things happened, the 3 stone statues were made, and by the time Ryouma prayed it was already time for supper. They finished their meal, and right after they quickly retired to bed to prepare for tomorrow.