The Man Picked up by the Gods

TL Note: A slight reminder for those who’ve forgotten.

Wereanna – Dog Tribe

Miya – Cat Tribe

Syria – Rabbit Tribe

Mizelia – Tiger Tribe

Asagi – Dragon Newt

Jija = Ginger (in their world)

Also name change. Sorry about this, but when I looked at it again, I realized just how horrible it looked like in English.

Aro-ne to Araune. (For those wondering a long dash in between words in Japanese, means a longer sound.)

Volume 2 Chapter 11

Ryouma brought everyone deep into the store.

“This area is specifically for employee use and customers are prohibited from entering. You can find the reception office, the office, the locker room, the employee lounge, and the toilet, here. There’s also the office kitchenette which will allow the workers to be able to prepare things like tea.” [Ryouma]

“Mind if we take a look?” [Wereanna]

“Please go ahead.” [Ryouma]

When Ryouma saw everyone looking around, he was reminded of the tourist bus tours in his previous life.

After a while, Ryouma brought everyone to the employee lounge. Then he went off to the kitchen to prepare the food while everyone else waited in the employee lounge.

Having been made to wait by Ryouma. The people chatted idly to pass time while feeling a little nervous. However, after around 10 minutes had passed, all of the sudden Wereanna became fidgety.

“Hey, Wereanna. What’s the matter?” [Jeff]

“Sorry, I’m just a bit bothered by something. Something from somewhere... smells really delicious. I think it’s probably Ryouma’s cooking.” [Wereanna]

When the people in the room heard that, they all tried to smell it. But the only ones who were able to smell it aside from Wereanna, were the 3 other beastmen and the dragon newt, Asagi.

“Nya!? Now that you mention it, it really does smell delicious, nya!” [Miya]

“It’s true...” [Syria]

“Really? I can’t tell though.” [Pioro]

“It’s probably too thin for human noses to smell. So unless you’re of a beastmen tribe, you probably won’t be able to smell it.” [Mizelia]

“No, I can also smell it, de gozaru. Is this meat? Or perhaps a fragrant bread? Well, whatever it is, it certainly smells delicious, de gozaru.” [Asagi]

“Speaking of which, Ryouma-kun’s cooking was really delicious.” [Rheinhart]

“Is that true, Rheinhart-sama?” [Serge]

“Yes, even though he only used a few ingredients, it was something to be remembered. That rabbit meat sauté with the root of jija was so delicious.” [Rheinhart]

“Despite being at that age, Ryouma-sama is already in possession of level 10 domestic chores. Thanks to that, I believe we can expect something good.” [Sebasu]

“By that age, you mean 10 years old, right? He’s really something. Regardless of how easy it is to level up that skill, there really aren’t many who can before the age of 40.” [Wereanna]

After that, five more minutes passed, then Ryouma came back.

“Sorry for waiting. The meal has been prepared.” [Ryouma]

“I’ve been waiting for this, nya!” [Miya]

“You’re slow! You made it smell good and then even made us wait, don’t you know how hard that is for us?” [Wereanna]

“Eh, you smelled it? But I put up an anti-odor barrier... did it get cancelled half way through?” [Ryouma]

“Who cares about that stuff? Hurry, give us some food.” [Wereanna]

“Understood.” [Ryouma]

“We’ll help out.” [Sebasu, Lilian, Araune]

Ryouma gave his thanks, and then took Sebasu, Lilian, and Araune to the kitchenette to carry the meals. As for the drinks, Ryouma ordered the slimes to carry them.

Seeing the slimes act like this, the five members of the merchant guild who didn’t know about Ryouma’s peculiar slimes were shocked. The others, then explained to them to calm them down.

All the while, the food and the drinks were brought in one after another. And when the food had finally been distributed to everyone, Ryouma lead everyone to make a toast.

“Today I’ve called everyone here to celebrate the store’s completion. Thank you for being with me here today. It’s nothing special, but I’ve prepared for you all a hearty meal. Please, enjoy it to your heart’s content. Cheers!” [Ryouma]

“Cheers!” [Everyone]

As everyone said ‘cheers’ out loud, they drank the wine inside their respective glasses. When they did so, Gordon suddenly cheered out loud.

“This wine... isn’t this some high class stuff!?” [Gordon]

“It’s for a celebration after all, so I decided to splurge a bit.” [Ryouma]

“What kind of wine is this?” [Gordon]

“According to the shopkeeper of the wine store, it’s called the Spring of Jamis.” [Ryouma]

When Gordon heard that, he laughed as he looked at the glass in his hands.

“The Spring of Jamis!? I heard it was good, but I’ve never had the opportunity to drink it!” [Gordon]

“Really?” [Ryouma]

“You bought it without knowing? The spring of Jamis is well known amongst wine lovers.” [Gordon]

“Oh, I didn’t know that at all. I just bought it because the shopkeeper recommended it.” [Ryouma]

“You’re luck’s really good. The Spring of Jamis may be cheap price-wise, but because a lot of aficionados want to get their hands on it, it gets sold out pretty quickly, making it hard to get one.” [Gordon]

“I see, my luck, huh? ...Ah!” [Ryouma]

“What’s the matter?” [Gordon]

“No, I just realized the reason why I was able to get that wine.” [Ryouma]

“The reason?” [Gordon]

“Yes. Most likely it’s because I have the divine protection of the God of Wine, Tekun, that I was able to buy this wine.” [Ryouma]

“What did you say!? Is that true!?” [Gordon]

“Boy, is that true!?” [Pioro]

When the people there heard that, Pioro and Gordon responded quite strongly.

“Y-yeah. It’s true, is there something...?” [Ryouma]

“I’m envious...” [Gordon]

“I’m envious~, I’m so, so, sooooo envious~” [Pioro]

“Tekun-sama’s divine protection is an enviable thing amongst dwarves. Especially the God of Wine’s protection.” [Gordon]

“Is it better to receive the God of Wine’s divine protection, rather than the God of Craft’s?” [Ryouma]

“Well that’s because I’m an adventurer. Being an adventurer it’s only natural for one’s smithing to improve. Moreover, a guy who relies on a divine protection to make things is a failure as a blacksmith. One should train their own abilities with their own strength.

But contrary to that, any dwarf would want to drink delicious wine. That’s why every dwarf wants Tekun-sama’s God of Wine protection. Having the opportunity to drink delicious wine isn’t something you can help with your own efforts, but Tekun-sama’s God of Wine divine protection can.” [Gordon]

Hearing that, Ryouma understood. Afterwards, he asked Pioro.

“Alright, I think I can understand Gordon-san, but Pioro-san? Do you also like wine?” [Ryouma]

“While I don’t hate wine, I’m more jealous as a merchant. I wasn’t able to tell this to you before, but as a merchant I deal mostly with food commodities. Because of that, I’m envious that you can get good wine easily.” [Pioro]

“So that’s how it is.” [Ryouma]

While we talked like that, Wereanna called out to me.

“Ryouma.” [Wereanna]

“What is it?” [Ryouma]

“Seconds.” [Wereanna]

“That’s fast! You ate it all, already!?” [Ryouma]

“Ryouma, me too.” [Jeff]

“Me too.” [Hyuzu]

“Me too.” [Wogan]

“Even Jeff-san, Hyuzu-san, and guild mas... Wogan-san? You all eat fast, huh?” [Ryouma]

“It’s because Ryouma’s cooking is so delicious. It’s my first time eating something like this.” [Wereanna]

“Really? Being told that make me somewhat happy for making it, but...” [Ryouma]

“I’m also of the same opinion as that child’s. Ryouma, what do you call this pasta?” [Grisela]

“It’s called Meat Sauce Spaghetti.” [Ryouma]

“Meat Sauce Spaghetti, huh? It’s delicious. Because of my age, my jaws have gotten weaker and I’m no longer able to bite meat well. So I’ve ended up unable to eat delicious food. But this spaghetti’s meat is easy to eat as the meat of this steak is so soft. To be able to eat meat in a long while again, I’m really happy to have come here.” [Grisela]

“I’m happy that you like it. Please eat as much as you want.” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma said that, he prepared the second helping for three people. But just as he had come back with the three’s second helping, Mizelia, Miya, Rheinhart, and Asagi all finished up theirs and asked for seconds.

“I’ve also prepared some desert, so please do leave some room for that.” [Ryouma]

But even after saying that, they didn’t stop at all and everyone asked for more than one refill. Wereanna and Jeff has even asked for seconds 4 times, causing Ryouma to tilt his head as he wondered where they put all that.

After the main meal, Ryouma brought out sliced apple pie, with some black tea to complement it. When they saw that, the people were speechless.

It’s because this was something delicious made with the luxurious honey. This fact shocked everyone. And when they ate it, they were touched. Especially the women, who found themselves on cloud nine.

When the meal ended, Ryouma brought out another serving of black tea. As they all took a short rest from the splendorous meal they’d just eaten, Miya said this.

“Fuha... I ate to my fill, nya. I’m so happy I came, nya.” [Miya]

“I’m happy to see that you’ve enjoyed yourselves. Still you all ate quite a lot, huh? Especially, Jeff-san. Exactly where do you put all that?” [Ryouma]

“Huh? As long as I want to eat, I can eat. Because I have the ‘Eat All You Can’ skill.” [Jeff]

“‘Eat All You Can’?” [Ryouma]

“You don’t know about it? Well it is an unusual skill. With the ‘Eat All You Can’ skill, the amount you can eat will increase greatly once. Because of that you’ll be fine even if you don’t eat anything for a few days after that. I have it because I used to be from the slums and when I became an adventurer and began to make some money, I mostly spent my money on food. Because of that I ended up acquiring the skill.” [Jeff]

“Jeff used that ability along with the resistance skills he got from living in the slums, to take requests that would have been harsh to a normal adventurer, one after another. Because of that he ended famous, nya.” [Miya]

“Jeff-san, you’re amazing.” [Ryouma]

“I just chose a bunch of profitable jobs. There’s nothing amazing in particular about it. Besides, if you try, you can also do the things that I do, right? After all, you even have resistance skills that I don’t have. If you want we can try taking on a request together. Although it’s not really possible unless you raise your rank a little bit first.” [Jeff]

“Then when that time comes, please take care of me.” [Ryouma]

“I’d be grateful too, on behalf of the guild, if you were to take a job with Jeff. Jeff has resist skills, so while that’s a good thing, it also means that he works at a different pace compared to others.

Which is why he always works solo. But amongst the requests, there are also requests that you can’t take alone. He hasn’t been able to take those requests at all.” [Wogan]

“Like what kind of request?” [Ryouma]

“For example, this may be a rank C mission, but in this request you have to dig out some flame crystals from a volcano. Unless you have the foul odor resistance skill, this mission is quite tough. You have to endure the long time it takes to go to and fro the mine, and the long hours of work. And then on top of all that, you still have to be exposed to the rotting egg like smell of the volcano. Moreover, there’s also the light poison that’s present in the entire volcano. Depending on the place, there are people who have died.” [Wogan]

“By light poison... do you mean the kind which causes your eyes to swell and tear up, while in places where the exposure is strong, it causes one to have a harder time breathing?” [Ryouma]

“Yes, that, that. Seriously, you’re really well informed, huh?” [Wogan]

“I’ve heard a little about it.” [Ryouma]

“Well there’s no harm in knowing, in fact, having that knowledge is quite advantageous to an adventurer. Do you know of a way to cope with it? Like an antidote for it or something?” [Wogan]

Even if he tells Ryouma that, because this world doesn’t have any knowledge of such a medicine, and because it’s not possible to create the medicine from Earth here, Ryouma wasn’t able to give him anything.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know of any medicine to deal with the poison in the volcano. What I do know is that the poison is from the volcano’s smoke and from the air jetted out from underground. It may be possible to defend oneself from the poison as long as one covers his surrounding with wind magic.” [Ryouma]

“Just knowing that is more than enough. Still, your grandma who taught you medicine and poison must have been an expert, huh? Even though I’ve been a guild master for a long time, you’ve been surprising me one after another when it comes to poison and diseases.” [Wogan]

When Wogan said that, Ryouma was a little surprised. But he just laughed and agreed, as he let it pass.

After that, Ryouma remembered something and went to talk to Karma and Karla.

“Right, Karma-san, Karla-san.” [Ryouma]

“What is it?” [Karma & Karla]

“I’m grateful that you’ve worked for me so much, but is it really ok? I’ve mentioned it before, but you won’t be able to show your abilities in a work place like this.” [Ryouma]

“Please allow us to work for you.” [Karma]

“It’s true that we won’t be able to put to use our haggling skills, and the accounting is also taken care of easily by the tool Ryouma-sama made. But even then we would still like to work here and learn from Ryouma-sama’s innovative business practices.” [Karla]

When they said that, Ryouma thought that they were really similar to Serge-san.

“I understand. It’s reassuring to have someone with plenty of experience work for me, so I have no problems with it. It’ll be a pleasure to work with you from now on.” [Ryouma]

“Please take care of us!” [Karla & Karma]

Replied the two with a smile that covered their entire face. And paying attention to that, was Serge who seemed to be fully satisfied. While all that was taking place though, Wogan secretly asked Grisela something.

“Hey, shitty old hag.” [Wogan]

“What? Scatterbrain.” [Grisela]

“Is Ryouma’s store that profitable? I know it’s a strange store, but...” [Wogan]

“It is. Only, I don’t know to what extent.” [Grisela]

When Wogan heard that, he knit his eyebrows.

“Did the shitty old hag, give him advice?” [Wogan]

“I didn’t give him anything. That kid thought it all up by himself. Besides it’s not something a normal merchant could come up with, and it’s also not something realistic.

That kid is smart, but he doesn’t have that certain inclination to money that every merchant should have. It’s probably because he’s a kid like that, that he was able to think this up. There’s no way a normal merchant would think up a method where he’d give a discount every day and go through all the trouble to reduce his own income himself.

But even if someone were to think of it. Because of the expenses in hiring employees and the results required of a shop like that, it wouldn’t go well. But that kid has those cleaner slimes of his. With that, there’s no reason for his store not to flourish. Really, that kid is quite something.

But that aside, you too need to be careful. While I can provide protection for that kid as a merchant, I can’t protect him from greedy merchants who are indiscriminate in their ways and choose to use violence.” [Grisela]

“I know. Though I do think that if it’s him, it won’t be needed.” [Wogan]

“What?” [Grisela]

“That guy, just a while ago, had a dispute with the members of the Fang of Orbtem.” [Wogan]

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s the adventurer group with 40 hoodlums.” [Grisela]

“Yeah, and during a request, they had a little dispute. What do you think happened?” [Wogan]

“It would have been great if he was able to beat them, but his opponents weren’t limited to just 2 or 3 people, you know? You wouldn’t actually say he beat up all 40 of them, would you?” [Grisela]

“Bingo.” [Wogan]

“... Are you serious?” [Grisela]

“Yeah, Ryouma took on 6 members plus the head, Sacchi, all by himself. While his slimes took on 34 of the members. It was completely one sided. There’s no problem with Ryouma’s abilities. But on top of that, his slimes are numerous. And speaking of which, that guy’s slimes are quite dangerous, you know?” [Wogan]

“... But even then, be careful.” [Grisela]

“... I know that.” [Wogan]

Those two talked like that in a corner of the room without Ryouma noticing. During that time Ryouma fully enjoyed himself with the friends he didn’t have in his previous life.

When everyone was about to leave as the celebration came to a close, Ryouma was told not to push himself too hard.

After that, Ryouma cleaned up after the banquet, left the store, and then took one good look at the store he had just made. Then as he tasted an unspeakable sense of fulfillment that he didn’t have in his previous life, he went back to his lodging.