The Man Picked up by the Gods Volume 1 Chapter 17

“Sebasu-san, what’s the time right now?”

“Thank you but I have to go to the guild now so I’ll have it when I come back.”

“Sorry for making you wait”

“Seriously. You gave it, so we’ll accept it but you do know that all we did was look out, right?”Asked Jeff-san and Wereanna-san because of the unusually high amount. Even the veteran dwarf adventurer, Gordon, asked

The guild master just shook his head though, and said

“Yes?”

“You said it, right? That the name of the infectious disease in the latrine pit was the Idake Disease, right?”

“Apparently that disease is quite problematic. You see, I asked some trashy old hag I know about the details regarding that, and as it turns out it has a pretty low death rate. Only, it spreads fast, and it leaves its survivors unable to move their limbs. But since, being unable to move also means being unable to work, in the end it’s pretty much the same as dying.

And so, the reward for this time’s job is because of that. Although it doesn’t have a high death rate, the old ones and kids have a high chance of dying and as for those that do survive, including adults, they’ll all end up unable to work. So I’m paying you that much after taking that into consideration.”

When the guild master finished explaining, everyone broke out into a cold sweat.

Looks like it was really dangerous…… Although it’s also because of the after effects, but not being able to work is just too much of a hit since you won’t be able to make a living. In a world without insurance or a country that will offer relief for its citizens, it’s a lethal strike. In the end, if one were to catch that disease, it could lead to only one conclusion, starvation.

“It’s good that we were able to stop it ahead of time, nya……”

“If you catch it and die, you pass on. But if you manage to survive, then in its own way, you get to enter hell.”

As the direction of the conversation moved, the Guild Master mentioned this

Wereanna-san gave him a questioning look and asked

“Unfortunately, that’s impossible. Even if you tell them that the top executive responsible for giving out low wages has been fired and that you’ll be paying the former amount, it doesn’t really seem like they’re willing to believe it. And also, apparently, they were given a new job, and also from their point of view…

Other towns aside, since this town here is near a mine. There are a lot of jobs here that people don’t like to do, physical labor, dirty labor… those kinds of stuff. But because there those kind of jobs are numerous, the people of the slum are able to find new work. So it’s not like there’s any particular reason to make a fuss over the job of cleaning the latrine pits…

And first of all, the one at fault was the public office. They also can’t tell them to stop their job and come work for them again so from the looks of things they just gave up on trying to employ the slum”

“Then, what’s going to happen? This time we got lucky that Ryouma noticed it but it will be bad if this happens again.”

“Don’t say it so casually…”

“Thanks.”

“Acutally, I don’t live in a town but in a forest.”

“Do you know the forest of Gana? From here it will take around 1 week to get there…”

“That’s right. I live deep inside that forest.”

“Wait a moment. Ryouma-kun, how old are you?”

“So you’ve been living by yourself in the forest since you were 8 years old?”

“Then, how come you’re in a village like this?”

“Well I had been wondering if it was really ok to continue that lifestyle since my grandparents did tell me to go to a different village. At some point though, I ended up meeting some people who were going here, and so I decided to go with them to see what a town inhabited by people is like”

“Well the house is made by magic, and food is dealt with, by simply hunting, like this it’s quite the carefree lifestyle, you know? Oh, money also isn’t needed.”

“Ryouma, this one thinks that you being a hermit at that age is too early.”

“What’s the matter all of the sudden?”

… I feel like we’d also had a similar conversation in the past…

“I’ll be having special training from today onwards so I wanted to know if Ryouma-san might want to join too.”

“My household does not discriminate between men and women and makes its members go on a journey for the sake of practicing magic and slave magic. Depending on how good one is, they can also become an adventurer.”

“Going on a trip, widening one’s knowledge and getting a better outlook on life is good for the family. But in order to do something like that, it’s necessary to have the strength to do so. We could just assign some escorts for our heirs as well, but then it will be uncomfortable for them, and also since they won’t be putting any effort, the results will be half-baked. So with that in mind, Elia will be fighting personally in order to gain the power to protect herself in the future.”

“From this year on, I will be going to school to learn magic and academics. So before that, I wanted to gather some experience.”

“That’s right. Since this morning until just a while ago I’ve been practicing and this afternoon as well I’ll be practicing again. So how about it? Won’t Ryouma-san join the training as well?”

This is a good opportunity

“If I won’t be in the way, then please allow me to participate.”

Like that I ended up joining the afternoon training.

We went out the city on carriage and after 20 minutes arrived to a rocky place, where Jill-san and the rest were waiting for us. It seems that our training for today is about magic.

“Ryouma, so you came too. The three days must have been tough, huh?”

“Well in its own way.”

“Fire and ice is my specialty. Since I have plenty of magic power, if I practice a lot, I’ll able to use a lot of powerful magic”

Lots of powerful magic, huh? Just what you’d expect from someone that specializes in fire.

“Ryouma-sama, just as I’ve mentioned before, it would be good for Ryouma-sama to learn several attack magic of differing attributes. The Ojousama has been training controlling her magic power since this morning.”

After that, our teachers became Sebasu-san for Elia, and Camil-san for me.

“Well then, shall we start?”

“Here too. It’s just something I heard but, Ryouma has all attribute aptitude, right?”

“Ok. Then can you show me the attack magic that you can use?”

“Alright, I’ll do my best.”

“Ok.”

Remembering Camil-san’s fire arrow, I try to recreate it. Just like Fire Ball, I create a ball of fire in my hands, but this time, I compress it and gather it together, and in my mind I imagine an arrow being shot. Then I chant it.

“Fire Arrow”

As I said those words, a Fire Arrow just like Camil-san’s appears, and flies straight into the rock.

“Good, you succeeded. To get it on the first try, your comprehension is good.”

Oh? Will I be suspected at a time like this, like they would in a generic light novel? Should I try to trick him a bit?

“It’s because I use the bow. So it was quite easy to create the image.”

“Also?”

“Sebasu-san.”

“I see, it was something like that. Then, in that case, I will teach him space magic from here on.”

Brilliant! A space magician who is distinguished even in the country is going to teach me! Lucky!

“Well then, I’ll be going. Do your best, Ryouma-kun.”

“Then let’s start. First off, does Ryouma-sama have any other space magic other than Item Box?”

“If it would be fine with Ryouma-sama, could Ryouma-sama please show me?”

“That was excellently done, Ryouma-sama. Not only is the speed of invocation fast, but Ryouma-sama was even able to use it consecutively. With this, there should be no problem to use even the middle class magic, Dimension Home, as well as the mid-distance movement magic, Warp.”

“Yes, it’s true. Is Ryouma-sama aware of the reason as to why the high class attribute, space magic, is hard to use?”

“Then in that case, how does space magic work?”

“Precisely. However, it is that basic, the foundation, which is the act of interfering with the dimension using magic power that many people find themselves stumbling. The thing called dimension or space is always there. However, the number of people that can truly be aware of it is rare.

Amongst the books that talk about space magic there are many that exaggerate and say things like, “space magic encompasses everything in the world” leading to many people failing to grasp a strong image of it. Because of this, the interference ends up as incomplete.

The truly important part regarding space magic is how one would be able to grasp the space that one is in right now. However, this is not something that you can explain in words. An understanding that comes from words, will only be incomplete. The only way for one to grasp this understanding, is to practice, and understand the feeling. And unless one is able to properly do that, one will not be able to use mid-level space magic up.

Ryouma-sama might find himself quite shocked if I were to say this, but, in truth, low level space magic is the same as mid-level magic.”

“That’s correct, however in the case of Dimension Home there are still things that need to be supplemented but in the case of Warp, that’s exactly correct. Just one thing though, since the distance Warp can travel is far greater than Teleport, as long as one is able to properly grasp the destination, then one will be able to go no matter how far. For starters, how about that rock’s summit?”

I point my finger at the farthest rock that I can see. The rock is quite big as well but more than that, it’s perfect because its summit is flat, so it can serve as a foothold.

“I understand, please let me try it”

Ryouma-sama looks like he’s up to challenge. This kind of attitude is the kind that’s worth teaching.

I wonder how many people have I taught magic like this?…………Having been born in the Household of Jamil as someone who possessed talent for Space Magic. While serving the household I did nothing but study and train both as a butler and as a magician.

My magic was quite useful during the days I travelled with the previous head. And when our journey ended, I supported the previous head every day…… I think it was around this time when people started calling me a distinguished space magician within the country.

Before I knew it, the magic that I had been studying, training, and using since I was a child, had become a topic all over the country. The cause was apparently when I used Dimension Home to store a great number of things in order to help the previous head.

After that, a lot of people came asking to become my disciple. They would bring letters with them petition for them to be taken as my disciple, but I rejected all of them. Unfortunately, amongst them, were those that would directly go to the previous head and use their connection as a shield and ask for the vassal or children to be taught.

Of course, ignoring those kind of people would be problematic so I taught them… however, there were truly far too many of them. When the number of people I taught numbered over 100, I had stopped counting, but even then, the number of people that could use mid-level magic above, could not reach even 10. The many sons of the different noble households in particular, would not listen to me when I told them that Space Magic is not something that can be taught through words, showed their displeasure and was not able to properly train.

A person like Ryouma-sama who meekly follows instructions, and earnestly pursues magic training is the kind of person that is most enjoyable to teach. If he has talent, then it’ll be even more interesting. Until now, I wonder if there has ever been a single person that I wanted to teach magic to, by my own decision. There may have been, I don’t know, at the very least I don’t remember.

While I was thinking these things, Ryouma-sama closed his eyes, and focused solely on concentrating his spirit. What a brilliant child, to actually be able to concentrate to this extent… however, it does beg the question, what kind of training did he undergo to become like this?

Now that I think about it, when I met Ryouma-sama for the first time, he was quite the twisted boy. When I first heard about him, I found out that he was a strange boy who was living in the forest without his parents. When I had finally met him in person, I noticed his appearance to be quite neat, considering the time he had spent isolated in the forest. When he first spoke, it was a manner of speech so polite that he would pass even as a noble. And when he had invited us inside, what he brought out for us was the highest class of black tea coupled with the luxurious honey.

His house was like that of a noble’s. It was sturdy, comfortable, and even had its own bath. Appearance aside, if only comfort were to be taken into consideration, then it could definitely be lined up alongside the houses of those nobles.

“I think I can do it, let me show you.”

“Alright, I’m going. ‘Warp’ “

In the next moment, Ryouma-sama disappeared and then reappeared at the top of the rock I pointed at, a while ago. Seeing that, I too warped to the rock.

“Congratulations. Ryouma-sama has successfully learned the mid-level space magic, Warp”

“Alright, I got it”

As Ryouma-sama said that, he started concentrating again. Because it’s a difficult magic, far more complex than Warp, Ryouma-sama is desperately trying to grasp the feeling of the magic.

Ryouma-sama tried to use Dimension Home but, even after several tries, all that came out was an empty hole. During that time I would let Ryouma-sama know that it’s a failure and once again, Ryouma-sam will concentrate, try again, and fail.

Repeating that, Ryouma-sama began to soak in sweat, but despite this, Ryouma-sama’s concentration wasn’t broken. And then, from time to time, while taking a break, Ryouma-sama would practice. Like this, we passed an hour, a second, a third, and finally a fourth. When the fourth hour struck, Ryouma-sama chanted as if he was whispering

“… ‘Dimension Home’ …”

At that moment, Ryouma-sama managed to create a white hole that is connected to an empty space with Dimension Home.

“Congratulations. Ryouma-sama has also succeeded with Dimension Home”

“Understood”

“Eh……? Ah!? Time flew by quite fast, huh?”

Looks like he didn’t notice it.

“It’s because Ryouma-sama was focused. Well then, let’s go. ‘Warp’ “

Chapter end