The Man Picked up by the Gods Volume 3 Chapter 34

TL Note: Sorry, stuff happened, and I vanished. I’m back. Might have to change the schedule (Because I took even more subjects sigh…), but for now here’s a chapter.

EDIT: I fixed the untranslated part.

Links also updated. And some corrections were done. 

Volume 3 Chapter 34

After that, our time ran out, and I walked out of the chapel into the town. For the meantime, I’ll have no choice but to do as they ordered, so I should go and get the… no, before that, I should check the store first. I should also make the bug repellant with the Eternal Darkness (Herb).

...Although to be honest, I actually just can’t get rid of this worry that’s tugging at me. If I don’t do anything, I’ll end up overwhelmed by fear and anxiety for the demon king, so as much as possible I want to distract myself from it.

Gayn also told me that they can remove all of the bad influences to put my mind at ease. They gave me a bunch of reasons to call me over so they can heal me. They were worrying, but they still believed in me, and talked with me. So, since they believed in me, I too should believe in them that they can really remove the evil influence of the demon king and I should just focus on the work I have at hand.

As I decided that, I went over to Digger’s Arms Shop to have the armor that broke in the trip this time, ah, but I guess it’d be more apt to say it broke in my duel with Shiva-san rather than the trip though. In any case, I went to have it repaired.

“Excuse me.” [Ryouma]

As I entered the shop, I noticed that there was no one there, so I called out. The store’s owner, Darson, then came out.

“Looks like you came back safely.” [Darson]

“Did something happen to your armor? We just adjusted it recently though.”

“Repair? Did you run into some trouble?” [Darson]

“You fought someone strong, huh?” [Darson]

“As usual, you’re not like a kid at all. Well whatever, show me your armor.” [Darson]

Ryouma brought out his armor, and as Darson-san stared at it with a gaze full of interest, he muttered,

“Ho… That guy you fought was pretty good, huh? He used a spear of some sort for his weapon, right? On top of that, he used magic as well.” [Darson]

“After being in this trade for such a long time, I’ve come to learn how to tell things from a glance… I have to say though, that guy you fought with is amazing… There’s barely anyone who could pierce through the hard lizard’s hide so cleanly, you know? Was he someone famous?” [Darson]

“We met along the way. One thing led to another, and well… we ended up sparring.” [Ryouma]

“Got it.” [Darson]

“Oh, right! I finished it as soon as you left the town. I’ll bring it out now, just wait for a sec.” [Daron]

At those words, Darson-san left and headed for the store’s inner rooms.

That ‘thing’ I’m referring to is the custom armor I asked him to make before. I wondered whether it would be possible to create an armor woven with the sticky slime’s high-durability thread, so I asked him to make one.

After waiting for a while, Darson-san came back with a box that was somewhat on the bigger side. Inside that box were a pair of light green shirts, two pairs of pants, and two mantles.

“These here’re the finished products. I asked a good friend of mine that works with armors to make these, but I can guarantee their quality. I can hand these to you with confidence.” [Darson]

As Darson-san said that, he took a sheet of cloth from the box, and pointed a knife at it.

“Watch.” [Darson]

Darson-san tried to cut the cloth several times, but no matter how many times he tried, the blade couldn’t pierce through. The cloth could neither be torn nor cut.

“These were created with two pieces of clothing that were woven from the thread you brought. Everything in this box was made like this. It was hard to cut through the cloths, so it took a lot of effort to make, but the result is excellent.

These look like normal clothes from the outside. And though they’re meant to be worn beneath an armor, their actual quality is closer to that of a chain mail. It possesses extraordinary defense for inner armor.” [Darson]

I took out one of finished products from the box.

“You made the inner part out of silk?” [Ryouma]

“I see, thank you. With this I won’t have problem even if I passed through a grove.” [Ryouma]

“With these and the repairs, how much is everything?” [Ryouma]

“It just took time to cut those cloths. No special processes were required. Besides, craftsmen love working with strange materials. So 13 small gold coins is enough.” [Darson]

When I got to the store, people went in and out like buzzing bees. Busy as always, I thought.

“Good morning–“ [Ryouma]

“Mornin’, Boss.” [Fina]

“Celma-san? Is her health poor?” [Ryouma]

“Really?” [Fina]

“Eh!? Oh dear me… Boss, welcome home.” [Celma]

“Oh, no, no… There’s no such thing. I’ve just been thinking a lot lately ever since I received a certain letter.” [Celma]

As I was wondering how far I could meddle in her problems, the person-in-question herself spoke.

Apparently, the boss of the lodging Celma-san used to work at sent a letter through the merchant guild. Ever since reading that letter, she’s been reminiscing the past.

The workload was much bigger than here at the store, but Celma-san loved cooking for people and hearing them say how delicious her cooking was. Celma-san’s face as she spoke of the past was a truly beautiful smile.

“I see… Well, for the meantime, it’s good to know that you’re not sick.” [Ryouma]

This isn’t something I can help. I can’t tell her to stop thinking of her former work. There’s no meaning in saying something like that.

Besides, I’m not that much different from her. Ever since I’ve come to this world, there were times when I thought back to my previous world as well. It's not really much different from wanting to reminisce from time to time. She’s not causing problems in her work either, so there’s really nothing for me to say.

“Sorry for worrying you, Boss.” [Celma]

“Oh, they were? Hehe... then in that case, please tell then in my stead, Boss.” [Celma]

Me?

“You want me to tell them?” [Ryouma]

“So she wasn’t troubled or anything.” [Fina]

“Please ask us whatever you want, Boss~.” [Maria]

“None of us three have any plans of going back. Umm… Boss? Are we being fired?” [Fina]

Eh!? Why did they take it that way!?

“You’re not. You’re not being fired at all. I’m just asking since I’m worrying whether it’s alright for you three not to bring home money to your family and see them. After all, you three are working out here to provide for your family, right?” [Ryouma]

I answered immediately, and the two seemed to have calmed down, breathing out sighs of relief. After that, I asked Carm-san to explain to me why the two had that sort of misunderstanding.

First off, this world does have its postal service, so people who leave home to work are able to communicate with their families via letters. And through the merchant guild, though they do have to pay a fee, they are also able to send money back home.

Also, it’s normal for such workers not to go home unless the reason is because of a life-endangering illness or a funeral service. Because of that the question “Do you have any plans of going back to your village?” was interpreted as, “Is there anyone among you who wouldn't mind retiring?”

“My deepest apologies for surprising you two. I don’t have any intentions of dismissing either of you, so please rest assured. In fact, I wish for you all to continue to work with me in the future. I was just wondering whether it’d be a good idea to create an opportunity for you three to visit your home once a year.” [Ryouma]

They seem to have finally understood when I said those words. Although they were still quite shocked when they heard that on top of being given a long leave, their travel expenses would also be paid for, they were indeed happy  to have the opportunity to meet their relatives again without losing their job. After all, even though it’s accepted in this world that going home isn’t possible unless one loses their job, they still can’t help wanting to see their families, right?

After having lunch together, I discussed the concept of paid vacations and salaries with Carm-san.

As a result, it was decided that it’ll be possible for the employees to file a vacation leave ahead of time, in which they’ll then be allowed to leave for a significant period of time. And with enough money provided to allow one to stay at the cheapest inns – although no food is included in the calculations – and the least amount of days required, the employees will have a much easier time visiting their families.

Continuing, I asked him regarding the status of the store.

The other stores don’t have any problems either. If there’s anything to take note of it’s that the adventurers have frequently been requesting for branches of the laundromat to be put up in the other towns as well. Because of that, Caulkins-san and his group proposed to use lure away the other researchers that are still researching slimes.

Slime researchers are mostly ignored, so there are very few amongst them that have confidential information. Because of that, there shouldn’t be any problems in luring them away to work for my store.

Moreover, because of the poorness of communication technology in this word, there are many people in the towns that we don’t have a branch in that don’t know about our store. And even those that do know about store don’t know about the usefulness of slimes. Although there are many people as well who think that some slimes can be used, the image of slimes being weak and useless is just too deeply ingrained into the minds of the masses.

But that also goes to say that this is an opportunity to lure away those poor slime researchers that are still being given the cold shoulder. And by luring them away, we’ll gain new manpower for the new branch stores. After teaching the promising ones amongst the new employees, we’ll be able to raise some new demon slave practitioners.

There’s no reason for me to refuse, so I agreed and approved of the plan of luring away slime researchers in order to prepare the new store branches.

Chapter end