Preparation

I gave my report in the young lady’s room, sipping the tea Arone had poured for me as we settled into our usual routine.

"Were you able to coordinate with the guild?" Elise-sama asked.

"Yes, and I actually managed to hire three tamers today."

"You’ve hired them already?" Reinhardt-san looked surprised. "Wasn't that a bit hasty?"

"Perhaps, but I found some excellent candidates. The Commerce Guild Master even gave them his seal of approval."

"Ho, well then, that is a relief," Reinhardt-san said, nodding.

"Besides, they were all researchers who were sidelined for studying slimes. They seem incredibly motivated—driven by a desire to prove their worth to those who looked down on them."

"I see. That makes sense."

"They might be more trustworthy than someone who puts on airs and makes up excuses," Elise-sama added.

After discussing the shop, Reinhardt-san informed me that the Grel Frog outbreak was imminent. My contract with the Rimur Birds was scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

The Next Day

I stopped by the shop in the morning to discuss tomorrow’s schedule. When I told the staff I would be away, Koken-san offered some advice regarding the Rimur Birds.

"Thank you. You’re remarkably well-informed," I said.

"Hahaha! I spent every year trying to make a comeback by securing a contract with one. I never succeeded, but I certainly ended up with the knowledge."

"What about this year?"

"Up until yesterday, I intended to go. But now that I’ve found work here... well, I’ve realized I don't really care about the Rimur Birds anymore," he said with a bright, refreshed expression.

It made me happy to hear that he valued my shop so highly. Leaving in a good mood, I headed next to Serge-san’s store.

"Welcome, Ryoma-sama."

"Good morning, Serge-san. I’ve come to deliver the waterproof cloth."

"Thank you. This is the cloth from the day before yesterday, then? I heard you did some advertising for us; five customers have already come by because of your recommendation."

"How are the sales?"

"Aside from those five, we are consistently selling a few sets every day. It seems many adventurers already knew of the material, and some are even buying enough for their entire parties."

"Come to think of it, when I was cleaning cesspools, I walked around town in those clothes every day. I suppose I stood out quite a bit back then."

"Most likely. At this rate, demand might rise sooner than I anticipated."

"I brought seventy bolts today, but I still have room to spare. I’ll expand the workshop and increase production as much as possible."

"Please do. However, pray do not overwork yourself."

So, Serge-san had heard the rumors about me being a workaholic too.

"I’ll be fine. I'm not needed at the shop personally right now, and most of the time spent on the waterproof cloth is just waiting for it to dry. I often find myself with nothing to do."

"If you say so..." Serge-san looked at me skeptically, but he proceeded to inspect the cloth and pay the processing fee. I accepted the payment along with a fresh batch of unprocessed cloth and headed toward the abandoned mine.

Immediately after arriving, I set the Sticky Slimes to work on the processing. I took two Earth Slimes and the Scavengers to a different tunnel to build a new workshop.

The two Earth Slimes handled the digging with Create Block while the Scavengers moved the resulting blocks. I handled the wall reinforcement. With our roles clearly divided, the work progressed rapidly. I set up additional tables and got to work on the waterproof cloth.

By the end of it, I had successfully processed 140 bolts—double my previous output. The Sticky Slimes still seemed to have some energy left, but I decided to stop at 150. It wouldn't do to push them too hard.

"All right... you’re free to do as you like now."

Since they had worked hard today, I gave them a break from training. I used earth magic to craft a stone vessel and filled it with water using water magic.

Slowly but surely, they began to swarm over to drink. Watching them gather, a thought occurred to me. I wondered if slimes other than Earth and Dark Slimes absorbed mana.

I decided to test it. I gently released some no-attribute mana.

While the intensity varied compared to the Earth and Dark varieties, every slime seemed to be absorbing the mana.

When I experimented with different attributes, I found that the Sticky Slimes preferred no-attribute mana, the Poison Slimes liked the poison attribute, and the Metal and Iron Slimes favored earth attribute mana. The Earth and Dark Slimes were obvious.

However, I was surprised to find that the Bloody Slimes liked both no-attribute and water, the Acid Slimes liked poison and water, the Cleaner Slimes liked water and light, and the Scavengers liked earth and dark. They seemed to favor two attributes almost equally.

So, they could have multiple preferences.

Furthermore, the Heal Slimes liked three attributes—no-attribute, water, and light—but they seemed to enjoy healing magic most of all. I wondered why this specific type preferred magic itself rather than raw mana. Still, it served as good training for my own healing magic, so I didn't mind.

Just as I was pondering this, one of the Heal Slimes became ready to divide. It seemed mana functioned much like nutrition for them. I’d have to investigate that further.

For now, I let it divide and formed a contract with the new one. I now had four Heal Slimes in total.

Afterward, as part of my preparations for tomorrow’s attempt at a contract with a Rimur Bird, I pulled a guitar out of my Item Box and practiced.

"...It’s decent enough."

I was at the level of a hobbyist. Not incredibly skilled, but I hoped it would be enough to form a contract. If it didn't work out, I could always look for other bird-type monsters.

I killed time until the cloth was dry, then returned to the city and headed to Serge-san’s shop.

"Thank you for your hard work."

According to Serge-san, today’s delivery secured enough stock for the time being. Since they needed time to process the cloth into finished products, he told me there was no need for further deliveries for a while. I suspected he was being considerate and trying to make sure I didn't overwork myself. In reality, I just left the processing to the slimes.

I decided I would turn the remaining cloth into waterproof material and stock up on it anyway.

After leaving the shop, I looked at the sky.

"...Finished at an awkward time again."

There was nothing to do at home, and there wasn't enough time to head back to the mine for serious training. In times like these, the church was the best option.

When I arrived, the woman who had helped me with my Status Board was standing by the gate.

"Oh, you’re the boy from the other day..."

"Hello again."

"Welcome. What brings you here today?"

"I’ve come to pray."

"I see. This way, then."

I took a seat in the chapel as I had done before, folded my hands, and offered a prayer.

............................................................Hm?

I expected to be transported to the Divine Realm immediately, but nothing happened. Well, I suppose it was stranger to go there every single time I prayed.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, my vision turned pure white.

"!? This is... the usual place. But there was a strange delay."

"My bad, my bad. It’s a power I rarely use, so I’m a bit out of practice."

I turned toward the voice and saw a short, hairy man with a wine barrel on his right shoulder. He was chugging something from a bottle held in his left hand. There was no doubt—this was the God of Wine.

"Are you Tekun-sama, the God of Wine?"

He pulled the bottle away from his mouth and answered.

"Yeah, I'm Tekun. You don't need to be so polite with me. I'm a god; I can peek into your heart whenever I feel like it, so honorifics are a waste of time. Besides, they're a pain. Just call me Tekun. Sit down."

He had a point. There wasn't much sense in formal speech with a god who could read my mind.

I sat down as he instructed.

"Then I'll speak naturally. It’s nice to meet you, Tekun. I'm Ryoma Takebayashi. Thank you for the divine protection."

"I keep an eye on you from time to time, so it doesn't feel like the first time to me. Don't worry about the protection. I just happened to find an interesting guy and gave it to him. That guy just happened to be you."

Tekun took another long drink from his bottle.

"Is it only you here today, Tekun?"

"Yeah, the others are doing whatever they want. The God of War, the God of Magic, the God of Earth... it all looks white to you, but they’ve each got places they like. They’ve built what humans would call houses there."

"I didn't know that. Does that mean this is your house?"

"Nah, I don't have a home. I'm the god of technology and wine. Wine and craftsmen are everywhere, so I just wander between them as I please."

"Wander between them?"

"The Divine Realm and the world you live in are connected, after a fashion... ask someone else for the details, I’m not good at explaining that stuff. More importantly, drink up."

Tekun produced a cup filled with wine from thin air and thrust it toward me. It was a golden goblet, intricately decorated with silver and small gemstones.

"Here! Cheers!!"

"Ch-Cheers!"

Swept up in his momentum, I took a drink.

"...It’s delicious!"

It was an incredibly sweet and flavorful wine.

"Fruit and nectar grown on land blessed by the God of Earth, tended by people blessed by the God of Agriculture, and fermented by a craftsman blessed by me. Of course it’s good."

"Wow. I wonder if I can find this when I go back? And can land receive divine protection too?"

"Glad you like it, but this is an offering. It’s either offered to us or shared among our inner circle. You won't find it easily. As for protection, yeah—I only give it to people, but the God of Earth blesses the land itself. Some gods bless places they take a liking to. Even Gain, whom you know, used to bless everything in this world long ago. He is the Creator God, after all."

That was true.

"Of course, as the creatures of your world grew and changed things to suit themselves, the places with Gain’s blessing have slowly disappeared. We stop giving protection sometimes, too. For instance, if I bless someone because I like how hard they’re training at the forge, but they start slacking off because they can make good stuff now, I’ll take it back."

Tekun took another swig from his bottle.

"By the way, kid, you wouldn't happen to know where Gain and the others have been going lately, would you?"

"Where they’ve been going?"

"Yeah. I haven't seen much of them lately, and they keep disappearing suddenly. There isn't much work, so it's not a problem, but it’s never happened like this before. It’s been bugging me."

"I can't really say. I only come here when I'm called, and I don't talk to them outside of—"

I suddenly remembered something Kufo had mentioned.

"Wait, maybe they're going to my old world."

"Yours? What was it called? Earth?"

"That’s it. Kufo mentioned it when I was here before. He said Gain and the others were going to Earth for sightseeing."

"Hah?! Sightseeing in another world?! What the hell are they thinking!?" Tekun roared in shock.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Normally, a god doesn't interfere with a world they don't manage. Non-interference is the basic rule. Bringing people like you over is a special exception because this world would be in trouble otherwise. You can't just go sightseeing on a whim!"

"But when I talked to Kufo, he definitely said it. He said Gain got obsessed with idols, Lulutia was touring sweets, and Kufo was exploring remote regions."

Tekun began to seethe, his face turning red with anger.

"What is the meaning of this? You’re telling me the truth, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not lying."

"It's not impossible to go... but the gods over there usually hate it. Nothing like this ever happened before you showed up. Wait... don't tell me!!"

Tekun stood up, looking absolutely furious.

"What is it!?"

"Those bastards... don't tell me they negotiated with the gods over there just for a vacation because they were bored? They aren't the only ones with free time! I’m not letting them have all the fun!"

Trembling with rage, Tekun hoisted his wine barrel onto his shoulder.

"I’m not sitting around for this! I’m going to find them!"

"H-Hey! What about me!?" I shouted as he started to run.

"Ah, sorry! You'll head back automatically after a while. Just drink your wine and wait. That goblet will produce more wine as long as you channel mana into it. Sorry, I’m in a hurry! See ya!"

"Wait—wow, he's fast!"

Despite his stocky build, Tekun vanished in a blur. His stride didn't even seem to match the distance he was covering. In the blink of an eye, he was gone. He really had left me behind.

"I don't know what to do, stuck in a place like this... I guess I'll just drink and wait."

I took another sip from the goblet.

"It really is good. Though, if I have wine, I’d really like some snacks to go with it."

But there was nothing else here. Tekun said the goblet would make wine with mana, but it wouldn't produce food. If I could use mana here, maybe I could use magic?

"Item Box."

A black void opened in the air. It worked.

"It actually worked... I guess the location doesn't matter. Now, for snacks... I have fruit... no, I don't. I’ve been living in an inn and keeping all my food in the shop’s refrigerator."

I rummaged through the Item Box, but I couldn't find anything that would make for a good snack. While I was searching, the light signaling my return began to glow.

Crap! I have to clean up!

I chugged the rest of the wine and hurriedly shoved everything back into the Item Box as fast as I could. The moment I closed the opening, the light intensified, and I was back in the chapel.

"Phew... did I make it?"

I checked the Item Box and confirmed that the items I’d taken out in the Divine Realm were safely stored inside. Thank goodness.

...Come to think of it, I had to chug that last bit of wine. What a waste. I should have savored it.

It was the first time I’d ever felt so regretful over a single drink. That wine had been truly special.

Feeling a lingering sense of melancholy, I left a small donation at the altar and headed home.