By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 16 (Light Novel) (eBook)

Roy (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-6928-3 (ISBN)

Infos

Ryoma returns from the Sea of Trees of Syrus, having achieved every goal he had set out to accomplish. He parts ways with S-rank adventurer Glen, his impromptu teammate, and makes his way safely to Gimul.

Finally back, Ryoma partakes in some more peaceful, mundane adventures. He stays busy by catching up with the Jamils, checking in on his laundry business, and showing Eleonora around the city. Meanwhile, with the support of the Jamils, Ryoma dives headfirst into the study of hexes, showing off his talent under the guidance of a brand new tutor.

Textauszug

Chapter 10, Episode 1: Return from the Sea of Trees

Glen and I left the village and hiked for a while before we came to the lake that had been one of my landmarks on the way in. I’d been in a hurry then, but now I had the chance to appreciate the beauty of this lake, its crystal water rippling from the breeze and shimmering with the reflection of sunlight. Thanks to that breeze, the air tasted fresh. All around the lake, the banks were coated with fresh moss disturbed only by the small monsters that drank from its lapping ledge. Despite the innate danger this far into the woods, there was a serenity about the place, somehow. Maybe this was how the lake always looked when Undead monsters weren’t around.

“Now we’re close enough,” I said. From here, I could clearly sense the location and condition of the stone slime I’d buried in the ground. I could use Space magic to quickly travel to another stone slime, while making sure that there wouldn’t be any monsters waiting for me on the other end, all by communicating with slimes.

“Why didn’t you bury those slimes all the way from here to the village?” Glen asked.

“That would have been convenient,” I admitted. “But there were too many Undead around at the time.”

“Yeah...I guess you really didn’t have a chance to,” Glen said.

“Next time, I’d like to complete the line to the village. So, are you ready?”

“Yep. If any monsters come knocking, I’ll take care of them.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Here we go. Warp.” Controlling my magical energy to envelop Glen as well as myself, I cast the spell. In the blink of an eye, the lake was replaced by a dense forest. The slime that I’d been sensing in the distance was now directly under my feet. “It certainly worked. Let’s keep going.”

With a series of bursts of Space magic, we flew through each slime marker I’d placed like a train passing from station to station.

“Oh, there’s a raptor pack passing through our next marker,” I said. “Let’s wait here for a minute.”

“I knew we’d be going fast, but it’s pretty insane actually experiencing it. This is where the treants showed up.” Glen jerked his chin to the pair of treant carcasses we hadn’t been able to collect after we had defeated them. If my memory served me right, it had taken us a whole day to walk from this point to the village. With Space magic, we’d retraced that journey in only an hour. “Love the speed, but how’s your magical energy holding up?”

“Within the expected range. The rapid-fire casting does spend a lot, but I have plenty to work with. There’ll be times like this where I don’t make the next jump right away, and I can always summon a huge rock slime and rest if I need to. In case we don’t have time to rest, I also have a store of magic recovery potions.” Considering how quickly we had made it this far, spending the magical energy was definitely worth it. Even accounting for some pauses along the way, we would probably be able to leave the Sea of Trees before the end of the day. “And while we’ve been talking, the raptor pack left the vicinity of our next marker.”

“That wasn’t much of a break. Is there anything you and your slimes can’t do?” Glen said, half approving and half exasperated.

We teleported to our next spot—just shy of the swamp where I reencountered Glen. “I couldn’t bury any slimes in the swamp, so we need to cross it the old-fashioned way.” The slimes would have been fine underwater, but it would have been too difficult for me to collect them. We wouldn’t lose our way, though, thanks to another slime buried in solid ground on the opposite shore of the swamp. Besides, with my boat and slime magic, crossing the swamp would be a breeze, just as it had been on the way in.

Then, I realized a potential flaw in my plan. “Will this hold you?” I asked Glen, pointing at my trusty boat. I’d ridden it with Hudom in Gimul, so the boat could fit me and one adult...one average-sized adult, at least. But Glen’s stature far exceeded the average.

“If I put my hammer away...” Glen said, doing just that and putting one foot in the boat before squeezing on board. We’d be cutting it close both in size and weight.

“You made it on, but we won’t be going too fast,” I noted.

“And I can’t fight if any monsters show up. I can barely move.”

“Even if you could move, you might capsize us... How did you cross this swamp in the first place, when you found me on this side after we first met in that base?” I asked, half expecting him to say that he had run straight through the muck.

He thought about this for a minute. “Don’t know. I was running around whichever way I felt like going until I ran into you. Probably went around the swamp somehow—didn’t make sense to slog through it when I didn’t have to.”

“Then let’s follow the shore, just in case,” I suggested. “We won’t lose our way, so I’d rather be safe than cutting straight through.”

Glen agreed, so we set out on our way. With the help of the mud slime, I started the boat. As expected, it didn’t go as fast as before, but this was easier and quicker than walking through the mud, even at the pace of a leisurely gondola.

Gallow moss alligators must have preferred the deep ends of the swamp, because we were attacked a lot less frequently than I was on the way over. And we were able to dodge even those attacks, thanks to Glen and the slimes detecting the gators before they could get close. Going slowly wasn’t a problem for us.

Suddenly, Glen shouted, “Ryoma! Turn!”

Immediately, I pointed the boat towards the center of the swamp and away from the shore, on which a herd of monsters lounged in the distance. “Oh, shotgun hippopotami...” I noted. According to my research, they boasted high defense—albeit not as much as cannonball rhinos—and were highly aggressive. Like their namesake, they were able to fire attacks from a distance. They preferred to hunt prey with hard exoskeletons like the rock fish and spiky snails that lived in the swamp. Undigested fragments of their shell or scales became the hippo’s buckshot.

“Those guys scatter their crap everywhere—it’s a drag trying to dodge it all. If you don’t want to get showered with scat, it’s best to stay clear,” Glen said.

As silly as it sounded, the shotgun hippos attacked with their feces. That might have sounded ridiculous on paper, but the sharp shards of scales and shells were dangerous enough, not to mention the risk of infection they posed. Luckily, we were able to avoid that herd. That was one monster I didn’t want to face off against for so many reasons.

But since we could see them, they could see us. One of the hippos let out a pained toot.

“It...misfired? Do you think it was trying to scare us off?” I asked.

“Probably. The other ones are agitated too,” Glen said. There was no harm done since we were way out of range already. “No reason to get close or hunt them. Let’s just blow past.”

“Agreed. Let’s take the direct route, even though we’ll cross the deeper parts.”

Dodging monsters lurking in the swamp as well as on the shore, I kept the boat going. On the current of the mud slime, we sailed through an area that smelled of trees and mud and water until we eventually reached the opposite shore of the swamp. From here, we’d travel by Space magic again.

We carried on, taking a few breaks and opting not to stop by the bases along the way. We made it back to where we could see the base at the edge of the woods by the time dusk began to fall.

“Whoa. We really made it here in a day,” Glen said. “Since the sun’s coming down, you wanna stop here for the night?”

“Yes, let’s.” We could still make it out of the Sea of Trees if we hurried, but we’d have to find lodging at the nearest town or camp out like we’d been doing anyway. Either option wasn’t too different than spending the night at the base here, and getting to rest early was definitely a plus. Once we made that call, I encased myself in Light magical energy...and we were ready to go.

We approached the base by foot and a familiar guard opened the door to the base like he knew we were coming. “Welcome back,” he greeted us.

“Ashton!” I said.

“I didn’t know you’d be coming tonight, so I didn’t plan my shift around it or anything, but I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again... We can talk more after you come inside.” He glanced at Glen but didn’t say anything further as he let us both in.

As soon as we made it inside, people at the nearby tavern erupted.

“Hey, look!”

“That kid really came back!”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“No way! Dammit, I lost!”

“Damn! Oh?!”

Their cheers turned into bizarre shrieking before quickly quieting as they noticed Glen.

“Why is that kid with Glen?”

“How should I know? The kid was probably trapped somewhere in the woods and Glen saved him, or something like that.”

“No shot. Glen never gives you a second glance unless you can fight.”

“Maybe he’d save the kid’s life if he came across the scene, but he’d never play bodyguard and escort him back here. The kid isn’t acting like Glen’s protecting him...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.6.2025
• Reihe/Serie: By the Grace of the Gods
• Illustrationen: Ririnra
• Übersetzer: Adam Seacord
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Adventure • Isekai • Light Novel • Magic • Reincarnation • Slice of Life • slimes
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-6928-X / 171836928X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-6928-3 / 9781718369283