The Man Picked Up By the Gods (Reboot)

Volume 1 Chapter 23 part1

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3 days later.

This ones the last.

Ive barely gotten a wink of sleep these past three days. I would chat with the others from time to time, but for the most part, I was cleaning. When I think about how Im almost done, I cant help but think back to everything Ive done.

“This ones done too. Lets go to the next one.” [Ryouma]

“Hey, just how long do you think youve been working without rest now?” [Jeff]

“The suns already set, nyaa.” [Miya]

“This makes two already. Why not rest first, de gozaru?” [Asagi]

“My stamina and mana are holding up just fine. And besides, Id like to get this over with as soon as possible.” [Ryouma]

“…You do look like youve still got plenty of energy to go.” [Jeff]

“This one thinks so too.” [Asagi]

“Same here, so theres no reason to stop him, nyaa. It would be best if we could get this over with sooner than later anyway, nyaa.” [Miya]

After cleaning the second latrine pit on the first day, I went to the next pit with the approval of Jeff-san and Co. By the time I was done with the third latrine pit, the people keeping watch had changed.

“Oh, youre out.” [Wereanna]

“Youre Miya-sans party members.” [Ryouma]

“Its Wereanna.” [Wereanna]

“Im Syria. Weve been put in charge of the evening shift. Lets get along, Ryouma-kun.” [Syria]

“Yes, lets get along. Im done here already, so please run your checks. Also, I heard you have some MP potions on you.” [Ryouma]

“We do.” [Mizelia]

The medicines of this world were largely divided into two categories.

Medicines that use medical herbs and stones like those in Earth and magical medicines that use the mana of its ingredients or ingredients whose properties have changed due to the presence of mana. Potions are a kind of magical medicine that take effect instantly.

The rabbit girl, Syria-san, used Identify on me and the surroundings, while the tiger girl, Mizelia-san, took a vial out of her large bag and gave it to me. The vial was filled with a deep green liquid.

Mizelia-san informed me that the MP potion could recover as much as 2,000 MP. She also warned me to be careful not to take more mana than my body could handle, as that would cause an abnormal status known as Mana Intoxication.

After hearing her warnings, I went ahead and emptied 10 MP potions.

“Thank you. Lets go to the next one then.” [Ryouma]

“Already? Why dont you rest a little first?” [Mizelia]

“I heard you havent rested one bit since Mayas group was on shift. I bet you havent eaten either, right? Here.” [Wereanna]

Wereanna handed me a basket full of sandwiches.

“I got it from the clients butler. I think it would be best if you finish these first before going to the next one.” [Wereanna]

“Butler? You mean Sebasu-san?” [Ryouma]

“Yep, thats what he called himself alright. You know him? He said you had a tendency of forgetting to eat when working. He was waiting here up until a while ago, but it seems he had some errands to run and left.” [Wereanna]

My bodys holding up just fine, but I did actually forget about eating, so I gratefully accepted. Because of that I ended up having more time to interact with these girls.

“Has the information on the disease reached the guild?” [Ryouma]

“Yes. The guild master is getting some concocted through an acquaintance of his. He said hell prepare enough for all of us. By the way, are you really planning on working without rest?” [Wereanna]

“I intend to rest, of course.” [Ryouma]

“Well, youre not resting enough. Theres nothing wrong with taking a break after every pit, honestly.” [Wereanna]

“Frankly, Im not really sure if you can pull it off. Are you sure youre not pushing yourself?” [Syria]

“Im confident in my stamina. But I can understand why you find it hard to believe considering my age.” [Ryouma]

“There are a lot of newbie adventurers who eat more than they can chew, after all.” [Wereanna]

“True that. If not for the fact youd shown your status board, I would have protested. If this mission were to fail because of some recently registered adventurers unsubstantiated claims, the consequences could reach all the way to the heart of the town… I do think youre qualified now, though.” [Mizelia]

Mizelia-sans words were a bit harsh, but I never expected everyone to trust me just like that on our first meeting. If not for my status board, it wouldnt have been strange if they saw me as just another kid. I mean I really am just a kid right now.

We chatted idly like that until we finished eating, then we went back to work.

The next break I took was when the sun rose. The people keeping watch was different again.

“Excuse me, weve come to take our shift.” [Cher]

“Oh, hello, Cher-kun, Raypin-san, Gordon-san.” [Syria]

“Hello, Syria. Good job out here.” [Cher]

“Hows the work going, de aru?” [Raypin]

“Well, from the looks of things, it seems to be progressing a lot faster than expected, but is Ryouma alright?” [Gordon]

“Hes doing his best and still has plenty of energy to spare. Although, currently weve been forced to pause work for a moment.” [Syria]

“Did something happen?” [Gordon]

“See for yourself…” [Mizelia]

“What do y— Uwaa!?” [Raypin]

“Whats with all the slimes? Theres so many theres no where to walk.” [Gordon]

“I heard he used slimes. Did a stampede occur or something, de aru?” [Raypin]

“Stampede? Ryouma-kun says the slimes are splitting.” [Syria]

“Splitting? With these numbers, de aru?” [Raypin]

I had allowed the slimes to split to further hasten our work, but while they were in the middle of splitting, the new group arrived.

“Are you the next group? Let me introduce myself again. Im Ryouma Takebayashi. My apologies for the current situation, but the slimes needed to split, so we wont be able to work until theyre done. In exchange, work should progress even faster later. Please take care not to step on them.” [Ryouma]

“Right, Im Gordon. Nice to meet you.” [Gordon]

“Im Cher.” [Cher]

Short-statured with thick limbs and a face that was mostly beard. Gordon-san was indeed the very image of a dwarf.

As for Cher, he was a human. He looked like a middle or high school student.

“Hmm… They dont look weak, so its probably not a stampede then… Hmm? Oh, my apologies. I am Raypin. Ive become an adventurer in order to research monsters. I have a question Id like to ask. I hope you dont mind. This is not a stampede, right, de aru?” [Raypin]

“Ryouma Takebayashi. I am also researching slimes as a hobby. If I may answer your question with another question, what do you mean by stampede?” [Ryouma]

“A stampede is what you refer to when slimes suddenly start splitting. It happens when slimes are ordered not to split for an extended period. Eventually, they cant keep it in anymore, and they start splitting like crazy. In that state, they wont listen to orders and will split beyond their limits. It is said that its an instinctual response when the slimes are kept from reproducing.

Once a stampede starts, the slimes will split to an insane number, but the resulting slimes will be far weaker than before and will have to supplement their nutritional needs with whatever is available nearby, de aru.” [Raypin]

“Oh? I didnt know slimes did that.” [Ryouma]

“Well, it doesnt really occur when slimes are left to reproduce normally. And besides, there were plenty of crazy things done in the past to produce research material, so there was probably some negligence on the labs part. Ive never seen a stampede personally, de aru.” [Raypin]

“So you thought it might be a stampede because of their numbers?” [Ryouma]

“Exactly.” [Raypin]

After that I told him that there were originally 1,000 slimes. I also told him about the big slime, which caught his interest.

I drank MP potions with one hand and formed new contracts with the slimes while chatting with Raypin.

By the time I was about done forming contracts with the slimes, Cher-kun and Gordon-san couldnt keep up with our conversation anymore.

Volume 1 Chapter 23 part2

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…Among other things, Sebasu-san would bring me food once a day. There were times when he would be waiting for me by the door too, but regardless, the food would always be brought in a basket.

Once, there was even a letter from the ojousama included, telling me not to worry about the slimes left in the inn as they were taking care of them.

A lot of people were looking after me, not just the 9 guards, so I worked and rested nonstop, and as a result, the scavenger slimes split again, bringing their numbers up to 3,033. With that I was able to make 3 king scavenger slimes, each with 1,011 scavenger slimes, and had them line up to fill the entire latrine pit as they went to work.

Their skill levels also went up.

King Scavenger Slime x3

Skills:

Disease Resist Lv7

Poison Resist Lv7

Lead Belly Lv8

Clean Lv8

Deodorize Lv8

Deodorizing Liquid Lv6

Stench Lv8

Produce Fertilizer Lv7

Physical Attack Resist Lv7

Enlarge Lv5

Shrink Lv6

Jump Lv3

Overeat Lv4

Disease Resist never leveled up again, though. It seems level 7 is enough to deal with the Idake Virus.

Clean, Deodorize, and Overeat have all gone up most likely because of the work weve been doing. I dont quite understand why Physical Attack Resist went up, though. Could it be because their bodies are rubbing against the walls? Or perhaps its because their bodies are rubbing against each other? Im not really sure, but high skill levels never hurt anyone.

I followed after the slimes, disinfecting the walls with a combination of Mist Wash and Range as I went along, until eventually, we were almost done.

When we got to the last latrine pit. The slimes ran through the walls and the ceiling once, then I cleaned them a second time with water and heat. I used identify to ensure that everything was clean, and when I saw that it was, the work that Ive been continuing these past few days was finally concluded.

“All done?” [Gordon]

“Yep, everythings clean.” [Ryouma]

“Great! And with that everythings been taken care of. Good job.” [Gordon]

“You really did manage to do everything in one go.” [Cher]

“The only breaks you ever took was to eat.” [Gordon]

“Now that you mention it… Ah, Raypin-san, please run your checks.” [Ryouma]

“Right… Ok, there are no problems. Everything is clean. All thats left now is to go back and report to the guild, de aru.” [Raypin]

“Thank you. Shall we go?” [Ryouma]

“Wait. Ill bring you, de aru.Warp.” [Raypin]

Apparently, Raypin-san could use dimension magic, so he used the intermediate spell, Warp, to bring us to the guild. He may talk arrogantly, but hes a good guy.

As soon as we got to the guild, the receptionist girl sent us to the guild masters office.

“Ryouma, huh. You done?” [Wogan]

“Yes, all 30 latrine pits of the common toilets have been cleaned. It should be ok now.” [Ryouma]

“Great! Thats great! All of you should go home and get plenty of rest today! Ill contact the others. Tomorrow, you can come back here, and the guild will give you your payment. Ryouma, you took care of most of the work this time, so you can expect a handsome reward.” [Wogan]

“Sure. Ill be going— Oh, right. Guildmaster.” [Ryouma]

“What?” [Wogan]

“No ones gotten sick, right? I couldnt be informed of the goings in town while in the latrine pits, so…” [Ryouma]

“Dont worry. I called up a well-connected grandma I know to get the medicine, so there should be enough medicine for everyone even if someone does get sick. That being said, no. No one has gotten sick so far… You mentioned it takes 10 hours after entering the body for that Idake Disease to take effect, right?” [Wogan]

“Yes, thats what appeared when I used Identify.” [Ryouma]

“Then it should be fine. The medicine you mentioned is already underway, so just go home already and sleep. You havent had a wink of sleep yet, right? If anyone gets sick, Ill tell you. Sleepiness and tottering on your feet aint helping anyone.” [Wogan]

“…Right. Ill be on my way then.” [Ryouma]

After saying that, I left the guild and the three people that came with me.

As I walked the road back home alone against the chilly winds, that nostalgic floating sensation after several sleepless nights hit me.

I returned to the lodging with only the pleasant winds for my companion, but when I got back, the members of the ducal family were there to welcome me.

“Welcome home! Ryouma-san!” [Elialia]

“Welcome home, Ryouma-kun!” [Elize]

“Welcome home.” [Reinhart]

“You look well. Thats good, thats good.” [Reinbach]

“Welcome home, Ryouma-sama.” [Sebasu]

“Please leave your baggage with me.” [Arone]

“Have you eaten yet?” [Lilian]

All 7 of them welcomed me back home.

What a nostalgic feeling.

How long ago was it that I was last welcomed like this? …Was it back when my mother was still alive? No, Elialia and the others have welcomed me so many times, so why… Why do I feel like this?

“Ryouma-kun, is something wrong? Are you hurt anywhere?” [Elize]

“No… My body is fine. I was just reminded of the past a little…” [Ryouma]

Family? Ah, right… Its that feeling. Thats what they resemble…

When I couldnt do my job well, when I came back home dead tired, when I was fired, when I couldnt find work, when I was depressed… Each and every time, the one who was always there to welcome me back home was… my mother.

“Ryouma-san!? Whats wrong!?” [Elialia]

It wasnt until when the ojousama cried out that I realized it. I was crying. Without knowing it, without my permission, my eyes just started leaking on their own.

“Ahh… Im sorry… Its alright… Really… I just remembered my family a little. For some reason, being welcomed like this reminded me of the past… Its strange. You dont even look similar.” [Ryouma]

My mother wasnt bad looking, but she did have a normal face with no remarkable features, completely unlike this family of absurdly good looking people.

While I was thinking something stupid like that, before I knew it, the madam had taken me into her embrace, Elialia was hugging my arms, Reinhart-san had his hand over my shoulder, Reinbach-sama was patting me on the head, and Sebasu-san and the two maids were looking at me with warm eyes.

After that I was taken care of. They fed me, they prepared a bath for me, and then tucked me into a futon.

I dont know if its simply because I havent pulled all-nighters in a while that I cant think well right now, but… Its not a bad feeling.

The warmth of having someone welcome me and the sense of fulfillment after a days hard work that Im realizing for the first time because someone was actually there to welcome me… All of that filled me with a sense of satisfaction as I allowed the comfort of sleep to take me.