The Man Picked up by the Gods Volume 1 - Chapter 14

TL Note:
Changed Appraisal -> Identify
Changed Ability to eat bad food -> Eat Filth
Volume 1 Chapter 14
~Side Ryouma~
I put the things I bought into my item box, went back to our lodging and started working.
First off, I rubbed the Sticky Liquid of the Sticky Slime on the surface of the cloth, and then through a combination of the basic Wind Magic, Breeze, and the basic fire magic, Fire, used the magic, Dryer, to dry a large number of waterproof cloths.
Like this the afternoon passed. When it comes to managing the magic power, it’s easy if it’s just the same attribute, but it becomes difficult when different magic attributes are being combined.
In the past when I made a mistake controlling Dryer, the wind of Breeze mixed with Fire and created an amazing blaze. In that way I was somehow able to fire off an attack magic, Flame Thrower but, if I do something like that here, it won’t be funny.
Next, I had the Sticky Slime spit me some threads, and then wound it on that unwound spool of thread I bought. The strength of the Sticky Slime’s thread depends on the ratio of the Sticky Liquid to the Hardening Liquid. So it’s quite easy to change the strength of the thread to match one’s goal.
If one sets the ratio of Sticky Liquid to Hardening Liquid as 7:3, then the thread will become a pretty and soft sewing thread. At 6:4 it becomes a robust thread. At 5:5 it becomes a kind of thread that can be used in traps because of its elasticity, and possesses strength that will break when animals and people were to pull on it. At 4:6 it becomes a lethal string that can be used to strangle animals and people.
In this past when I went to check the strength of the 4:6 thread. I set up several strands of it between two trees and lured the Black Bear there. The Black Bear was only able to endure once and small incisions could be seen on the Black Bear’s body.
At that time I thought that depending on the usage, this thread could become a horrifying trap, so I agitatedly put it in the back of my head. I mostly haven’t used it since encountering the goblins.
An exception to this is that I tried to create a guitar from my previous world using a tree and a trimmed down version of this string as guitar string. There’s strength but as long as you only touch it, it won’t cut you. From here on out if I look for it, there should be ways where it can be safely used.
Going back to the topic
After completely spooling the 6:4 robust thread, what’s next is cutting the waterproof cloth. So I cut and divided the waterproof cloth into several parts.
What I want to make、 is the jumpsuit and the waders (waterproof pants) from my previous world. Starting tomorrow I’m going to be cleaning the latrine pits, and even if I left it to the Scavenger Slimes, and even if the Cleaner Slimes could clean me, I still don’t want to go there in my normal clothes. So I figured I should prepare beforehand.
After finishing the pseudo-waders, I heard someone knocking on my door.
“Ryouma-sama, I have heard that you have returned but how are you doing?”
It was Sebasu-san so I hurriedly opened the door.
“I’m here”
“Is everything ok?”
“Yes, there’s nothing wrong in particular”
“According to the servants, Ryouma-sama went out in the morning, came back in the afternoon, and without having lunch, have isolated himself here all this time”
Ah… now that I think about it, I didn’t have lunch, huh?
“I’m sorry, I was a bit overzealous with my work and forgot about lunch… did I make you guys worry?”
“If it’s alright please show your face to everyone. Especially to the madam and the Ojousama. And also, if it’s something like sewing then Ryouma-sama could do that in the Madam’s room and the 2 maids could even help out”
Perfect. I was just wondering how I could try to move the conversation to that direction. I toss the tools and the cloths into my item box, and go to the room of the Duke’s Family along with my Slimes.
As soon as I got to the room, Elia and the Madam jumped at me.
“Are you alright!? Nothing happened!?”
“Ryouma-kun! Are you alright? You’re not hurt?”
“Now, now, you two, please calm down.”
“Ryouma-kun won’t be able to talk if you press him like that you know?”
Interjected Rheinbach-sama and Rheinhart-san as they stopped and separated the two.
“My apologies for making you worry. There are no problems in particular, I just became caught up with my work and forgot to have my meal”
The madam heaved a sigh of relief,
“I see, that’s good”
“And I thought something had happened”, pouted the Ojousama.
“Ho, ho, ho, isn’t it good that nothing had happened?” chuckled, Rheinbach-sama.
“What work are you talking about?”
“It’s sewing. I made some clothes for doing some janitorial work.”
As I said that, I took out the tools from my item box and showed it to them.
Rheinbach-sama looked at it scrutinizingly and said.
“Fumu… by the looks of things you also applied the waterproofing treatment on these, huh?”
“Yes, I started working on these, as soon I got back and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon. After that are these things which I’m still making.”
“Why did you suddenly start making those things?” inquired Rheinbach-sama.
Hearing that, I explained what happened today while sewing.
“… and so I ended up accepting that janitorial request. Since It’d also be troublesome if diseases were to start spreading around, so I want to get started as soon as possible”
“Mu…”
“I understand your reason, and I’m also grateful to know this. The public office of this town didn’t mention anything like this… we may have almost been tricked. Sebasu” said Rheinhart-san as he called Sebasu-sean.
“Yes”
“Go out into the town and gather some information on whether the public office really did what was mentioned just now. If it’s true then the administrative expenses should have gone down this year. However, according to the report today, it hasn’t been changed. So there’s a possibility that someone’s taking advantage of the decrease in the mining rate of the mine and is embezzling funds”
“Understood”
As Sebasu-san said that, he left the room.
“Ryouma-kun, thank you. Because of you we may actually end up uncovering a conspiracy.”
“Umu. I could forgive simply embezzling, but embezzling the money that should be used for the townspeople and harming them is not something I can forgive. In the first place we have already decided on how much to pay the people living in the slums decades ago. That they would actually try to bargain it down, unforgivable! Wasting my efforts…”
“Rheinbach-sama’s efforts?”
The one who responded was the madam,
“In order to help out the people living in the slums, in the past my father-in-law went through great pains to establish those people living in the slums as the ones in charge of cleaning the community toilet”
Hearing the madam’s words, Rheinbach-sama continued,
“In the past I notified the prefectural governors of all the towns and made them construct facilities. And being unable to believe the words that the people of the slum would be employed, I had to go several times all the way to the management of the slum and negotiate. In the end it took 30 years to give all the jobs relating to construction to them. That’s why, when I think that all that effort is being put to waste, I can’t help but find it mortifying”
Rheinhart-san hearing his father’s frustration spoke
“Dad was once famous for being a good feudal lord. There were many nobles who came to study the management of territory. That’s why, if this really is true, then it won’t be forgiven. Even if other’s forgive it, the Jamil Household will not forgive it”
Rheinbart-sama looked at me and spoke again with a hint of gratefulness on his face.
“Ryouma-kun, truly, thank you. I’m glad we were able to get wind of this information while we were here. At the very least we were able to confirm that something is amiss. Besides if everything went exactly as we had planned for it to go, this kind of request shouldn’t have come out.
“You’re welcome”
“Umu, let’s have the maids help you out with making those clothes. Aro-ne, Lilian, please help him out.”
The two maids replied synchronously
“Understood”
With the maids about to help me out, I explained to them what we will be doing. The gloves were assigned to Lilian-san, and the jumpsuit, to Aro-ne-san. I started to knit the cord that will be used for a variety of things but as soon as Aro-ne-san and Lilian-san saw the threads they asked me.
“Ryouma-sama, what kind of thread is this? I’ve never seen such a thin, robust, smoth, and pretty thread”
“Ahh… This is a Sticky Slime’s thread?”
“Do Slimes spit out threads!?”
“Just Sticky Slimes, and also, it’s probably only my Sticky Slime. I wonder if I could create something out of the Sticky Liquid and the Hardening Liquid, so I tried mixing them up and ended up with that thread, and then I wondered whether the Slime will also be able to do the same thing, so I had the Slimes try it out and it seems they were able to. It was especially convenient when making clothes in the forest.”
After I said that, I called the Big Slime over and had spit some thread.
“See, it can spit out thread in this way. Moreover you can modify how strong the thread is by changing the ratio of the two kinds of liquid.”
After showing the two maids, several sizes of threads, the two maids ended up wanting to buy some of the threads.
“I couldn’t possibly do that. I’m already imposing on you like this, so if you want some threads, I’ll make as much as you want.”
When they heard that, the two were greatly overjoyed. Apparently, despite having served the Household of the Duke for a long time and making countless clothes, Aro-ne-san has never seen a thread this good. Well since I’ve always seen synthetic fibers back in Earth, I never really noticed.
Afterwards, Rheinhart-san decided with me, to start selling the rain gears along with this thread. As we continued to converse, I found out that the previous feudal lord, Rheinbach-sama, conducted large scale maintenances on the villages and owns and because of that, the towns of the Jamil Duchy were famous for being number one in terms of cleanliness, and were even famous amongst the neighboring countries.
And in order to further prosper the towns that Rheinhart-san’s father maintained, he thought of spurring the businesses in the region.
It seems that the Slime products that I unintentionally developed were very attractive to him. He bowed his head down, and said let’s work together for a long time, and then I nodded as well and said please take care of me.
Since the people of the Jamil Household are really nice, I also wanted to work with them.
As we continued to talk like that, I finished making my clothes. And there didn’t seem to be any problems on the size when I tried wearing it but…
Putting on the gloves, I put my hands through the sleeves, and wrapped the cord I made around the only open space on the jumpsuit I’m wearing, which would be my wrist, thereby blocking anything dirty from going in. With this I am completely waterproofed, up and down all over, and I even secured the shoes I’m wearing with the cord I made. Seeing me, everyone mentioned that I looked strange.
However, from the perspective of using them as work clothes, the value is certainly high. And although it’s still not decided, Rheinhart-san mentioned that we might also sell this.
The Next Day
Having with me the set of worker clothes I made yesterday and with the Slimes with me, I let everyone know that I’ll be going out.
“I’ll be going”
“Good luck”
“Please take care, Ryouma-san”
“Do you best, ok?”
“We’ll also do our part here and there”
Having been sent off by everyone, I went to the guild.
“Good morning”
“Ara, it’s the kid from yesterday. It was Ryouma-kun, right? You came”
“Yes, I want to accept a request…”
“Un, I heard about it. By the way thanks, ok? For taking this request. We were really troubled about it”
“Well then, please complete the legalities”
“Yes, ye~s… alright this is ok. Take this request document, and go to the people from the West District, ok? And also, this is the key for the Latrine pits, don’t lose it alright?”
“Understood. Well then, please excuse me”
“Take care”
I left the guild and arrived at the western most part of the town where the entrance to the latrine pit is. I wear the jumpsuit and the pseudo-waders, and try to go through the entrance but instead I immediately close the door without entering. You understand the reason, right? A Latrine pit that has been left for 5 months, it’s bound to have a horrifying smell.
The moment that smell wafted to my nose, I cried a bit. But, the Scavengers looked ok, so I had them go in first, had them split, and ordered them to deal with it.
I also asked for help from the Cleaner Slimes and had them soak a hand towel I had with me with deodorization liquid, which I put on my mouth, to deal with the smell.
It also gets to my eyes so I had the Cleaner Slime go on top of my head, and have him cover my eyes like a goggle. The Cleaner Slimes’ body has high transparency so I was able to go forward without any problems. Cleaner Slime’s are quite useful.
Having gone inside completely, there were some stairs inside. Going down that was a huge subterranean tunnel. In the center of that tunnel were a huge amount of filth accumulating on both sides. The Scavenger Slimes crowded together and did their best to deal with it. As for me I washed off the filth sticking to the roof and the walls with the magic, Mist Wash, and then heated the sticking water to disinfect it with my original Electric Magic, Range.
It was a bit too dirty so I wanted to make it cleaner somehow, but from the looks of things I succeeded. I check it out with the skill, “Identify” and,
From
Unclean Ceiling
A Ceiling Stuck With Filth Here and There
To
Stone Ceiling
Looks I was able to successfully clean the roof of the community toilet’s latrine pit after disinfecting it through cleaning and heating.
The information I got changed from an unclean ceiling to a stone ceiling. After that, I took a look at the detailed information and it looks like the disinfection was a success. … But, I have always wondered, where is this information coming from? Well, since no incorrect information has come out yet, I guess its fine, it is quite convenient at times like this.
In the end I was able to clean one pit and it took me around 5 hours, but, I took another 3 hours after that.
Because of today and yesterday, the Scavenger Slimes have eaten a lot and have gotten a lot of nourishments, so I had already planned to have them split since I knew about that as an effect of the Slave Monster Contract. Hence, in order to keep them from the eyes of other people, I had the Slimes spilt here. Anyhow there’s another 29 pits like this one.
The end result of the splitting was 1464. Before splitting it was at 730 so one of them split twice and ended up as 4 bodies.
After that I took a look at the skills of the Slime, at which I broke out into a cold sweat.
Old Skills:
Disease Resist Lv5
Poison Resist Lv5
Eating Filth Lv5
Cleaning Lv6
Deodorization Lv6
Deodorization Liquid Lv4
Release Foul Odor Lv4
Return Nutrients Lv3
Jump Lv2
Digestion Lv6
Absorption Lv3
Split Lv6
Current Skills
Disease Resist Lv7
Poison Resist Lv6
Eating Filth Lv6
Cleaning Lv7
Deodorization Lv7
Deodorization Liquid Lv5
Release Foul Odor Lv6
Return Nutrients Lv5
Jump Lv3
Digestion Lv7
Absorption Lv3
Split Lv6
The skill levels went up all across the board. Moreover, the Disease Resist actually increased two levels. That’s very concerning.
The others are fine, there’s no problem with them. But you know… for Disease Resist to increase, it’s necessary for there to be a factor that will cause a disease, you know? In other words… this is a breeding place of diseases!!!
No, do you actually understand? This is hard to say because a place where filth is collected is bound to be a breeding ground for diseases. But you know… the Madam had previously mentioned that the Disease Resist of level 5 is at a level that can’t be reached unless one goes through a life threatening disease.
And it’s from that level that it suddenly went up twice, that’s completely at the level of an epidemic virus!
Was it that bad here… or how about the others!? Bad, bad bad bad… If I don’t immediately let them know of this… or wait, before that we need to disinfect ourselves ASAP! It won’t be funny I went out carelessly and the virus spread!
As I thought that, I went in front of the entrance and check the status of me and the Slimes with Identify… OK, looks like there’s no diseases.
I went out, then had the Cleaner Slimes clean everything, the box, the Slimes, my entire body, and the box the Slimes are going to enter. After that I had the Cleaner and Scavenger Slimes completely clean the area around the place I walked. I checked everything with the neutral magic, Identify, including my belongings, myself, and the Slimes. I confirmed that I didn’t get information like “Dirty” or “Virus”. Fortunately, everything was “Clean”, looks like the Cleaner Slimes’ and the Scavenger Slimes’ Cleaning was effective. I lock the entrance, and just in case I blocked it with barrier magic and then hurried to the guild.
I caught quite a lot of attention until I got to the guild because I wasn’t able to change my outfit. But, that’s really not the time to be talking about things like that. I just want to inform the Guild Master and the Duke’s Family about the situation at hand as soon as possible.
I thought that as I ran, and when I got near the guild, I noticed. At this rate a bad rumor of an epidemic might spread inside the guild, if it’s poorly handled it might become a huge problem. So I guess I should just go in calmly like a young adventurer who had just finished his job…
As I thought that, I started walking instead, calmed myself down and went into the guild.
Going inside the guild in a strange outfit, I caught a lot of attention. There were plenty of guys point their fingers at me and laughing. However, I ignored those things and went to the counter of the receptions. I don’t have the luxury to mind, I’m already at my limit just not showing my impatience.
“Excuse me”
“Ara, Ryouma-kun… wh-what’s up with that? That strange outfit”
“Clothes for cleaning! How is it? It’s not cool but it’s easy to move around in and there’s no need to worry about the dirt, since even inside mud or the middle of a swamp, its hard to be dirtied while wearing this you know?”
“Certainly, that’s true…”
The people around me nodded as they thought “certainly”, looks like there were also people that were quite interested.
“By the way, after completing the job today, I want to report to the Guild Master but, is that ok?”
“Eh? To the Guild Master?”
“Could you please ask the Guild Master? I have something I want to talk to him about.”
“Is that so? Well ok… I’ll try asking but he’s with a guest right now so you might have to wait”
“I understand, thank you”
As the receptionist lady said that, she went inside. After a while the receptionist lady came back and said this,
“Ryouma-kun, he said it’s OK. Go in.”
Looks like I’ll be able to meet him immediately, I have good luck. However there’s a warning from the receptionist lady before I went in.
“Right now, there’s some really amazing people inside the Guild Master’s room so don’t be rude, ok? There probably won’t be a problem with the way Ryouma-kun talks, but just in case.”
“Thank you very much, I’ll be careful”
Reaching the room of the Guild Master, the receptionist lady knocked and called out.
“Pardon my intrusion, I’ ve brought Ryouma-kun”
“Enter”
Following the instruction of the Guild Master’s voice, I entered the room. When I entered the people in there were the Guild Master, the 4 members of the Household of Jamil, the 2 maids and Sebasu-san.
“Ryouma-kun, thank you for your hard work today”
“Why is… everyone here?”
“Well we wanted to hear what we heard from Ryouma yesterday from the Gulid Master”
“I see…”
It’s unexpected but this is good.
“Well? What’s up?”
“There’s something I want to talk about that needs to be kept secret”
“Did something happen? And also what’s up with that outfit. Your basket, yesterday, aside, since I met you three days ago, hasn’t your outfit been getting weirder and weirder?”
“This are clothes made specifically for cleaning. Since it’s specifically made for its purpose, please don’t mind its’ appearance much… Today, I cleaned the latrine pits of the community toilet.”
“Ah, I talked about that with you yesterday, so I know. And what’s up?”
“The method I use to clean is through Water Magic and my Slave Monster, the Scavenger Slime. The Scavenger Slime is a slime that likes to eat the dung and rotten flesh of animals and possesses the Cleaning Skill. Because of this I am able to get rid of the filth.”
“That’s the first I’ve heard of that kind of slime… well, in any case, I understand that you were able to clean it with that method”
“The main topic is from here. Filth is obviously dirty, and so it’s expected to be a breeding ground for diseases. And so in order to eat that, the Scavenger Slime possesses Disease Resist Skill. And also, since yesterday my Scavenger Slilme had possessed a Resist Skill level of 5.. but when I finished the mission today, after confirming it, the skill level had risen to 7”
“What!?”
“Is that true!?”
“It’s true. It can be assumed that inside that latrine pit is an infectious disease that can raise the Disease Resist Skill level from 5 to 7. Fortunately, because I was able to notice that, I had the Cleaner Slime, another slime similar to the Scavenger Slime that possesses the Cleaning Skill, eat all the dirt, and confirmed that we were all clean with the Identify Skill, and then went here.
In the same way I also had the area surrounding the entrance be cleaned by the slimes and then confirmed it with Identify. After cleaning up, I locked the door and just to be safe I put up a barrier with barrier magic, sealing it”
“I see, good job. But for a plague to spread out from inside that…”
“Guild Master. Fortunately, my Slimes can deal with the infectious disease with its Cleaning Skill. And so, I will continue this job, but I want no one else to enter the pits until I finish cleaning. And just to be safe, could I ask for someone to keep watch to make sure that no one will go in?”
“That’s a given. But you, you know that there’s an infectious disease, and you still feel like cleaning?”
Hearing that, even the Madam added on.
“Isn’t it enough if only the Slimes were the ones to clean? Ryouma-kun can give orders to the Slimes even from a distance, right?”
“It’s dangerous to deal with infectious diseases!”
“The public office will provide people who will take responsibility so…”
Everyone tried to stop me but I can’t have that, because there is something I can do. Knowing something and yet leaving it to others is painful for my heart.
“Unfortunately, it’s not possible to completely clean it with just slimes. The filths clump up, and stick themselves to the walls and to the ceiling. Unless I wash them off with Water Magic, the slimes won’t be able to eat them. It’s not properly dealt with, it will spread again.
Thank you for worrying about me but please let me do it. If a large number of people were to recklessly go inside, the possibility that an infected person will go out goes higher, and it will become easier for the disease to spread outside.
With that point in mind, with me, alone, and the slimes we are able to deal with it. And also, if it’s me it will be fine… Of course, it’s fine to let anyone else do it, but, I am most probably the safest and fastest choice”
As I said that, I bring out my status board and allow five of my skills to be seen.
Disease Resist Lv7
Sleep Resist Lv7
Stronger Vitality Lv3
Super Healing Lv3
Stronger Endurance Lv6
When everyone saw that, they were shocked. Especially, the Guild Master.
“Wha–!?”
“Disease Resist Level 7, with this it should be confirmed that the chance of me being in danger is far lower than anyone else
Furthermore, even if I were to fall to the virus, with the Stronger Vitality Lv3, and the Super Healing Lv3, it will be harder for me to die compared to the normal person and will be able to recover easily. The Stronger Endurance will also help me out. And with the Sleep Resist Lv7 I will be able to stay awake for a few days.
Because of that I will be able to work quite fast. I believe there is no one else who has a Disease Resist Level higher than me, and at the same time someone who, even if he or she gets sick, will be able to recover. So, what do you think?”
It’s because I’m a cheat, if I don’t use my cheat here, then when will I use my cheat?
At my words, everyone in the room was silent. Looks like they can’t object. But it looks they want to reject it not because of reason but because of their feelings, everyone’s making a face that looks like they swallowed a bug.
The silence continued for a while until Rheinbach-sama spoke up.
“True… there’s no else aside from you that’s more appropriate. We’ll have to you push you into danger but, best regards”
Rheinbach-sama stood up from his chair, and bowed deeply to me.
“Of course”
“Ryouma, leave the selection of the look out to me. I’ll call out people whose mouths are tight and who possess Disease Resist. Let’s do this in a way that won’t cause a huge panic”
“Yes. Fortunately, because the community toilets have been well built, the townspeople haven’t been infected yet. It’s good that we were able to notice it ahead of time”
“If the disease were to spread, it wouldn’t be funny”
“Yes. I thought about it since the Cleaner Slimes who were there the entire time along with the Scavenger Slimes, did not increase their Disease Resist Skill level. And so, I believe it should not be an airborne infection. Once the filth has been dealt with, I believe it will be safe.”
“What is that airborne thing?”
Oh, they don’t have that word? Is it possible their knowledge regarding infectious diseases is lesser than the one on Earth?
“Infectious diseases spread to a large number of people, right? That spread is what you call contagious. And within that contagiousness, there are several ways to which it transports itself from one person to another. One way is through water and food, acting similar to a poison, and spreading this way. Another way is through the air, where upon a person sniffing that air will be infected, that’s what you call air-born infection. In this case, the spread of virus because extremely dangerous as it spreads easily, and eliminating it becomes very difficult.
However in this case, a huge number of Cleaner Slimes that weren’t tasked with removing the filth, did not increase the level of their Resist Disease skill. And as such, it is not an air-born infection and can only spread to a person on direct contact. In this case if someone were to touch the source of infection, and then eat with that hand, then and only then, will the disease spread. With this in mind, as long as the filth is dealt with, then for the meantime there will be no problem.
Thanks to the community toilet, the filth immediately fell into the latrine pits, and so no was able to touch it. After that as long as I take care when going out, it will be possible to deal with it. As I am not a specialist in this matter, the knowledge is half-baked but...”
Well that’s really the case… I’m not a doctor you know? It’s the basic knowledge of someone from Earth…
Still, I’m glad that it’s not air-borne! Even if it’s only my conjecture! I’m really glad that the Scavenger Slimes are here! If the Slimes weren’t here I wouldn’t know how to deal with this, since even if you set it on fire, the smoke might spread the virus, and one needs to prepare a huge amount of disinfectants. To begin with, I haven’t even seen a place that sells disinfectants.
“What do you mean half-baked, after saying that much? I’ve never heard of something like that”
“Ryouma-kun, I also… or rather I believe no one here has ever heard of that. Where did you gain that kind of common sense?”
As expected this world didn’t have this kind of knowledge!
“I studied under my grandma. Grandma researched medicine and was quite familiar with diseases. Although rather than to say I actually studied, it was more like I just listened to her chatter while I was mixing chemicals”
At those words, at least for the meantime, everyone understood.
After that, since the operation will start tomorrow, I went back to our lodging along with the other 4 members of the Jamil Household. As for Sebasu-san and Aro-ne-san they went to gather information. And from what I’ve heard, it would appear that they’ve also moved the guards.
In addition, it can’t be said that there’s no chance of me getting the disease. So I suggested to change lodging to the others but without even taking time to think of it, they firmly rejected my proposal, until the Madam and Elia got mad at me while crying.
They’re really good people. I’m grateful. I’ll also do my best tomorrow.