The Man Picked up by the Gods – Volume 1 Chapter 19
TL Note: Special Thanks to Anonymous for donating!
First off, I fixed the layout a bit. I hope you guys like the pink đ the menu buttons, and the chat. haha. Also added previous and next chapter links on each chapter if you’ve noticed.
And now a bit of explanation on how the author actually names the critters in this story. Not all of them but some, ok? The author pretty much just names the critter with their English version instead of the Japanese names and so thereâs one line in this chapter which I changed up. Original version just pretty much says oh itâs a rat (English) from the word rat (Japanese). That. YeahâŠ
If anyone can help me with a direct translation of this line⊠Iâm not really good with that form:
ă©ă€ăłăă«ăăăăšć„„æ§ăŻ2äșșă§ăă©ă€ăłăăăæ§ă«èłăŁăŠăŻ1äșșă§ć„ăźćéă«ć „ăăšăă
Volume 1 Chapter 19
Today we went to the mine three hours away on carriage. Right now we’re standing in front of the entrance to a tunnel. We had guards come with us but aside from Jamil and the rest, everyone else went to a different tunnel to hunt magical beasts.
“Let’s do our best! Ryouma-san!”
Elia is really fired up today. Normally she wears a simple but high class ladylike dress, but today she’s wearing an easy to move in shirt and a pair of pants. And on top of that she’s wearing an armor made out of the hide of a magical beast.
The ones who entered the tunnel in front of me were Elia, Jill-san, Camil-san, Zeff-san, Hyuzu-san, and myself.
Rheinhart-san, the Madam, and Rheinbach-sama also came to the mine but Rheinhart-san and madam were apparently going together, and Rheinbach-sama was apparently somehow going to a different tunnel by himself.
When I asked Jill-san and the others if it’s ok, they said this
“Don’t worry, in the past they travelled together as adventurers. And whatâs more is that Rheinbach-sama even managed to get an achievement in a skirmish with a neighboring country in the past. So you donât have to worry as they wonât even get so much as a scratch from something like the likes of magical beasts that just live in a nearby mine.”
Rheinhart-san laughed and said
“The truth is we don’t really need guards. We, three, like to go as we please, and if we go out with guards weâll just get attention, so just having Sebasu-san go with us is more than enough. Havenât you noticed we really didnât have guards follow us in the town?â
âThe Jamil Household is different from the other nobles and dislikes pompous things. Theyâll even hire people like me who isnât well mannered as long as they have the skill. And theyâll even talk to people like me normally as long as it isnât in public or in front of the other nobles.â
Well thatâs true. These three do look like skilled experts at sword and magic.
As I listened to that story I suddenly noticed that the Madam was waving at me and Elia from the entrance of a separated nearby tunnel. Elia and I waved back, at which the madam waved an even bigger one, one more time, and then she entered the tunnel with Rheinhart-san.
After sending the two off to a different tunnel, we also entered a tunnel. The one leading us is Zeff-san, followed by Jill-san and Hyuzu-san. Who are then followed by me and Elia, and then at the rear most part was Camil-san.
Before going, Zeff-san looked at us and warned us
âOjousama, and you little boy, âtis a lilâ dark here so please watch your steps. People used âta work in this tunnel so there ainât any here, but there may be some traps in âtha dungeon. Finding those little buggers is the job of a scout like me. We may be here for lilâ bit of traininâ but Iâd like âta remind ya not âta go out ahead of us.â
âYes!â
âUnderstood.â
After walking for a while we saw something ahead of us and Zeff-san stopped. He also made us stop, and after taking a good look at itâŠ
âBug?â
For some reason there was a lone bug there that looked like a praying mantis, only, it was around my size.
âYou see âtha bugger over there little boy? Hehe, just as Iâd expect from you, that thingâ over there is a Cave Mantis. âTis a bug class magical beast, it uses its scythe-like hands âta dig holes and lives at âta caves and tunnels it finds.â
âChe! This is gonna be a bit troublesomeâŠâ
Hearing that, I couldnât help but ask
âIs it strong?â
âItâs not strong. The scythes arenât sharp and its carapace is soft, so when miners find these little critters they usually get subjugated easily.
The problem is that these things reproduce fast, and from time to time a higher class race, Blade Mantis, will come. What makes them doubly annoying is that those guys look like the Cave Mantis, so itâs hard to distinguish between the two.â
âBecause the scythe of the Blade Mantis is sharper than the Cave Mantisâ you canât be careless when dealing with a Cave Mantis. If it turns out to actually be a Blade Mantis, youâll get hurt. Be careful.â
Elia nodded at those words and said
âOk.â
âHow do we distinguish them?â
âYou see⊠âtha blade mantis is just a tiny weeny little âbit bigger. But âtha thing is that itâs really not that big of a difference so you need that âlil somethin we call experience to distinguish them buggers. That thing over there is a Cave Mantis. Iâll lure the bugger, and help you âlil ones get a closer look, ok?â
After Zeff-san said that, he went near the Cave Mantis by himself until he got its attention, and then he came back. After he reached a place where Elia and I could see clearly, he received the attack of the Cave Mantis with a shield.
âThat is a Cave Mantis. Its scythe is a little fast, so please be careful when dealing with it.â
âOjou, take it down with your magic while Zeff is receiving its blows. And do take care not to hit Zeff.â
âDonât use Fire Magic, ok? Since here in the cave thereâs no place for the smoke to go.â
âI understand.â
âAnytime is fine, Ojousama!â
âThen⊠âIce Arrowâ! tch! âIce Arrowâ!â
The cave mantis dodged the first shot, but Elia fired a second shot almost immediately, and was able to take it down.
âThe speed of invocation is a pass but please try to aim better.â
âI understand.â
After that we walked for around 2 minutes until we found another Cave Mantis again. This time, there were 4.
âWhat will we do? A while ago Ojou did one, so I thought Ryouma would do this one but⊠4 all of the sudden may be a bit too much?â
When I heard that I replied to him that Iâll try.
âBe careful.â
I nodded at those words, took out two of my short swords, and invocated the neutral magic, âHardenâ.
I then ran up to the cave mantis. Noticing, me it turned towards me and then raised its scythe. Before the cave mantis brought its scythe down I took down the right foreleg supporting its body with a kick from my left leg and broke it. The cave mantis lost its balance and fell. I bring my right leg up and put my strength into it as I stomp against the head of the cave mantis, crushing it, then almost immediately turning to face the other two mantis that have already started rushing towards me.
Focusing on the timing of the second bugsâ scythes, raising up and striking down. I rotate my body 80 degrees counterclockwise at the perfect timing, just barely dodging the scythe. Continuing the movement of that rotation, I swing the short sword in my right hand, cutting its joint as the short sword in my left hand flashes by, decapitating the bug.
At that moment, the third cave mantis came at me from behind. I quickly change my backhand grip to a forehand grip as I rotate my body counterclockwise. I receive its blow with my right sword and parry it, as I do so the sword in my left hand mercilessly flashes by as it severs its head from its body.
Immediately right after, the fourth cave mantis came sweeping with its left scythe. As I dodge the approaching scythe, I receive it with my right sword and then I cut off its joint with my left. The cave mantis didnât back off and came sweeping with its right scythe, this time, I block it with my left and then sever its joint with my right sword. Having lost both its scythes, the mantis was left with no weapons to fight with and had its head lopped off by me.
Having ended the battle, I headed back to where Elia and the rest were.
âGood job, looks like you donât have any problems even with close combat. Ojou, bug type magical beasts are tough so please donât be careless until you’re able to separate its head or crush it like Ryouma did, ok?â
âI understand.â
âItâs good that you took extra measures and even used the hardening magic. With that, even if you were hit there wouldâve been no problems.â
Elia gave me a glance of admiration and said
âAs expected of Ryouma-san.â
Really, itâs because Iâve already gotten used to the green caterpillars back in the Forest of Gauna. Those things were weak, but they were a kind of magical beast that had high vitality.
We started walking again and after 30 minutes of walking, the only monsters to come out were the cave mantises. So, rather than training, it turned out to be a dull extermination job. As we kept doing that, we eventually reached the deepest part of the tunnel.
âLooks like this is the end.â
âIt was quite long but it was a straight road, so I guess this is the end?â
âThere are no more roads left so there should be no more monsters.â
âSo are we ending here?â
âThis place is basically a trench so although itâs long there arenât any complicated roads. Doesnât seem like we have any other choice other than to go back.â
âItâs unfortunate though, that only one kind of monster came out. I thought a bit more of a variety would come out butâŠâ
âThe cave bats and the small mice were most likely eaten by the cave mantises.â
So basically a bunch of mice and bats, huh?
(TL Note: this is the line I was talking about)
âThereâs no point in talking about something like that here. Letâs go back.â
With everyone agreeing with Hyuzu-san, we went out the tunnel. While we went out the tunnel, I took my slimes out of the Dimension Home and had them eat the cave mantises on the ground. When we got out, Rheinhart-san and the Madam were waiting for us.
The madam was the first to greet us.
âWelcome home~â
âHow was it?â
Elia, brimming with pride, puffed out her chest and said
âMother, father, I managed, to take down over 10 cave mantises!â
âThatâs pretty good for a first battle.â
âBut from midway onwards, Ryouma took the lead and took down over 20!â
Said Elia, looking like she was brimming with even more pride now.
âDid you get protected by Ryouma-kun?â
âWere there that many cave mantises there?â
Asked the Madam and Rheinhart-san respectively.
âWell from the looks of things, it would seem that the cave we entered was a nest of cave mantises. There wasnât a single magical beast aside from the cave mantises.â
âThen in that case letâs try entering a different tunnel this afternoon.â
âBefore that, though, letâs have some meal since itâs about time the others came back too.â
Being told that, I put my slimes back into the Dimension Home, and was led to an open place where everyone gathered and was having their meal.
That place was the surface of the mine from where the surrounding area could be seen well. The surface of the mine had an unusual pattern of black and reddish brown but there were some areas where heaps of reddish clay could be seen piled up. When I tried asking about it, it turned out to be the assigned area where they would throw away all the dirt theyâve excavated.
âWhat a wasteâŠâ
Although this mine has had a mining rate of mostly zero. That only means that there are no ores right? But it doesnât mean that the soil doesnât have iron content. Red soil, thatâs the color of rust, right? Since itâs like that, if I were to use Alchemy I would probably be able to create some iron but⊠since this is already an abandoned mine even if it were to produce a lot of iron it would still be of low quality⊠and also it seems that Alchemy has a bad reputation soâŠ
As I was thinking something like that, the preparation for our meal was completed and Elia called me over to eat.