Ryoma and the New Acquaintance

Ryoma and the New Acquaintance is the seventeenth episode of the By the Grace of the Gods (anime).

Summary
Seeking to take on some adventurer quests from the Adventurer Guild to raise his rank, Ryoma accepts a delivery quest to someone in Keleban. The quest makes Ryoma gain a new acquaintance there and perhaps a future business opportunity.

Plot
At his shop, Ryoma learns from Carme that a Cleaner Slime had eaten some charcoal intended to purify the kitchen, while he was away. Maria said after it ate some charcoal, it gradually started eating less laundry grime. Remorseful of not paying closer attention to this, Ryoma assures Carme that it's okay since the Cleaner Slime will evolve soon, and he'll handle the rest. Furthermore, Ryoma asks that Carme report similar incidents in the future to him.

Eventually, Ryoma informs Carme of his plans for an extended trip to retrieve some heirlooms his grandfather left him. Hence, in preparation for it, Ryoma intends to focus his time on tasks from the Adventurer Guild. Carme understands, but when learning ist Ryoma is from the Great Forest, he is astonished that he is still alive because of how infamously dangerous the area is.

Later, Ryoma visits the Adventurer Guild, and his chat with the guild receptionist Maylene is interrupted when two adventurers court the newest receptionist there Paena. Maylene asks Ryoma if it's alright if Paena handles Ryoma's task to gain more experience while she observes, and he allows it.

Within a room on the guild's 2nd floor, Ryoma announces his goal to raise his Adventurer Rank from E - C and would like to accept quests involving a list of certain monsters. A few monsters included Treant, Mad Salamander, and Calif Monkey, some of which weren't E-Ranked monsters, but Ryoma planned to take them on when he reached the appropriate Rank. Furthermore, Ryoma requests basic information on the listed monsters and the monsters within the Great Forest. Maylene cautiously notes the area, and Ryoma elaborates on his connection and goal of the place.

Once that was all settled, Ryoma requested a short-term quest job that'd allow him to level up quickly. Paena then briskly fetches a quest sheet for a parcel delivery to Keleban. The quest was recommended to Ryoma because of its short time limit and his Item Box skill, and Ryoma accepted it, noting it's where the magic item market was held.

Reaching Keleban, Ryoma learns about the area and the upcoming magical item market from the city gatekeeper. He then delivers the parcel to Dinome's shop, and Dinome insists on serving him a cup of tea before he leaves. Trying it, Ryoma notes that it tastes more like coffee than tea and asks what kind it is, which Dinome claims is Dante.

Just then, Serge enters the shop and is shown to be acquainted with Dinome as his shop is one of many he most frequents. Once Dinome and Ryoma formally introduced each other to the other, Dinome asked Serge and Ryoma if they were interested in seeing some neat stuff in his back room. The things of interest were some Magimobiles, and Ryoma took an immediate interest in one shaped like a carrier. However, Dinome claims it wasn't a magimobile, but a regular carrier that a neighbor asked him to repair. The revelation surprised Serge, who thought that Dinome typically turned down non-magic-related jobs. To Dinome's confession, he needs money for his grandson's tuition for the academy in the capital and shows a device his grandson made.

When Ryoma and Serge leave Dinome's shop, Ryoma is shown to have been gifted Dinome's grandson's device. Needing a place to stay and interested in attending the magical item market the following day, Serge offers to show Ryoma the inn he was staying at, and Ryoma takes him up on his offer.

Led to the inn, Serge leaves Ryoma until he returns later that evening, leaving Ryoma some free time to tinker with his own magical item. Ryoma would show the item to Serge during dinner, claiming it was a magical box toy. Fascinated by the toy, Serge claims that nothing like it exists and that if he puts more effort into it, it'd sell for great value to those in nobility. Before they could talk more in-depth about the item, like who could mass produce it, their dinner was served.

Later, as they're walking back to their inn, Serge suggests that Ryoma ask Dinome to mass produce his toy, noting Dinome's fondness for him. Although Ryoma is hesitant, Serge assures him that Dinome can handle it, as he has three apprentices and offers to deliver it to Dinome the following day, and Ryoma allows him to.

Inside his room at the inn, Ryoma writes a letter to Eliaria about his time in Keleban.

Characters

 * Ryoma Takebayashi
 * Carme Norad
 * Maria (Mentioned)
 * Maylene
 * Paena
 * Dinome
 * Serge Morgan
 * Eliaria Jamil (Mentioned)