Chapter 19

Just now, did I hear you say "Elis"?

No, it might have been a mishearing.

Rather, I hope it was a mishearing.

"......Sorry, I didn't hear that well. Could you say it again?"

"It's Ms. Elis."

...It seems it wasn't a mishearing after all.

Could it be that Elis?

No, no, Elis is a common name.

It could be someone else.

There might be another Elis, completely unrelated, working at some clinic somewhere.

"What kind of person is this Ms. Elis?"

"Well, she's a beautiful blonde and very kind."

It could be Elis.

"But when a drunk caused a scene, she chased them out with a really scary look."

It's definitely Elis.

"And, um... oh, she has a really big chest!"

Ah, it's definitely Elis.

It seems the waitress who sold her house to pay off debts was really that Elis.

But I've never heard that Elis had any debts.

Elis's clinic didn't seem to have much money, but that was only in comparison to other clinics.

A clinic, after all, can be opened with just one healer and a place to set up shop.

Of course, a typical healer would run out of magic power after treating a few people in a row, and treating a major injury could deplete their magic in one go. That's why larger clinics hire many healers.

However, there was no one else working at Elis's clinic besides me.

It was a small clinic, just a renovated house.

There was no one to pay salaries to, so that shouldn't have been an issue.

Besides, I heard that the building was left to her by her parents, who had run the clinic for years.

Elis herself shouldn't have had to take out a large loan to build the clinic.

She probably pays property taxes, but that's about it.

But could a clinic that was barely making ends meet end up with debts so large that she had to sell it?

Even if the location was bad and there weren't many customers, it shouldn't have been impossible for Elis to earn a living.

And when I worked there, there were enough customers that Elis couldn't handle them all on her own.

Maybe my clinic took away her customers?

No, among the customers at my clinic, only Luluka and a couple of others had ever visited Elis's clinic.

...And Luluka might not even count as a customer.

Besides, my clinic didn't have lower prices like Elis's, so the customer base was different.

The locations were also quite far apart.

Even if there was some competition, it shouldn't have been enough to put her out of business.

"Yuel, do you know when Elis started working at the tavern?"

"Um, the day after I started working."

Right before she sold the clinic, then.

Was working at the tavern Elis's choice after deciding to sell the clinic, or did she take the job to try to earn money to avoid selling it?

"Do you know where Elis is now?"

"I went to the inn with her after work, so she's probably still there. Um, do you know her, sir?"

Elis is definitely an acquaintance.

But Elis, who gave me a job when I first arrived in this world, and who taught me the basics despite finding me suspicious for claiming to be from a distant country, isn't just an acquaintance.

I shouldn't be saying this as someone who was fired for harassment, but I think this is the right way to put it.

"Elis is my benefactor."

---

Leaving the tavern, I returned to the inn.

Yuel apparently knew which room Elis was staying in.

Following Yuel, I headed to Elis's room.

It was the room next to the one Yuel and I were staying in, just before the corner room on the second floor.

Yuel knocked on the door.

"Ms. Elis, are you there?"

When Yuel called out, the door opened immediately.

A beautiful girl with long blonde hair to her shoulders stepped out.

She had a slightly mature air for her eighteen years and a chest that seemed about to burst out.

It was definitely Elis.

"It's you, Yuel. What's up? Didn't you say you were going to the dungeon with your master today?"

"Um, my master said he needed to talk to you."

Elis gently patted Yuel's head and spoke kindly—then she looked at me, standing a bit away.

"It's been a while..."

"Why are you here?"

Her voice was different from the gentle tone she used with Yuel, cold and chilling.

Her kind eyes had turned into a sharp glare.

Of course, she's angry.

"Ms. Elis, this is my master!"

Yuel said with a beaming smile.

She puffed out her nonexistent chest, looking somewhat pleased.

Elis smiled kindly at Yuel—

then approached me and whispered.

"Yuel told me you were clean, kind, and respectable. Why are you being called 'master' by Yuel?"

"Well, I am clean... No, never mind."

Please stop glaring at me from such a close distance.

Can you kill someone with just a look, Elis?

"Ha, to think you'd go after such a little girl..."

But will I be labeled as a lolicon again?

I can't argue with that, given my behavior.

"It's not like that. I'm an adventurer now, and we're exploring the dungeon together."

"An adventurer... Ha. Yuel said you take good care of her and she seemed happy about it. So, what do you need?"

I thought I'd be labeled as a lolicon, but it seems I wasn't.

And she's willing to listen.

She's definitely still angry, but maybe she's cooled down a bit.

"You're working at the tavern, right? I heard you decided to sell the clinic."

"That's none of your business."

Elis lowered her eyes and slightly averted her gaze.

"I've been running a clinic at the tavern recently."

"True, the number of customers did drop significantly after you left, but that's not related. It just returned to the state before I hired you."

It seems it went back to the state before I arrived.

Originally, Elis's clinic didn't have many customers, but when I was there, there were enough to keep things going.

And after I left, the business declined.

"I was planning to sell the house before spring, even if you hadn't come. I couldn't pay you a fair salary, and I would have gone bankrupt eventually. It just didn't work out. I'm still angry about the discounts you gave and the bath incident, but this isn't your fault. It was a decision I made from the start."

But if I had continued working, maybe I could have kept it going a bit longer.

"But still..."

"I never told you, but I have a younger sister. She's aiming to become a knight. Three years ago, just before our parents died in an accident, she went to the capital to attend the knight academy. She was very enthusiastic about becoming a knight. But after our parents died and I was left alone, the number of customers dropped significantly. I'm not as skilled as my parents... So, I took out loans to pay for her tuition and living expenses. It's not your fault."

You have a sister.

I never knew... But Elis probably didn't want to show her weaknesses.

She didn't want to worry or elicit sympathy.

Elis's clinic was originally run by her parents.

At the time, they had enough to pay for her sister's tuition, so they sent her to the knight academy.

But soon after, Elis's parents died in an accident.

Left alone, Elis, who was just an average healer, couldn't keep up with the clinic's declining customer base.

She couldn't pay for her sister's tuition and living expenses.

But Elis wanted her sister to continue at the knight academy.

So, she sent her money, depleting her savings.

As time went on, her savings ran out, and she started taking out loans to keep the money flowing.

Then, just as things were getting out of hand, I arrived.

Elis had already decided to sell the clinic, but seeing my healing skills, she thought I might help turn things around.

Or maybe she felt sorry for me, a jobless and clueless newcomer, and hired me at a clinic she planned to close.

But then I was fired for harassment, and the business declined again.

With no hope of paying off her debts, Elis decided to sell the clinic as planned.

This is my guess, but it's probably something like that.

"Did you pay off all the debts?"

If the debt payments are overdue, there's a risk of being sold to slave traders.

If she hasn't paid off her debts, I should help.

"There's an auction for the house in a week. Even at a low price, it should fetch over a million zennies, which will cover the debts. I've also finished paying for my sister's tuition, so there's no problem."

"How much is the debt? I, I mean, if you don't have to sell the clinic, I can try to..."

Elis chuckled and said—

"It's not something you need to worry about. The clinic was going to be sold regardless of whether you were there or not. I have no attachment to it anymore. I'll be fine. I'll look for a job at another clinic while working at the tavern."

She said this kindly and went back into her room.

---

After talking to Elis, I lost the urge to explore the dungeon and spent the whole time thinking about her in the inn.

The clinic will be auctioned in a week.

It will likely fetch at least a million zennies.

Elis has a sister attending the knight academy.

Elis, who was working at the tavern late at night despite planning to sell the clinic.

Was it a sign that she didn't want to give up on the clinic until the last possible moment?

...Maybe Elis wanted to wait for her sister to return at the clinic her parents left behind.

Leaning against the wall, I thought about what to do next.

If possible, I want to prevent the clinic from being auctioned and bought by someone else.

But if I offer to pay off her debts, she might refuse.

The only way to prevent the clinic from falling into someone else's hands is for me to buy it at the auction.

But earning over a million zennies in a week, or even 1.5 million or 2 million, is extremely difficult.

My daily earnings, working as both an adventurer and a healer, are around 7,000 zennies.

I'd need to connect with nobles, merchants, or the wealthy to use Exheal to earn that much.

But I have no credibility.

I don't have a rank as a priest, or titles like bishop or archbishop, or any training from a specific church.

If I approach them saying I can use Exheal, they'll just see me as a fraud.

Besides, the wealthy, if they have serious injuries, will go to the church and pay a high priest to heal them.

Finding injured people with money who haven't been treated yet is not something I can do without connections.

I can't think of a way to earn a large sum of money.

But I have to think of something.

Within a week.

Elis might not know this, but the walls in this inn are thin.

Just leaning against the wall, I can hear almost everything from the next room.

Elis said she had no attachment to the clinic.

But.

...Then why.

Why is Elis crying on the other side of the wall?