Chapter 22

This time it's a bit short.

"Wait, wait, wait a minute! That's just not acceptable! Besides, I never intended to pay with my body! These are high heels, so they should cost around 50,000 Zeni, right? I'll pay with money later, I promise!"

Shaking her head from side to side, the adventurer clutched her large breasts as if to hide them. It might have been a bad statement. It seems I caused a misunderstanding.

"No, no, that's not what I meant! I didn't mean it that way..."

The idea that flashed through my mind wasn't about legally and secretly touching this adventurer's large breasts without Yuel finding out.

What I thought of was a way to buy Elise's clinic, in other words, a way to earn money. It's true that I intended to have this adventurer pay with her body, but not in a sexual way. I ended up using a misleading expression because I was thinking about that aspect just before.

"Master! If that's the case, then I'll..."

It seems Yuel also misunderstood.

Sitting next to me, Yuel gripped my hand tightly and looked up at me with her big eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, and she rubbed her thighs together nervously.

I wonder what she thinks I'm going to do.

I don't really want to think about it.

Looking around, I noticed people were glancing at us. It seems I drew attention by shouting in the bar. These gazes...

The statement about paying with her body after the treatment.

The adventurer hugging herself and glaring at me.

The young Yuel's nervous attitude.

...These are definitely gazes of contempt.

This is bad.

"No, no, that's not it! It was just a slip of the tongue... I didn't mean it that way! I just don't need the payment, I want you to help me in the dungeon! Yes, I want you to pay me back in the dungeon!"

"......Help in the dungeon...?"

I emphasized "dungeon." Since she's an adventurer, she should understand my intention. The adventurer's face showed that she understood. It seems the misunderstanding on her part has been cleared up.

Looking around, the gazes had softened. It seems they understood it was a misunderstanding. That was close. If a rumor spread that I required physical payment for treatment, it would have hindered my future plans.

I turned back to the adventurer. The urge to say, "I want you to help me with those large breasts," swelled up, but I suppressed it and continued.

"Yeah, actually..."

"I'll help! I'll help in the dungeon too!"

...It seems Yuel's misunderstanding wasn't cleared up.

With tears in her eyes and a desperate look, Yuel said this, tugging at my clothes as if to get my attention.

What exactly does she think is okay in the dungeon?

What does she think I want this adventurer to do in the dungeon after hearing this?

I shouldn't think about it. No, I don't want to think about it.

Anyway, the misunderstanding must be cleared up.

"Yuel, that's not it. I can't even imagine what you mean, but I'm pretty sure it's not that."

Yes, what I need help with is just one thing.

"The help I need in the dungeon... is to defeat the Huge Slime."

---

Three days later.

"Alright, everyone, let's do our best!"

"YEAH!!!"

In the boss room of the seventh floor, adventurers with shields lined up in front of the Huge Slime. There were ten of them, mostly members of the Giant Ant Victims' Association, though such an association doesn't actually exist.

This number is the result of three days of effort, introducing "injured adventurers who can't afford treatment" to Eito, Geyser, and the clinic's customers.

Most of the adventurers I asked for help were beginners.

This dungeon is very profitable on the seventh floor compared to the effort required. The slimes are as weak as Fangrabbits on the first floor, but they drop magic stones of the seventh floor level. Many adventurers want to hunt on the seventh floor.

However, to reach the seventh floor, one must pass through the sixth floor. And on the sixth floor are the Giant Ants. Those terrifying Giant Ants that easily tore off the legs of Eito, who was somewhat accustomed to the dungeon, and me, who was trying to run through the sixth floor at full speed.

Many beginner adventurers, blinded by the prospect of money, try to reach the sixth floor despite their lack of skill and end up losing their legs to the Giant Ants.

However, losing a leg and being unable to continue as an adventurer is rare. One can go to a large clinic or a church to get treated.

However, poor adventurers can't afford the treatment.

It's also difficult to borrow money, as there are few places that would lend to a beginner adventurer. Even if they could do other jobs with their hands, it's hard to save up for treatment quickly.

So, I searched for such adventurers, got them introduced, and it took three days to finally gather enough manpower to take on the Huge Slime. Most of them were beginners without any skills. Not all of them were skilled, in fact, most were not. But that's fine. What I needed was just a meat wall.

The bottleneck in making a fortune from hunting Huge Slimes was the need for a large number of meat walls to safely take down the huge body of the Huge Slime. However, the more party members, the less the share of the loot.

So, I offered to heal injured adventurers for free in exchange for a day of boss hunting.

Healing injured adventurers who can't afford it wouldn't help the clinic's auction. Instead, I decided to use their bodies to pay quickly.

The adventurers were happy to solve their problem of not being able to afford treatment with just a day's work. And I was happy to monopolize the loot from the Huge Slime. It was a win-win relationship.

The Huge Slime collided with the adventurers, making a dull, loud sound. Even with many people, the burden still fell on the center of the front line, and there were inevitably injuries. If we took a second charge, the battle line might collapse.

"Area Heal!"

As long as I'm here, they can return to the fight immediately. And they can do it multiple times. The pain of injury lasts only a moment.

"Fireball!"

I managed to secure three magic users. Immediately after the body slam, three magic spells pierced the vulnerable Huge Slime, causing its slime to splatter.

The elimination speed was much faster than when I was with Geyser. At this rate, we could earn over a million Zeni today.

It's a huge profit. Even if the Giant Ant Victims' Association members are no longer around, it might be good to do this again after some time.

As I was thinking this, Yuel delivered the final blow to the shrinking Huge Slime.

"Master! It's a Slime Drop!"

I gently patted Yuel's head as she ran over and stored the drop in the item box. It was the first one.

Then, we repeated the Huge Slime hunt for a whole day.

After selling the drops and returning to the inn, the amount of money left in my hands was 1.6 million Zeni. Normally, this would be divided among the participants, and then the cost of expensive potions would be deducted, but this time, there was none of that. The result was a large sum of money left over.

The next day was the clinic auction. I won the bid for Elise's clinic.