That was probably why she’d been so distrusting of humans, and she’d been wary of me since the moment she’d woken up. But her hostility was now gone thanks to the blessing of the god Knorr and the salted bread from my local bakery, and she was actually starting to warm up to me.
Salt was a valuable commodity in this world, so any food with lots of salt on it was considered a luxury. Thanks to the salted bread, a little warmth had returned to Scrael’s battered heart.
But seriously, I’d nearly wet my pants every time she’d glared at me with that murderous look in her eyes. I wished she wouldn’t do that anymore because I didn’t want to develop stomach ulcers when I wasn’t even in my twenties yet.
“This white thing feels cold,” said Scrael, curiously touching the white cloth stuck to her arm.
“That’s a medicated patch,” I explained. “If it’s cool to the touch, it means it’s working, so just leave it on for now.”
“Is this some sort of magical medicine?”
“No, it’s just a cheap pain reliever that costs around ten yen—I mean, an iron coin each. It eases up the pain, right?”
“I see...” said Scrael noncommittally.
“The adhesive will wear out if you peel it off, so try not to touch it.”
“Got it.”
It seemed medicated patches were foreign to her, or maybe it was their adhesiveness that she found so fascinating. The closest thing they had in this world was a poultice made by heating theas, herbs of this world, which would then be applied to the wound and fastened with a bandage.
I would’ve given her a healing potion, which was one of the many miraculous items of this world, but I’d recently used up every single one I had. I’d used up most of my magic reserves fighting Blood Bats and the Four-Armed Goat, so I had to leave any noncritical injuries as is and save my energy for any fights we’d encounter on the way out of here. After all, field trips didn’t end until you got home, and adventures didn’t end until you returned to the main hall.
The medicated patch I’d thrown into my safari bag for this dive had ended up coming in handy. Once we left the dungeon, Scrael would just need to rest up or get healed by a mage.
We began to see more and more people around as we approached the exit. We were also getting more and more curious glances, but we continued walking, pretending not to notice. Still, we couldn’t help but hear the whispers.
“Is that a Long-Ears?”
“That kid’s parents must be loaded if he has a slave already.”
“The Long-Ears is damn cute though. I would’ve bought her myself if she was still for sale.”
“He’s really running her into the ground, by the looks of it. And I’ll bet he’s gonna give her some more exercise once they get home. Cruel bastard.”
No, you all have the wrong idea. Scrael is not my slave; I just happened to help her. I don’t deserve the insults or finger-pointing behind my back.
The walk through the Great Forest Ruins was somehow more arduous than defeating the boss, but I endured. Eventually, a staircase came into view.
“We’re here. Man, it feels like I’m coming home from a long, exhausting journey. Especially the walk home, and the walk home, and the walk home. I’m pooped.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Scrael. It seemed the whispers had taken a toll on her too.
We continued walking toward the Gandakia Dungeon Divers Guild building, which was built around the dungeon entrance.
The Gandakia Dungeon was in the Free City of Freida, the city that ran the Divers Guild. The guild provided support for adventurers and their various jobs in many ways: they acted as a vendor for materials and food obtained in the dungeon, leased and rented out weapons, offered guides, determined rankings for Divers of all power levels, and so forth.
Just as usual, I headed toward the usual receptionist at the usual window, except this time I was accompanied by Scrael. Because of the ranking system, we were assigned specific receptionists, and we had to report to the same person each time.
There was a long row of windows to accommodate the many Divers and teams in the guild. I walked up to a specific window, which happened to have no one waiting in line.
“Ashley! I’m back!” I called out as I waved from a distance.
The red-haired woman at the reception window, Ashley Poney, smiled and waved back.
“Welcome back, Kudo. How did you do? Did you make lots and lots of money?”
“About the same as usual,” I replied, and the money-mongering Ashley’s happy expression immediately changed into blatant discontent.
“Aww. I was going to ask you to buy me something if you scored big today. Lame.”
“Um, you probably shouldn’t be demanding money from your juniors,” I said.
“What are you talking about? Age has nothing to do with it. A man has a duty to pay for everythi— I mean, treat girls every once in a while. Remember that.”
“You almost said we should pay for everything, didn’t you?”
“Did I? Anyway, what did you do today?”
I sighed at Ashley’s not-so-subtle attempt at changing the subject, then replied, “I was boring myself to sleep leveling off of Blood Bats in the Dark Corridor.”
“You might be the only person who does that like it’s no big deal,” said Ashley with a look that was a mixture of astonishment and exasperation.
“There are plenty of other high-ranking Divers who hunt Blood Bats,” I pointed out. “It’s a really efficient leveling spot.”
“But no one else does it solo!” she objected. Then she saw Scrael. “Wait...who’s that girl who’s way too cute to be hanging out with you?”
“Well, that was a casual verbal slap in the face. I have feelings too, you know.”
“I mean, your face is so ordinary and plain. A Long-Ears girl is way out of your— Oh?”
Midway through her barrage of insults, Ashley noticed the collar around Scrael’s neck.