CH 9

Karina-chan here. I duplicated the clothes (starting equipment) the Goddess gave me.

Wearing duped clothing… not fashionable!

Eh? What's that about selling duplicates being a last resort?

It's for my personal use, so it's fine! Besides, I'm the type of person who wants to collect all the items in a game.

Since I had a storage space that worked like a game's [Bag] with infinite space, I couldn't possibly sell the Goddess's starting equipment.

Well, it's safe this time because it was more taken from me than me selling it.

I don't know what drunk me said. I don't remember. Seriously.

… Ugh, I'm a little dizzy.

As the Goddess said, duplicating things seems to use a lot of MP.

"Thank you. I've said my goodbyes."

"Mm."

I returned the duped clothes to Harumikazuchi.

Harumikazuchi took a puff from her pipe, then exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"… If they're that important, I can hold onto them for you instead of selling them?"

What a kind woman. Thank God she was my first time.

No, thank the Goddess!

"Ah, don't worry about it. I actually have a few more of the same outfit."

"Oh, so you do? I'll sell it off right away then. Well, it does look like it would suit me too."

I answered like that to avoid an awkward situation if we met again and I was wearing the same clothes.

"Excuse me, Harumikazuchi-san. I-is it okay if I come again?"

"I don't mind given that I'm in the business of serving customers, but aren't we a little too high-class for a newbie like you?"

Uguh! It's true that this sort of establishment was the kind of place C-rank adventurers like Blade would freequent.

It was also the sort of entertainment service that would provide various adult services to its customers, so it was obviously more expensive than normal.

I need to become a merchant and start making money as soon as possible…

"Besides, if you're just after my body… I did enjoy being seduced in such an interesting way yesterday, but next time will cost you. Even if you're a woman."

"Oh, umm… That would much cost how much?"

"Let me see, depending on how I'm feeling… around a hundred gold coins, maybe. I'm not normally for sale in the first place."

A giggling Harumikazuchi tickled my chin with her left hand, causing my body to jump.

A bittersweet feeling tightened deep within my chest as my heart pounded… Grr, how the hell did I manage to seduce this Onee-sama yesterday!?

"Geh—owwwww…"

"Oh, you're awake, senpai?"

"Y-yeah…"

Blade woke up and rubbed his eyes. He was only in his underpants.

Now that I had a chance to look, he was rather muscular. I'd expect nothing else from an adventurer in the vanguard position of his team.

"Huh, why am I in my underwear? Oh, Anego."

"Really. You made quite a spectacle of yourself in front of the rookie."

"Ooooh…"

Blade looked at us with an embarrassed expression.

"Uh… could I ask for the tab? At least for my equipment."

"Hmph, I'll let it slide since you paid yesterday. Go earn some more money."

"I'm indebted to you!"

Harumikazuchi tossed Blade's equipment and empty wallet next to him in a pile as if she was used to this.

"Listen, Karina. You have to secure your equipment no matter what, even if it means lowering your head. It's an important piece of advice from your senior."

"(Sounds a bit pathetic, but) Understood."

"… Wait, huh? Anego, my sword's not here?"

Still putting on his clothes, Blade checked the equipment she'd tossed to him.

"Naturally," Harumikazuchi replied while puffing on her pipe.

"I charged a bit more than usual for this Jou-chan's share. I'll give it back after you pay five large copper coins as a deposit. Go kill some Slimes or something, you're good at that, aren't you?" Harumikazuchi chuckled as she continued puffing on her pipe, adding, "You should take care of the girl while you're at it."

Onee-sama, I want to fluff your tail.

"… We'll head to the materials storage after this. I'll show you my woodworking skills."

"Yes sir, I'll study hard, sir!"

Thank you for taking care of me, I guess?

Oh. By the way, it seems that diseases and contraception could be dealt with using magic and potions. There were special magic tools for that sort of thing in establishments like this. (Excerpt from Basic Knowledge-san)

This world's amazing!

We prepared some simple equipment using Blade's woodworking skills and headed to the forest outside the town to hunt Slimes.

"Slime hunting is better with disposable equipment. If you think about it, it's a pretty good job for rookies, although it's dangerous."

It seemed that people had to properly maintain their equipment after hunting Slimes or it would become useless, but they'd also just throwaway disposable equipment as necessary.

"Don't space out, Karina. There aren't many other monsters around here, but this is a Slime-heavy area. If you get surrounded by three or more, you have to dash away or you'll die."

"Got it, sir! I'll be very careful, sir!"

"Good answer. You'll make a good adventurer."

Blade-senpai, has answering like that become a habit for you?

"And don't try to copy what I'm about to do. It'd be great if you could, but rookies should stick to breaking their core to defeat them."

"Eh, what are you planning to do?"

"Well, I'm going to—actually, here's a perfect example."

A wild Slime appeared right in front of us. It was a round, jelly-like creature about the size of a tree stump. Inside it was a round core floating about.

Blade aimed at the core with his makeshift weapon and thrust it forward.

The makeshift weapon penetrated the Slime's body—slowing down for a moment just before hitting the core, then accelerated again and piercing through—pushing the undamaged core out of the Slime's body, which then rolled away.

"Woah!"

"That's generally how it's done. However, it'll turn back into a Slime if you leave it like this, so you have to deliver it on the same day you hunted it."

It seemed that undamaged cores were bought at a higher price. Even broken cores could be used as materials or nutrients for Scavenger Slimes, so they were still bought at a reasonable price.

… I could easily extract their cores with spatial magic.

Actually, it might be better disguise it as blowing away their gelatinous mass with wind magic.

"Could I try using magic for a bit?"

"Go for it. I'm with you today, so feel free to give stuff a shot."

"Thanks, sir!"

I immediately tried using magic on the next Slime that appeared.

I captured all but the slime's core with spatial magic.

Deforming it, I slid it and broke it apart to look as if I used wind magic to blow it away!

"Burst!"

Pachun!

The gelatinous mass exploded and scattered, leaving only the core behind. Great success.

"Oh, that worked~"

"… Not bad. At this rate, you'll quickly earn your guild certification fee."

"I was just able to use magic because you're keeping an eye out for me, Senpai."

"Ooh, you've got a good sense for this if you already understand that. You're really going to make a good adventurer."

In that manner, we each successfully obtained five undamaged Slime cores.