Chapter 43: Treating Your Friend

Original: Chapter 43: Treating Your Friend

My serious senior seems to have her eyes wide open in surprise. Is she shocked after checking the Potion she bought from me?

“W-wow, this is an incredibly high-performance Potion. Where did you buy it?”

I never expected to receive praise.

“It’s from a shop run by a Dungeonfolk named Miss Rilril. I supply her shop with them every day.”

“…Huh? You made this?”

“Yes, but shouldn’t you hurry and treat your friend?”

“Ah! You’re right.”

I was curious, so I decided to tag along.

It seemed they were hiding near a wall just a short distance away. It was a spot where the trees grew a bit denser.

Peering behind the trees, I saw three female students in Tracksuits.

They were all battered, but one of them was in particularly terrible shape.

Her arm was broken, there were traces of her having coughed up blood, and her appearance was so painful to look at it made you want to avert your eyes. There was no way she could move in that state. She was lying down, with her head resting on one of her companions’ laps.

“That’s awful…”

I voiced my honest impression. Given that condition, maybe 10,000 Pon for a Potion is fair. No, come to think of it, I think they would have bought it even if the price were higher.

Because if they were discovered by a Monster in that state, they’d undoubtedly die. If you think of it as the price of a companion’s very life, 10,000 Pon is pretty cheap.

“We accidentally got spotted by a Raging Orc.”

That’s the one I desperately defeated earlier.

“There was a Level Difference that we normally would absolutely avoid fighting, but we were caught off guard. The four of us managed to take it down somehow, but one of us took concentrated attacks and ended up like this…”

Four of them for this…? Maybe it was actually amazing that I took down a Raging Orc all by myself.

The female student who bought the Potion crouched down. It seemed she was going to give the Potion to her immobilized friend.

“Here, I bought a Potion. Can you drink it?”

There was no reply. But she was still alive.

“I’ll help you drink it.”

Slowly, slowly, she tilted the bottle and helped her drink the Potion. Then, the severely injured female student visibly began to recover her strength. Her broken arm seemed completely healed too.

It seemed my Potion’s performance was too high; her HP was fully recovered after drinking only about half of it. The severely injured girl became completely energetic and sat up.

She was a sporty, boyish girl with a slightly darker complexion. When she stood up, all her companions looked relieved.

“Whew, my bad, my bad. I was planning to handle things a bit better.”

She seemed like a lively and easygoing person.

“Honestly! We agreed to run if we ran out of Potions, right? Why did you go on the Attack instead?”

The serious female student was scolding her. But she didn’t look the least bit remorseful.

“That’s why I said my bad. I’ll handle it better next time.”

“That’s not the point—”

“Are you the kid who sold the Potion? Thanks.”

“Ah, no, you’re welcome…”

“Hey, listen to me properly!”

The lecture looked like it was going to be long. I should probably make my exit here. I’m an outsider, after all.

“Well, I’ll be going then.”

“Ah, yeah. Thank you. You really saved us. Okay? Just so you know, charity work or free service—that kind of thing is absolutely taboo in the Dungeon.”

“Yes. Thank you for telling me. It reminded me of how, on my first day in the Dungeon, I was betrayed by a classmate and nearly died. There are plenty of bad people in the Dungeon, right?”

Ah, the seniors’ expressions turned sympathetic. I meant it as a funny story, but maybe it sounded dark to others.

I gave a slight bow and hastily made my exit.

Anyway, it was good that the severely injured person was healed, and I was happy my Potion was useful. Plus, it was a good lesson.

“From now on, no more charity work or free service,” I resolved.

I had walked for about five minutes after that.

An unpleasant classmate, whose face I sort of knew, was looking around as if searching for someone.

That’s one of the people who left me behind in the Red Zone on my first day in the Dungeon.

I’ll pretend I didn’t see him. I decided to walk, keeping to the shadows of the trees.

“Ah, perfect timing. Hey, got a minute? Hey, I’m talking to you. Oy, listen up. Hey, don’t pretend you don’t know me.”

Tch, he spotted me. “Don’t pretend you don’t know me”? But we’re practically strangers—