Translator(s): Yomigaeru    Editor(s): Yuzuha    Proofreader(s): Yomigaeru

Side Story: The Redheaded Adventurer

It's been a week since I came to this world.

How did I end up in this world? I don't know the reason.

However, even if I don't know the reason, I'll starve without something to eat.

If I give in to drowsiness outdoors, I'm liable to freeze to death in this cold, winter climate.

In order to go on living, in order to buy food, in order to secure lodging, I need to earn money.

It's like an unavoidable curse for those who possess living flesh.

That's why I decided to beg and plead with Eris, the big-breasted beauty whom I ran into on the streets, to let me work at this hospital.

「I suppose it's about time for lunch. It will take me a little time to prepare, so please take care of things for a while.」

「Yeah, got it.」

During this week, I've learned various things from Eris, like where we are, what magic is, and so on.

A world where magic exists. A world of diverse races.

It's completely different from the j.a.pan I was living in up until now.

Of course, I've had my worries… but well, when I gaze at Eris' giant knockers, none of that seems to matter anymore.

I'm not the type to dwell on things I can't change. And for a little while, it seems like I'll be able to get by somehow thanks to Eris' kindness.

Besides, my healing magic ability was apparently amazing enough to shock her.

By helping out here, I should at least be able to keep my stomach full.

…Well, it's not like there aren't any problems, though.

Has Eris never lived together with a man before? She's overly defenseless.

Like yesterday, she was casually drying her underwear in the room.

How long will my reason last against this defenseless Eris and her ma.s.sive melons?

I don't have a shred of self-confidence as far as that's concerned.

「…A-A customer?」

I'm mulling that over, when the door to the hospital suddenly opens.

And in walks a girl.

She has red hair that just about reaches down to her shoulders.

She's wearing a cloak long enough to cover her entire body from the shoulders down, securely fastened in front.

It makes her look like a teru teru bōzu.

She sits down in the chair in front of me,

「Um, one Heal, please.」

and says that. Then, she gingerly sticks her right arm out from under the cloak.

On it, there's some purplish-red discoloration of the skin; perhaps from internal bleeding?

…It seems to be a bruise.

No, there may even be some bone fractures. That looks painful.

But well, if it's just on the level of bone fractures, a single Heal will do the trick.

Since I started working at this hospital, I've gotten used to healing magic.

I could heal something on this level with my eyes closed.

「Well then, Heal.」

Then, I invoke healing magic.

When I do-

the girl in front of me glows brightly enough to dazzle my eyes.

「Ahh…」

「Eh!? W-What's this!?」

Oh c.r.a.p. I was careless.

When Heal is invoked, usually it should emit a faint, green glow.

But the one just now was clearly different.

No matter how you look at it, that wasn't normal.

With brightness like that, it's as if I cast EX Heal on her entire body.

Even though I only cast Heal on her arm.

「E-Ehhh…? That light, that wasn't Heal!?」

Redhead-chan seems confused, but I know the cause.

I messed up my mana manipulation.

The day before yesterday too, the same sort of thing happened with a different customer.

Afterwards, as a result of verifying my healing magic with Eris, we established the fact that my mana capacity is out of the ordinary.

Having an enormous mana capacity is a strength for a healer, but in a certain respect it's also a weakness. That being the precision of my mana manipulation.

Manipulating this enormous amount of mana precisely is like trying to pour juice from a steel barrel into a tiny cup.

If my attention wavers even a little, my mana will easily overflow and go out of control.

「A-All better?」

It's not like there's any particular problem if I screw up with a customer, but this one s.h.i.+ned unusually bright in comparison.

By some chance, there's a possibility that the healing magic didn't go off correctly.

I need to confirm.

Redhead-chan looks at her own arm, at which point she seems to realize something and peeks beneath her cloak.

「I-I'm healed… eh, no way, even the scars? …Everything, everything is healed!?」

So she's healed. Apparently it worked fine.

「I see, that's great. Well then, one Heal comes to 200 Zeni.」

「Y-You only want 200 Zeni!?」

Redhead-chan's eyes widen as she speaks.

This is something I heard from other customers, but this hospital is apparently cheap compared to other places.

Occasionally, customers who came without knowing that are surprised.

「Yeah, since it's an ordinary Heal, that costs 200 Zeni here.」

「B-But…」

Redhead-chan is bewildered.

She might even be feeling guilty over receiving healing for cheaper than market price.

Although she's showing me an apologetic face, she looks at her bank card and seems to be hesitating.

She probably doesn't have much money.

If it bothers her that much then I'd like for her to show me her grat.i.tude with her body… a part of me thought that, but in the end, her teru teru bōzu appearance with zero exposure or s.e.x appeal isn't doing it for me.

She should at least take off her cloak since we're indoors.

「Well, don't worry about it.」

And the one who set the price wasn't me, it was Eris.

「…T-Thank you.」

Redhead-chan expresses her thanks. Before I forget, I receive the 200 Zeni with my bank card.

Man, is it just my imagination or is she kinda staring at me?

Then Redhead-chan acts a little perplexed and asks me a question.

「Umm, about that healing magic just now…」

…I wonder if she's suspicious after all, since that wasn't the glow of a Heal.

And nearly all the healers of this world study at this religious group known as the Church of Medine or whatever to learn healing magic, so in that respect I'm something of an unlicensed pract.i.tioner.

I also get the feeling that it'd be bad if anyone grills me too deeply about my healing magic.

-Then, at that moment.

Something even worse happens.

It's Eris.

Eris comes over from the inner hospital, face twitching.

「H-Hey, s.h.i.+ki. One pair of my underwear is missing; y-you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you…?」

「W-Well then, miss customer, that will be all! …Eris, of course it wasn't me. But missing underwear, how terrible! Let's search for it together!」

It wasn't me.

Okay, it was me, but I haven't used it for obscene purposes.

It's just that there was underwear within my reach, so I unconsciously grabbed a pair and ended up stas.h.i.+ng it under my bed, that's all.

I'm interested in girls' bodies, but I'm not some pervert who gets off from a mere pair of underwear.

That's why it wasn't me.

「W-Wait a minute! I… I mean, t-that healing magic just now… that must've been…!」

The redheaded girl is calling out to me, but I don't have time for that right now.

I honestly didn't have any special reason for it, it was merely a pa.s.sing fancy.

You could call it a reflex, or an impulse.

Even now, I don't know why I did such a thing.

I simply acted on instinct and ended up hiding it before I realized what I was doing.

If I had to name a reason, it was because it was right there in front of me.

That's all.

「I-It really wasn't you…?」

「Of course not, Eris! I don't have a clue what happened to your white panties!」

But man, this situation is extremely awkward.

I have to get to Eris' underwear right away and pretend I found it by chance!

A few days later.

Although Eris was suspicious, I succeeded in maintaining a natural appearance to a certain degree while returning her underwear, and safely finished my work today at the hospital.

…Thank goodness I didn't actually get kicked out.

Moreover, Eris started drying her underwear in her own room, so that's one less thing I have to struggle to exercise reason over.

I do kinda get the feeling that she knows I stole it, but I'm probably still okay.

As I'm contemplating, another visitor comes to the hospital.

「H-h.e.l.lo.」

It's the Redhead-chan from earlier.

But her atmosphere is different from before.

Thinking about what's different, it's her clothing.

She's not wearing the cloak that was covering her entire body like a teru teru bōzu.

Today it's just shorts and a s.h.i.+rt.

Did she remove the cloak upon entering the hospital? She's dressed in clothes with a combination of a girly feeling and plenty of exposure for ease of movement.

Somehow there's a bit of a boyish atmosphere to this outfit.

And there's a s.h.i.+eld on her arm and a sword attached to her belt. Looks like she was an adventurer.

「Err, can I please get a Heal?」

Redhead-chan sits on the chair in front of me today as well, asking for treatment.

No, there are other redheaded customers, so let's call her Boyish-chan from now on.

I don't know her name, either.

On Boyish-chan's arm, there's a wound that appears to be a slash from a monster.

The bleeding seems to have stopped, but it still looks painful.

From what Eris told me, adventuring in this city is a job where you fight monsters for a living.

Injuries like this are probably an everyday occurrence.

「Sure, Heal it is.」

This time, I pay careful attention when manipulating my mana and cast Heal.

Once I do, Heal safely invokes and Boyish-chan's arm is covered in a faint green glow.

「Alright, success. The price will be 200 Zeni.」

This time was a success.

As you'd expect, I can't afford to screw up twice with the same customer.

I was able to cast a genuine, normal Heal.

With this, I shouldn't be questioned about my healing magic.

「I knew it, even the scars are healed…」

However, Boyish-chan looks at the arm I cast healing magic on and mutters that.

…Scars.

Now that she mentions it, I'm pretty sure Eris said something like for treating scars it's fine to charge a separate fee or refuse.

Because healing scars is difficult or whatever.

For me, though, it's so simple that I don't really understand what's hard about it.

But Eris is probably right when it comes to the common sense of society.

…I wonder if I messed up? No, compared to the bright flash last time, this time should've still been normal.

I'm just a little skilled at healing scars.

That shouldn't be enough to make her harbor doubts.

Rather, it'd actually be harder for me to intentionally avoid healing the scars.

And Boyish-chan doesn't seem to intend to pry too deeply; she takes out her bank card from her pocket without asking any questions in particular.

Then she places her bank card over mine.

However…

「Oi oi, the money's not coming out. Maybe you don't have enough of a balance left?」

「Eh, h-huh!?」

I check, and the money hasn't pa.s.sed over into my bank card.

Boyish-chan seems to have noticed as well; her face pales as she stares at her bank card.

「…C-Come to think of it, I was so happy that my scars were healed that I ended up buying clothes too… t-there was also the cost of the inn! …Ah, plus I got the s.h.i.+eld repaired, so…」

Apparently she has some idea; Boyish-chan holds her head in her hands.

「…You don't have any money?」

「Ah, that's, err… ahaha.」

Scratching her cheek, Boyish-chan laughs and averts her eyes.

Looks like she doesn't.

Now that I think about it, I didn't notice when she was covered up with a cloak like a teru teru bōzu, but this Boyish-chan has a pretty nice body.

Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s aren't quite as big as Eris', but she's rather buxom.

I wonder if I couldn't have her pay me with her body?

No way, right? That would be impossible, right?

As I'm ogling Boyish-chan's b.r.e.a.s.t.s in that manner.

「Ah…」

Boyish-chan quickly covers her chest with her hands.

I guess I was staring too intensely.

While it's true that she's dressed a bit lightly, as expected, I didn't have any delicacy, huh.

Perhaps she'll be on guard and stop coming here anymore.

However, Boyish-chan looks at her bank card, then at my face, and finally down at her own b.r.e.a.s.t.s, then starts fidgeting for some reason.

And, gazing at me with upturned eyes, she speaks.

「U-Um, there's something I wanted to ask you about when you healed me before… um, that treatment, was it actually…」

About before?

I wonder what the heck she's talking about, but if she's bringing it up with this timing it can only mean that.

　…This Boyish-chan is currently worried about not having enough money for treatment.

If this goes poorly, I could end up handing her over to the authorities.

And as for topics that could come up in that situation…

「Say no more. I can waive the fee this time. Just don't say a thing and go home.」

there's the matter of me stealing Eris' underwear.

She's using that as a threat.

I can't think of anything other than that.

It's possible that this Boyish-chan was listening to my conversation with Eris earlier.

If I don't want her to spread rumors that there's a pervy healer at this hospital who steals his roommate's underwear, then waive the fee.

I'm sure that's how this is gonna go.

「Got it? I'll heal you whenever you get injured. So please, please don't mention it.」

My honor, or a paltry 200 Zeni per time fee.

It's obvious which one I'll choose.

And besides, I don't really mind yielding to a threat from a cute girl.

But Boyish-chan's reaction is kinda strange.

After I say I don't need the fee, her face turns solid red, and she stares straight into my eyes.

I wonder if waiving the fee wasn't enough and now she's mad?

No, going any further than this would be extortion.

Maybe I should resign myself to being labeled a pervert and hand her over to the authorities already.

…However, it looks like my thought process was way off the mark.

「…My b.r.e.a.s.t.s… you wanna see them?」

Mumbling that with a red face, Boyish-chan places her fingers on her chest b.u.t.tons.

「I don't have enough right now to pay the treatment fee, but… maybe you can excuse it today with this?」

Then she starts to undo her b.u.t.tons.

「O-Oi, wait a…」

As she unfastens her b.u.t.tons, beautiful, white skin peeks through.

Her black undergarment pushes up the soft mounds of flesh beneath it, a.s.serting their existence.

And when our eyes meet, she shyly turns her head away.

What the?

What kind of development is this?

Does that mean she wasn't threatening me?

So many questions are coming to mind, but looking at the t.i.ts in front of my eyes, I stop caring either way.

「D-Don't you think my skin is pretty?」

「Y-Yeah.」

Despite being an adventurer, there isn't a single scar on her beautiful skin.

I don't really understand, but right now she's apparently showing me her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in exchange for the treatment fee.

I'm full of questions, but just knowing that is enough.

It looks so soft. I end up reaching out unconsciously with my hand.

「I-It's too soon for that!」

But Boyish-chan pulls her body away from my hand and quickly refastens her b.u.t.tons.

「…W-Well, thanks for the treatment.」

Then, with that single line of thanks, she races out of the hospital.

…Just when I thought I was being threatened, she showed me her t.i.ts.

Not to mention how she bashfully left like she was running away.

What the h.e.l.l is going on?

I'm concerned about it, but no amount of thinking is going to help me understand.

About all I know is that the girl didn't pay the treatment fee, and her underwear was black.

It's no use thinking.

I decide to devote all of the resources in my brain to etching those huge t.i.ts she showed me onto my memory in vivid detail.

Since then, that Boyish-chan has been coming to the hospital often.

Perhaps since she's an adventurer, as I figured, she seems to get injured frequently.

I don't know whether she doesn't have much money or she's just stingy, but she's mastered the art of price reduction negotiations to slash the treatment fee by paying with her body instead.

Nevertheless, whenever I do a price reduction negotiation with that Boyish-chan, it's witnessed by Eris nearly every time.

To the point where I wonder if she isn't aiming for that.

…And lately, I kinda feel like Eris' anger has been getting scarier.

But Boyish-chan's discounts have been steadily escalating.

At first it was just looking, but then she started letting me touch.

Then me touching her became her pressing herself against me.

Every time Eris gets mad I decide to stop the discounts next time, but I always end up giving in to the escalated negotiation methods.

…At this rate, I get the feeling that sooner or later Eris really will throw me out.

I have to become a diligent employee before much longer.

Alright, that settles it.

I won't accept the next price discount negotiation.

I absolutely won't lose to Boyish-chan's seduction.

Taking that determination to heart, I start my work at the hospital again today.