Volume 3 - Prologue

I hunted rabbits day after day and got about four jewels.

That's more than 100,000 gold.

Serina and I had a dispute over whether or not to buy a slave, but since I was the leader, I gave priority to the slave. Of course.

However, the cash exchange is still a long way off. I can't sell them at a high price unless it's the day of the auction. I don't want to go to the slave trader first, only to find that the woman I had my eye on was sold out.

I decided to save the fun for later, and now it was time to level up.

I want more skills, and I still haven't gotten rid of Lily's [Bad Luck] and [Misfortune].

I need to raise the level of my [Party Skill Reset Lv1], but the next point I need is 60, which is pretty heavy.

There are other skills I want to take, but I'll start with that first.　

After hunting Mount Ape in the forest, Meena and I gained two levels, and Lily gained five.

I gave top priority to raising Lily's [Luck], and since She had extra skill points, she raised her [Evasion] and [Hate Reduction] levels, and also had her take [Health Increase].

In any case, her HP was the lowest in the party, and it hadn't reached 100 yet. That's half of mine.

I'm still worried about her, so I'm giving priority to skills that will make her less likely to die.

Lily's newly acquired skills.

【Luck　Lv５】　　Lv up！　

【Evasion　Lv３】　　Lv up！　

【Hate Reduction　Lv２】Lv up！　

【Health Increase　Lv５】New！

She's already done enough work for the jewels she stole from me, but she seems to have gained confidence, and she's going to be a party member.

Meena's newly acquired skills.

【Cover　Lv３】　Lv up！

【Fellatio　Lv３】Lv up！

I let Meena take the【Cover】skill and raise its level.

She has good reflexes and physical strength, so I thought it would be good if she could protect the others members, but she is not popular with Serina.

Since her blowjob level is also increasing, she seems to think that she is treating herself as  slaves badly. Meena was Meena and said, "I chose to take it myself. It's only natural if it's for my master!" And she's very enthusiastic about it, which makes things even more complicated.

Serina and Ione hadn't level up yet, probably because their levels were originally high.

"Okay, that's it for today."

"Yes!"

""Yeah.""

"Yes!"

We went back to the inn, took off our gear and had dinner at a restaurant.

"Hey, Alec, I think it's safer to buy good equipment than to buy slaves."

Serina rehashed the story.

"You're talking about that again? First slaves, then next is equipment. That's good enough for me."

I'm thinking about my own safety, too, so that's my plan.

I'll have better equipment, I'll be able to defeat stronger enemies, and I'll have more money to buy slaves. It's perfect.

"Uh-uh. ......"

"If you don't like it..."

"All right, all right. I'll follow your lead. You're the leader."

"Okay. But you're free to make your own equipment with your own money, Serina."

"Yes, but it seems that equipment higher than steel is hard to find in stores. I'll try to get some at auction."

"Suit yourself."

"Mmm, I'll do as I please."

"More wine and cheese, landlady."

"Sure."

"I'll have the rabbit soup."

"Sure."

"How can you eat rabbit meat?"

The meat in this world is subtly animalistic, and it is, after all, rabbit.

"Huh? It's quite tasty. Besides, you need to keep up your nutrition."

"Nourishment? I don't think you need to grow more than that."

I looked at her breasts. It's a big chest.

"It's not breast nutrition! Geez, you dirty old man. ......"

"Landlady, I'll have some rabbit meat soup too!"

Meena thought about growing her own breasts, or added them. Well, I'll let her do that much as she pleases.

"Eat as much as you can, Lily."

"Pervert."

Shut up. It's physical strength in your case.

"Oh, isn't that Alec-san?"

A party walked into the restaurant and stopped beside me.

"Hmm? Oh, Shin?"

He had a familiar head, but I didn't notice it because he had changed his leather armor to steel equipment. He seems to be doing well in his adventure.

Well, I don't really care about the other heroes.

But behind Shin, there was a muscled tiger man, a girl with large breasts and cat ears, and a loli mage.

This guy, he bought three slaves?

I'm supposed to be making money at a very high pace, even though I'm spending my mornings at the kenjutsu dojo. I'm not sure what kind of money He's making, if he can afford to exceed that.

"You see, thanks to Alec-san, I was able to buy the cat-eared slave I wanted. Please let me know if you have any useful information in the future, hehe."

The smiling Shin seemed to have no time to spare to gather information.

"For both of us. You seem to be making a lot of money with those three slaves."

"Oh, no, Glenn-sensei is a mercenary. Well, I also has two other pets, though."

He doesn't want them to be involved in combat, so they're slaves for that purpose?

"How did you make your money?"

"That's a secret. That's a trade secret, I guess that's what it is."

Shin shrugs his shoulders and laugh in funny way.

He's a little annoying. You're the one asking for information, now you're giving it to me.

"Well, I'll buy you a drink today. Why don't we exchange information about the West Tower?"

"The tower?"

"Yeah. You've never been there?"

"What do you do there?"

When I asked back, Shin made a strange face.

"What I am doing there……"

"There's a dungeon in the west too."

Serina said, so I understood what he's mean.

"Oh, a dungeon? No, I haven't conquered any dungeons yet."

"Huh? That's how I made my money. But what a waste of time then. ...... sensei, I'll give you some money so you can feed those guys."

"Yes, sir."

The tiger man takes the copper coins and heads to an empty table. The cat ears and the loli mage followed him.

"Then, I guess this one's on Alec and the others."

One small copper coin, well, ten gold would be enough to pay for this place.

"Thank you, Shin." Serina thanked him.

"You're welcome, hehe."

Shin was about to leave, but then Serina called out to him.

"Shin, you don't eat?

"Oh, I eat at a restaurant for nobles, not at a public restaurant like this, because it tastes much better. Do you want to go with me, Shiraishi-san? I'll buy you a drink."

"No, I'll pass."

"I see. Oh, and by the way, Shiraishi-san, there is a dinner party hosted by the temple on the night of the next full moon. Would you like to go with me?"

"Let's see ......."

Serina looks at me, a little lost.

"You should not go there. If it's hosted by the Church of the Holy Spirit, I heard it's an orgy."

"What?"

"Oh, hehehe, I guess I didn't know that. Well, I guess that's it. Excuse me then."

I'm sure the smirking Shin knew and invited her.

"That's disgusting."

When Shin was out of sight, Serina said, fed up.

"He was kind of a jerk, but, do you two know each other?"

Lily asked.

"He's one of the heroes."

"Yeah."

"But he wasn't like that before. I'm worried he's getting worse."

"Well, he'll change when he gets here. There's no point in worrying about it."

However, it's a problem if the other side is too far ahead in strength. Shin's guy seemed to have a sexual interest in Serina, so I wouldn't be surprised if he thought I was a distraction from our party.

I've made up my mind.

"Serina, we're going to the dungeon tomorrow."

"Hmm, you didn't even look at me when I invited you, but oh well. We're going to the West Tower, right?"

"No, the south cave you were talking about before, the one for beginners."

"Is that so. Well, I think it's good to get a feel for the dungeon."

"Ahh. And keep an eye out for Shin."

"Yeah, I understand."

Well, I'm sure she'll take that kind of precaution.

It seems that he has lost a bit of his sense of being a fellow heroes, and his state of mind after fighting monsters ――No, it's like a hobby for the heroes to fight monsters.

Then, what changed this guy?

I don't know.

As I ate the cheese, I tried to touch Serina ass with one hand, but she brushed me off with her hand and glared at me.

She's not an honest woman.