Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The torchlight flickered on the wall at the dungeon entrance as Haruto and the girls emerged into the late afternoon sun.

'Hmmm...This fresh air is truly wonderful.' Haruto stepped out and took a long, deep breath; the village air was crisp, filled with the scent of pine and moist earth, a stark contrast to the musty, slime-covered corridors he had just exited, and it was a significant improvement in air quality from the place he had transmigrated from.

While Haruto reveled in the improved air quality, the three girls were not in such a cheerful mood, as this was their first dungeon dive and they were dressed in tattered yet functional clothes; their steps were slow, their bodies feeling heavy with the weight of the new dungeon experience.

Emi, despite her earlier excitement, was now dragging her feet, her hands trembling slightly as she had exerted considerable strength to obtain her first monster core. Akane's breathing had become steady but labored, her sword arm shaking slightly from overexertion; meanwhile, Hana lagged behind, her hands clenched.

"Alright, now that we're out, should we stock up?" Haruto suggested, breaking the silence and the heavy atmosphere that hung over the girls, stopping as he reached a small clearing near the dungeon entrance.

Slump...

As the girls halted in their tracks, Haruto finally sank down onto the ground after retrieving the monster cores from his pocket and spreading them out on the flat stones.

The girls stared at Haruto in stunned silence, unsure of his intentions—was he trying to distribute the monster cores he had collected?

"Why are you all looking at me like that, as if you've seen a kind ghost?" Haruto joked, though he understood what might be going through their minds.

But did he care? The answer was a clear no.

After hearing those two at the inn, he knew that relying solely on these monster cores would not significantly increase their chances of survival, and he couldn't afford to be wasteful. Fortunately, he had a system that provided him with money, attributes, and who knows what else in the future, so to him, these slime monster cores held no real value.

'Using this core to gain their trust is definitely a smart move.' Haruto thought, suppressing a laugh, and said, "We had quite a good haul on your first try, not bad, right?"

Akane stared at him for a moment, then sighed and nodded, her long black hair falling over Haruto's borrowed shirt. "No, honestly, it's more than I expected," she admitted, her voice laced with acceptance.

Emi, unable to stand any longer, sat down cross-legged on the grass, grinning despite her tired eyes. "Yeah, thanks to a certain someone! Those slimes didn't stand a chance," she said, her hands mimicking the sword swing Haruto had demonstrated earlier in the dungeon, clearly impressed to some extent.

Hana, however, kept her gaze low and said, "It was all thanks to Haruto."

Hearing the praise from such beautiful girls, Haruto scratched the back of his neck, a faint blush creeping onto his face, and said, "It's nothing; it's just about knowing where to hit those slimes. Once you grasp the basics, slimes become almost predictable." He refrained from sharing detailed information, as he could use it in future dungeon dives with them.

Akane's eyes lingered on the core, her fingers brushing against the one Haruto had given her earlier. "So how do you plan to divide these?" she asked, her tone submissive. "Since you did most of the work, it wouldn't be fair if we—"

"No, it's fine," Haruto interrupted, raising a hand. "We formed a party, so splitting things evenly is the only fair way, right?"

Upon hearing this, Emi's eyes sparkled. "You're so generous." But then, clutching the monster core in her hand and holding it up to the sunlight, she added, "But can I keep mine? It's my first monster core, and I want to show it back home."

Hana hesitated at this, her fingers hovering over her other hand. "I... I didn't do much," she murmured, her voice barely audible. "I only healed Emi once, and I couldn't even help in the fight."

Haruto could only sigh at this; the girls' ambition was a bit too low for true adventurers. However, he couldn't simply give up. "Alright then, how about I keep two monster cores and give each of you one from the remaining three?"

The girls looked at him skeptically for a moment, but in the end, they accepted the cores, giving Akito reassurance that money also mattered while conversing with them.

With the loot distribution settled, the four of them walked back to the village, Haruto experiencing a slight headache as the girls, now out of the dungeon, had too much to discuss, and being an Otaku, he found it difficult to engage in all those topics.

After reaching a certain spot in the village, the three girls bid Haruto farewell, and he provided them with his address in case they wanted to find him for something or plan their next dungeon raid.

...

"You're back..." the innkeeper said, his voice gruff but not unkind. "Did you manage to earn your keep in the dungeon today?"

Haruto nodded at the innkeeper. "Well, it was somewhat easy, so yes, I did manage to earn some," he replied, his gaze drifting to the door behind him, hoping to catch a glimpse of the busty beauty he had seen earlier that morning, but sadly, he only saw the old innkeeper in front of him.

"So, are you planning to extend your stay?" the innkeeper asked, ignoring the fact that Haruto's eyes were following the door behind him. Haruto replied, "Yes, I think I will stay at this inn until next week."

The innkeeper, whose demeanor had been normal until now, shook slightly upon hearing Haruto's words. The man he had thought of as just a passing low-rank adventurer turned out to be a golden goose for him. As in this village, even if adventurers camped outside in tents, it didn't make much difference as there weren't any harm outside-well most of times, and for that reason, his inn had been running low on profits as the adventurer who already were earning low couldn't manage to pay for an inn.

But this man had turned out to be a profit booster for him.