A Bottom-Tier Adventurer Devoted to Supporting Their Idol Activities: Every Time, They Offer Rare Materials and Stir Up the Elites - Episode 9: After the Battle

Episode 9: After the Battle

As the morning mist covering the surface of Star Lake cleared and the animals slowly began their activities, two men lying on the ground woke up.

They sat up and exchanged glances.

“Your leather armor is all shredded…”

“So is yours… Are you hurt?”

The two checked their own bodies. They seemed puzzled that they were uninjured and safe.

“If I remember right… Tomage was fighting the Water Elemental Slime…”

“I lost my memory right when it fired a blue beam as he was about to finish it off.”

“What about Tomage?”

The two stood up in surprise and looked around. A short distance away, they saw Tomage lying face down on the ground.

The two rushed over. They squatted beside Tomage and flipped him onto his back.

“Lero lero lero lero…”

Tomage muttered something repeatedly with a dazed expression.

“Hey! Tomage! You okay?”

“Get a grip!!”

But Tomage only kept repeating “lero lero.”

“No choice. Let’s hit him.”

“Yeah.”

One of them firmly clenched his fist and swung it toward Tomage.

“lerole–Guh! …Ugh, where… am I…?”

Finally returning to his senses, Tomage blinked several times. Noticing his two companions, he slowly sat up.

“The Water… Elemental Slime… what happened to it?”

Tomage asked the two. However, no clear answer came. Both tilted their heads and looked around.

“Ah, look at that!”

One of them pointed at the ground. Lying there was the Slime’s core. Its outer shell was cracked, and the magic stone inside was exposed.

“Amazing, Tomage! You defeated the Elemental Slime with [Fire Blade], huh!”

“As expected of a B-rank adventurer!”

The two companions cheered in excitement. But Tomage, still in disbelief, stared at the longsword lying on the ground.

“I… defeated it…?”

“Who else could it have been!”

“First the Orc General, now the Elemental Slime! Seriously, you might really become the youngest A-rank adventurer!”

As he listened to their words, Tomage’s expression gradually became clearer.

“I see… I defeated it. The Water Elemental Slime…”

“Let’s report it to the guild!”

“This time, we’ll drink until we pass out!”

Tomage stood up and walked toward the Slime’s core. He gently crouched, picked up the core, and held it high toward the sky.

“I… will become… an A-rank adventurer…!!”

The three were now in possession of the Water Elemental Slime’s core. They proudly visited the Fisheries Guild and reported their success. Then, boarding the prepared carriage, they returned to the royal capital. They were savoring the taste of victory.

#

Back in the royal capital, I collapsed in bed at the Snake’s Nest for about three days. And I only just now managed to move again. Body strengthening through magic places a heavy burden on the body.

Especially for me—it’s like challenging the limits of the human body every time. So after an intense battle, I need to rest for a while.

After stretching out in the cramped room, I opened the thin door. And I was hit by the unpleasant smell of mystery soup. It seemed to be breakfast time. A good time to wake up.

Step by step, carefully checking my physical condition, I slowly made my way to the Snake’s Nest dining hall.

“Yo, Roger! Finally able to move again, huh!”

Old Man Snake yelled from the dining hall counter. Noisy even in the morning.

I raised a hand lightly in greeting, sat on a round stool, and rested my chin on the rickety table.

“Here ya go! How many days has it been since your last meal?”

Old Man Snake placed the usual awful plate on my table. The “awful plate” is a set of gross-tasting mystery bean soup and hard rye bread half-soaked in it.

“Maybe three days.”

“I see! There’s seconds if you want!”

“I’d refuse even if I were dying.”

Old Man Snake laughed loudly and went back to the counter. He’s in a weirdly good mood today.

As I disconnected my sense of taste from my body and mindlessly chewed and swallowed, my head gradually cleared. I woke up. The next thing I need to do naturally came to mind.

I put the emptied awful plate into the large tub on the counter and returned to my room once. Then I grabbed my backpack and dagger and left the Snake’s Nest.

The central street of the royal capital was full of diligent citizens.

Shops were beginning to prepare for opening, merchants drove their wagons, and food stalls aiming for breakfast customers had already started operating. Mixed smells of food were drifting in the wind.

Avoiding that morning atmosphere, I turned from the main street into a back alley, then another.

The southwestern part of the royal capital. People call it the slums.

The Snake’s Nest, where I stay, is a terrible inn. But it’s still better than the slums.

The disabled beg for money, children abandoned by their parents survive by rummaging through trash, criminals hide, and some make crime their profession.

The slums are a place where people can’t even be said to be living or dead.

“…Please… Spare some change…”

A one-legged old man sat in a dusty alley, begging. I took out the twisted-neck corpse of a Horn Rabbit from my backpack and tossed it to the beggar. It was one I accidentally ran over on the way back from Star Lake.

“…Thank you…”

The beggar put his hands together in prayer. Whether the prayer was for me or the rabbit’s death, I don’t know.

Further ahead, three dirty-faced kids appeared. Who knows how long it’s been since they washed their faces.

As I tried to ignore them and pass, they called out.

“Ah, it’s Roger!”

“Whoa, it really is! Roger!”

“Give us something!”

The kids clung to me. They were noisily whining. One cheeky little girl even said, “Give me something!”

“No way.”

“What! That’s not fair! You gave something to the beggar just now!”

Tch. Sharp eyes.

“Instead of always thinking about getting stuff from others, try working for it.”

“No one gives us jobs! Roger, you hire us!”

The oldest boy shouted, spitting a little.

“Hey now, I’m an F-rank adventurer, you know? I can’t hire anyone!”

“But we know Roger’s actually super strong! The old hag at the apothecary said so!”

“Don’t believe anything that old hag says. She’s always high on her own medicine.”

Seriously, what a pain.

“Give me something!”

The little girl ignored the conversation and kept demanding. How annoying.

I took out three twisted-neck Horn Rabbit corpses from my backpack and handed them to the kids.

“Get strong enough to hunt these yourselves. Then you won’t go hungry.”

“Got it! Thanks!”

The kids hugged the Horn Rabbits and ran off. They were probably wary of someone trying to steal them.

It finally got quiet, and I headed for my destination.

In the basement of an old brick building of unknown origin. No signboard on the door.

As soon as I opened it, a strong stench hit my nose.

“Close the door quick! It’ll cause a scene if it leaks out!”

The old hag standing at the lab bench that served as a counter screamed hysterically.

“Doing another crazy experiment again?”

I entered the shop and closed the door behind me.

“What do you need today?”

The apothecary hag began tidying up the equipment as she reluctantly started customer service.

“I got my hands on some interesting material. I want you to make a lotion with it.”

I took a jar from my backpack and placed it on the workbench.

“What’s this?”

“A rare piece of Slime flesh I got from a certain source. I’ve heard lotions made from high-class Slimes are popular among nobles.”

“A certain source, huh…”

The hag picked up the jar and held it up to the light. The Water Elemental Slime flesh still glowed faintly blue.

“Alright. Two small gold coins upfront. Three more when it’s done. How’s that?”

“Deal.”

I took out two small gold coins from my backpack and placed them on the workbench. The hag quickly snatched them.

“Oh right. Here, take this. It’s a prototype of a high-grade potion.”

The hag pulled out several shady-looking small bottles from a drawer under the workbench and placed them in front of me.

“You made another potion from shady ingredients? The one you gave me before completely made someone trip out.”

“But it healed their injuries, right?”

The apothecary hag has long been conducting experiments to make potions from unconventional ingredients.

And she hands out samples to low-tier adventurers like me to test their effects.

“Yeah. As a potion, it worked perfectly.”

No reason to say no. I stuffed the trippy high-grade potions into my backpack.

“I’ll come back in three days.”

“Got it. I’ll have it ready by then.”

Alright, I just need to prepare the container myself and I’ll be ready. Just wait, Ellel-chan.

“What’re you grinning about?”

“I was thinking about my oshi.”

“Ha ha. So passionate for an F-rank adventurer.”

Leaving behind the hag’s sarcastic laugh, I exited the shop.