In the town closest to the Great Tree Sea, Duncan—fresh from the battle—was brought here by Chaldo for treatment. The village near Zeus's hidden dwelling simply didn't have the means to properly treat severe injuries, so they had no choice but to haul him all the way here.
The town was called Campbell. It was originally famous for brewing whisky, and because it sat on the edge of the Great Tree Sea, it drew a steady stream of adventurers. The number of adventurers here couldn't compare to Orario, but among ordinary towns it still ranked near the top.
Everyone knew adventurers were always flush with cash—and even more willing to spend it. Their reliance on alcohol only made that truer. With both factors combined, Campbell had stayed prosperous for years.
As one of the Three Great Secret Realms, the Great Tree Sea was known for being all trouble, little meat.
Unlike Orario's Dungeon—dangerous, yes, but with profits that exceeded the Tree Sea by countless times—monsters outside the Dungeon generally yielded magic stones of lower quality and lower price. Sure, powerful monsters like the giant bears could sell for a high price, but the danger rose proportionally.
And unlike the Dungeon, the Great Tree Sea offered no fixed "floors" where you could rest.
Once you stepped into that endless forest, every living thing in it could become your enemy, and the attacks were practically endless.
On top of that, finding high-value monsters wasn't easy. Unlike the Dungeon—finite, and mapped in detail by generations of adventurers—the Tree Sea's monsters ranged widely. To reliably find valuable prey, you had to go deep, and that demanded brutal levels of supply management and mental endurance.
Still, compared to farming or fishing, the returns were excellent, so plenty of local adventurers still hunted there. The Tree Sea also produced a lot of medicinal herbs and rare plants, so Familias that didn't want to go to Orario—and focused more on gathering than fighting—often settled in Campbell or neighboring towns.
In Chaldo's words, that part of the Great Tree Sea shouldn't have been able to support that many giant bears. Even the raw magic density of the region didn't provide the conditions for their numbers.
No matter how he turned it over in his head, the only conclusion he could draw was: it had to be Duncan's "Lucky One" skill.
Duncan wanted to argue that this was the opposite of "lucky," but after remembering the god's dream visit, he swallowed it. If anything, it might have been that god meddling again. But Duncan had no way to explain that to Chaldo, so he just rubbed his nose and accepted the blame as a "mystery bill."
The person treating Duncan was a Level 1 adventurer from the Familia of Ningishzida. With healing magic and potions, it took about a week for Duncan's wounds to mostly close—leaving the healer wearing an expression like she'd seen a ghost.
Thankfully, adventurers tended to have big hearts. After seeing Duncan's absurd recovery speed a few times, they got used to it—though the healer was clearly a bit disappointed Duncan wouldn't be hospitalized long-term. Treating adventurers was one of a Familia's major income sources.
Of course, besides Duncan's thick hide, there was another reason he recovered so quickly:
the medical bill.
When Duncan asked how much it cost, Chaldo didn't answer directly. He just slapped Duncan on the shoulder and laughed, saying that if Duncan kept "adventuring" like this three to five more times, he'd be able to pay it off.
So yeah—no matter what world you were in, medical care was always brutally expensive.
If it took facing a dozen giant bears three to five times just to break even, this wasn't even "overcharging" anymore. It was daylight robbery.
Which could only mean one thing: adventurers were insanely rich.
And Duncan was the only poor bastard among them—an embarrassment to the profession.
Early one morning, with nothing else to do, Duncan wandered the streets again. His injuries were mostly healed, but to be safe, Ningishzida Familia kept pressuring him to stay a few more days and recuperate. Letting a customer walk around while still injured violated their medical ethics, they said.
The reason sounded dignified… but Duncan suspected it was mostly because Chaldo paid without blinking. With a bill that enormous, Chaldo had just paid cash on the spot. To them, he probably looked like a fat sheep walking into the slaughterhouse.
Over the past few days, Ningishzida's healers had tried every trick in the book to sell Duncan on a "monthly subscription" care package.
It was basically Earth-style sales tactics.
Sure, adventurers got injured often. But "monthly subscriptions" felt a little too close to a curse, didn't it?
Duncan made his way—familiar as ever—to the weapon-crafting district. Since the town had plenty of adventurers, several smithing-focused Familias had settled here. They were all small, though; the truly elite craftsmen mostly went to Orario.
His white spear had snapped clean in two. Embarrassingly enough, he still hadn't even named it before it broke. The spearhead was still there, but on closer inspection it was battered and worn from the fight. Even if he wanted to repair it, it would take a lot of effort.
"Ohhh—little Duncan, you're here again."
The weapons shop owner greeted him proactively. Duncan looked like a ten-year-old kid, but in this world plenty of adventurers joined Familias as children. Child upper-tier adventurers were rare, but they existed—like the "Sword Princess" in Orario, who had apparently reached Level 2 at age eight, and was now rumored to be Level 3.
And Duncan's movements were practiced and efficient. He was clearly an adventurer—maybe even upper-tier. You could tell just from the fact he was wearing Ningishzida Familia's hospital clothing. Regular people didn't dare stay there.
As a blacksmith and a salesman, you needed a good eye.
"Yeah, Uncle Gill," Duncan replied smoothly. "Sitting in the hospital's boring. Might as well come out and walk around."
"Other kids go play somewhere nice," Gill said with a sour look. "Why are you always hanging around a weapons shop?"
The complaint carried an obvious hook—he wanted Duncan to reveal his background.
"There are fun places," Duncan answered honestly, "but kids are so noisy it makes my head spin. I'd rather come here and look at weapons and armor."
With an adult mind in a child's body, he had no interest in playing with actual kids—and he didn't notice the trap Gill had just laid.
"Then how about you take care of my business," Gill pressed. "You keep looking, but you never buy."
So he really is an adventurer. Gill was delighted inside, and answered as if teasing.
"My purse is empty," Duncan said, scratching his head awkwardly. "I still owe a lot from the hospital stay."
Gill didn't catch the lie. Medical fees were easy to ask around about. And honestly, even if Duncan was an adventurer, a kid his age probably couldn't earn much money. Some stingy gods would even cut off their blessing and let them fend for themselves.
From the outside, it looked like Duncan's Familia treated him pretty well—at least well enough to front the medical costs for a child member.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it