Now that they had finally made it out of the dungeon, they had been put in danger due to Mirian's reckless behavior.
But Ryan had given an order that, according to him,
would make her reflect deeply on her actions.
"Kyaaaaa! Stop, Helen! No more!"
Smack. Smack. Smack.
"Kyaaaaa! My butt hurts!"
"Ryan, please tell her to stop!"
"Haha, haha. First time I actually enjoy a perverted order from Ryan."
"Hey Helen, that's not being perverted. It's a punishment, understand?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Just say yes once!"
Smack. Smack. Smack.
Three more spanks and she finished with all ten. Her skin was left completely red.
[Debt collection applied]
[Debt bonus: +50 Points]
[Debt bonus: +45000 XP]
"It hurts so much..." Mirian murmured, rubbing herself with tears in her eyes.
'They're supposed to be highest-ranking heroines, but they just look like children.'
"I'm sorry. I won't do anything so reckless again... Really."
"I wonder if that's true. If not, Helen can always punish you."
"No, I'm serious..."
Ryan nodded. After a while, their clothes had dried, and they put them back on.
Ryan had asked if they had any idea where they were, and they nodded. Judging by the surroundings and the shape of the forest, they were in elven territory.
'Are there really elves in this world? I've always wanted to see one.'
They ventured deeper into the forest, trying to head toward the center. According to Helen, it would be easier to get out of there if they found the elven village, since spirits guarded the forest and often set traps to make travelers with ill intentions get lost.
"Look around you. There are a lot of dead monsters."
"Yeah. That's normal," Mirian responded.
"But why don't they disappear like the ones in the dungeon?"
"You should know this by now. Unlike these monsters, which are real creatures, the ones in the dungeon are more like summons or manifestations of the mana power that condenses inside the dungeon. No matter how real they look, they aren't. Though they can still kill you."
'I see. To me, an MMORPG dungeon is just a functional loop, but in this world, they have their own logic.'
"Stop talking and come look at this," Helen interjected.
"Footprints?" Mirian responded as she approached. She crouched in front of the tracks and picked up some dirt, turning it over with her fingers. "They're fresh. Someone passed through here recently."
"Human footprints?" Ryan asked curiously.
"More like an elf's. There shouldn't be any humans here," Mirian reaffirmed.
They began to follow the footprints. They weren't heading in a single direction; instead, every few steps, they veered off by several meters.
Mirian deduced that this was the movement the elf was using to fight, alternating between the ground and the trees. However, they saw many dead monsters as they followed the tracks.
"We've walked a long way since the dungeon. My feet hurt. These boots are really old," Ryan complained, though he kept walking behind the girls.
"Fufufu. Maybe you should order Mirian to massage your feet."
"Don't give him crazy ideas. Shut up," Mirian grumbled.
"Come on. It's not like I'm planning to ask for something like that."
Grrr... Grrr...
"A monster?"
They spun in all directions, trying to find the source of the sound. They were on alert. Ryan peered behind one of the trees; what looked like leather shoes came into view.
When he got closer, he noticed immediately that the sound was coming from right there. And there she was: a beautiful woman passed out. The sound was coming from her stomach.
"I think she's hungry," Ryan commented as Helen and Mirian approached.
"She's an elf."
Her long ears protruded from her yellow hair.
"Ryan, heal her, please. She's dying..."
Ryan approached. He crouched in front of her and positioned his hands toward her body.
"Recovery."
Her body moved. She began to slowly open her eyes.
"Eh? Brother?" she asked, confused.
"I'm not your brother. You still haven't fully regained your senses."
"Ah, I'm sorry." She panicked and jolted awake, backing away. She began to look at them all with suspicion, but then she calmed down upon realizing they had healed her. "How rude of me. Thank you very much for helping me, heh, heh."
"It's fine. But what happened to you? Did you kill all these monsters?"
"Yes. I was training, but there were too many monsters. I got carried away and ran out of mana." She paused and took a deep breath. "Then I couldn't move, heh, heh. And I almost starved to death."
"You are very careless. You must value your life more," Mirian stated in a scolding tone.
'Look who's talking.'
Bang!
"You're worse! Shut up!" Helen smacked Mirian on the head.
"Heh, heh. That was only this time," Mirian murmured.
'These two act like children.'
Ryan sat down on one of the tree roots. It was twisted and made for a great chair.
"And can you tell us how to get out of here? We don't want to disturb your village."
"Yes. But I would like to invite you to my village to thank you for helping me."
"Don't worry about that."
"I insist. Please, come with me."
'I feel like I'm forgetting something important. Why is that...?'
[Automatic debt collection initiated]
"Shit. I had forgotten," he murmured.
"Eh? What's happening to my body...?"
Helen and Mirian stared with their hands on their foreheads. From their expressions, they had clearly forgotten about Ryan's debt system too.
'What kind of debt is it this time...?'
The elf girl approached, kneeling down until she was right in front of Ryan. She grabbed his foot and began to take off his boot. Once his foot was free, she held it with both hands.
"Wh... why isn't my body responding? What am I doing...?" she complained, confused and blushing.
Her fingers massaged Ryan's foot with firm movements, but her expression was one of pure outrage.
"This is humiliating..."