I walk back to the car with Aleena. She drops what she bought in the trunk and enters the car.

Her face is still flushed bright red, and she doesn’t look at me.

"What is wrong with you, acting all strange in front of that man?" I ask.

Aleena finally looks at me, her lips puckering in a strangely seductive way.

"I knew you were naturally talented, but after seeing the precision of your basic magic, as someone I love, I felt a strange feeling grow inside me."

"Strange feelings like what?"

As I ask this, I notice Aleena clasp her thighs tightly.

"I wanted to do it with you so badly and get pregnant. Our child will be a prodigy~"

"..."

I don’t say anything and simply start driving away. My weariness grows with the way Aleena is behaving. She talked about having a child earlier today, and now this.

Seeing my silence, she speaks again.

"My dad has been pressuring me to get married and have a child. He says he wants to see his grandchild before he passes away. My sister hasn’t hit eighteen—I’m the only one who can fulfill his wish," Aleena suddenly reveals.

This comes as a shock, and all my anger disappears.

"Why didn’t you tell me before?"

"I wanted you to see things with your own eyes. My father is sick, and the cause is unknown. I’ve done a lot of research and secretly sent many potions I brewed, but nothing seems to work. I wanted to ask my Teacher after seeing him today, but when I learned he’s busy with his research, I didn’t want to bother him," Aleena explains.

"You could have still asked for his help. If he could come out of seclusion because of you, then I’m sure he’d help cure your father—especially since he’s a priest," I say, watching the sober look on her face.

Then I place a hand over hers, rubbing her skin gently.

"We’ll have a child after I get my own studio, so you’ll be able to fulfill your old man’s wish."

"Really?!" Aleena’s eyes shine, her face lighting up brightly.

"Yes."

After a few minutes of driving, I drop Aleena off at home and head toward the village where a ghost is troubling the locals. The village is about a hundred miles from Alowood, deep in a remote area. From the map, I figure there’s also a low-level dungeon nearby, so monsters likely roam that region often.

Dungeons are complex thresholds for monsters and serve as nests because of the type of Mana they emit—monsters are drawn to it. No one knows how dungeons came to be, but they are supernatural phenomena that only someone at the divine magic level might explain. They can appear out of nowhere and slowly expand, housing countless monsters.

The recent appearance of several dungeons has forced people out of their hometowns, exposing them to the threat of monster hordes. At the same time, some dungeons are weakening and fading away just as mysteriously as they appeared.

While driving, I suddenly get a ping on my phone—income from SlimyMyriad. Apparently, my share is two thousand three hundred gold coins. That’s a lot for an amateur pornstar; some don’t even earn this much in a year. Lola should also receive about two thousand gold coins. Mine is higher because of the video with Lilith, which isn’t tied to SlimyMyriad.

I press the throttle, glancing at the dashboard. The car is draining the Mana crystal at an alarming rate, but now that I’ve been paid, I don’t have to worry about replacing the Energy Crystal.

I flip a button, and the car lifts slightly off the ground. I push it to maximum speed, and within minutes, I reach the outskirts of Alowood.

I drive into a district and see a large board warning that only flying cars are allowed beyond this point. This car doesn’t count—it can only hover slightly above the ground. I find a car park and leave it there, paying a small fee. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Getting out, I walk through the district. A massive fence made of metal wires reinforced with magic separates the region ahead. This is one of the borders protecting Alowood from monster hordes.

There’s a large army base here, along with a small adventurer guild. As I walk, I spot a small tavern and head inside.

Several people are inside, most of them beastkins and a few demi-humans. The tavern owner is a large, pot-bellied boar-like man, tusks jutting from each side of his hairy nose. He has an assistant—a red-haired, meek-looking Lamia.

I notice the customers harassing her—slapping her lower half and rubbing her exposed stomach. Some even try to grab her breasts, and the tavern owner says nothing.

That’s when I see the slave collar around her neck. I frown. I don’t want to play the hero, but seeing this makes my blood boil. Still, before jumping to conclusions, I want to know why he treats his slave like this.

"What do you want, mister?" the Lamia asks, bowing her head as tears stream down her face. She looks about sixteen. That only makes my anger worse. As a human in my past life, I can’t ignore this. If I hadn’t seen it, that would be different.

"Give me one jug of ale," I say, masking my anger.

"Ten copper coins."

"That’s fine. Also, tell your master I’d like to see him. Tell him I’ll give one bronze coin if he comes to me," I add.

She looks surprised but says nothing and slithers away.

Soon after, the boar-man approaches and sits across from me. I slide a bronze coin across the table, and he snatches it up like a dog.

At the same time, the Lamia brings my ale. I take a sip and let out a small groan at the chill.

"Hehe, mister adventurer. I heard you wanted to see me," the boar-man says with a shameless grin, showing his dirty teeth.

"I want to ask you something. Why are you mistreating your slave?" I ask quietly.

He frowns, contempt flashing across his face, but he controls himself—probably because he doesn’t know my identity.

"Mister, what I do with my slave shouldn’t be anyone’s concern, right?" he says with a sheepish laugh.

I slide another bronze coin across the table. Again, he grabs it like a dog.

"I’ll tell you, hehe. That bitch’s been getting lazy, so I decided to whip her. And letting customers touch her keeps them excited and coming back. What else is she good for if not pleasure? I bought her cheap from some goons, so I can discard her anytime she becomes useless."

"..."

"I see..."

I say nothing more and stand up after finishing my ale. I pay and leave the tavern, a crazed expression on my face as I cross the border into the dense jungle.

The tavern owner’s answer makes me realize just how unfair this world is.

In that case, I’ll return the same treatment to him after I complete my mission.

Just hold on a little longer, kid.