Let's Live Without Regrets (3)

I planted both hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes with dramatic intensity. “Seriously… Elly. Why didn’t you sneak into my room last night? I even left the door wide open on purpose!”

“Yona, what exactly do you take me for…?”

“A cowardly wolf who can’t eat even when food is handed to her?”

The moment I pouted and answered, Elly let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Today’s your first day entering the dungeon and you’re cracking jokes like that? If you ruin your condition for no reason, you could end up in real danger. At least try to be a little nervous.”

“Tsk tsk. It’s the complete opposite, Elly.” I clicked my tongue and wagged my fully extended index finger from side to side. Then I thrust it straight at her and declared, “Since we don’t know what could happen in the dungeon, we should live every single day without regrets!”

“…You’ve never even killed a single monster, yet you’ve got the mentality of a top-tier adventurer?”

Elly stared blankly for a second before bursting into laughter and ruffling my hair. After laughing for a good while, she carefully straightened my clothes with gentle, deliberate movements.

“Rydia’s going with you, so you probably won’t get badly hurt… but a dungeon is still a dungeon. You’d better come back with all your limbs intact, got it?”

She kept her eyes fixed on my outfit instead of looking at me. Having only one hand made her motions slow and a little clumsy, but her voice was overflowing with affection and worry. No matter how weak beastmen are toward children, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her behavior went far beyond that. There was no way I didn’t understand why she was acting like this.

I glanced at the empty sleeve where her right arm should have been, then suddenly grabbed her hand.

“Elly…”

“Hm?”

Her palm, which must once have been covered in warrior’s calluses, had grown soft from the years she’d laid down her spear. I idly traced her palm and continued.

“If you’re going to keep groping me while pretending to fix my clothes, I’m charging you.”

“…N-no?! I only have one hand, so I can’t help it, okay?!”

“Sigh. If you just want to touch, just say you want to touch.”

I took Elly’s hand and guided it toward my stomach. For some reason, in this gender-reversed world, a man’s belly was considered an erotic zone. A little glimpse was fine, but showing it off in a lewd way, fully exposing it, or touching it was completely off-limits. If I had to compare it to Earth, it was probably the same as how people viewed a woman’s breasts.

Gulp.

Elly swallowed so loudly I could hear it clearly. The closer her hand drew to my stomach, the more her tension rose.

Just before her fingertips could make contact, I stopped guiding her hand and rose up on my tiptoes. Our faces drew so close our breaths mingled.

Looking at Elly, who had gone completely rigid from nerves, I whispered in a voice that was almost ticklish.

“Touching over the clothes costs 1 silver. Touching underneath costs 10 silver. What’ll it be?”

“……”

Elly’s golden eyes trembled. That day, I walked away with ten silver coins.

The meeting place with Rydia was none other than The Elf and the Silver Coin. Still, there was a little time left before she arrived. I planned to spend the money I’d just earned on a gacha roll.

Just like Elly—who was still staring blankly at her own hand—had said, even with Rydia accompanying me, you never knew what could happen inside a dungeon.

“Elly, I forgot something in my room. I’ll be right back.”

“…Yeah.”

“And no peeking this time, okay?”

“…Yeah.”

I left the broken wolf behind and headed for the corner staircase leading upstairs. Obviously I hadn’t actually forgotten anything; I just needed to roll the gacha where no one could see. The problem was that without any inventory storage, every reward dropped straight onto the floor.

Click.

“Whew.”

I locked the door and took a slow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠breath. A single draw cost 1 silver. The 10+1 multi-draw gave one extra pull for free. Of course the multi-draw was technically better, but… honestly, I was a little disappointed. I’d rather have a guaranteed minimum star rating than just an extra roll.

I had no idea how the probabilities in this gacha system were balanced. After the initial free multi, I’d done three paid multis and gotten nothing but 1-stars. Even if I sold all eleven 1-star items, I’d be lucky to recover 3 silver. They were absolute bottom-tier junk.

If I thought of it as mileage it was an amazing exchange rate, but with no pity timer and no way to buy a guaranteed reward with that mileage, what was the point? The only thing I could do was feed it back into more rolls.

Still, when I considered how useful the Pickpocketing skill from my very first free multi had been, a 2-star would at least break even, and a 3-star would definitely be profit. Once I thought about it that way, the abysmal rates started to make sense. After all, you’re not supposed to expect profit from gacha, right? You roll because there are things you can only obtain through it….

For example, if 3-star rewards were already this stingy, what about the 4-star and 5-star ones above them? The Meteor that symbolized the Red Magic Tower? The Sword King family’s hidden secret techniques? Maybe even a national-treasure artifact, or an elixir that could resurrect the dead.

Whichever it was, no matter how much money I saved or how powerful I became, these were things that could never be obtained through normal means.

“Hehehe…”

Just imagining it sent dopamine flooding through me. My whole body began to tremble with excitement. I clenched the ten silver coins I’d just received and activated the gacha system.

Ding!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The weight of the silver vanished from my hand. There was no flashy animation—after all, this wasn’t a game. That didn’t mean there were no signs at all, though.

Rattle… rattle…

Only I could hear the sound of dice rolling. The dice tumbled chaotically for a while before stopping one by one, finally falling silent. Soon after, a small hole tore open in the air.

Vwoong—

A spatial rift of unknown nature. From beyond it, items poured out in a clattering rush.

“Whoop—!”

I reflexively caught the falling objects in my arms. At the same time, a list appeared before my eyes.

“No! Where’s my 5-star?!”

Once again the parade of 1-stars had drained every last bit of excitement from my body. What replaced it was pure rage. I had no idea who gave me this ability, but if I ever met them I’d seriously want to ask if their mother was doing well. That’s how pissed I was.

How much do you think I just spent on this?!

Because of that anger, I noticed it late.

“Grrrrl… huh?”

Wait. Wasn’t there a single 2-star mixed in the middle?

I dumped the armful of herbs onto the desk. Only then did the small crossbow reveal itself.

“Oh?”

I carefully placed the crossbow on the bed first, then sorted the rest of the items. The first drawer received the absurdly large pile of magic herbs, while the second took the recovery herbs. After getting kidnapped last time, I’d learned my lesson—I planned to use these myself instead of selling them… but they had no effect if eaten raw. They needed proper refinement first.

So I set the herbs aside for now and examined the remaining items. The lowest-grade potion would be useful in the dungeon, so I slipped it into my pocket. The wooden arrows I left on the desk, and the thick socks… I put on immediately. Nice and warm.

Only after tidying the miscellaneous junk did I pick up the wrist crossbow with care. It was solidly built—sturdy wood reinforced with iron in several places. Aside from its smaller size, it was exactly like the crossbows I remembered from Earth. The only unique feature was the leather bracer integrated into the bottom of the weapon. Just as the name “wrist crossbow” suggested, it was meant to be worn on the arm.

I fastened the bracer securely to my left forearm. The surprisingly hefty weight felt reassuring. The size was perfect for my child-sized body too.

“Hmm…”

I examined it from every angle while wearing it. It looked pretty cool.

…But how the hell do I use it?

I glanced at the wooden arrows on the desk. They were far too long compared to the crossbow.

“Guess I’ll just snap them.”

I broke the arrows to the right length, nocked one, and tested it. It fit. I snapped several more to the proper size, stuffed them in my pocket, and headed down to the first floor.

There, an expressionless female knight was waiting.

“You finally came down.”

“Lady Rydia? When did you get here?”

“Just now. …What’s that on your arm?”

“Cool, right? It’s called a wrist crossbow!”

“I know what it is. I also know it’s quite expensive for someone like you. Where did you get it? It definitely wasn’t there yesterday. Don’t tell me you…”

“It’s not what you’re thinking! This is simply…”

I couldn’t exactly say I’d just pulled it from a gacha. Besides, it wouldn’t do me any good if other people learned about this ability. There was only one excuse I could use.

“I saw it in advance and swiped it on my way out of the Twin Dagger Clan!”

“…Something that should have been part of my loot?”

“Pardon?”

“Probably around 20 silver. We can ask the guild-affiliated blacksmith for the exact details.”

“Um, Lady Rydia?”

“Let’s go. Even a basic model will take time to adjust to your body.”

“You’re really going to take it?! For real?!”

If I’d known this would happen I would’ve just left it in the room! The moment I got excited about pulling a 2-star, I ended up with a debt equal to its value….

Rydia completely ignored my frustrated squirming and gave a polite nod to the still-broken Elly.

“Don’t worry, Senior Elly. We’ll be back before nightfall.”

“…Yeah.”

Elly was still twitching her fingers in the air with a dreamy smile. I reached out toward her.

“Elly…!”

But Rydia grabbed me first.

Grab!

“Let’s go.”

“……”

The atmosphere made it clear that refusing would result in being dragged away by force, so I swallowed my tears and nodded.

“I’ll be back, Elly…”

“…Yeah.”

Elly remained completely out of it until the very end. Just how much did she enjoy that? At this rate I could probably charge double next time.