After steamrolling the Fire Giant, the five heroes were raring to get on the move again, but Dr. Tricia still couldn't move on her own after her fall earlier.
Isn't it a show of her willpower that she didn't wet herself accidentally? Michelle and Letina were also panic-stricken but they seem to have lost grasp of themselves.
"Wai, hold it... my back..."
"Ehh, guess it can't be helped..."
While the others were still confused, I went to go lend a shoulder to Dr. Tricia, we don't know what's going to happen in the future so the five heroes need to keep their hands free.
That means the only ones who could lend Dr. Tricia a hand were us students.
"Th-thanks, Ni.. cole?"
"You can call me whatever you'd like."
Dr. Tricia put her arm around my shoulders, and as she tried standing up... she started crushing me.
Is it impossible for me to carry an adult woman after all?
"Oooff"
"Ahh! Nicole is being pushed down by Tricia!"
Seeing me get crushed under Dr. Tricia, Cortina gave out a dumb shout.
And of course, the first to react was Lyell.
"What was that!? To be groping my Nicole, I'm so jea- no, it's unforgivable!"
"But Dear, they're both girls."
"All the more reason, I need to get a front-row seat!"
"...Dear?"
Even if I couldn't see his face while being crushed, I knew that Lyell's tension quickly died down from the point of yelling with a clenched fist.
Lyell took a step back while shivering, after confirming that, Maria gave Cortina an order.
"Cortina, you carry Dr. Tricia on your back, you can still direct battles like that."
"Wait just a little mo... no, it's nothing. Please carry me."
Cortina started heading towards Dr. Tricia who had quickly changed her tune just like Lyell.
I knew from my past memories that when Maria used that fierce pressure, she was seriously scary.
Cortina picked Tricia off me and put her on her own back, however, she was too short and the doctor's toes were dragging on the ground.
"Aww, what a disappointing back... If only I could get on Lord Gadius' back."
"Whoa, you're aiming for Gadius?"
"I mean, out of the six heroes... Lord Gadius and Lord Maxwell are the only bachelors."
"No matter how you look at it, isn't that impossible!?"
Gadius is a Dwarf, and Maxwell is an elf, what's more, he's getting on in years.
If you're aiming for a guy, there's no other choice than Gadius... even if he's from a different race.
"Man, if only Lord Reid is still here, I'd have gone after him hard."
"Alright, let's leave her behind."
"Ju-just kidding, kidding!"
Hearing that made me twitch suddenly. At the time, the nature of my work caused everyone to fear me, but could it be I'm popular now? If only I'd have stayed alive!
"In the first place, when Reid died, you were only 10 years old, weren't you. That age gap is too large."
"Shut up you spinster."
"Wazzat?"
Despite Dr. Tricia being on her back, the two managed to skillfully pull on each other's cheeks.
True though, the human doctor would have a hard time matching up with us, whether it's a dwarf, an elf, catkin, or a half-demon, our lifespans are much longer.
Dwarves and catkin can live for 300 years, elves last twice as long. Half-demons and gnomes have exceedingly long unconfirmed lifespans.
Seeing the two pulling their cheeks like that caused Letina to finally reboot mentally.
Michelle, who had been hugging her, spoke up as she came back to her senses as well.
"Umm..."
"Hm, what is it?"
"Are we just going to leave the Fire Giant's corpse like that? I'm pretty sure we could get some high-quality materials from it though."
As she said, the Fire Giant's hide could be used to make some sturdy armor.
The bones that supported the giant's great frame could have several uses. For my part though, I'm curious if I could use the hair as a strong wire-like weapon.
"Hm... Well, skinning and disassembling a human-like monster in front of a bunch of kids.... As you'd expect, that's a bit..."
"And so this time, we won't be taking any Fire Giant materials ok."
Cortina and Maria both refuted the idea were standing next to each other.
In other words, they're saying we're leaving the Fire Giant as-is for now for the sake of our mental health. Luckily, the Fire Giant forced most of the creatures normally living in the forest to evacuate, so we have the option of coming back for the materials later.
Besides, because of our subjugation of the evil dragon, we're all fairly wealthy thanks to its materials, and that includes myself.
If I could reach my stash, I'd have enough assets to buy a small town, however that stash is located in one of the Great Three Kingdoms in the south, the Alecmarle Sword Kingdom, but I currently have no way of getting there.
"Well, with this level of material, the gear I have now is far better, and any money we get from it would just be pocket change. That said, let's get a move on."
"Umm... But this material is enough to cover several years worth of my salary..."
Maria's comment surprises Dr. Tricia, and leads her to another truth.
"Does that mean, you're also loaded?"
"Let's see... I guess I could buy about half the land in Raum with what I got?"
"No way!? Even though you live in that raggedy place!?"
"Don't call it raggedy! I just don't feel like living in the lap of luxury."
"So next time we go drinking it's your treat?"
"You're suddenly mooching!? Is friendship between girls so fickle!?"
Cortina started moving while raising a racket and we three chased after her in a hurry.
