"Do you feel pain from that?"

"No, it doesn't hu— Ouch."

"Hmm. It doesn't seem like you have anything broken. It looks twisted. I don't think you'll be able to use that leg for a while."

Zack was in a room at the mercenaries' guild, examining a patient.

Apparently, one of their members had an accident in the dungeon and injured their leg. Zack wasn't paying much attention to the details. His entire focus was on the wound. This was the first time he was tending to someone in a professional capacity, and he didn't want anything to go wrong.

Fortunately, it was a sprain; if it had been something more serious, like a stab wound, Zack wasn't sure if he would have known what to do. He was still reading the books in his office, and he hadn't even had time to practice.

In addition to Zack and the patient, two other people were in the room, which the guild had provided for treatment. One of them seemed concerned for their friend, while the other appeared to want to be anywhere but there.

Clearly, this group had their own circumstances, but it was not something Zack wanted to get involved in. He had enough problems of his own and didn't need more.

"Ah."

"Hold on," Zack said with a blank expression as he bandaged the wound.

In Ron and Rea's eyes, Zack seemed terribly bored, as if he had seen this type of injury a thousand times. If they knew it was his first time tending to someone, they weren't sure how they would react.

"There, I'm done," Zack declared.

Ankle sprains were very common in their world. Normally, the more pain and swelling there was, the more severe the sprain.

To be honest, the injury didn't seem too serious, but the patient was experiencing more pain than Zack expected from this type of injury.

When one asks, they receive an answer.

It turns out that after spraining the ankle, the patient decided to climb from the eleventh floor of the dungeon on their own. It's no wonder they're in pain. If it had been in Zack's world, such an action would have been extremely serious, but in this world where one can gain strength by leveling up, it's not such a big deal. Nonetheless, it's an extremely foolish behavior, and Zack let all three of them know that.

"I can't do much more here. Come to my house tomorrow, and we'll finish up there," Zack said as he stood up.

To be honest, there wasn't much more he could do. It was just a sprain. There's no magical cure. Aside from applying ice to the area and compressing it with a bandage, there wasn't much else he could do. The only thing left was to immobilize the area to protect it from further injury, but he didn't have a cast on hand. When he got back, he would prepare a magical substitute and apply it to the patient.

"Make sure to keep your foot elevated, and under no circumstances put weight on the leg for a couple of days. What you need now is complete rest. Any foolishness could make it worse. In the worst case, you might not be able to use the leg again," Zack warned with a serious tone.

Zack's words were somewhat exaggerated, but this guy seemed very impulsive. If he didn't say anything, he might treat it as a minor injury and try to do something dangerous.

Upon hearing this, Max seemed to tremble a bit.

"Thank you, Doctor. We'll make sure to be careful," the apparent leader approached Zack just as he was leaving.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Five silver coins," Zack stated without hesitation.

The moment he heard the price, the leader's smile froze.

...

After parting ways with the group, Zack walked the streets in a good mood.

(Who would've imagined they'd send money to my doorstep just when I was worrying about it?) Zack thought cheerfully.

A villager would earn around ten to fifteen silver coins a month, depending on their occupation. Nevertheless, where there are earnings, there are expenses, so, at the end of the month, a regular family can't afford to save much.

To be honest, five coins wasn't a lot of money for a mercenary. If it were, no one would want to work, and the guild would be deserted. Even the simplest task of collecting herbs in the forest could reward you with fifty copper coins. Of course, the more dangerous the task, the greater the reward.

With some money on hand, Zack decided to do something he had been wanting to do for almost a week: visit the market.

The last time he was there, he wanted to take a look, but the lack of funds made it impossible.

When Zack arrived at the market, the atmosphere was lively. People of all kinds were walking around, searching for good deals and trying to get what they needed.

Zack looked at stores and merchandise. Although he had been here once before, he hadn't had the time to carefully observe what was available. He watched what other people were buying and which stores they were visiting.

Middle-aged women were heading to buy food: fish, fruits, and vegetables were the most common items.

One of the main challenges Zack had encountered since living alone was the lack of food. Obviously, it was impossible to eat at inns every day, and berries weren't particularly nutritious. He needed a way to get food.

One of the women who was busy shopping noticed him and approached him.

"Excuse me, are you the new doctor?"

Zack, who was busy deciding what to buy, was startled to hear a voice behind him. When he turned around, he saw a middle-aged woman of short stature and a slightly plump build standing in front of him with a smile.

"Yes, I am. My name is Matthew. Who are you?"

The woman's smile widened upon hearing his response.

"How rude of me. My name is Greta. It's a pleasure to meet the new doctor. The rumors about you don't do you justice."

"Rumors?"

"Don't worry about that," Greta said, changing the subject. "What are you doing here, doctor? Are you shopping?"

"Yes," Zack replied politely. "Since I moved, I've been too busy to come until now, so I was deciding what to buy."

"I see. That's normal. If you'd like, I can help you."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother." Although Zack was tempted by the offer, he decided to decline it. It was too sudden, and he didn't want to get too involved with the people here. He hadn't forgotten that he was still being searched for.

"It's no trouble," Greta replied enthusiastically. "Let us help you settle into the city. It can't be easy to move to a new place. If you'd like, we can chat for a while as we shop," Greta said as she dragged Zack by the arm to where her friends were waiting with smiles.

If Sarah had seen what was happening, she would have run away as fast as she could. Unfortunately, Zack had no idea what was about to happen.

Ignorance is not always a virtue.

...

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon? There are still things we haven't shown you."

Zack looked at the sky and saw that it was getting dark. Since he had been dragged to the mercenaries' guild to treat a patient, Zack had spent the entire day in the city.

"I'm sure. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you any longer. Thank you very much for your help." If someone were to look at Zack now, they would notice that his eyes had taken on a darker tone, as if he were losing faith in humanity.

"What a polite young man! Nothing like my daughter. You should meet her; I'm sure a young man like you would be good for her," one of the ladies in the group responded.

"Thank you, but for now, I want to focus on my studies. It's not appropriate for me to get to know anyone," Zack quickly replied. This was the eighteenth time they had tried to match him with a relative. If he weren't sure, he'd think the city's population was increasing every time he spoke with these ladies.

Zack quickly walked away before they could convince him to stay for the third time. Zack's head was filled with the questions and answers he had given, one after another, about his work, his life, his family, and his past, down to the tiniest detail. He wasn't even sure if his story was holding up. By the third hour, he was experiencing hallucinations.

Zack was sure that if he hadn't retained some semblance of sanity, he would have used magic to escape from there.

Despite it all, it was undeniable that those ladies had helped him a lot. Not only did he now know where to find the best products, but they had also helped him haggle and get the best prices. It must be acknowledged that seeing the merchants walk away while they passed by was entertaining.

Zack wasn't sure where he had gone after parting ways with Greta and the others. He simply walked aimlessly as he cleared his mind.

Yip!

A sound caught Zack's attention and made him look in a certain direction.