Upon hearing Rea's words, Zack's face showed an expression of confusion.

"What do you mean you don't have money?" Zack asked. Just because their bill isn't considered cheap doesn't mean it's driving them to ruin. One of the reasons, perhaps the most important one, why mercenaries delve into dungeons instead of taking other assignments is because it's a quick and straightforward way to make money. Even sitting in a dungeon with no resources other than the monsters they kill for leveling materials would be enough to live quite well for a while. It doesn't make sense that they don't have money to pay for their treatment.

The girl's body shrank as if she wanted to disappear from there. After hearing her explanation, Zack understood everything. Rea and Max are from the village. Both grew up in the orphanage, and neither of them knew their parents.

Life in the orphanage wasn't that bad. At least they had enough food to grow well, and everyone in the orphanage was very kind. The problem came when they turned eight. People in this world acquire their first official class at the age of eight. That moment is considered the first significant step in their lives.

Normally, in the case of this village, when a child acquires their class, they are sent to study a profession. In the case of having the artisan class, perhaps a blacksmith would take them as an apprentice or a sculptor might take charge of their education. Similarly, an artist could learn from a bard, a singer, or a pianist. These mentors are usually tier 1 class individuals who have decided to learn such a profession. In almost no case could a peasant have a tier 2 class expert as their mentor. That is reserved for the nobles.

Usually, parents pay the mentor to accept their child as an apprentice. In the case of orphans, they usually pay their teachers for their time, with their labor for several years after completing their apprenticeship. Max and Rea acquired the warrior class.

It's not that there are no people with this class in the village; on the contrary, due to the presence of the dungeon, there are many people with this class who venture into it every day. That doesn't mean they will find someone to teach them. Most of the warriors in the village are foreigners who have come in search of money and experience in the dungeon. None of them would deign to teach them the mercenary profession unless they paid for it. Obviously, given their condition, none of them could afford it.

Without someone reliable to teach them the skills their class can learn, it's impossible to level up a combat class. The moment they face an enemy, they would be slaughtered.

Other people who unfortunately acquired combat classes in the village could always develop their profession in another way or simply acquire another profession. You don't have to have the artisan class to be a blacksmith, nor the warrior class to wield a sword. It's just that the effort required to learn such skills is not proportional to the reward. They could spend months and months trying to learn skills from other classes without success. Due to their economic situation, that was not a viable option. Rea and Max had no choice but to investigate their class on their own.

Fortunately, the people in the village were not completely indifferent to the situation. For a while, they learned to handle a weapon with the help of some guards and hunters living there, but that's all the help they could get.

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Thanks to all the help they had received from the village, at the age of 15, when people in this world were considered adults, they had enough knowledge to navigate the guild and take on minor jobs.

For a while, everything was fine. Although they didn't earn much money from the occasional jobs they did, it allowed them to get by. The problem came sometime later. Max was frustrated because his skills were not increasing as they did initially. Training was no longer so effective, and they were starting to stagnate. This is perfectly normal; not everyone is a genius, and everyone has limits, especially when they haven't experienced real combat. It was at that moment that Max came up with the brilliant idea of going to the dungeon. There, they could not only earn more money but also increase their skills and levels much faster than they had done so far.

The first time Rea heard about this, she wasn't sure, but her skills had also started to stop leveling up, and she felt frustrated too. In the end, Max convinced her. And then came the leg injury.

When Rea finished telling her story, both their cups were empty, and the sunset was beginning to appear on the horizon. Although it seemed like a short time, they had been talking for two hours.

The story wasn't so complicated for Zack; a couple of rookie mercenaries delve into a higher-level dungeon than they should, and in the end, they pay the price. However, that didn't answer Zack's question.

"As touching as your story may be, I still don't understand why you don't have money," Zack asked. No matter how you look at it, they should have enough to pay him.

Once Rea finished speaking and saw that she couldn't figure out the situation, she looked down at the floor and revealed the truth in a low voice.

"We don't earn much money doing minor jobs, and Max and I have been in the dungeon for a very short time. The little money we have saved we spent on other things, and when Max got injured..."

"You didn't have the means to pay me," Zack completed. Rea nodded with her head down.

Zack's head hurt just thinking about this problem. The solution is not apparent either. He can't allow them to leave without paying; otherwise, everyone who comes to his clinic and finds out about this will want to dodge payment.

On the other hand, the treatment is already done. Zack can't amputate the patient's leg just because they don't have money to pay, and it's not convenient for them to work here to settle their debts. He has many secrets, and he uses magic almost every day. Not only to learn new spells but also in his daily life. Zack has no intention of restricting their use of magic for them.

"REA."

Just when he was thinking about what the solution might be, a crash sounded from upstairs.

Bam.

Kong.

Clant.

A plethora of sounds filled the upper floor, and with each new crash, Zack knew that something had broken. Gradually, the noise approached them, while Rea kept her gaze on the ground as if something extremely fascinating was happening there.

"REA!" he shouted from the stairs the moment he saw them and ran frantically towards them...

...until he fell down the stairs.

Max rolled down the remaining steps until he reached the lower floor at record speed.

(Ouch) Zack thought as he watched him crash onto the floor.

Running with one leg is not a good idea.

"Rea, are you okay?" Max asked once he got up from the floor. The bandaged leg made it difficult for him to walk, but he quickly approached her with a face full of concern.

Rea said something quietly that he couldn't hear.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Max focused his attention on the person in front of him.

"You! What have you done to Rea? If I find out that something happened to her, you'll deal with me," he threatened. Although it would be much more convincing if he weren't half wobbling, without a weapon, and trying to maintain balance.

"Shut up," a voice sounded behind him.

Turning around, Max saw Rea trembling, not looking him in the face.

"Rea. Don't be afraid; I'm here now. Let's get out of this degenerate's house."

"SHUT UP!"

The girl's voice echoed throughout the place.