Chapter 14: The Frazzled Hedgehog, the Warmth the Girl Felt! (Patreon)

Liliruca Arde hated Adventurers.

To be precise—She hated all Adventurers equally.

Those who loudly proclaimed they'd protect their companions in public would turn around and exploit them mercilessly behind closed doors, leaving no room to breathe.

The moment she scraped together money from a hard day in the Dungeon, they'd swoop in to shake her down.

Soma. That was the Familia she belonged to — and the hell she lived in.

Their god was so obsessed with brewing divine wine that he never bothered managing Familia affairs, and the members, desperate for that wine, would stop at nothing—

—setting their sights on the Supporters at the bottom of the Familia's hierarchy.

Plenty used excuses like "protection fees" or "breathing-air fees," but more often than not it was outright robbery, just like now.

They'd pry her open to the bone and drink the marrow dry, squeezing out every last valis she'd earned.

"So..."

"Just let it all be destroyed."

Backed into a corner, staring at the sneering, reeking-of-alcohol Adventurers in front of her, Lili could only curl up against the wall.

It was the only way she knew to feel even a shred of safety.

"Lili, everyone's short on cash lately... you understand, right? You don't want things to get even worse for you in the Familia, do you?"

The familiar voice echoed in her ears.

The girl tried averting her eyes, hoping it might buy her some peace. "I... I haven't even gone to the Dungeon today... so I don't have any money."

"No money!"

Enwan Kovo, the orc Adventurer leading the pack, cracked his knuckles, his grin dripping with malice. "Now why don't I believe that?"

"Why not sell your gear, then?"

"I can't... without my gear, I can't work in the Dungeon..."

"Then go borrow some!"

"Borrow from another Familia, go beg the girls at the Pleasure Quarter for help, I don't care — I need to see fifty thousand valis today."

Fifty thousand valis... For a Supporter like her, that was more than a month of working herself to the bone to save up.

"I... I can't do it..."

"Can't, huh?"

The orc Adventurer grabbed Lili by the hair and hauled her up. "I'll find a way... to make you hand it over nice and quiet."

"Hahahaha—"

His idea of a "way." It was the most primitive kind — a beating. As fists and boots rained down, Lili bit her lip hard, nails digging deep into her palms.

Why...? Why did it have to be like this?

She hadn't done anything wrong. All she wanted was to survive — so why couldn't even that small wish come true?

"So."

"This was why she hated every Adventurer equally."

If she could have her way, Lili genuinely wished this whole pack of bullies would die — die in agony, drowning in despair.

"Worthless!"

"Trash!"

"Pallum like you should just know your place as slaves!"

The jeers ringing in her ears gradually faded, and as her body went numb to the pain, she began to lose all sense of time.

Endure. Keep living, until she'd saved enough to leave the Soma Familia.

She had no idea how much time had passed.

Lili forced her head up, vision blurred, and saw the Soma Familia Adventurers who'd been tormenting her hurrying away.

At the mouth of the alley, members of the Ganesha Familia's guard had answered a call and arrived — though they didn't seem to notice the girl curled up in the corner.

"I just wish... this could all be over for good."

Lili pulled her cloak's hood tight, curling up on the ground and taking deep breaths, letting time slowly ease the pain her body had suffered.

The pain gradually faded. But the despair in her heart only grew deeper.

"Miss Lili?"

Just then, a voice she thought she recognized rang out.

Lili raised her head, and through the gap in her hood, she saw a face she knew all too well — one she'd met in the Dungeon just yesterday.

Rozz. The rookie Adventurer with high-end gear and zero experience.

Lili wanted to get up and run, but the pain in her body wouldn't let her move. "Wh-why are you here...?" she said coldly.

"I was passing by and saw the guard chasing those guys off."

Bullying incidents. They seemed pretty common in this world of the extraordinary — Rozz just hadn't expected to run into one so soon here in Orario.

Ignoring the chill in the girl's tone, he avoided looking at Lili's embarrassed state, biting into the fried potato balls cradled in his arms. "So I figured I'd come check on you."

"Want some?"

...

The girl looked at the fried potato balls held out toward her, then at Rozz's face, before decisively turning her head away, trying to hide the scrape on her left cheek.

"Are you here to shake me down too?"

"If I were here to shake you down, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to get the guard to chase those scum off. I'd have waited until after they left."

"And then thank nature for the free opportunity..."

Rozz could tell she was like a hedgehog with every quill bristled, so he crouched down a safe distance away.

...

Lili fell silent for a moment.

It was true... If he'd really come to shake her down, he should have grabbed her valuable gear by now instead of squatting here making small talk.

"Want a fried potato ball?"

Rozz asked again, his tone light. "Fresh out of the fryer. Should taste pretty good."

"I..."

The girl still wanted to refuse, but her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl. Face flushing red, she finally reached out and took the potato ball.

She dug in without a word.

The warm food filled her mouth, and the familiar taste stirred something complicated in her — Lili offered her thanks, reluctant as it was.

"...Thanks."

...

Rozz shook his head lightly, leaning against the wall. "I mean, I just became an Adventurer, so there's no way I could beat those seasoned old hands."

"So..."

"If you've got a problem, go find the Ganesha guard — that logic should still apply, right?"

...

So he really was a rookie. Lili had thought of that idea years ago — but even if she went to the Ganesha guard, in the end, they'd just look the other way, citing the excuse that it wasn't proper to interfere in a Familia's internal affairs.

Lili nibbled at the potato ball, glancing at Rozz out of the corner of her eye, unable to understand... why... he was helping her.

Some part of her held onto hope, but what came out of her mouth was a cold dash of water instead. "Even if you helped me just now, I don't have any money to give you."

"?"

"You can just think of it as me racking up some good karma. If there's nothing else, I'm heading to the Dungeon to start exploring."

Treating her to two fried potato balls. Sure, why not.

He genuinely had them to spare, and after seeing Lili getting bullied, remembering her tip from yesterday, calling the guard over had been no trouble at all.

But if he started worrying about her physical wellbeing too, his own already-modest finances would only take a further hit.

...

The girl said nothing.

She just watched Rozz's retreating back, and after a moment's inner struggle, Lili gritted her teeth and pushed herself up off the ground, bracing against the wall.

Then, she hoisted her Supporter's pack onto her back once more and set off toward Babel — or more precisely, toward that rare warmth she'd just felt.

[Author's Note: Please keep following the story, meow~ Please keep following, meow. The follow-reader numbers are really bleak, meow. If they pick up, meow~ the author could update 3-4 chapters a day, meow!!]