Before leaving Soma Familia, Liang Yue had put in a great deal of effort to make sure the situation didn't force the Guild into a corner. Everything was done to avoid being too blatant.
Spilled wine bottles. Unopened evidence.
The Guild employees might not have known just how addictive the divine wine was—but the deity overseeing them, Ouranos, certainly did.
That was also the final explanation Liang Yue submitted:
"Zanis attempted to distribute finished divine wine into the adventurer market, with support from Familia members. He was stopped by a passing adventurer acting in justice."
No evidence. No witnesses. And not a single drop of blame was cast on Soma himself.
It was a shaky excuse—but as long as it didn't destabilize Orario, the rest would depend on whether Ouranos wanted to pursue it further.
"This is good enough."
As he looked away from the blood-soaked interior of Soma Familia's base, Liang Yue spoke these words—not to himself, but for Lili to hear.
But now came the pressing matter: Before the Guild could begin investigating in earnest, he had to fully raise his stats to their maximum values for this level…
And undergo a level-up.
Now that everything had been settled, Lili—finally starting to calm down—looked up at Liang Yue, her eyes full of doubt.
"Are you sure…?"
"That doing all of this means the Guild won't come after you?"
"Of course they will."
Liang Yue didn't deny it. After all, she was now part of the same metaphorical pirate ship. His tone was indifferent as he explained:
"That reason…"
"Wasn't for the Guild—it was for all of Orario's adventurers to see. A peaceful, stable Orario is what the Guild values most."
Lili couldn't shake the feeling that Liang Yue was scheming something big. She shot him a sidelong glance.
If she hadn't known him for a while now, she might have seriously suspected he was with the Evilus faction.
After a moment of silence, she asked again—partly for her own future:
"Then what will the Guild do?"
"They'll have two options," Liang Yue said bluntly. "A Familia that hinders the development of adventurers in Orario—Soma Familia…"
"Or an adventurer who reaches Level 2 at record-breaking speed."
Then he posed a question of his own:
"If you were Ouranos, which would you choose?"
The question was thrown right back at her.
Lili stared into his pitch-black, bottomless eyes. She opened her mouth but couldn't find any words to say.
In the end, she only nodded.
The answer was simple: Don't disrupt Orario's stability, and prove to the Guild that compared to the corrupt and doomed Soma Familia…
Liang Yue was more valuable.
"…That really is…"
Lili didn't finish her sentence. She had no desire to judge Liang Yue's methods.
They were extreme, sure—but they had eliminated a major threat in Soma Familia.
She had never imagined the plan would fail.
Putting personality aside, she now looked again at this boy her age. His calculations, his precision—they were almost terrifying.
So what should she do now?
She knew following Liang Yue likely meant diving straight into a pit of fire. If this were the past, she would've run away from this dangerous man without hesitation.
But now—Lili hesitated.
Could she betray her own heart again?
She didn't want to.
But when she looked at Liang Yue, the inferiority complex in her eyes was impossible to hide. Her disgraceful past wouldn't disappear just because she'd left Soma Familia.
It was carved deep into her bones—and the regret only kept growing.
She couldn't even bring herself to say aloud what she really wanted: to join the same Familia as him.
Facing Liang Yue's questioning gaze, she kept her head low and tentatively asked:
"…Since you're about to go on high-intensity dungeon expeditions, you probably…"
"Need a supporter, right? One that doesn't need any pay!"
Lili had already prepared a backup plan.
After all, Liang Yue did mention he was going to demand extra reward when he saved her earlier.
She cautiously looked up, trying to read his expression.
But the outcome was no surprise. Liang Yue answered almost instantly:
"If it weren't for your request…"
"Would I have had to deal with all this trouble?"
"…"
"Whether you can join my Familia or not, that's up to my god."
"But even if they don't agree, you're working for me—for life!"
Honestly, it kind of felt like she was being emotionally blackmailed… but Lili didn't mind.
Her anxiety melted away. She couldn't stop sneaking glances at Liang Yue's side profile.
Her tension slowly faded with the flow of casual conversation.
And suddenly… she realized this guy was actually pretty good-looking.
If only he didn't keep such a straight face all the time. His personality wasn't even as serious as she'd first thought!
"…You're at least covering meals and housing, right?"
Feeling her silence might come across as rude, Lili couldn't help blurting it out.
But the moment she said it, she realized how it sounded… Her fair cheeks flushed red as panic bubbled in her chest.
"No problem."
Whether she'd be accepted into his Familia or not—that was up to Goddess Hestia.
But having a smart supporter during dungeon exploration?
Liang Yue had no reason to refuse.
It would boost his overall endurance in battle. The supporter could carry more supplies, and all the magic stones and drop items from monsters would be handled by her.
They didn't return to the Familia's base right away.
Instead, they went to the small rental home Lili had in Orario. There, they washed off the stench of blood and changed into clean travel cloaks.
As Lili stared curiously at his left arm, Liang Yue didn't offer any explanation.
Instead, he moved right to tomorrow's plan:
"We need to get into the dungeon before the incident goes public. Get everything ready for a deep expedition."
"Do you still have enough money?"
"Plenty."
Knowing what he was about to do, even Lili felt overwhelmed.
As Liang Yue's supporter, would she be about to witness—firsthand—
The fastest Level 2 promotion in history since Ais Wallenstein of Loki Familia?
Her lashes trembled like frost-tipped branches. She couldn't help but ask:
"…How fast are we talking?"
"Nine days?"
Seeing Lili's completely stunned face, Liang Yue's tone stayed flat as he added:
"Most of my stats haven't hit their limit yet."
"My god thinks leveling up now would be wasting potential, so she told me to keep 'tempering' myself."
"…"
Lili:
"You call that tempering?!"
The complete destruction of Soma Familia wasn't covered up.
The Ganesha Familia, responsible for public order in Orario, quickly imposed martial law.
They worked with the Guild to seal off the massacre site.
But since Soma Familia's base was in the ever-busy Pleasure Street, full of adventurers visiting brothels and hostess clubs at night…
Investigating became far more difficult.
For Liang Yue, this was great news.
He had only registered as an adventurer recently. And as a member of the infamously small and weak Hestia Familia, he could enter the Babel Tower openly…
Without raising a single suspicion from Ganesha's guards.
His rendezvous with Lili had been set for the dungeon's entrance floor—meeting right in the central plaza, in plain sight.
It was the boldest possible move—and it worked.
They reunited successfully.
Liang Yue looked at Lili, who—despite being a Pallum—was carrying an oversized supporter's pack.
Right now, it was a race against the Guild's intelligence network.
There was no time to waste.
His expression was calm, but his tone was resolute:
"Let's go. Our next target is the 10th floor."
"We might hit a monster party at any moment!"
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