Despite being from the Soma Familia and accustomed to all sorts of darkness and schemes, the girl had ultimately still underestimated her own captain, or perhaps, the character of her Familia companions.
After spending a whole month selling every item she owned, she had finally scraped together the money to buy her freedom. The plan was to leave the Familia today and become a free person.
And after withdrawing the money from the bank, she had even deliberately chosen a main street patrolled by the Ganesha Familia's constabulary.
Yet she was still grabbed at a corner, her mouth covered, and dragged into an alley.
Her kidnappers were a few unfamiliar faces.
But Liliruca wasn't a fool; she almost instantly guessed who was behind them.
Unfortunately, even if she knew, what could she do?
She asked, but received no answer.
They simply tore off her backpack and took out the Valis inside.
"Aren't you afraid of the 'Braver's' retaliation?!"
Hearing this, the thugs paused for a moment.
The one who seemed to be their leader sneered.
"The big shots up there don't care about us rats living in the gutter."
With hope so close, Liliruca had forgotten such a simple truth.
She had even told the 'Braver' that he didn't need to lend her the money, just to make a good impression.
If only back then, no, even earlier, Lili hadn't given up on being an adventurer and had gritted her teeth and persevered.
Unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in this world.
When Liliruca's four limbs were broken with wooden clubs, when her left chest was pierced by a sharp weapon.
The girl's fate seemed already sealed.
Darkness gradually consumed her consciousness.
Silent, yet it brought a certain sense of peace.
"...So, this is why you brought back a problem you couldn't solve yourselves?"
Amidst the chaos, a somewhat familiar young man's voice reached Liliruca's ears.
Following right after was the voice of a girl who sounded quite carefree.
"Don't say that~ We couldn't help it, could we?"
"Alise, you should talk less. And I'm sorry, I did try to talk her out of it."
"...Hah." After a short while, the young man's sigh was heard. "Forget it. I was mentally prepared when I pulled you two down. You're children of Justice, after all. If you were truly indifferent to an injured person on the roadside, I'd be the one who'd have to worry."
"Ah, I mean, I promise it won't happen again!"
The voice to the side paused for a few seconds. "If you're awake, then get up."
Liliruca knew she couldn't keep pretending to be asleep and could only slowly open her eyes.
Then, a somewhat familiar figure came into her view.
Seeing that the first thing the Pallum girl said after opening her eyes on the church pew was this, Levi raised an eyebrow.
"What, you didn't want me to save you? In that case, I'll be charitable and send you on your way again."
As he spoke, the air temperature in the room instantly dropped by several degrees.
If it were before, Liliruca might have immediately apologized just to survive.
Even if it meant kneeling on the ground, even if it meant swearing to become his dog.
But with the savings she had accumulated over the years all stolen, at this moment, she suddenly showed a calm indifference toward death.
"Lili's life was saved by you. If you want to take it, of course you can."
He wasn't some homicidal maniac who would attack someone with whom he had no conflict of interest.
He asked curiously, "So, after we met that day, you didn't take my advice?"
Liliruca fell silent for two or three seconds. "Lili went to see the 'Braver', but because of my ridiculous pride, I ended up ruining everything."
She had no intention of tearing open her own wounds for others to see.
But those few short sentences were enough for Levi to roughly guess what had happened.
"It seems the situation in the Soma Familia is even worse than I imagined."
Her gaze shifted from the young man beside her to the faces of the two other girls standing slightly behind him.
"That's right." Alise, with her flaxen hair in a side ponytail, giggled. "But there's no need to thank us. Lending a hand to those in difficulty is the duty of us champions of justice."
Then, her head was tapped by Gojouno Kaguya, who was standing on the other side.
"Don't listen to her nonsense. We just happened to be there, and figuring our captain could save you, we brought you back. It has nothing to do with justice or injustice."
Perhaps it was due to Alise's infectiousness, or perhaps because those with similar personalities know each other's methods best.
Liliruca didn't thank the young man who had actually pulled her back from the brink of death. Instead, she struggled to sit up and nodded at Alise and Gojouno Kaguya.
Levi didn't mind this. The reasons he chose to act were, one, for Alise and Gojouno Kaguya's sake, as a favor to them, and two, because he had some plans that would require someone from the Soma Familia to carry out in detail. Since he had run into Liliruca, he wouldn't look for someone else further away.
But the current scene made the twin-tailed goddess, who had been sitting on the side with her arms crossed without saying a word, a little annoyed.
"You're quite an interesting child." Hestia walked forward. Although not a single shred of divine authority was released from her body, she gave off a feeling of authority without anger. "It's true that Alise and Gojouno carried you here, but the one who did the most work was my Levi."
"If you can't even figure out who to thank, then I don't mind having a good long talk with that shut-in Soma."
Liliruca lowered her head, and after a few seconds, said: "He won't see you."
The girl bit her lip. "Lord Soma won't see you, because... Lili, who wanted to leave the Familia, has already been abandoned by Lord Soma."
This answer left the blue-ribboned goddess at a loss.
She nudged her lover with her elbow. "So, what's the deal with this girl?"
Levi shrugged; he had no interest in exposing others' scars.
He just raised his hand and gently patted his goddess's, signaling that they would talk about it at night behind closed doors.
Then he put on a serious expression and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you have nowhere to go now, right? Or are you planning to ask the 'Braver' for help again?"
____
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