"Finally back in Orario!" Hestia looked at the distant city walls and shouted joyfully.
"Hestia, there's still work to be done. You need to report the necessary matters to the Guild, register your Familia members, and so on. You can't just go straight to sleep," Artemis reminded her.
"Hmm... I'm not the same person I was in Tenkai! It's still early—watch me get all this work done!" Hestia said, pumping her fist energetically.
Thanks to Artemis's reputation, the group passed the inspection quickly and entered the city gates.
"Welf-sama is joining Hestia's familia too?" Lili was utterly stunned when she heard the news.
She nervously rubbed her sleeve and turned to Bell.
"Bell-sama, could you accompany me somewhere? I really can't gather the courage to go alone..."
"Mhm." Bell didn't ask for details, but he immediately agreed to her request.
The group was now at the outskirts of Orario. According to Hermes, the gods needed to first report the outcome of the battle at Antares to [a certain god]. During this time, Bell accompanied Lili down a quiet, inconspicuous street.
Before joining Hestia's familia, Lili wanted to bid farewell to her tragic past as a sign of her resolve. Lili had always struggled with deep insecurities, fearing her request to join would be rejected. Now that the journey had ended, there was no more time to continue running from her past.
Lili took a deep breath and slowly spoke:
"Bell-sama, please listen to Lili's past."
From the moment she was born, Lili had been wrapped in misfortune. At that time, the two strongest factions in the city had just been defeated by the Calamity Dragon. Without the deterrent of absolute power, dark forces in Orario grew unchecked. The former rulers were driven out of the city, while two new goddesses raised their banners high. Gods and their Familia members gathered to fight for justice. Good and evil clashed, light and darkness collided fiercely. Lili was born into such a chaotic era.
Even more tragically, she was born into the Soma Familia—a den of monsters bound by the Divine Wine. Lili couldn't recall her parents' faces or any childhood memories. Her only memory—or rather, the first one she could clearly remember—was begging when she was three years old.
Wearing rags, enduring hunger and cold, she stood barefoot on the muddy streets. She stood there from before the sun rose until the bitter night froze her body and soul.
"Please... give me some money..." That was the first phrase Lili learned, the words she repeated from dawn until dusk.
Every coin she begged for went straight to her parents. They never showed any gratitude or care for Lili, not even offering her a warm hug. Puppets corrupted by the Divine Wine—that was what her parents had become. Before Lili truly understood the world, her parents had already passed away.
"....."
When Bell heard this, his brow furrowed lightly. He had been considering whether to tell Lili that her parents' deaths were tied to the monsters her familia companions had attracted to them. But now, it seems unnecessary.
The others in the familia said that Lili's parents were too greedy, venturing deeper into the floors, only to be brutally killed by monsters.
Lili recounted this softly.
Her expression held not a trace of sorrow or resentment, as if she were merely describing someone else's story. This was true even for the young Lili. Her parents had merely used her as a tool for accumulating wealth. Having never known warmth, how could Lili grieve or weep?
She simply continued begging, for begging was Lili's only way of life. Begging for money, begging for food, and when hunger became unbearable, she would rummage through garbage heaps for discarded scraps. Worse than having her money stolen was the fact that Lili had no place to call her own.
Before her parents died, Lili could at least catch a few moments of respite in her dreams at night. Without them, even this last bit of peace was snatched away by others. Sleeping barefoot in the hallway, she was often kicked awake by those who despised her. When she crawled into the wine cellar, she was beaten as if she were a thief stealing liquor.
No home. No way out. She didn't even understand why she had been born into this world. Lili's only curiosity was why she had managed to survive this long.
She had seen children younger than herself on the streets, held close by their mothers, cherished with utmost care. They would wail at the slightest breeze and be carefully shielded from the rain. Such were the fragile beings called children.
"It's incredible, isn't it? Back then, Lili didn't think about escaping my plight. Instead, I held on to life, driven by that curiosity."
Finally, Lili found her answer. Starving and freezing, Lili encountered the Familia God, Soma. Though she was young, the divine Falna etched upon her back still stung. That divine power told her the being before her was extraordinary.
Lili intended to flee immediately, but her gaze was drawn to the bag in Soma's hand. More accurately, she caught the scent and stared intently at its source.
Soma seemed to notice this, approaching Lili and offering the food expressionlessly. It was a golden, fragrant, spherical dish.
Lili would later learn it was called a potato ball.
Warm, crispy batter encased soft, sweet potatoes. For Lili, who had never tasted proper food before, it was the most delicious thing in the world. She wolfed down the potato balls, not even sparing the last bit of grease clinging to her hands.
As Lili awkwardly stammered her thanks, Soma turned toward his room. Lili eyed the bag of food covetously, thinking he might not finish it all. Summoning her courage, she followed him.
"Later, as if reading Lili's thoughts, Soma-sama ate only one potato ball before handing the entire bag to me."
Lili clutched the heavy bag like a treasure, repeatedly pulling out its contents. For the first time since her birth, Lili experienced the feeling of being truly fed.
Soma said nothing. He simply gathered various plant materials, mixed them together, and ground them relentlessly.
Thump.
Thump.
Lili had no memory of this sound. Yet her body remembered the rhythmic pounding.
Thump…
It was a lullaby, rocking Lili to sleep.
Curled in a corner, tears welling in her eyes, she drifted into a deep slumber. When she awoke, Lili found herself lying in a bed, covered by a warm blanket. The god Soma continued his brewing work. Noticing Lili had woken, he offered no words.
"At that moment, Lili finally understood who had raised her in her childhood."
Thus, Lili gained a room to shelter her from the elements. Though her life of begging continued, a sliver of comfort finally graced her wretched existence. Little did she know that warmth would prove as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind.
Misfortune struck, and darkness descended. At the age of six, Lili was forced to drink the [Divine Wine].
...
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