Liliruca Arde!
She belonged to the Soma Familia and was not truly a Chienthrope, but a Pallum adventurer.
After receiving her Falna, Lily developed into a Supporter and awakened Artel Assist, a support-specialized skill perfectly suited to logistical work.
Beyond that, she possessed an extremely powerful spell—Cinder Ella.
Its basic ability was transformation!
In the neighboring world where five villages constantly fought, disguising oneself and infiltrating enemy territory was commonplace.
In Orario—and throughout the entire DanMachi world—transformation magic was extraordinarily rare.
Cinder Ella allowed Lily to freely alter her height, body shape, race, and gender.
She could disguise herself as a beast person, a human, or even a male adventurer.
She could also copy another person’s appearance and clothing, making the spell perfect for infiltration, espionage, and luring enemies.
With this ability, Lily could deceive and rob people without worrying about them finding her afterward.
Other criminals needed masks and cloaks.
She only needed to transform!
Since Lily had never appeared before others in her true form, she could simply cancel her transformation after deceiving someone and disappear without a trace.
The reason she resorted to fraud and theft was to earn enough money to buy her freedom from the Soma Familia.
As a Pallum, Lily had not joined the Familia later in life.
She had belonged to it since birth because both her parents were members.
By tradition, the children of Familia members generally became part of the same Familia.
Unfortunately, the Soma Familia was anything but a good Familia.
Its patron god, Soma, was completely obsessed with brewing alcohol.
He ignored the Familia’s affairs and cared nothing about its development.
His only concern was whether the Familia provided the ingredients he needed to continue brewing.
As a result, the captain controlled everything.
The captain was a greedy man who used Soma’s divine wine to control the entire Familia and force its members to earn money for him.
Because the wine was brewed by a god, it allowed people to forget their pain and possessed an overwhelmingly addictive quality.
Calling it a narcotic would hardly be an exaggeration.
The entire Familia lived for Soma’s divine wine and amassed enormous profits by selling it.
The captain also forced the weaker members to commit fraud, theft, and other crimes.
As long as an activity made money, he encouraged it.
Lily was one of the members suffering beneath that oppression.
Pallums were naturally weak in combat, and Lily had awakened abilities suited to a Supporter.
With those two disadvantages combined, her status within the Soma Familia dropped directly to the very bottom!
Under relentless oppression, Lily eventually fell into darkness.
Like the Familia’s other low-ranking members, she began deceiving and robbing people.
Thanks to her transformation magic, she was far more efficient at it than anyone else.
Lily believed she could eventually gather enough money to purchase her freedom.
Unfortunately, that possibility had never existed.
The promise that she could leave after paying enough money had been a lie from the beginning.
Lily did not know that.
Clinging to that false hope, she continued walking deeper into the abyss one step at a time.
After recalling Liliruca Arde’s past, Ritsuka looked at the Chienthrope girl before him.
Was this Lily truly the person he remembered?
After all, a Chienthrope girl was one of the disguises Lily frequently used.
“Can you still walk?” “Yes, I can.
As a Supporter, walking is what I’m best at.” Lily answered confidently.
Ritsuka examined her condition and considered the situation before speaking.
“Your party should already be heading toward the surface.
You should hurry and catch up with them.” Lily’s eyes dimmed.
“They weren’t my party members.
They were merely my employers.” After all, true companions would not knock someone down and leave them behind as bait.
The Soma Familia was another matter.
“Are you planning to reunite with them?” “No.” Lily helplessly shook her head.
“We hadn’t fought anything before encountering that monster swarm, so we collected no magic stones.” “After what happened, they probably won’t want to enter the Dungeon again today.” “I see.” Ritsuka rubbed his chin.
“Then would you like to come with me?
I happen to need a Supporter.” “You need a Supporter?” Lily raised her head and looked at him.
“That’s right.
I was planning to return to the plaza and hire one.” “Since you’ve already separated from your previous employers, why don’t you form a party with me instead?” “What do you say?
Are you interested?” “Of course!” Lily smiled and bowed with the enormous pack still on her back.
As she leaned forward, the pack nearly slammed into Ritsuka’s face.
“Good.
Then let’s get moving.” “Don’t worry.
I’ll pay you enough to leave you satisfied.” Ritsuka immediately began walking deeper into the Dungeon.
Lily straightened, watched his retreating back for a moment, and then followed him.
Ritsuka led Lily through the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Floors.
When they finally reached the passage leading down to the Thirteenth Floor, Lily’s previously calm expression became increasingly confused.
“Um, Adventurer-sama…” “Just call me Fujimaru Ritsuka.” “Ritsuka-sama, which floor are we heading to?” She used his name but continued adding an honorific.
Her voice was also filled with anxiety.
“We’ll begin on the Thirteenth Floor.
Our final destination is the Seventeenth.” “The Floor Boss happens to respawn today.” “The Seventeenth Floor?!” Lily stared at Ritsuka in disbelief.
“Ritsuka-sama, are you…
a high-level adventurer?” “No.
I’m Level One.” “Huh?” Lily’s expression froze.
“Ritsuka-sama, wouldn’t going directly to the Seventeenth Floor as a Level One be far too dangerous?” “It’ll be fine!” Ritsuka pointed confidently at himself with his thumb.
“I’m extremely strong!” ‘Who would believe that?!’ Lily stared blankly at the confident young man.
He could stop anyone on Orario’s streets and ask whether a Level One should explore the Seventeenth Floor alone.
Every adventurer would give him the same answer.
“You haven’t heard of me?” Seeing Lily’s disbelief, Ritsuka looked puzzled.
By now, information about him should have spread throughout the city.
He had caused an enormous disturbance on both his first and second days in Orario.
“I’m sorry, Ritsuka-sama.
I’m only a Supporter, so I don’t have time to follow news about other adventurers.” “My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka.
I belong to the Astraea Familia.” “The Astraea Familia?” Lily looked confused at first.
A moment later, she raised her head and stared at him in shock.
“You mean that Familia of justice?!” “That’s right.
It’s the very Astraea Familia you’re thinking of!” Standing at the entrance to the Thirteenth Floor, Ritsuka turned toward Lily.
“Well?
Are you coming?” …