If you chose to walk the path of an adventurer, you had to be prepared for everything that came with it.
At least that was how Renn saw it.
He looked ahead.
Even this early in the morning, plenty of adventurers had already gathered in Central Plaza, which only proved the competition in this line of work was worse than he’d imagined.
Good news:
The Dungeon was a breeding dish for monsters, respawning them in an endless supply.
More to the point, as a rookie adventurer, he faced no job competition at all compared to those veterans.
The floors he was exploring were about as bottom-tier as it got.
“Hopefully today’s dive goes smoothly.”
Renn hoped so, anyway.
As for Lili, the supporter girl trailing a short distance behind him, he didn’t pay her much mind.
He simply treated it as the two of them happening to head for the Dungeon along the same route.
Helping her had been a matter of convenience, nothing more.
Actually stepping into a bullying situation that vicious would only bring trouble down on himself and Hestia.
“A smart adventurer keeps away from collapsing ruins.”
Not that he had anything to do with being wise.
But either way, he’d repaid the goodwill she had shown him in the Dungeon in whatever way was within his means.
That settled it.
The heavy feeling pressing on his chest, the survival of the fittest of this “extraordinary world,” gradually faded away.
But as he blended into the long line of adventurers, it became clear that things weren’t going to end as easily as he’d imagined.
“Um…”
“What’s your name?”
Her voice was muffled, but compared to their last exchange, she no longer sounded like a hedgehog with every spine up.
Renn looked over.
Noticing his gaze, Lili lowered her head and tugged at the hood of her gray cloak, trying to cover the scrape on her cheek.
“Renn.”
“Liliruca Arde.”
“…”
The quiet stretched between them.
Lili thought that was normal enough.
At heart, they were two strangers in Orario with nothing connecting them.
Why had she come to find him?
She couldn’t say for sure.
Most likely it was because she’d seen something in him that set him apart from every other adventurer in Orario.
Maybe he really was different from the rest?
With that thought, Lili raised her head and asked quietly, “Do you need a supporter today?”
“…”
He didn’t.
Renn thought it over and answered honestly.
“This is only my second time exploring the Dungeon.
Hiring a supporter would just be a burden.”
“If you want to make money, I’d actually suggest finding a fixed party instead.”
“…”
“The price is negotiable.”
She meant it this time.
This guy more or less counted as an adventurer she could hold a normal conversation with, and she wanted to talk.
But as a supporter, she couldn’t just let herself be used for free.
“The main thing is that I really don’t need one.
My hauls aren’t great either, so even if the price is negotiable, you probably wouldn’t be happy with it.”
“Free.”
“Someone once told me that free is actually the most expensive.”
“…”
Lili’s eye twitched.
Somehow this guy suddenly looked a lot less agreeable than he had a minute ago.
She took a deep breath.
“Call it…
thanks for the Jagamarukun earlier.
A rookie adventurer picks things up faster with a guide.”
“I don’t have to buy you a meal too, do I?”
“I’m buying!!”
“Deal.”
Lili looked up at the smile on Renn’s face, and finally couldn’t keep her guard up.
Her chest ached for reasons she couldn’t name.
*
Free help really was expensive.
But since Lili had gone that far just to thank him for what he’d done, Renn had no reason to refuse.
However accurate Eina’s information was, it couldn’t compare to a veteran showing him the way.
The line of adventurers was long.
Renn thought back to what had happened to Lili.
He figured it was worth asking about, if only to keep that “will of the strong” from this other world from eventually landing on him.
He glanced at the girl beside him, breathing deeply under her supporter backpack, and asked out of curiosity, “So…
what was that about earlier?”
“…”
With any other adventurer, Lili would have assumed they were rubbing salt in her wounds.
But with Renn, who had only just become an adventurer, she had nothing.
This guy actually still had illusions about adventurers.
Veteran supporter Lili’s class was now in session.
“It’s exactly what you’re already thinking.
That’s just how the adventurer world works.
Even in the same Familia, where people are supposed to be comrades.”
“They squeeze each other without holding back.”
Her tone was full of mockery aimed at her own situation.
“They squeeze the supporters at the bottom and use them as blood bags to keep themselves fed.”
“So…”
“That’s why I think you’re…
pretty rare.”
“…”
It was a compliment, but being called rare for something like that felt far too heavy for a modern person to hear.
Renn didn’t think of himself as an idealist either.
Landing in Orario without falling into a pit like the Familia Lili was stuck in, and meeting Hestia instead, was probably because he’d liked doing good deeds before he came here.
Stocking up on karma.
He found himself curious.
“Why don’t you consider switching to a different Familia?”
“Those people would never agree to it.”
Every waking moment, Lili thought about escaping the swamp that was the Soma Familia.
But reality was cruel.
Even if she ran, they would drag her back.
It would even drag in the florist couple who had taken her in.
She didn’t seem to care how Renn took it and just kept talking.
“My parents…
they were adventurers in the Soma Familia.”
“Not long after I was born.”
“They craved Soma so badly that they went into the Dungeon and never came back.
From the time I was old enough to remember, all I’ve ever thought about is leaving.”
“…”
Renn knew there was no point digging any deeper after that.
Still, everything Lili had gone through gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.
Missing parents, adventurers who bullied her, and…
a broken her?
Just thinking about it was suffocating.
He thought for a moment.
He knew she hadn’t told him any of this to get his sympathy, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything sentimental either.
“Well…”
“You’re allowed to leave the Familia you were born into.”
*
Being driven off by the Ganesha Familia guards didn’t mean Enman Kowo was going to give up a blood bag like Lili so easily.
The date for claiming his share of Soma was getting closer.
Honestly, the fastest way he could think of to make money was to take it from Lili.
Exploring the Dungeon was nowhere near as quick as robbing someone outright.
Then, in the line of adventurers at Central Plaza, he spotted Lili’s familiar back again, along with the one walking beside her.
The adventurer who seemed to have hired her.
“…”
Of course, what really caught his attention was the weapon that unfamiliar adventurer carried, the one bearing the mark of the head of the Hephaestus Familia.
“Hm…”
“Why does it feel like the money for this round of Soma just sorted itself out?”
More chapters will be uploaded today at short intervals, so make sure to add the story to your collection so you don’t miss them!
The story is really good overall, so definitely give it a try.