Chapter 45: Lily

The subsequent exploration went off without any unexpected hitches. After familiarizing himself with the environment and finally discovering the path leading to the 11th floor, the exploration supplies he carried had been completely exhausted.

Having undergone high-intensity exploratory training, Liang Yue chose not to press his luck further. Instead, following the markers he had made in advance along the current floor, he managed to return the way he came without getting lost.

The "Monster Feast" encountered earlier guaranteed a minimum baseline for today's dungeon exploration. The occupational level of his Sword Soul template had smoothly increased to Level 24, though he was still some distance away from mastering new abilities. The magic stones dropped by slain monsters had almost completely filled his pack.

Emerging from the mist-shrouded area of the 10th floor and feeling the world before his eyes gradually clear, a sense of ease washed over him. Liang Yue cast his gaze over the familiar, gloomy blue cavern tunnel ahead. Estimating the limits of his physical stamina, he made his slow retreat while casually clearing away all the monsters along the way back to Orario.

He should be able to hold out.

Status parameters could only be known after a deity updated them, leaving him with no choice but to use the values from his update the day before yesterday as a reference. Yesterday he encountered the rare Blue Butterfly, and today he used the Monster Feast as a means to boost his stats. Finishing the exploration and heading back to Orario, even low-intensity monsters could still provide a few points; he wanted to push himself to the absolute limit before his stats were updated.

"Aside from the Magic stat, getting everything else up to an S-rank rating should be no problem, right?"

"..."

Compared to heading deeper into exploration, familiarizing himself with the floor's layout, and returning to the surface, the entire process went even smoother than Liang Yue had anticipated.

Encountering monsters like Unicorn Rabbits and Poison Algae posed no difficulty at all. It was akin to the old saying that one shouldn't rest immediately after strenuous exercise. During the return journey, Liang Yue maintained low-intensity combat—though while the former was to prevent heart trouble, the latter was purely out of boredom and a desire to hack up a few monsters to relieve fatigue.

Passing through the starting floor and returning to the surface via the spiral staircase, night had already enshrouded Orario. The moon, obscured by dark clouds with only its sharp tip exposed, spilled a sliver of pale moonlight.

"Seriously..."

"Has so much time passed?"

In the central plaza before Babel Tower, there were not many adventurers gathered anymore, and even the evening breeze brushing past carried a distinct chill. It wasn't quite as though he had been separated from the world for ages, but his subsequent plans had been completely disrupted; the Adventurer's Guild was already closed by now. Today's spoils from the dungeon would simply have to wait for another time to be exchanged.

Before heading into the dungeon to explore, he had conveniently left Hestia plenty of Valis, so she certainly wouldn't have any trouble getting dinner today.

First, he needed to take care of his own dinner. Second, he had to update his status parameters and achieve a level ascension; he also needed to return Tsubasa's borrowed weapon and treat the Guild receptionist, the half-elf young lady, to a meal. Tomorrow evening, he would likely have to celebrate breaking through his adventurer level with Hestia as well.

"Why does it feel like a rare day off is even busier than exploring the dungeon?"

Thinking of tomorrow's fully packed itinerary, Liang Yue could hardly keep a straight face, though a sense of fulfillment wasn't necessarily a bad thing either?

Since it wasn't a time of civil unrest in Orario, the Ganesha Familia maintained public order, meaning safety at night was basically not an issue. However, as he walked into a dimly lit street, he was suddenly enveloped by a strong sense of being tailed.

"..."

This wasn't because Liang Yue's mental state was constantly on high alert; to put it accurately, the stalker's disguise was simply... too amateurish. When he quickened his pace slightly, he could clearly hear the sound of the pursuer speeding up into a jog.

During his time in the labyrinth city of Orario, he hadn't frictioned with any adventurers, let alone anyone who would tail him. To be honest, he was actually quite curious.

Passing through a dimly lit area caused by closed shops, he paused his steps and decisively turned around. What ultimately came into view was a short figure draped in a grayish-brown cloak. Accustomed to walking with her head down, brown locks of hair fell against her cheeks. Without even needing to ask, he had already guessed her identity.

「Lili」

A supporter belonging to the Soma Familia. Liang Yue remembered their last encounter was the day before yesterday, when they ran into the rare Blue Butterfly. That time hadn't been intentional. To be precise, it was an unintentional act that caused Lili, who was constantly oppressed by her Familia members, to take the initiative in choosing to change her destiny. And having clearly seen through the intimidating force of the "Cinder Ella" magic against her, its deterrent effect was maximized.

If she was awkwardly trailing him tonight, she probably didn't harbor any malicious intent. Could it be that he was the only one who could help her escape from her bitter plight?

"Spit it out."

Maintaining his usual demeanor, Liang Yue raised his eyes to look at Lili, who had halted not far away, and asked in a crisp, decisive tone, "What do you want with me?"

—

A sufficient quantity of Blue Butterfly scales had been collected. Tomorrow night was the time for the Soma Familia gathering, and many members would be in attendance. Naturally, this included their captain, Dix Perdix.

The specific plan was already in motion: find the restaurant that frequently took delivery orders, and use the "Cinder Ella" magic to alter her appearance. The divine wine was strictly controlled by Dix, leaving no opportunity to make a move.

Disguising herself as a restaurant delivery worker would increase the likelihood of tampering with things during the process. As for the exact effect of the Blue Butterfly scales, Lili had tested it—even a small amount would induce unconsciousness. Paired with the divine wine, it would put someone into a deep sleep straight through until the morning.

The truly difficult problem to solve was the captain, who would never touch the divine wine or the meal. Dix, a Level 2 adventurer.

The gap in strength between an adventurer and a supporter could render all her efforts utterly useless; she absolutely had to find a partner to cooperate with.

Towards adventurers, Lili had always harbored prejudices. To say she felt relatively neutral towards any of them... would probably be Liang Yue, whom she had met in the dungeon and who had ignored her magic to see her true appearance.

Her magic had been seen through.

Lili had spent the last two days in sheer agony, worried that Liang Yue would spread the word and bring other adventurers she had scammed down on her head.

As it turned out, he hadn't!

Because of this, she suddenly realized... it seemed Liang Yue was someone she could cooperate with in her plan. Since he hadn't flat-out rejected her back then, it meant there was still a turning point for things to work out!

Driven by this hope to escape her Familia, Lili had made her choice, waiting outside Babel Tower for a long time during the day without seeing Liang Yue appear. Tonight, just as she was even contemplating whether to give up, Liang Yue finally emerged from the dungeon. She had run through numerous scenarios in her head beforehand, but when she actually confronted the powerful adventurer whose very presence instilled instinctive fear in her...

Lili could only continuously comfort herself to wait for the right moment to speak up, never expecting her stalking to be directly discovered by Liang Yue.

"Um..."

"I don't harbor any malicious intent. There's... there's just something I'd like to discuss with you."

Faced with Liang Yue's calm inquiry, Lili lifted her head, unable to completely mask her inner panic. Upon meeting his tranquil, unrippled gaze, she finally summoned her courage and took the initiative to speak. "It's about the same matter from the day before yesterday. But I hope you won't refuse right away."

"I can pay a reward..."

This was also one of the few things she could actually bring out—what little property she had left after being plundered by her Familia members. If she were rejected once more, Lili truly had no idea how she was going to carry out her plan.

Noticing the anticipation in the young girl's eyes, Liang Yue figured that if Lili had offered a reward a little sooner, any hesitation on his part would have been an utter disrespect to Valis. Without refusing, he simply gestured toward the restaurant right ahead—the Hostess of Fertility—and said casually,

"Let's talk about it after we eat?"