Chapter 54: It Only Makes Sense to Charge Extra for This! (Make-up Chapter)

The sudden turn of events left Lili's mind in a brief blank. The restaurant was the one the Soma Familia usually chose for their gatherings.

Even the specifications of the dishes were custom-ordered by herself, following their usual preferences.

The cost was naturally charged to the Soma Familia's account, utilizing her status as a Familia member to pick up the order, and disguising herself as a restaurant employee to deliver the food.

In such a short span of time, she could not figure out which link in the chain had gone wrong.

"I'm not particularly sure... the manager asked me to deliver the food." Relying on the magical disguise of "Cinderella," she managed to evade direct gazes.

Lili gritted her teeth to shift the blame, while her peripheral vision swept over the adventurers below the stage.

Some impatient Familia members had already started devouring the dishes laced with blue butterfly scale powder, and the drug was taking effect rapidly.

If she didn't leave now, her identity would likely be exposed very soon.

She raised her head and quickly explained, "The restaurant is very busy tonight. If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back first?"

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

As the captain of the "Soma Familia" and someone who controlled numerous members through divine wine, Hogni—no, Jnis—was certainly no fool.

Inherently suspicious, combined with the abnormal situation and Lili's evasive and nervous attitude,

he did not believe this was a simple blunder of delivering the wrong food. His sinister gaze swept over the many Familia members at his feet.

Filled with inner contempt, Jnis gave instructions to his deputy, Janu: "Go invite the owner of the Antler Restaurant over."

"Let's find out what on earth is going on!"

"And as for you bunch of trash, did none of you notice something wrong with the food?" Realizing they had been schemed against by other adventurers,

the veins on Jnis's hand gripping the railing bulged, and his tone made no effort to conceal his disdain for the members.

If it weren't for the money they generated, he would never have thought of giving these waste Familia members, obsessed with divine wine, any pleasant expression!

He then turned his head to glance at Lili, already forming a basic guess in his mind.

Upon closer inspection, some members who had eaten the food were displaying abnormal states, appearing drowsy even though they hadn't tasted the divine wine.

Not far away stood the restaurant employee who inexplicably felt familiar to him. A gentle smile surfaced on Jnis's mature face.

"So, do you have any explanation to offer?"

By this point, the situation was beyond control. Lili stood frozen in place, lacking the strength to stop it.

Once the other party summoned the owner of the Antler Restaurant, it meant everything would be exposed.

Ordering food under the guise of a Soma Familia member, pretending to be a restaurant employee to deliver laced food to the banquet gathering...

The unimaginable consequences of such actions were certainly more than she could bear!

Facing Jnis's gaze, she instinctively took a step back and shattered the porcelain plate hidden inside her clothes, hoping to lure Liang Yue in.

Perhaps that could buy her some time to escape?

"..."

As soon as this thought arose, Lili quickly dismissed it in her heart.

The Familia members downstairs had stopped moving, and the adventurers who had passed out completely sounded the alarm in their hearts.

The plan was a total and utter failure here. The intense emotional turbulence made her unable to maintain the magical effect of "Cinderella."

As her disguised appearance faded, reverting to her true, original self...

Watching Lili transform from an unfamiliar employee into a familiar Familia member right before his eyes, Jnis experienced a brief moment of daze.

He could confirm that everything had been orchestrated by this very person.

His gentle smile did not wane in the slightest; instead, as if discovering a new continent, he realized there was a business opportunity here even larger than the Familia members!

Liliruca, who had grown up in the Familia since childhood, had almost managed to fool him using magic?

Unsurprisingly, Jnis developed a strong interest in Lili's "Cinderella" magic, slowing his pace as he gradually stepped closer.

Her purpose in doing this was easy to guess. After all, Lili had a criminal record in this regard, having once escaped because she couldn't stand the Familia's environment.

In the end, she had been kindly taken in by a couple who ran a flower shop.

The result, of course, was that she returned to the Familia, and the process hadn't wasted much of his effort either.

Her actions tonight were probably an attempt to use some special drug to knock out all the adventurers before going to negotiate with Soma about leaving the Familia?

Jnis would never allow any member to slip out of his control, let alone Lili, who had the high potential to help him make money in the future!

"Liliruca."

"I remember you are called by this name?" He slowly recalled the identity of the young girl before him, his smile gentle yet brimming with oppression.

The other adventurers had not yet noticed Lili's true identity.

Jnis felt he could adopt a moderately gentle attitude, seizing the leverage to make Lili more obedient to his arrangements.

"You wouldn't want..."

"The matter of poisoning your fellow Familia members to be known by others, would you?"

Breaking the silent atmosphere was a tall, sturdy adventurer knocked out by the "blue butterfly scale powder," along with the glass wine glass placed before him.

It crashed entirely onto the ground, producing a crisp sound of impact.

"Bang!"

"What a bunch of trash!" Paying no mind to this unexpected intercession, Jnis was just about to maintain order within the Familia and sweep Lili's matter under the rug.

If it provoked public outrage, it wouldn't be appropriate for him as the captain to shield her; the issue had to be deflected elsewhere.

However, things went contrary to expectations, followed immediately by a brief and gentle knock on the door.

Assuming it was just a late-arriving Familia member, Jnis dismissed the thought since there were more pressing matters at hand.

Before he could make his next move...

The brief knocking gradually faded, replaced by the sound of a wooden door shattering violently under the force of a sword aura, sending fragments flying into the room.

"Bang!"

"..."

Including Jnis and Lili, the eyes of all the Soma Familia members present turned unanimously toward the doorway.

Standing there was the figure of a youth draped in a grayish-brown cloak, gripping a short blade in his hand.

Almost instantly, he became the focal point of all the adventurers' gazes, gradually filling the previously silent atmosphere with an eerie tension.

—

It was difficult to distinguish between the sound of porcelain and glass shattering on the ground through a wooden door, but since it was the signal for action, Liang Yue naturally did not delay.

Getting no response from knocking, and fearing that his employer might be in danger inside, his method of opening the door was quite characteristic of a swordsman.

The wood shavings did not kick up much dust, but upon seeing that only a handful of adventurers inside the Soma Familia's stronghold had fallen into a deep sleep, while the majority remained wide awake,

Liang Yue's expression almost cracked on the spot. Why did the scene before him look rather different from what he had anticipated?

"Huh?"

"That..."

Driven into a corner by Jnis, even when reaching the absolute depths of despair, Lili had never intended to drag Liang Yue into this.

Yet in the face of this current crisis, he had actually taken the initiative to come here and rescue her!

Various complex emotions flooded the young girl's heart.

Knowing she needed to do something to declare her stance, she took advantage of Jnis's brief stupor and ran along the wooden stairs toward the youth.

When she finally reached the side of this figure, who felt exceptionally reliable to her,

the fear blanketing her heart eased. Then, fearing that Liang Yue might misunderstand her and put himself in danger,

Lili decisively pulled the yellowed ceramic plate from her bosom and earnestly explained, "If I said I didn't break that plate just now, would you believe me?"

"..."

Even if it was a comical blunder, Liang Yue had no time to ponder it as his gaze swept across the vast sea of adventurers ahead.

He had a vague feeling the situation was somewhat delicate, prompting him to tighten his grip on the hilt of his blade.

*Can we win this?*

Even Teacher Jujutsu Kaisen probably couldn't give him an answer right now!

Without shifting the blame onto Lili, Liang Yue shook his head gently: "There's no need to talk about that now..."

He had even prepared himself for her to draw a clear line between them, yet he never expected this attitude from Liang Yue. When the young girl raised her head,

those brown pupils held an unmasked sense of adoration.

Recalling their business negotiation and feeling no fear despite the current circumstances, a very earnest smile bloomed on her face: "I can pay more."

"Well..."

"If that's not enough, all the money I earn in the future can be yours!!"