Chapter 58: Good News and Bad News
Moving deeper down the corridor, Lilli's heart was undoubtedly filled with anxiety. Whether she could successfully leave the Familia ultimately depended on the deity's consent.
"Soma."
Her impression of this deity was deeply complicated. When she was young and often went hungry, this very deity would fry potato croquettes himself to stave off his own hunger.
When was the last time she had visited Soma's room?
It was probably when the former Familia captain, Za尼斯 (Zanis), tricked her into drinking the divine wine. Since then, Lilli had never laid eyes on this well-meaning deity again.
"..."
Stopping before the door of the brewing room, a flash of internal struggle crossed her eyes, but she still reached out and gently knocked. Soma gave no answer.
After waiting a moment, Lilli knocked once more.
Still no reply, but she pushed the door open without hesitation anyway. The scene that met her eyes felt somewhat familiar, continuously overlapping with the images deep in her memory.
The room seemed frozen as it had been ten years ago.
If there was any real difference, it was that the room in her memories had been simple and warm, whereas now, wherever she looked, various brewing materials were piled high everywhere.
It was purely a brewing workshop for Soma now.
The figure standing before the workbench wore a white lab coat, and thick, dark hair fell naturally across his shoulders, shielding most of his face.
Even with an adventurer entering the brewing room, Soma's movements in stirring the brewing ingredients did not halt for a single instant. He had grown thoroughly disillusioned with every member of his Familia.
As long as it did not delay the brewing of the divine wine...
Lilli did not let her gaze linger on the various brewing materials. With a clear objective, she walked straight toward Soma, having already prepared her words.
She raised her head to look at the deity, her tone filled with resolute determination: "Lord Soma."
"I wish to quit the Soma Familia. Thank you so much... for taking care of me in the past." She desperately wanted to say that the chaos within the Familia was the cause.
Yet, as those sealed memories kept resurfacing, Lilli found herself utterly unable to voice such accusations. Instead, she said firmly, "I have found a new goal, and I hope Lord Soma will grant your permission."
"..."
Soma paused his divine wine-brewing movements slightly. He turned around, and even though his hair blocked his line of sight, he still recognized the child standing before him.
Without giving an answer, he poured himself a cup of divine wine and pushed it across the table toward Lilli.
Of course, Lilli was not foolish enough to fail to recognize something like a "Famila-leaving trial." She looked at the crystal-clear liquid in the glass.
Her hand holding the wine glass did not hesitate as she decisively drained it in a single gulp.
The taste of the divine wine was truly mesmerizing; no wonder the Familia members were... so utterly obsessed, even her own parents.
The flavor, akin to sweet dew from the heavens, caused Lilli to lose her focus for a brief moment.
The goal she had always yearned for in her heart, coupled with her encounter with... a certain annoying guy, were the driving forces compelling her to break away from the Soma Familia.
Placing the empty wine glass back onto the workbench, the young girl's expression remained completely unmoved as she made her request once more with firm resolve: "I hope Lord Soma will agree to my request to leave the Familia."
Lilli, once regarded as the rising hope of the new generation within the Familia, had drunk the divine wine without changing her expression and managed to maintain her composure to ask again. Looking at the girl standing before him, Soma's calm exterior could not entirely conceal the shock deep within his heart.
This was an outcome he had never anticipated, though he quickly understood the reason behind it—it was likely brought about by the chaotic order within the Familia.
After a moment of silence, Soma reflected on things and made his decision. Looking down at the child who had found her goal and was striving toward it, he spoke in a soft voice:
"I'm sorry."
This apology was not only for Lilli, but also for his own past irresponsibility. He did not refuse Lilli's request to leave.
In a rare gesture, Soma bestowed his blessings upon the child in whom he had once placed his expectations.
"Set off. You are just a step away from the direction of your destiny. Hoist your sails for the dream you have resolved to follow, no matter what difficulties you may encounter..."
"Thank you."
——
The process of leaving the Familia went exceptionally smoothly—something Lilli had never anticipated. After expressing her gratitude to the deity who had once helped her, she didn't even have her divine blood recalled.
According to Soma's words, it could be retained until she found a new Familia, at which point the new deity could simply overwrite the divine blood.
"I wonder..."
"Which Familia that guy actually belongs to."
The only person Lilli would refer to as "that guy" was Liang Yue. A major reason she chose to stay in Orario was undoubtedly her encounter with Liang Yue.
If anyone were to actually ask her, she would naturally deny it.
She hoped to become a stronger adventurer and properly prepare herself before going to visit the merchant couple who ran the flower shop and had once helped her.
Stepping out of Soma's brewing room, she did not spot Liang Yue's figure in the corridor. Instead, an intense smell of blood hit her face—countless times thicker than before!
"This is..."
The young girl's relaxed expression vanished in an instant, replaced by anxiety and unease. Having grown up in the Labyrinth City of Orario, she knew all too well what kind of catastrophic consequences such a large-scale massacre of a Familia would cause!
With her heart racing with tension, Lilli hurried into the second-floor corridor. The bloody scene that immediately met her eyes made it impossible for her to suppress her body's natural urge to retch, even though she had mentally prepared herself.
Corpses and severed limbs were scattered everywhere, blood flowing across the wooden floors of the Familia. Not a single adventurer had been spared in this slaughter!
"Are you out of your mind..."
Lilli could not help muttering softly under her breath, a profound sense of unease threatening to swallow her whole. Following her line of sight toward the doorway of the Familia's quarters, she spotted a figure.
The culprit behind the annihilation of the Soma Familia was currently leaning quietly against the doorframe of their base.
It wasn't quite out of a desire for survival, but she had to escape this city before the Adventurer Guild discovered the tragic massacre of the Soma Familia!
She had never worried that she herself would be the target.
Yet, to say her plans had been completely upended would be an understatement. She ran to Liang Yue's side, paying no mind to his calm and bewildered gaze.
Grabbing Liang Yue's hand, Lilli had already mapped out an escape route.
She put her entire strength into pulling him, but he didn't budge an inch. Turning back, she didn't scold him; instead, anxiety colored her voice: "If we don't leave now, what are you waiting for?"
"To be discovered by the Adventurer Guild and put on the wanted list?"
"I should have dragged you away the moment I left the Familia! How could you be so reckless? Do you even know what the consequences are for slaughtering a Familia in Orario?!"
The young girl's hands were soft, and her childish face coupled with a serious expression made Liang Yue find the scene suddenly quite amusing. He tilted his head to look at the bloody carnage inside the Soma Familia's quarters and said expressionlessly, "Of course."
"Then why aren't you running away?!"
"Why should I run..."
Liang Yue shrugged, his tone nonchalant. "The members of the Soma Familia attempted to sell highly addictive divine wine within Orario."
"They tried to undermine the foundations of the adventurers. My actions were for the good of the people—they were just."
"Huh?"
The young girl's expression turned somewhat blank. She had never imagined this guy could be so righteous while claiming that the destruction of the Soma Familia was fully deserved!
She raised her head, locking her gaze tightly onto Liang Yue.
"You know, justice is written by the victors." Liang Yue shrugged, finally looking down at Lilli, who had previously declared she would help him make money.
With a relaxed attitude, he earnestly added, "And you, too, are a public-spirited citizen of Orario!"
"...?"
Is that how you want to play it!
The boy's clear, sunny smile contrasted bizarrely and sharply with the bloody scene behind him. Lilli's expression turned complicated as her hanging heart finally flatlined and died.
Good news: Successfully left the Soma Familia.
Bad news: She had boarded a pirate ship!