"...!"
Lili never expected to hear such a thing.
To reiterate: most adventurers come to Orario for the money. In 99% of cases, it is perfectly accurate to label them as money-grubbing opportunists.
This may be a stereotype, but it is one that exists for a reason, rooted in the sheer majority of the population.
It isn't that the young Pallum girl hasn't met a truly decent adventurer before.
At first, she tried to call for help. But just like when she tried to keep her distance from adventurers and ended up having the flower shop she worked at smashed to bits, the members of her Familia would never allow her to live such a life.
The root of this, of course, was the direct order of her Familia captain.
Lili didn't know why he was so obsessed with controlling her life, and honestly, she didn't want to know.
She only wanted to save up enough money to buy her freedom from the Familia and leave this place behind.
Ten years might be considered a long time for an adult, but for a Pallum girl not even twenty years old?
These ten years of darkness and malice had stripped away her ability to dream, or even to hope for salvation.
Instead, all that grew was a bitter resentment toward the very identity of an adventurer.
'Stealing from other adventurers'? What was the harm in that? Why should they care so much? As long as there's money to be made, isn't that all that matters?
Lili gritted her teeth. To her, dealing with these people who lived in the light was far worse than the usual cycle of getting kicked around, paying protection money, and maintaining a silent, mutual understanding to stay out of each other's way.
"Could you tell us? Your reason for doing this?"
Even though Furina knew the girl was unlikely to answer, she asked anyway.
"..."
The silence didn't surprise Furina in the slightest.
"Which Familia do you belong to, supporter? Is that man truly from the same Familia as you? Why would he so unreasonably take your money away?"
Furina pressed on, her tone intentionally laced with a touch of condescending interrogation.
"Lili is... a member of the Soma Familia. To you great adventurers, isn't a supporter just a tool to be treated however you please?" Provoked by the way she was being looked down upon, Lili clenched her fists.
Her tone was respectful, yet it carried an almost overflowing resentment.
Even if they saved her now, it was just to satisfy their own vanity—like feeding stray cats or dogs on the street. They were merely enjoying the thrill of charity. That was all "adventurers" ever were.
"The Soma Familia, huh..."
Both Furina and Sushang had heard of this Familia from Lydi.
"They're the ones famous for their brewing, right? Their liquor is incredibly expensive," Sushang recalled.
Expensive? Of course it was—it was divine wine, after all...
A flash of lingering fear crossed Lili's face, and she bit down on her lip even harder.
"That Familia that stops at nothing for money..." Furina focused on that point. Looking at the girl who was now bowing her head—the same girl who had once stolen their magic stones—and recalling the man who had just snatched money from her, she gained a much clearer, grimmer realization of the truth.
With the thought of investigating the Soma Familia taking root in her mind, Furina moved to the next topic: "If you intend to repay us, then stop stealing the spoils of others."
Sushang followed up immediately: "Instead of being so underhanded, why not try being our supporter? Money earned with your own hands and hard work—that's the only kind you can keep with a clear conscience."
Just like Furina, she realized the girl's situation.
She had the strength, which meant she had a well of kindness that could be squandered; the experience of this young Pallum girl was truly a tragedy.
A victim forced into evil, only to become a perpetrator herself—this kind of cycle was always the most lamentable.
However, that didn't mean everything Lili had done was simply wiped clean.
After all, she had spread her hatred too far; her targets weren't even the ones who had harmed her.
It was exactly this that reminded Sushang of Sirin.
"After you pay us back for your work, you will keep working until every stolen coin is returned to its rightful owner."
Furina glanced at Sushang, surprised she could say such a thing.
No, come to think of it, she was a member of an official armed organization. Even if she didn't always look sharp, she certainly wouldn't lose sight of right and wrong.
There was, of course, a practical problem with Sushang's request: the "original owners" might not be easy to find.
While it was one thing to track down the hard-hearted adventurers who lived by the blade, there might have been others—adventurers who weren't necessarily evil—who were never able to return home because of this girl.
However, Furina knew of the wonders of the Edge of Taixuan.
Combined with the fact that Furina, having lived for five hundred years, had seen similar cases, and the fact that no major incident occurred when their own magic stones were stolen, it was clear that this girl wasn't the type to kill for money.
Perhaps it was because Sushang had verified the girl's true nature through the Edge of Taixuan that she spoke so confidently.
"Since Shangshang has said so, I have no objections."
Furina echoed her: "As it happens, we were indeed planning to look for a supporter."
"...Eh?"
Lili was genuinely stunned: "Me, a supporter... you... aren't you afraid I'll steal your things again?"
"That's assuming you could actually manage to steal anything right under Shangshang's nose." Furina laughed at her question.
...She had a point.
These two had come straight for her today. Clearly, that ability to sense "presence" wasn't just for seeing through disguises; it had tracking capabilities, too.
They were both Level 1, weren't they?
Lili pursed her lips, certain she hadn't seen these two on any list of newly promoted Level 2s.
Was the gap between people really that massive?
They looked like they were filled with a sense of justice, but... one couldn't rule out that they just wanted to exploit her. Exploiting supporters wasn't exactly rare, and besides...
"If those people come looking for Lili, and Lili doesn't have the money..."
If she worked as a regular supporter, how much could she actually make? In many cases, she wouldn't make a cent, or adventurers would break their contracts and leave her with nothing.
"If something like that happens, I will protect you!" Seeing the fear in Lili's eyes, Sushang offered a confident, slightly goofy smile.
"Don't let appearances fool you! Back home, I'm a Cloud Knight, specializing in protecting the people and striking down criminals and monstrosities!"
"As for the income, don't worry about that."
Furina considered another angle: "You should know full well by now how capable Shangshang and I are at making money. While it might not be a perfect split, even just a twenty percent cut should be enough for you to live comfortably while paying off your debts."
The two of them left Lili with no room to refuse.
More importantly, Lili knew there was no escaping them at the moment.
Before she could determine the full range of that yellow-haired girl's perception, she would just have to tag along...
"Then... starting today, please allow Lili to act as your supporter."
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL