228 One Week later

I'll now try to make the Zero fate chapter, wish me luck.

Also, I won't be posting this week since I'll have my last exams, I'll have 3 this week and 2 next week.

We'll see how things will go.

Peace!

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/Later…/

/Sheathe…/

"Well… Phew… This should be enough for now shouldn't it?" Antony asked as he massaged his shoulders

'Around him, the bodies of multiple Orcs littered the field, they were so numerous it made Lili's head spin.'

'It made her wonder why in the first place such a high number of Orcs had even appeared, but then again, the concept of monster parties resurfaced in her mind.'

'A term used when a huge number of monsters are spawned at once by the Dungeon, it was rare, but it did happen from time to time, even for those blessed by good luck.'

'She was thankful however, as only Orcs appeared and not any of the equally annoying monsters that are commonly seen in these misty plains such as Imps and giant bats.'

"..."

20... 30... 40...

If it weren't for their stupidity...

'This number of Orcs would be more than enough to end any of the parties she worked with during her career, but they were taken all at once by a single adventurer…'

'One that had extreme levels of control and judgment of the likes she never saw before, his mental fortitude was so great it made all other Party leaders she saw so far look like little kids.'

'His facial expression barely flinched as he fought...'

"Y-Yeah…" Lili replied with some hesitation as she gazed around her

At first, I thought he was some recent Level 2 adventurer that couldn't wait to test his new strength after Leveling up… But I was wrong.

This is a Veteran adventurer on the verge of becoming Level 3, it's the only way to explain... This!

It can only be that.

From his initial control and fighting ability to his level-headedness even when 5 Orcs appeared around him… All the while… Protecting me...

There is no doubt, he has to be a proficient adventurer, one that has done this numerous times before.

Not just that… He actively gave me commands and listened to what I had to say such as taking cover in this rocky area to use it for our advantage…

'So this is how it feels, huh? To be protected, relied upon… A proper party.' She thought to herself as she saw the blood of the Orcs run down the hill

...

"..."

'They were currently atop a small rocky hill full of sharp rocks.'

'In a normal scenario, Lili wouldn't be able to climb it, but with his help, she easily managed to reach the top.'

'At that time, she was ready to hear the heavy words of disapproval as she was unable to follow him above it, having dragged him down due to her own incompetence...'

'But instead, he gently grabbed her and helped her climb the hill quickly, using his body to parry the Orcs' attacks with the goal of protecting her.'

'This shocked her greatly.'

'She never thought she would go this far today after all that happened, but she ended up following him either way.'

'As he kept fighting and fighting, showing that a mere group of goblins or kobolds couldn't do as much as make him sweat, she ended up pressing him to go forward so she could make more money...'

'She condemned her own naive actions, she shouldn't have come this far despite the fact she knew little about him… But alas.'

'Either way, she was ready to fight for her life as she took her crossbow out, using a simple excuse when he asked about it… But then... He was okay with it.'

'She questioned herself if he was stupid or just unaware, but she had no time to think about it.'

'Because as more Orcs appeared, she could only think about pulling the string of her Crossbow as she aimed at their eyes with precision.'

'And after an intense fight, instead of forcing her to move her tired body, he went to her to ask if she was okay or hurt, offering a stamina potion for her.'

'After an intense fight, he came to see if she was okay, something that should be a protocol in the Dungeon...'

'But she could count on her hands the number of times this had happened...'

'Yet, in those rare situations, it wasn't out of kindness like now.'

'Lili may be stubborn, but she could tell when someone was being truly kind… At least after being reminded how the contrary felt multiple times.'

'By now, her thoughts of swindling this person slowly vanished, there was no way it would go well, and if she failed, even if she were to try and beg her Familia, the one she so desperately wanted to flee from, no one there could stop him.'

'Also, this adventurer's Familia was bound to be strong too, she couldn't begin to imagine who they were…'

'They had to have at least one more Level 3, perhaps multiple Level 2s...'

Is this the difference between a professional and those thugs? From the way he acts to the way he sees others…

Even a small Supporter like me can receive praise and be cherished…

He's a bit... Different...

'Lili's opinion was changing, this didn't mean she liked adventurers, but she started to at least understand that some adventurers did have the right to be praised.'

'It didn't change her condition anyway, thinking well of others wouldn't take her away from her predicament…'

'Even if there was a good person out there, this person wasn't there for her.'

'It was too soon as well to think anything, the Dungeon may speed up the process of getting close to someone due to the many highs and lows it forces you to go through, but only through time could she determine if the person in front of her was a good person or not.'

/Crack!/

"!!"

Again?!

'Lili was astounded as the ground around the broke, and a few pairs of hands popped from within.'

"Yup… That's the Dungeon for you." Antony said with a thin smile as he got up from his improvised seat

/Unsheath…/

"Sorry Lili, but we'll have to leave our rest for later."

"I'll deal with this quickly before things get busy, after that, we'll work together to get all of the magic stones and drops before running to the stairs."

'There were 9 Orcs, a small number but still more than enough to make her tremble in fear.'

'A single Orc wasn't really a challenge for a Level 2 adventurer, but due to its strength, it was more than strong enough to deal with the average adventurer if it landed a good hit.'

'A mage would be crushed badly while a vanguard might fracture their arm bones if they tried to block it.'

'For a frail girl like her…'

/FWOOSH!/

'Like before, Antony threw several of his hidden weapons at their heads before grabbing his spear and throwing it at the nearest Orc.'

"GUHIII!!"

/Pained Cries!/

'With a single volley of attacks, he successfully eliminated 3 Orc while damaging 3 more to the point they were half crippled.'

"..."

'Once again, Lili marveled at the sight, this was how adventurers were supposed to act, this was an efficient hunter!'

"We'll be going home in no time Lili, trust me." He said as he stepped before her

"..."

He... Is actually pretty foolish.

'Lili's expression was dark.'

To show me his back so easily... Yet, there isn't much I can do.

/Fwoosh!/

/Splatter!/

"GUHIII!"

'Getting in a stance, he stabbed an Orc in its neck with his spare sword as it approached from below.'

'This made her understand that, if she wasn't here, he would've been able to deal with them all alone, even in his injured state.'

'And because of that, she realized… She had to do something.'

'So she raised her crossbow, ready to fire!'

…

/Later, above…/

'After an exhausting time in the Dungeon, Lili and Antony now sat near a small fountain, several bags of coins next to them shining in all their glory.'

"1-1-120… 120 thousand…"

'Lili stuttered several times, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.'

"It's indeed quite a bit…"

"It's 5 times the average a party of 5 would make on the Upper floors!!!" She exclaimed excitedly as she jumped from her seat

This amount of profit... For barely any effort, an efficiency several dozen times higher than usual...

Compared to what I go through on a daily basis, these last few hours were nothing.

With this much... If I were to repeat it for a week or two...

My debts... I would pay them all!

I would finally be able to buy my way out of that cursed Familia!

"Ah!"

'Noticing she had lost her calm, Lili sat down again, embarrassed.'

'But then, her expression soured, it was time to divide the spoils.'

'There were times she received little, there were times she received nothing, she wondered, how much would she receive this time?'

'Regardless, she had already separated a part of it in secret, it was hard to do so with such an experienced adventurer as her partner, but she believed she came undetected.'

'It may be cruel, but she did not think so, the only cruel thing were adventurers themselves.'

'She hated them all with everything she had.'

'All adventurers deserved the same treatment.'

"Here." Antony spoke slowly as he pushed half of the bags to her

"T-This is…"

"About half, I did not pay much attention to the details, so pardon me if it's not precise."

"B-But…"

"Your help has been superb, honestly, it's rare to see a good supporter like you these days, you can fight and give commands rather well, you have talent in this."

/Shock…/

'Lili was stunned again.'

"As I said before, I came here to kill some time, not to make money, so apart from some coins to cover the price of the items and the repair on my poor weapons, I don't really need much more..."

"Hum... Perhaps some money to buy dinner would be nice." He mumbled to himself with a small smile

"Besides, if I went back home with several bags of money, they would realize it immediately, so keep a portion of it for me, will you? Hahaha!"

'He got up from his seat, turning around.'

"Thank you for accompanying me, I'm sure there wouldn't be many that would accept following me given my circumstances."

"It was fun."

"I…"

"Tomorrow." He said slowly

"Hm?"

"If you're still up for it, meet me here again tomorrow morning."

'She didn't seem to comprehend what he was saying…'

"Do you think my boredom would be cured with one go at the Dungeon? As if! I still need to move my bones a bit more." Antony said as he spun his right arm in the air a few times

"If that's okay with you, of course."

"..."

'Lili gulped dry as she thought about it, but she eventually smiled.'

'Though if that smile was genuine or not was a mystery.'

"Alright!"

'The two made a promise.'

…

'With that promise, the days passed.'

'Orario brimmed with activity as more and more adventurers joined the city in search of raking in the recent Familia boom.'

'At the same time, the people started to realize something had happened in the Entertainment District as Ishtar's forces were too quiet considering what happened to her Familia home...'

'The Guild tried their best to stop the flow of information as they tried to find an excuse, but they were unable to hold for long, it was simply too large of an event.'

'As such, it was revealed to the public what had happened...'

'Ishtar had disappeared together with a portion of her forces, destroying her home in the process.'

'After a big wave of unrest in the city, the Guild came up with an excuse, saying that Ishtar left Orario during the dead of the night due to the pressure of the debts.'

'Many questioned the truth of this statement, but for most, it was a wave of relief.'

'But for the people who had dealings with her, regardless if it was true or not, they had just lost all of their investments!!'

'Ishtar leaving the city was the same as her accepting banishment in exchange for her debts being forgotten.'

'Of course, it wasn't like the city would forgive her, it's just that she wouldn't be able to return unless she paid it all together with the massive interest that will accumulate over time...'

'To most, this meant Ishtar had just given up on Orario, and this meant that now the Entertainment District was free for the taking!'

'People were very divided in this regard, despite their reputation, for the residents of the District, the Ishtar Familia was actually pretty decent.'

'Orario didn't have a police force, so it's normally on the shoulders of the good-hearted Familias to take care of its residents... But the Ishtar Familia took care of everyone within their territory.'

'As long as you were within her territory of course... Not everyone in the District could enjoy being safe... Such as the many girls that were forced out of their homes due to catching the eyes of the Nobles and Big merchants from outside the city...'

'The usual story of the country girl being kidnapped by the big dragon, who would stop it? The world had many Heroes but they were all occupied with something...'

'Not all princesses could enjoy being saved by the Hero, and even when they were, it may be too late.'

'Some tried fighting for themselves, few made it through.'

'Many took their own lives in this field...'

'As such, with the official disbandment of the Ishtar Familia, some Amazons that had yet to convert saw themselves trapped with her emblem on their back.'

'If that wasn't enough now chaos fully exploded in the District and many civilians were forced out of it while the Guild and the Ganesha Familia tried to put things back in place.'

'This cost many their hard-earned money, money they desperately needed to feed themselves and their families.'

'Some even wished for Ishtar to come back, and in a sense, started to see the ones responsible for all of this to happen in a bad light.'

'But in sight of the Guild's propaganda, everyone channeled their dissatisfaction towards those that were causing this mess, the factions fighting for power...'

'It was a brutal fight of... Diplomacy.'

'At least on one hand, the Guild saw themselves without having to worry about Ishtar, but on the other, the Vaccum she left behind now had to be filled, and until it was not closed, things would go awry...'

'Such was the state of Orario.'

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Notes