7 Chapter 7: For the sake of a little girl 2

She'd never fit in with Soma Familia. After returning from the Dungeon, a fierce argument and fight over the money earned were always waiting for her.

Lilly hates adventurers…Lilly loathes them…!

After the effects of Soma wore off, she ran away from the Familia, a waterfall of tears in her wake.

She threw away the title of being a member of Soma Familia and tried to live a normal life in the city. Once she had acquired a sense of stability and happiness, it was taken from her. Members of Soma Familia destroyed her new life.

How they found her, she didn't know. But they came, their eyes driven mad with greed, and stole everything from her. Not only that, they ransacked where she was living.

The nice elderly couple who had let her stay at their flower shop kicked her out after that. Lilly could still remember how they looked at her, like a soiled, rotten piece of garbage.

Even here, Soma Familia tormented her.

Lilly held a grudge against the god at the top, Soma. She wondered why he had created such a Familia.

She bore no ill will or malice toward him. Soma wasn't interested in them, anyway. There was no connection of any kind.

Soma never did anything for them. He wouldn't. She didn't even think he knew what was going on in his own Familia.

Perhaps, from his point of view, it was pointless to take pity on any of his "children" despite being their "father," their god. But Lilly's grudge against him never went away.

In the end, Lilly's only option was to return to Soma Familia and work as a supporter to survive. If she made a bad choice—if she failed to play her part as the faithful little supporter—all it did was invite more hurt. Even if she was on good terms with a

few members of the Familia. Even if she worked for free.

Yes, all adventurers were exactly the same.

All of them did horrible things to Lilly, just because she was weak.

Even that boy, surely…surely…

Even Bell…Even Bell—!

No matter how nice he was, he would have eventually raised his hand to her.

But what hurt her more… what really shook her was that one tought… the person who was in front of her mind… he was as strong as he was kind…

What would Shirou think of such a contemptible person such as Lilly? When he learned how dirty she was?

There was no doubt.

What was so wrong with betraying someone before they betrayed you?

The elderly couple had treated her like their own granddaughter. Just thinking about them made Lilly remember their eyes. Yes, no matter what she did, she would always be thrown away at some point. She would always be abandoned.

Her thoughts did nothing to ease the ache in her heart. She picked up her pace, trying to drown out the pain.

Since leaving Bell and Shirou behind, Lilly had stayed on one clear path straight to the upper levels. She cleared the tenth level and ninth level with no trouble at all before arriving on the eighth-level floor.

Lilly knew every twist and turn of the Dungeon down to the eleventh level like the back of her hand.

Her method for relieving adventurers of their valuables was, like she had just done to Bell, to create a diversion and make her move during the ensuing commotion before making her escape—before the mark even noticed she was gone.

However, if they caught up to her, it was all for naught. The only way she had to avoid this was to memorize the dungeon maps sold at the Guild.

Even if she encountered monsters, she had become an expert at leading said monsters to other adventurers and letting them take care of it. In fact, that was about all she did.

Once she got to the surface, all she had to do was return to her normal self and sell off the goods. There was no way any of her victims could catch up at that point.

Alone, she could do nothing. But with a bit of planning and a vicious mind-set, Lilly had tricked many adventurers.

Her reason for stealing from adventurers? To put it simply, revenge.

She decided that she'd take back what was once hers from the people who had tormented her all of her life. She had repeatedly bared her fangs at members of Soma Familia.

She felt no remorse for her actions; it was her right as the victim.

All adventurers were adventurers. That had always been her reasoning, and that was never going to change.

…Everything so far had been the same, until she felt cruel looking away from the faces of the two she left behind.

Now that it's mine, Lilly almost has enough money…

She had no interest in Soma. Actually, quite the opposite—she hated it. A piece of her had a grudge against it as well.

Even just the smell of it might make her fall under its spell again, make her go crazy like an animal.

Therefore, this money was was going toward her salvation.

Someday, she was going to trade a large sum of money for her release from Soma Familia.

The point was, Lilly was a possession of the god Soma. She tried to get the Guild involved, but they didn't have the resources to help her and did nothing. The only thing she could do was convince Soma to let her go by offering an extraordinarily large

amount of money in exchange for her freedom.

She made up her mind; she would get her freedom with her own two hands.

"Hmmm!"

Lilly came to a halt as she stepped into some tall grass.

An eighth-level goblin was walking around in front of the only exit from this room, directly in front of her.

There were no signs of other adventurers. The goblin blocked her path. Even if she tried to sneak around it, she couldn't go forward.

Doubling back and taking another route would take far too long.

While Bell surely had his hands full with the onslaught of monsters heading his direction and wouldn't be able to pursue her at top speed,there was also Shirou to consider, he might be a novice like Bell, however he had more power and experience with

fighting than Bell had… not only that but there were other dangers in the Dungeon. Time was of the essence, so Lilly decided to break through.

"Lilly's not built for this kind of roughhousing, yeah?" said Lilly under her breath as she rolled up the right sleeve of her cream-colored robe.

She pulled out a small handheld bow gun.

The magic sword would be wasted on a goblin!

Stepping forward with her right leg, she leveled the bow gun at the monster.

Prums in general were known for having amazing eyesight. Lilly's round chestnut eyes zeroed in on the goblin, lining it up dead center. The monster finally noticed her as well.

"Bah—ffftt!"

A golden arrow shot out of the bow gun with frightening speed.

The arrow carved through the air and bore straight into the goblin's right eye.

"GiGYAAAAAAA!"

"Excuse me!"

The goblin screamed out in pain, clutching its eye as Lilly used the opportunity to scurry by the monster and to the exit.

Lilly could fight, too, as long as she had a strategy. However, she had to rely completely on weapons and items. Slaying a single monster did not justify the amount of money required to take it down, not by a long shot.

Lilly only fought against monsters in self-defense.

"Lilly's jealous of Mr. Bell. And Mr. Shirou they could do everything by thenselves!"

Starting with her magic, Cinder Ella, Lilly's strengths were not suited for combat. Lilly was very weak physically.

She gained her magic shortly after swearing revenge against adventurers, and hoped that it would transform her into something stronger than her weak self. She was extremely depressed when she learned the truth about it.

However, she soon learned how to use it in a different way to exact revenge. She pushed her magic to its limits and figured out what it could really do.

As proof of its power, her magic allowed her to consistently steal many items, using the same strategy on many adventurers.

Lilly had become powerful enough to laugh at the weakling she once was.

And…seventh level!

She made her way up the staircase jutting out of the wall, to the next floor up.

Lilly kept her speed up as she raced past the light green dungeon walls.

After this floor, the rest is a piece of cake.

In terms of the monsters, the seventh level was the last mountain she needed to climb. It was too early to lose focus.

After this floor, she could handle everything on her own. Her lips started to curve into a smile as she bolted into the next room.

"Ain't this a surprise. I've hit the jackpot."

"Eh?"

It happened when she came out of a small corridor and into a room.

A leg appeared from the side and caught Lilly's short body just under her knee.

Her balance gone, Lilly fell face-first onto the dungeon floor.

Wha…what was that…?

Dazed and confused, she put her hand into the dirt to push herself up. That's when a long shadow fell over her.

She was yanked up before she could turn around; half a second later a boot was slammed into her nose.

"Gyhaaa?!"

"I'd better be gettin' an apology, ya piece-of-shit prum!" A powerful fist nailed her left cheek. A river of blood flowed from her nose.

Just as her eyes were beginning to focus, she took another kick to the chest. Her oversized backpack dislodged from her shoulders, rolling backward like a snowball.

The next hit wasn't far behind—the heel of a boot bore into the small of her back.

"—hhhh?!"

Her body bounced off the floor like a ball, bouncing once, twice.

Lilly was swept up in a whirlpool of pain as her body finally came to a halt.

"Ah…! Gahaahaa…!"

"Ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! That's a good look for ya! Plastered in blood and dirt!"

With the world spinning around her, Lilly finally caught a glimpse of the voice's owner.

It was a human adventurer. The same one who'd been talking to Shirou yesterday. Her former employer.

The man's jaw was pointing at the ceiling as he looked down on her with a sneer.

"Thought it was about time for ya to throw away that kid. I wet up a net for ya. Been dyin' to say hello!"

"A…net?"

"The Dungeon is huge. Waitin' for ya by myself woulda been as borin' as lookin' for a needle in a haystack. Got myself some partners, increased my chances."

The Dungeon itself was extremely large; the floors below level five were wider than Central Park. Despite its size, there were only three or four ways to get this far down.

The man had stationed his partners at each of the pathways and waited for her arrival.

Of the four, Lilly had chosen the route that the man was watching.

"Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that white-haired kid and the red haired young un… running around with a runt…Don't tell me, the red head had something that made yer eyes go all a-twitter? Are ya dense?"

"…!"

"But I don't care 'bout that. Before I tear you limb from limb as a thank-you for stealing my sword, think I'll make you play along…!"

He declared with a sadistic twinge in his eyes that he would take everything from her.

Lilly did her best to cup her still-bleeding nose as the man ripped off her robe, causing everything inside to fall to the ground. She was now wearing only her underclothes, unable to do anything to resist him.

"Magic stones, a gold watch…Hey, hey! You had a magic sword?! Haaa-ha-ha-ha-ha! So ya stole this, too, eh?"

The man was overjoyed by his discovery.

His mood improved greater still when he saw a knife with a glossy shine.

Spinning the crimson knife in one hand, a dark smile grew on his lips.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee…All right, I'll let you off the hook, ya piece-of-shit prum. After gettin' a present like this from ya, I'll show ya a bit of mercy. Nice guy, ain't I?…Hyaa!"

"Ahgg…!"

Two swift kicks to the stomach and Lilly was reeling in pain.

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad. Lilly's heart raced inside her small chest, her brain in all-out panic mode.

She knew at that moment that if she didn't get away now, she would meet a miserable fate at the hands of this man's brutality.

Just as she took in a deep breath, another man's voice came from somewhere distant.

"You certainly went all out, Master Gedo."

A new person was coming toward them.

"…?!"

Looking in the direction of the new voice, Lilly saw someone she recognized.

He was one of the adventurers who'd tried to get money out of her the other day. Just one of the many members of Soma Familia who had tried to do the same thing many times before.

Then it came to her. The man's partners were members of Soma Familia. Most likely, after talking with Bell, he had seen them arguing with her and decided to ask them for assistance.

"Get this, Kanu. The runt had a magic sword! Just as ya thought, looks like she's been stealin' all over the place. Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"…Is that so?"

An adult male animal person, the one called Kanu, narrowed his cloudy, dark eyes at the happy man, the adventurer called Gedo. But Gedo was in such a good mood that he didn't notice.

"Master Gedo, I have a suggestion…"

"What's that? Hand it over? Hey, now, I caught the prum, I should have first dibs on—"

"That's not quite it. Not just the magic sword, but everything you took from her. I suggest you leave it all on the ground."

"Huh?" Gedo looked at his partner with a confused smile. Before he could ask any questions, however, Kanu pulled something out from behind him and threw it. It landed just in front of Lilly.

"KEEEEI!" Lilly screamed.

"K-killer ant…?!"

It was only the top half, making it easier to carry. The bloody mess was still oozing purple liquid from many gashes all over its body; it had likely been slain only a few minutes ago. No, not slain. Its mouth was still moving; an arm twitched in agony.

"You might have thought at first that all of us were hunting together. There's a chance that Master Gedo, who has conquered many floors, is stronger than we are. So the three of us put our heads together and came up with this plan here."

Plop, plop. Two more barely alive killer-ant bodies landed close to them.

Two more adventurers had arrived in the room from separate entrances, both of them working with Kanu. The three masses of dying ant let out cries that united to create eerie echoes throughout the room, like a curse from another world.

Both Gedo's and Lilly's faces turned pale.

Killer ants released a special pheromone when they were close to death. It was a call for help, and other killer ants would answer.

The three balls of still-breathing ant flesh had been releasing the pheromone for some time. The room had become a ticking time bomb.

"Are you serious?!" Gedo said.

There were three ants in that state calling for help. Just how many of their friends would answer?

The expressions on Kanu and his allies' faces were surprisingly calm and unchanging, even during Gedo's screaming.

Only Lilly correctly understood the adventurer's irrational obsession with money, having been under the influence of Soma herself.

"You don't want to become their prey while you're fighting with us, now do you, Master?"

"Hyee?!"

Five killer ants poked their heads into the room entrance behind Gedo.

This room had four entrances. Kanu and his cronies were standing in front of three of them; the last one now had killer ants in the way. Gedo gritted his teeth, shaking in a mixture of fear and anger. His pale face hardened as he threw everything he'd

taken from Lilly to the ground.

"Damn! Damn you all!"

Kanu grinned as he stepped aside to allow the man to pass. Gedo took one last look around the room before running past him.

Not a moment later, a barbaric roar erupted from the corridor, followed by the sound of a sword clang. After that, silence.

A shell-shocked Lilly had no way to see what happened; there was a wall of giant ants between her and the exit.

"Gii…!"

A killer ant stepped in front of Lilly as the room was flooded with the monsters.

Her injured body wouldn't move like she wanted it to, and she couldn't get out of the way of the monster's incoming claws.

Blood suddenly sprayed into the air.

The injured killer ant fell to the floor.

"Are you okay, Erde?"

"Mister…Kanu…"

Kanu looked down on the girl, his mouth nothing more than an upward rip in his face and a purple blood–splattered sword resting on his shoulder.

"I came for you, to save you. We are in the same Familia, after all."

Lilly bit her lip and clenched her fists as the man in front of her spoke like some kind of hero.

His partners were holding the killer ants back, for now.

"That's right, we all came for you, Erde. In this desperate situation, we didn't abandon you, see?"

"…Yes."

"…You know what I'm saying, yeah?"

He wrapped his arm behind Lilly's shoulder as he spoke. His tone sounded as though he were acting in a play rather than facing death.

His eyes might have been looking at Lilly's quivering body, but in reality he didn't see her.

All he could see was money—to be more specific, the Soma that the money would get him.

Kanu's expression was calm and collected, but on the inside he was overwhelmed with anxiety.

"Hey, speed it up! We can't hold them!" said one crony.

"I know!" Kanu looked to Lilly. "You, yesterday you said you had no money. Drop the act. If you try to pull something like that again…"

"Okay! Okay-okay-okay…!"

Seeing the direness of her situation, Lilly nodded with a defeated look on her face.

She had no time to be angry, so Lilly grabbed a small key that was hidden as part of a necklace and held it out to him.

"The hell is this?"

"A key to a gnome rental storage unit in Orario's eastern ward…"

"Talking about a safepoint? To think you kept large amounts of vals in a box that small…"

"Gnome jewels are in there…"

"Ah…now I gotcha…"

The jewels and minerals that gnomes collected were highly valuable. Their worth rarely changed so there was always a buyer. Lilly had exchanged most of her ill-gotten gains from coins into gnome jewels at the Gnome Trader because carrying large

amounts of money would look suspicious if she were caught.

Another dark grin graced Kanu's lips as he nodded and grabbed the collar of Lilly's shirt. With a big wad of fabric in his hand, he pulled Lilly to her feet and then up off the floor, placing her level with his eyes.

"Mr. Kanu…what are you…?"

"We're in quite the pinch, you know. Look around. We're being surrounded."

At least 30 killer ants had made an almost complete ring around them. There was only one exit that was still open for escape.

Lilly futilely kicked her legs as she hung in the animal man's grasp, but it was like trying to swim in the air.

Kanu, five o'clock shadow and all, made one last big smile.

"Buy us some time."

"?!"

"We'll make our escape while you draw them away, Erde. That exit over there isn't blocked yet, so we can take a few of them while you act as a decoy."

Terror filled Lilly's eyes as she looked back at him.

Chancing a look to the side, she saw Kanu's partners had the same savage smile on their faces.

"Without money, you're useless. At least do your job to help us one last time, supporter." he said with a cruel smile

Lilly was thrown.

Making a tall arc in the air, she cleared the ring of killer ants.

The monsters quickly locked onto her airborne body and followed her.

For Lilly, time stood still. She watched the adventurers make a break for the exit, smiling their evil smiles, before finally hitting the dungeon floor.

The impact knocked the wind out of her, but nothing else.

"…haa-haaa…"

She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling and laughing awkwardly, broken. The killer ants were all coming in her direction.

So this is how it ends, she thought to herself. There was no reason to laugh, but she couldn't help it.

Adventurers truly were not worthy of trust.

If this is some kind of punishment for everything up till now, it's far too cruel, her train of thought continued.

…But wait.

If this is punishment for what Lilly did to Mr. Shirou and Bell, maybe it's okay.

Despite being adventurers, they didn't act like any adventurer Lilly knew. If this was her reward, then strangely she felt as though it was her duty to be punished.

"Giyaa…!"

More killer ants than she could count were making noises and advancing on her in a wave of pincers and claws.

There was no way for her to escape. She had landed against a wall.

The monsters had surrounded her. They approached in an ever-closing arc around Lilly as she lay helpless on her back.

"…Lilly's…sad."

Her words were drowned out by the continuous pounding of hundreds of killer-ant feet on the floor.

A professional supporter. Always treated like something else.

Adventurers never felt remorse for the luggage carrier, even if the supporter fell.

They were useless.

Right where Lilly, who could do nothing by herself, belonged. That was, in fact, who she was.

Her pathetic self.

Lilly hated the person she was most of all.

"Gods…why…?"

No one ever called out to her. No one ever depended on her.

She was always used, never needed.

She hated how weak she was. She hated the fact that her life was always directed by someone else's hand.

Lilly wanted to become someone else, anyone else but Lilly.

Even the magic she learned showed that she didn't want to be herself.

"Why…why did you make Lilly, Lilly…?"

She didn't know how many times she had thought about dying.

She had wished that she could go to the gods and ask for a reset more times than she could remember.

She wanted to become a different Lilly—any Lilly was better than this one.

In the end, Lilly was too weak to go through with it.

But somewhere in her heart, Lilly always wanted a reset.

"Gisyaaa…!"

"…That's right. It doesn't matter anymore."

The half ring of monsters around her was getting closer and closer.

Flop. Her cheek hit the floor as she turned her head to the side with a small, accepting smile on her face.

One killer ant was so close it looked gigantic from her new line of sight.

Its leg stopped right in front of her face.

"…So lonely."

Lilly was surprised by the words that rolled off her tongue.

It was how she really felt. Only at the end did she realize it.

Oh…Lilly was lonely.

She was used to not being needed.

Used to it, but the loneliness never went away.

Alone.

Not having anyone to rely on or depend on her made her lonely.

She got used to being alone but never got used to being lonely.

"So that was it, Lilly…"

She wanted to be with someone.

She lamented the fact that only now did she see the truth.

"SyyyAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The closest killer ant raised its claws. They glinted in the light shining down from the ceiling above.

Good-bye.

She could finally die. It was finally over. She could go to the gods.

The tiny girl whom no one would save, the girl who was worth nothing, the lonely girl…

She could reset at last.

Finally, Lilly can…

…And Lilly was so close to finding someone, too…

Is Lilly…finally going to die?

She lightly smiled, a tear rolling down her cheek.

And then…

"Trace on!"

An explosion of swords.

"…Huh?"

A hail of pristine weapons launched themselves out of nowhere.

Magnificent swords… worth of those in legend had appeared and lodged on the killer ants body killing them immediately.

Lilly couldn't believe it… why… why was he?

From Shirou's back many swords materialized and shot out as if it was made by magic.

He made his way to her… in his hands where the two swords she had stolen.

He walked up to her… She trembled in fear…

He patted her head.

"you must have been really scared haven't you?… don't worry… you will not die tonight… drink this, you seem hurt so it should help" Shirou said as he gave a vail of blue liquid to her.

Lilly's blank eyes looked as if she already had one foot in the grave. But her mouth opened just enough to allow the blue liquid to roll down her throat.

Koff! Koff! A moment later, a cute little cough escaped her lungs.

"…Mr. Shirou?"

"Yes, it's me! You're okay, right?"

Shirou voice had a tone of relief and a smile on his face.

Heat filled Lilly's body, which had been cold until now, as she was pulled into a strong and somewhat painful hug.

Seeing that Lilly was all right, Shirou immediately looked up from her.

The sharp claws of the surviving monsters were closing in.

Lilly's hand moved on its own underneath her shirt, where she had hidden a jet-black knife up until now. She pulled it up and held it out to Shirou.

Shirou gave her the most mystifying smiles she ever seen… it was between happy at saving her and proud that she had survived. He pushed the knife back.

"No… it is not me whom you should give this back to… that one will be coming shortly… so...wait for a minute, just like usual… I will clear this, oh that's right… the ones who did this to you… which way they gone?" Shirou asked.

She pointed at the exit in front of her.

"Less than 4 minutes… taking into account the weight they carry and accounting for nearby passages… they would try to get the most direct route… Yes… this should prove more than adequate" Shirou said with a nod.

"Trace on"

A jet black bow materialized on his hands… it was unlike any bow Lilly had ever seen.

It was not made of wood but out of a flexible metal, something she had never seen before.

"My core is twisted in madness" Shirou once more said.

A sword appeared on his free hand.

No… calling such this a sword would be wrong, while it was a sword it's shape was wrong for all intent and purposes, it seemed like it was a drill… a drill-like sword.

He put the impossible blade on the bow and pulled.

"Cover your ears… else it might hurt a lot" He warned.

I immediately complied.

"*********" he shouted, his voice drowned by my hands covering my ears.

The blade thinned and coiled upon itself before it was launched and then… it rendered to mincemeat all on its path.

Power that couldn't be stopped.

I felt the sheer power of the 'arrow' as I felt the displacement when Shirou shot it… even the dungeon was reverting from the sheer speed the arrow flew, anything near the area of the arrow was shredded, even if it was missed, it just needed to so much

arrows glance and the killer ants were destroyed as if they were wet tissue paper.

His eyes continued to stare at the exit until…

"Gaaaah!"

"what the… Oh FUCK!"

"My… MY ARM… MY ARM!"

The shout of pain and suffering from those who left me to die could be heard trough the dungeon.

It was then when Gedo appeared.

"Nice one Mister… glad I could count on you… now as per our agreement" he said with a smirk.

Shirou nodded.

SHING

"Uh...what… why… why am I so cold all of the sudden?" Gedo asked.

Lilly's eyes were wide in horror.

"Wha… what the hell?" he said as he placed a hand on his chest.

It was blood… Lots of it.

"Why?... didn't we make a deal?" he asked.

"I never agreed to anything… it was only your own greed and spite that clouded you… I never intended to let you get away with what you had planned… this is legitemitely defence… I recorded it all on this little device… cost me 3 days worth of dungeon

crawling on my own but it sure is worth it, I am going to kill you Gedo… and then I am going to you Familia for compensation" Shirou said with cold eyes.

"N...no way… all this… for this... Piece of shit… prum?" he said as he looked at her.

"She is worth more than you could ever hope to" Shirou said.

"YOU SHITTY PRUM!" he said as he pooled all his remaining strength to attack Lilly.

A blade appeared on top of him and stabbed him to the floor.

"Die" Shirou said.

He walked towards her… She shivered in fright.

"Come… we still need to deal with those 3 and I prefer Bell not to see what I am about to do" Shirou said.

Lilly followed him… what else she could do?

And so they arrived near the exit of this floor.

"Li… Lilly? It's good to see you… I don't know what happened but can you help us? It id's your role as a supporter and part of the Familia isn't it?" The raccoon animal person said with as sickly smile.

"actually she is here for the items you have taken from her" a comanding voice from behind her.

"Hey… hold on partner… listen really quick… I don't know what she has told you but this child here is dangerous… she is a con artist! A thief! Anything she says is a lie… she even fooled people by changing her race with her magic" he said.

"I knew that from the day she joined… she was the girl we saved from an alley… I am very good at detecting magic and magical signatures so her disguise did jot work on me" Shirou said.

"Wait… What?" the racoon person said.

Wait… he knew who I was? He knew and accepted me?

"I wanted to know why she played that charade so I investigated… and I uncovered certain truths that made me think to myself… should I go ahead and just end that cotemptible god that caused all this mess in the first place?" Shirou said.

They all tensed… for a human to say suh a thing.

"But then I learned more… it seems as if your deity never cared about the Familia and just made them work to support his hobby… but it was how that made me realize that there was more going on" Shirou said as he kept an ear out for Bell.

"it was today when I finally understood it all… when I eavesdropping in your conversation and when that Gedo fellow came in… all she has done was for one single goal… to escape the hell that is the Soma Familia… the hell that wouldn't allow her reprise

and escape… I heard how you people stalked her and destroyed the place she lived in order t steal her valuables… and now… I came to deliver vengance in her stead"

Why? Why would he do something like that for someone so dirty...

I begun to cry as I unconcious spoke "Why… why would you go so far for me? I lied… I stole from you… even left you to die… so why? WHY DO YOU GO SO FAR FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME?! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST ABANDON ME?!" I cried out as tears flowed

from my eyes.

"Because… I saw it on our first meeting" Shirou said.

"Saw… saw what?"

"Your eyes… they were saying with all their might… 'Save me please'" Shirou said.

I broke down in tears and cried.

"Now ain't that charming… but you forget… this is Familia Business… outsiders have no right to butt in" He said with a smirk. "We gonna be back… again and again… if it is not us it will just be another member…. We are never gonna stop… we are never

gonna let her just go" he said with and crazed look in his eyes.

Lilly flinched.

"You think you are some sort of hero boy? We are an army boy… we don't want our little piggy bank to just go out on us when money can be made… no… that wouldn't do at all" he said.

"Hero you say… is true… I allways wanted to be a hero of justice…. But you forget… there are more than one category of hero" Shirou said calmly.

Lilly looked at him, he had a sarcastic smirk on his face as if he was finding something funny but it was only known to him.

"and what would that be?" he asked

"There are heroes which you would know about… paragon of justice and chivalry… people who exemplify the best of human qualities… and then there is the other… heroes who perform deeds so dark and heinous that under chivalry could not be

condoned… but regardless they still do great deeds regardless of their dark methods… it seems I will be walking that path for today… the path of the anti-hero… Damn it… I bet Archer is laughing at me right now" Shirou said with a smirk on still.

"W… wait… we are people… if you kill us" he said in shock.

"People?" Shirou said earnestly confused "you lost that right with what you did to Lilly and your plan on continuing this when you saw that she survived… no… I see no people… only monsters that need to be cut down" Shirou said as his two swords

appeared on his hands. He slowly and purposely walked up to them… his blades raised and ready.

"Hiiiiiii!"

SLASH

HACK

SLASH

Lilly was numb to the horror happening in front of her.

Those 4 people dead.

She was saved.

She couldn't believe it.

She thought it was just are cruel dream.

"Why?" she still asked disbelieving what just happened.

"There's nothing else to it. Why would I need a better reason to save Lilly?"

Her tear ducts gave out.

A waterfall of tears gushed from her eyes, flowing down her face in all directions.

Lilly couldn't hold back any longer and cried out.

"Hic…waaaaaah!"

"Lilly, if you're in trouble, come talk to me. I'm a bit of an idiot, so I won't know unless you tell me." Shirou said with a self depreciating smile

"Hic…! Waaahhh…"

"I'll help you, you can count on it."

Lilly dove into his chest and hung on tight.

His metallic armor got in the way, but she didn't care. She embraced him with all her might, her hands around his back.

She could feel the palms of Shirou's

warm hands gently stroking her head and back over and over again.

She knew. She noticed.

Shirou had thought of her when he rushed to this room. He dared kill 3 members of her Familia for her sake.

She wanted to call out to him, to say something to acknowledge what he had done.

Lilly wanted him to accept the one thing she hated most: Lilly.

"Sorry…so, so sorry…!"

"…It's okay."

The sound of Lilly's cries echoed far and wide.

The scene of a giant ant massacre and the dead bodies of the adventurers filled one corner of the Dungeon. Slowly but surely, their magic stones broken one by one, the slain killer ants turned to ash amid smoke rising from still-burning embers strewn

about the room.

The ashes slowly fell off the crying girl's face, along with her tears.

The human kept the small prum girl in a tight embrace, the same calm smile on his face.

"You been saved"

"Shirou! Lilly! Where are you two?!" A voice yelled out.

Looking rather worn out and tired was a tired Bell.

"You two are okay… good" Bell said as he collapsed on a corner.

"Haaa…. Let me catch my breath… it was a pain but I managed to kill those orcs… also managed to get some magic stones cause I was quick about it too" Bell said with about smirk.

"Don't you have something for Bell… Lilly?" Shirou said.

Lilly looked down and presented Bell with the armor piece along with the Hestia Knife.

Bell smiled at her.

"Let's go home" he said.

"we should probably pick up all those magic stones first… and the drop items" Shirou said.

Lilly begun to walk away.

"Where are you going Lilly? I said we, you are also included" Shirou said.

She smiled as tears dropped down her face.

"Yes… Shirou-sama" She said with earnest delight.