Interlude - The Swindler

The adventurers' raucous laughter echoed through the tunnel, punctuated by lewd jokes and boasts of drunken exploits. 

"I tell ya, mate. That bitch's head game is the best in Orario,"

Their voices grated on her ears like rusty nails on a chalkboard. She tuned them out, focusing on the rhythmic drip of water from the ceiling. It was a steady, predictable sound, a comforting counterpoint to the chaos that surrounded her.

"And just how would you know that? You were piss drunk last night, or do you not remember that? And how much did the damn wench cost you, eh?" the others laughed.

"Oh, come on... it wasn't that bad".

*Yawn*

Lili didn't care about their stories, their conquests, their petty squabbles.

It was all meaningless drivel, a desperate attempt to fill the void that gnawed at their souls.

They sought glory, wealth, and fleeting pleasure, but all they found was emptiness and death eventually.

Lili had long since given up on such illusions.

 She'd seen the darkness that lurked beneath their shining armor, the corruption that festered in their hearts.

They were slaves to their own desires, driven by greed and lust.

...they used her, exploited her, then discarded her when she was no longer useful.

The Soma Familia might have been pure and utter bastards, but for all she hated them, she couldn't deny that they woke her up from the retarded fairytale she used to believe reality was.

Lili slouched against the grimy stone wall, the weight of her backpack digging into her shoulders despite her skill being active. 

The damp chill of the dungeon seeping through her clothes barely registered. 

'Another day, another delve...The same routine, the same empty promises, the same crushing disappointment...' She thought even as she inched a tiny bit closer to the human adventurer she chose for today. 

Her short hands wouldn't reach his pouch otherwise, and intruding on one's personal space had to be done progressively lest they suspect something and she had to run for her life...

...again...

Actually, wasn't it more logical to...simply do her job as a porter, and accept the scraps they would give her instead of risking it?

It would be even harder to do otherwise since her target for the day seemed to have run into an acquaintance and they might delve together...

...stealing in front of two pairs of eyes was much harder than one... 

'But he has such a nice magic sword...' A greedy little voice whispered in her mind, pushing her closer to a pit she knew would be her grave...

She closed her eyes, the world fading to a dull gray blur. 

She was tired, so tired. 

Tired of fighting, tired of pretending, tired of hoping for a better tomorrow. 

The future stretched before her, a bleak and desolate landscape devoid of joy or meaning...

...but she wasn't that scared little girl anymore, one step away from caressing her own throat with the edge of a knife.

She was stronger now...

∞

A sharp bark jolted her back to reality. One of the adventurers, a burly dwarf with a bushy beard, was gesturing impatiently at her. 

'Time to go.'

She hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders, the familiar weight a comforting burden.

It was time to descend once more into the darkness, to play her part in this twisted game.

 ...she could barely even pretend to care...

The abrupt gust of displaced air whipped through the tunnel, scattering dust and loose pebbles.

Lili's eyes snapped open, her gaze drawn upwards to a fleeting silhouette hurtling overhead.

A man, barely clad in a tattered loincloth, soared through the air, his limbs outstretched like a bird of prey.

He landed with a resounding thud, his bare feet striking the stone floor.

Without pausing, he sprinted into the depths of the dungeon, his movements a blur of muscle and sinew.

Lili watched, transfixed, as the flickering torchlight illuminated the intricate network of scars that crisscrossed his back.

They were deep, jagged wounds, a testament to many battles fought and survived...and she knew those scars...

They were identical to those of the insane adventurer she was last night...when she went to try to hunt some goblins for a pittance, as the adventurer she followed that day didn't deem her services worth more than 5% of what was hunted.

Suffice it to say, she ran away the moment she saw the horde of monsters near the dungeon's entrance, not bothering with the one battling them.

After all, he was either a dead man walking or someone strong enough to walk out alive with or without her aid...

'And now, the latter is proving to be true...'

The adventurers around her erupted in a chorus of startled cries and curses. Some drew their weapons, their eyes following the Loincloth Man.

But the man was already gone, swallowed by the darkness.

Lili couldn't tear her gaze away from the spot where he'd vanished. 

A strange sensation stirred within her, a flicker of curiosity mixed with a hint of admiration.

What drove that man to such reckless abandon?

And why did the sight of his scars awaken a long-dormant yearning within her?

...at least before her deep-rooted disgust for adventurers reminded her to stop being retarded...

"The fuk was that!?" asked her chosen victim for the day.

"Eh, some uppity little shit like always. Thinking their hot stuff after they just got a falna," The Dwarf grumbled unhappily, but she could understand why. After all, one didn't need extreme stats to be able to do what that man just did. 

Most adventurers reigned themselves in out of respect, but that man didn't seem to have such concerns...

Given that she saw the Loincloth Man for the first time yesterday, it was safe to say that he was new in Orario, and most would think that his strength was low.

The jump he did was him flexing whatever smidgen of Power he had, or so the others must have thought...

But she knew the truth. No normal Level 1 could fight a horde of dozens of monsters bare-handed and naked and look no worse for wear not even a full day later.

Lili knew, and they didn't...

So, through the instinct, she had honed through years of swindling, her mouth began moving on its own.

"Lili heard he's a barbarian from the north!" She exclaimed in a disgustingly happy voice, spewing lies as easily as she breathed. "Lili doesn't think he even knows what to do with magic stones. In fact, ever since he came to Orario, he didn't visit the guild once!" Lili spoke confidently, even though she was bullshiting. 

Alas, who could call her bluff?

'And moreover, how could a supporter be so daring so as to plan the deaths of adventurers...'

Her two 'masters' looked at her confusedly for a few seconds before the telltale glint of greed lit up the dwarf's eyes. 

She knew it all too well, as she saw it every time she looked in the mirror...

"Oh, a Barbarian from the North, huh? I heard about those...meatheaded bastards the lot of them, but if he was smart enough to gather the 'shiny stones'..." The human began mumbling with the dwarf, debating the pros and cons of what they clearly had in mind, but she knew that they had already bitten the hook.

So, Lili stood silently behind them with the same fake smile she had been hating to wear since years ago...

For a brief moment, she dared to imagine a different life, a life where she wasn't bound by the chains of servitude, a life where she could choose her own path...

...her own destiny...

"Come, rat, let's go" The dwarf all but ordered her as they began moving into the dungeon, a small swagger in their steps.

 ...but the illusion shattered as quickly as it had formed. She was still Lili, the expendable supporter, a mere pest leeching from those stronger.

Yet, she would not only survive but find a way to thrive...no matter how much she had to crawl for that to happen...no matter what had to be sacrificed for it...

And as she followed the duo of thieves deeper into the dungeon, the image of the scarred man lingered in her mind...a tantalizing glimpse of a world beyond her reach...