Roy took Lili back to the 5th floor area.

Lili’s survival skills were top-notch, but her combat skills were severely lacking.

She could handle Kobold on the 1st and 2nd floors without issue, but struggled against slightly stronger Level 1 monsters.

There was no helping it—no one had ever taught her fighting techniques.

However, as a long-time supporter in the dungeon, and having been beaten often, she had amassed rich experience.

With her resilience maxed out, learning combat skills came to her with twice the results for half the effort.

Under Roy’s guidance, Lili quickly picked up some tricks.

Though her strength hadn’t undergone a qualitative change, she could now face some Level 1 monsters independently without relying on her knife.

Seeing that time was almost up, Roy took Lili back to the surface.

After buying another identical set of armor from the weapon shop.

Roy encouraged her thoroughly, advising her to not get arrogant.

“Don’t lose that set of armor, and don’t repair it—just keep it as is,” Roy said, referring to the first set, which had become tattered from facing monsters on the 24th floor.

As for why he wanted to keep it, it was because using it as battle-worn clothing seemed quite appealing.

With a complicated expression, she sighed and said, “I really hope you can have a healthy hobby.”

“Isn’t this healthy enough?” Roy asked in surprise.

“There’s no helping it,” Lili replied, the corners of her mouth twitching in exasperation.

Indeed, for a pervert like Roy, this hobby was downright wholesome.

“Lord Roy, will tomorrow be the same?” Lili asked about the next day’s plans.

“Tomorrow will focus on training,” Roy nodded.

“Otherwise, even if you rank up, it won’t help much.”

“I understand. I won’t let you down.”

“Alright, I’ll head out then,” Roy said.

Watching Roy’s back, Lili’s eyes held a mix of helplessness and softness.

Today, after teetering on the edge of death on the 24th floor, Lili had vented her frustrations.

She discovered that Roy wasn’t that hard to get along with.

If it had been the adventurers she’d met before, any sign of dissatisfaction would have earned her harsher beatings and abuse.

But Roy not only refrained from hitting her—he used potuons to heal her wounds.

“Are adventurers really that different from one another?” Lili whispered.

Lili hated adventurers.

She’d even planned to leave the Soma Familia and distance herself from them entirely after saving enough to quit.

All her suffering from childhood stemmed from adventurers.

From them, she’d felt only greed, brutality, and malice—never kindness.

Lili hadn’t joined the Soma Familia willingly.

Her parents were members, and there was an unwritten rule in most Familia: children born to couples within the same Familia became members from birth.

But being born into the Soma Familia was a tragedy in itself, especially for Lili—a Pallum with average racial talents, no strength, and no protectors.

All she endured was scorn and exploitation.

As a supporter for adventurer teams, those who looked down on her would shamelessly or openly pocket dungeon loot, leaving the weak Lili powerless.

Sometimes, she’d even suffer abuse and beatings.

Over time, hatred for adventurers festered in Lili’s heart.

“I hope my choice isn’t wrong,” she thought.

Though she’d been half-forced to follow Roy, now that she was on board, she had to see it through.

At least, Roy gave her a different feeling from other adventurers.

In such a harsh environment, Lili hadn’t survived by being foolish—especially when it came to reading people.

After all, besides thieving, Lili also scammed adventurers.

That required sharp eyes for judging character.

Roy was indeed a hopeless pervert, but beyond that, Lili sensed a bit of warmth from him. For her, that was enough.

After resting a while, Lili donned the new armor and covered it with a cloak.

Without Roy nearby, her fine equipment could attract unwanted attention—especially from the Soma Familia, who wouldn’t let her go easily if they spotted it.

After packing the old armor, Lili returned to her small warehouse and hid it away.

Grabbing something to eat, she entered the dungeon alone again.

As Roy had said, she needed to train before officially ranking up.

Though Lili felt ranking up to Level 2 was still distant—after all, even Orario’s most talented adventurer, Sword Princess, took a year to reach it—the sensation of growing stronger invigorated her.

For the next few days, Roy took Lili to kill monsters and gain Excelia in the dungeon’s upper floors.

Lili’s growth rate surprised even her.

She wondered if her talents surpassed those of Ais.

Clearly, Soma hadn’t updated her Status, yet she felt herself strengthening step by step.

She even believed she could face an average Level 1 adventurer head-on.

Of course, Roy knew the reason.

Besides Lili’s own accumulated experience, it was due to the Lust effect.

He had sex with her daily. It was no wonder she grew stronger.

This effect was significant at low levels.

Under Lili’s deliberate inquiries, she learned the whereabouts of Zanis, the captain of the Soma Familia.

She followed Zanis’s team into the dungeon.

Roy’s plan for dealing with Zanis was simple: controlling monsters.

By controlling a Level 2 monster and using it to command twenty other monsters, he could set a trap to wipe out a Level 2 team easily.

Not every Level 2 could handle multiple foes alone.

Against dozens of monsters, a small team of adventurers could only flee—if they even got the chance.

“Lili, Zanis must have caused many deaths, right?” Roy asked.

“I don’t know if he’s killed anyone directly, but many Familia members died indirectly because of him,” Lili replied softly.

“Then no need to worry—it’s just another casualty,” Roy said with a smile.

Though Lili had done deceptive things, her hands weren’t stained with blood.

When scamming adventurers in the dungeon, she always left them an escape, never killing them.

That was one of the few kindnesses she’d held onto in the Soma Familia.

Lili nodded.

“Let’s go see how Zanis and the others are faring,” Roy said, leading Lili to the cave where the trap was set.

Monster roars echoed through the cave.

A bloodied corpse lay on the ground, nearly cleaved in two—clearly beyond saving.

It was Zanis, the Soma Familia’s captain.

Besides him, five adventurers were still struggling.

Roy’s orders to the controlled enhanced monster had been to prioritize killing Zanis, so the monsters focused on him first.

Only four or five monsters dealt with the remaining five adventurers.

Among them, one was Level 2, and the other four were veteran Level 1, so they’d held on until now.

But after Zanis and the enhanced monster perished together, the remaining dozen monsters swarmed the five, ramping up the pressure.

“Brat, hurry and draw the monsters away!” one demi-human adventurer shouted in surprise upon spotting Lili.

Lili didn’t respond, just watching quietly.

Her inaction drew wild curses from the four adventurers, except the Level 2 one, who fought silently.

“Want to save them?” Roy asked Lili.

He could see her slight distress over the impending death of the Level 2 adventurer—likely one of the few in the Soma Familia who’d treated her decently.

“I’m sorry, Lord Roy,” Lili nodded.

—

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