[Lilliruca Arde POV]
All of a sudden, I was there.
I was there, all alone.
My parents went into the dungeon to make money, but died very soon.
To survive... just to survive... I struggled.
Having no talent in fighting and due to my small body, I tried working as a supporter.
But, I had to listen to all kinds of insults and jabs from the adventurers.
"You're cutting into my profits."
"Hurry up and move faster."
"A waste of time."
When I asked them for my pay, they kicked me away and threw scraps of food at me, like they were doing me a favor. It hurt, but I still bowed and thanked them, because I had no other choice.
Even when I got fed up and ran away, being part of the Soma Familia meant I could never really escape them.
When I started working as a flower seller at a flower shop, they destroyed the shop while I was away and told the owners it was my fault. I still remember the shocked and angry faces of the shop owners when they yelled at me.
Even if I hid, they always found me…
When I tried working as a waitress at a restaurant, they came in, made a huge ruckus, and got me kicked out. The manager looked at me with disappointment, and I couldn't even say anything back.
The places I thought were my home were taken from me.
Left with no other choice, I went back to working as a supporter. I told myself I'd endure it, even if I was mistreated, even if it hurt. I wouldn't bat an eye.
But a small flame started burning inside me… a deep, ugly hatred toward adventurers.
I hate adventurers.
I... absolutely loath adventurers.
So I decided to do the same thing they did to me.
I would approach adventurers and join them as a supporter. I'd watch them closely, learn their strengths and weaknesses, and prepare traps that suited them.
If an adventurer was a little kind to me, I wouldn't put them in life-threatening danger. I'd just make them lose their weapons and items.
But out of all the adventurers I worked with, I didn't see a single good person. So I just stole from them and didn't care what happened to them afterward.
Because even someone like me has a goal. I wanted to pay off my debts to the familia I was part of and then leave them forever.
Slapping my cheeks, I stopped daydreaming and looked around to find a new adventurer to scam.
That's when I noticed a lone adventurer sitting on a bench near the plaza's fountain in front of the Tower of Babel. He had black hair and a good-looking face.
He wasn't wearing any armor, and he only had a dagger hanging from his belt. Definitely a rookie. My eyes narrowed slightly as I chose him as my next target.
"Adventurer-san, do you need a supporter?" I asked as I walked up to him, interrupting his thoughts.
"You may be confused, but I'm a poor supporter who-"
"Sure. I was also thinking of looking for a supporter. It's great that you came."
"Huh?" I blinked in surprise.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Quinn, a new adventurer. Nice to meet you, supporter-san."
All the things I had prepared to say - about being a weak little girl, about being poor and desperate for money - were completely wasted. My mouth hung open for a second.
"Hehe, nice to meet you, Quinn-sama. My name's Lili." I smiled, and quickly composed myself.
"Please don't call that. You can just call me Quinn or Quinn-san," he said, waving his hand awkwardly.
[T/N: Just imagine Lili calling him Lord Quinn, and he asks her to drop the Lord part.]
'Is that really what you're focused on?! Shouldn't adventurers ask about a supporter's strength first?!' I thought, staring at him in disbelief. I really had picked a strange adventurer today.
"Sure, supporter-san. Let's head to the dungeon. I'll look forward to your guidance," Quinn said cheerfully as he stood up and started walking toward the Tower of Babel's entrance.
"Wait for me, Adventurer-san," I called out and hurried after him.
Looking at Quinn, who kept glancing around like it was truly his first time entering the dungeon, I asked him to follow me. I led him to the basement entrance where other adventurers were lining up.
As we walked down the stairs into the dungeon, I somehow ended up explaining things about the dungeon to him without realizing it.
Then a thought hit me hard.
'Wait… wasn't I here to scam this adventurer? Why does it feel like I'm the one getting scammed into giving him information about the dungeon for free?!'
…..
[Quinn POV]
Standing at the familiar set of stairs leading into the dungeon, I headed down, feeling different from last time.
The little supporter-san next to me was guiding me and explaining what she knew about the dungeon. She looked serious and focused, even though she was supposed to be a scammer.
'It's hard not to notice she's a scammer,' I thought calmly. 'She didn't ask about my level or whether I've been into the dungeon before. She just followed me straight in without asking anything.'
'But that's fine. As long as she helps me navigate the dungeon, I don't mind if she tries to trick me or plays around a bit.'
After all, based on the information from the books, the monsters up to Floor 13 were only Level 1 or Level 2. I could afford to let her try her tricks.
Having decided that, I focused my attention on the dungeon.
We were now on the first floor. Numerous other parties were walking beside us and deeper inside. Any unlucky goblin that spawned was taken care of almost instantly by passing adventurers.
The walls were light blue, and the place was softly lit by a kind of moss growing on them.
As we walked a bit further along the main hallway of the first floor, the adventurer groups began to spread out. The higher-level groups immediately headed toward the lower floors, while the rest stayed behind.
I wanted to fight a few goblins on each floor and test the amount of mana in their magic stones. Did it change depending on the floor, or did it change based on the type of monster?
"Here, Quinn-san. Most adventurers won't come here. You can wait and fight the monsters that spawn, "
Before Lili could finish her sentence, the wall cracked open, and a lone goblin jumped out.
Bang.
A bullet from my spirit gun blasted a hole through the goblin's face.
In a few seconds, the monster turned into ash, and its magic stone dropped to the ground.
"Quinn-san, you can keep fighting the monsters and leave the magic stones to me."
When I bent down to pick up the stone, Lili rushed forward and picked it up first. Her eyes glanced at the gun in my hand, full of curiosity, but she didn't ask anything.
As we moved further in, four more goblins spawned in front of me.
Bang. x4
They met the same fate as the first one. Clean headshots, then their bodies scattered into ash.
"Quinn-san, I don't want to pry, but doesn't the gun you use seem different from other guns?"
Finally unable to hold back her curiosity, the little supporter-san looked up at me and asked.
"Ah, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to," she quickly added. As if remembering something unpleasant, she shrank back a little, trying to make herself look smaller, like she was about to be scolded instead of answered.
"Oh, it's an artifact. You pour your magic into it, then pull the trigger. It can continuously shoot as long as you feed it enough magic power."
It was a perfect hook. Her eyes immediately locked onto the gun in my hand, sparkling with interest.
After farming a few more goblins on the first floor, we decided to head to the second floor.
The number of magic stones we collected on the first floor was about twenty.
From the second floor onward, two new types of monsters appeared. Kobolds, dog-type monsters, and Dungeon Lizards, lizard-type monsters that could hide on the ceiling and launch sneak attacks.
The walls became a darker shade of blue, but the light source was still the same strange moss growing on them.
"Quinn-san, be careful. There are two new types of monsters from the second floor-" Lili warned me seriously. At least she was honest about that.
"Noted." I nodded and walked down the stairs to the second floor, entering the first room.
Crack x5
"Lili, stand behind me." Looking at the five dog-type monsters staring at me, I stepped in front of the little pallum and poured my magic into the gun.
BANG.
This time, instead of the usual weaker attack, a more powerful magic bullet tore through the heads of two kobolds at once.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Without giving the remaining three kobolds any time to attack, I took them down. Their magic stones fell to the ground with soft clinks.
The Dungeon Lizard we came across met a similar fate. It was hiding behind a rock on the ceiling and tried to jump at Lili, but a bullet hit it midair. It turned into ash and dropped its magic stone before it could even touch her.
After farming for a few hours by going down till the fourth floor, we decided to return to the surface and exchange the magic stones.
I took a few of them and kept them on me separately, planning to practice my magic art later.
"Quinn-san, there's a guild exchange counter on the ground floor of the Tower of Babel where adventurers can exchange magic stones for Valis. There it is, that corner shop," Lili said, pointing at the guild's branch inside Babel.
"Excuse me, I need to exchange my magic stones."
As directed, I poured the magic stones onto the tray and waited while they were counted.
"The total is forty thousand Valis. Here you go." The guild employee pushed the tray toward me with forty coins neatly stacked on it.
...
[Lili POV]
"Supporter-san, how do you want to divide the amount between us? What's the normal rate supporters are paid?" the adventurer in front of me asked.
'It depends on the party. Sometimes supporters only get scraps,' I thought bitterly. Remembering how the day had gone, I hesitated. Quinn didn't seem like a bad person.
"Ten percent-"
"Supporter-san."
The small hope that had bloomed in my heart felt like it died again when I heard his tone.
'Of course. Why did I even hope? All adventurers are the same. They only know how to exploit, insult, and make others' lives hell.'
"Supporter-san, Supporter-san." His voice pulled me back from my thoughts, but my earlier enthusiasm had already faded.
"Lili, how is ten percent even enough? You picked up all the magic stones and showed me the way in the dungeon. How about we split the money fifty-fifty between us?"
For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard him. Or maybe I was dreaming?
This adventurer was going to give me fifty percent of the Valis he earned for the same work I always did? Other parties only paid me scraps, or a few hundred Valis at most.
Some of them didn't even pay me anything.
"Quinn-san, wait-"
"Here, keep it safe, your share of twenty thousand Valis. "
He interrupted me again, knelt down, gently took my hand, and placed a pouch with twenty coins, each worth a thousand Valis, into my palm.
Then he stood up.
Before I could even process what had just happened, he left, only telling me to meet him tomorrow morning at the bench near the fountain.
...
[Quinn POV]
I wanted to talk a bit more with Lili, but now that I had more magic stones, all I could think about was absorbing them and seeing if I could level up my magic art once again.
The mana in the magic stones of this world was pure. All I had to do was absorb it, and I would grow stronger.
No need to worry about magic stone poisoning, or suddenly going berserk and killing everything in sight.
"Uh... I forgot to ask Lili how to find her if she's not there." That was the most important part. It was because I followed her that I was able to farm so many monsters so quickly.
As I walked back to the place we had separated, I was greeted by the sight of a group of three adventurers ganging up on Lili.
My steps slowed, and my eyes narrowed.
I walked toward them, wanting to see what the issue was.