"???"
Liliruca could only blink in confusion at Su Mo's sudden offer. She had just been recognized for who she was—saved from the brink of death—and now this?
Though still overwhelmed by gratitude, she found herself disoriented. Su Mo's earlier words, while difficult to fully grasp, had deeply shaken her. He had left a profound impression on her heart, and while she wouldn't go so far as to call him a mentor, he now held a position in her mind not far from that.
So, when he suddenly shifted to what sounded like some kind of cryptic scheme, it felt jarring. She stared blankly, not quite understanding what he meant. Noticing her confusion, Su Mo took the time to explain.
"You're short on money, right? Coincidentally, I have a way to make some. It might even help you with your situation. Want to hear it?"
"A way to make money…" Liliruca repeated, slowly realizing that the man before her was far from the stereotypical 'hero of justice.' Then again, hadn't he said so himself? He wasn't a champion of righteousness. Still, the abrupt transition into such a practical discussion caught her off guard.
But Liliruca, having grown up amid hardship, was no stranger to matters of money. She quickly set aside her doubts and asked straightforwardly, "What exactly do you mean?"
"Let's move this conversation elsewhere," Su Mo said after glancing around.
"Alright," she agreed, nodding.
She cast a final, reluctant glance at the crater he had created. It wasn't that she mourned the scumbags he crushed, but rather, she grieved for the magic sword she had recently bought—it had fallen into the hole and was probably shattered. But considering that Su Mo had saved her life, this small loss wasn't worth bringing up. Heart quietly bleeding, she followed him out of the dungeon.
Once they settled into a quiet café, Su Mo formally introduced himself, then got to the point. "So, based on what you said, you're currently trying to save up money, correct?"
"Yes, Su Mo-sama," Liliruca replied. With someone who might be able to read minds, there was no point in hiding the truth. She decided to be upfront. "I'm trying to save enough to leave my familia."
Liliruca belonged to the Soma Familia. The name of their god was strikingly similar to Su Mo's—Soma, the god of wine from ancient Indian mythology.
Her deity spent his days immersed in brewing divine wine, which he distributed as rewards to his adventurers through a ranking system. This wine had addictive properties that few adventurers could resist. As a result, they were compelled to earn vast amounts of money just for a chance to taste a few drops of that wine.
This obsession turned the entire Soma Familia into a gold-hungry, competition-driven group. What Liliruca had encountered so far were merely some of the worst elements—there were many more who spent their lives bleeding for a taste of that liquor. She believed her parents had also perished for this very reason.
In a familia like that, adventurers fought like rabid dogs, desperate for coin to buy wine. Everything was reduced to numbers, every relationship twisted by addiction. It was a dead end. No future, only endless toil. The money they earned was stolen, converted to wine. If someone failed to meet the monthly quota, punishment followed. Their lives were worse than slavery. Many died in the dungeon, broken in both body and spirit.
Liliruca had seen all of this clearly. She didn't want to stay. Leaving that familia was her only option—even if it meant losing her divine blessing. Su Mo nodded in understanding. "That's easy enough. If you accept my employment offer, I'll pay you enough to cover the withdrawal fee once it's done. How about it?" He casually tossed out the bait.
"What?!"
Liliruca's eyes widened in shock. Leaving a familia was a shameful thing for a god, which made the exit fees quite steep. But having witnessed Su Mo's power earlier, she didn't doubt he could afford it.
Still…
"Why would you help me like this?" she asked, voice trembling with emotion. Her eyes reddened. She had seen people stand up against injustice before, but no one had ever gone this far. Paying such a hefty sum just to help a known thief… That was beyond anything she'd experienced.
But Su Mo simply shook his head. "Don't misunderstand. I'm not helping you—I'm just making a mutually beneficial deal. This plan only works with you."
"With… me?" she repeated, puzzled. She had no idea what made her so special. If she had to guess, maybe her shapeshifting ability? It was useful, yes, but not that rare or powerful, surely. Seeing her confusion, Su Mo didn't offer a direct answer. Instead, he slid a glass of plain water across the table.
"Try a sip," he said.
Still unsure what he was playing at, Liliruca obediently picked up the cup. The moment the scent hit her nose, she froze. This wasn't right. Water wasn't supposed to smell like anything. But this… this smelled like wine. Fragrant, rich wine.
When the server brought it over, it was just ordinary, colorless, tasteless water. But now, in her hands, the liquid had transformed into something lush and aromatic. The fragrance was even more intoxicating than the famed divine wine distributed in her familia. In fact, just the smell alone was more enticing than anything Soma had ever produced. Of course, thanks to her past trauma, Liliruca had developed a subconscious aversion to anything resembling Soma's wine. But Su Mo seemed to anticipate this.
"Relax," he said gently. "This isn't the same as the wine from your familia. You can drink a whole jug and still stay perfectly sober."
He was telling the truth. The drink had been created using his divine authority as the god Dionysus—the god of wine.
While it might not match the technical precision of Soma's brews, Su Mo's divine essence elevated the flavor and effect beyond comparison. The aroma, the taste, the allure—it outclassed Soma's divine wine in every category.
Trusting him, Liliruca gathered her courage and downed the drink in one go. To her surprise, it was light and sweet. Clear. Refreshing. Not only did it avoid making her dizzy, it even seemed to sharpen her thoughts. Her mind felt cleaner, brighter, more alert than ever. She could still recall the taste vividly—it was that good.
Yes, she craved more, but only in the way someone craves another bite of something delicious. It wasn't like Soma's wine, which gripped the soul with a vicious, inescapable addiction.
"Su Mo-sama… this is…?" she asked in awe. This was better than anything her god had ever brewed. And more importantly—it came with no strings attached.
"How much do you think your familia could sell this wine for?" Su Mo asked with a faint smile. Liliruca thought about it carefully. "Quality-wise, it far surpasses anything we've ever had. Even if you priced it at one million valis, people would still line up to buy it." As she said it, she suddenly understood Su Mo's intentions.
"You want my familia to sell this wine?" She was a little confused.
"With something of this quality, couldn't you just sell it yourself? Why involve us? I mean, you do know most of our familia members are trash, right? There's bound to be greed and skimming." She didn't sugarcoat it. When it came to her own familia, Liliruca had zero illusions.
But Su Mo only grinned. "Trash is fine. Trash doesn't hesitate when it's time to get their hands dirty." Her confused stare prompted a more polite explanation.
"Ahem. What I meant is—bad systems turn people into monsters. But good systems can turn even monsters back into humans."
"You don't have to worry about that. The reason I want your familia to sell it is because of your name recognition."
The Soma Familia was already famous among Orario's wine connoisseurs. The only problem was, all their wine came from Soma himself. No one else could brew it, which severely limited supply. That was why dungeon crawling remained their primary activity—not wine selling. But their brand? That's what Su Mo was after.
Even the finest wine needs months to build a reputation from scratch. He wasn't interested in waiting that long. With Soma's name on the label, everything would accelerate.
As for her concerns about corruption? Su Mo practically laughed them off. In his previous world, he had survived every dirty trick society could throw—he knew a hundred ways to fleece even the most cunning investors. Medieval-era adventurers stood no chance against modern capitalist tactics.
Once he used the Soma Familia to open the network, Su Mo could unleash dozens of ways to rake in absurd profit. All of it convertible into magic stones—and thus, philosopher's stones. He could easily match the income from deep dungeon exploration. Possibly even surpass it. And that meant he could complete his goals in mere days.