With a gray-brown cloak and a backpack far too big for her frame, you couldn't identify her just from that.
Peering through gaps between the Soma Familia adventurers, Keyaru finally saw the girl's face.
She wasn't using her "Cinder Ella" magic—probably afraid her peculiarity would be discovered by her fellow Familia members.
She looked like a frightened kitten, trembling in the corner, fear welling up from deep inside—no way to fake that.
Given the pressure of surviving like this for so long, Keyaru found it… unsurprising.
Most likely she'd been caught in the Dungeon by Soma Familia's booze-addled junkies, who wanted to squeeze a weak supporter for valis to buy god-wine.
The standard shōnen lead would go: "You can't do that!"—then charge in shouting about bonds and friendship and beat the bad guys with protagonist halo.
Problem is…
Keyaru wasn't that type. He started to leave, but the Soma adventurers were blocking the only route through.
To avoid being spotted, he slipped into a blind spot in the shadows.
Bringing his old-world morals to DanMachi and applying them wholesale in Orario's survival-of-the-fittest, winner-take-all reality was a good way to get burned.
Besides—did Lili really deserve "redemption"?
That question kept nagging him. Faced with oppression, she'd turned her hate on uninvolved adventurers. There was no scrubbing that clean.
"Saints die first in chaotic times"—that was his bias. Still, good girls shouldn't be missed… and it's a waste to throw bad girls away.
By the time he'd thought that far, he'd made his choice.
He could save her—on his terms. No need to copy the white-haired rabbit's yasashii routine; this would be a Healer's brand of salvation.
"…"
"Honestly… she's a lot like Setsuna."
Both were crushed by oppression. In the Redo of Healer world, Setsuna, in some ways, wasn't so different from Lili. After he bought her from a slaver and healed her, he set her free—and she still tried to stab him and run, for the sake of her homeland.
Back then, the power gap stopped her.
Later, opportunity put the future right in front of Setsuna.
Now, in this second run as the "Healer," Keyaru couldn't help feeling like something was missing in DanMachi.
All those grim set pieces—and no chance to recreate a single one.
But watching Liliruca being hemmed in by Soma adventurers left him with a strange feeling. He tweaked the plan.
"Cinder Ella lets her transform."
"So in a sense… could I have Lili cosplay Setsuna—and make her seize her future?!"
—
They'd cornered Liliruca Arde. The burly adventurer leading them had a shadowed face; years of drinking had hollowed him out. And the supporter–adventurer gap meant she had no real way to resist.
Knowing the shakedown was unavoidable, Lili gripped the sleeves of her brown cloak, voice shaking. "Did… did I do something wrong?"
"Tch."
The big man's eyes were pure mockery. If you're an adventurer, he stomps you—he didn't need a reason to take her money. "Liliruca—unless you want your life in the Familia to get hard…"
"If you don't, then… you know the drill."
"I really don't have any money. No one's hired me in days…" Her head shook; the terror on her face wasn't an act.
No sooner had she said it than the thug snapped a kick into her abdomen. The small body slammed the wall—hard. The pack cushioned it a little, but pain still folded her to the ground.
Her coin pouch popped off her belt and clinked onto the floor.
"Lying isn't what good kids do."
Grinning, the brute bent to pick it up—then scowled at the less-than-2,000 valis inside and spat on the floor.
"Broke. This barely feeds a beggar."
"At least it's something. Let's head back—leave her to the Dungeon," another adventurer said with a regretful shrug.
Compared to other Familias, Soma's adventurers and supporters were like vampires and blood bags. So long as there was money for god-wine, who cared if it was right?
Everyone else in their Familia did it. Why shouldn't they? Even one extra cup of wine made it "worth it."
When the Soma members finally walked off, the girl curled against the wall.
The hatred in her soft gaze was iron-hard. Good thing she'd planned for this—if she put her pouch in an obvious place, then even if they beat her up, as long as the money survived, she still had hope.
"How long… until I've saved enough to get out of the Soma Familia?"
Her stomach throbbed with pain. Standing was hard; she could only hope she didn't meet any monsters on the way out. A hand crossbow wouldn't keep her safe.
But life rarely cooperates. The bullies had barely left when footsteps approached.
Years in the Dungeon told Lili immediately…
Not a monster. Probably an adventurer passing by—or someone who'd seen everything. She pushed herself up with her hands, leaned on the wall, and pulled a hand crossbow from behind her supporter's pack.
…
Nervous like never before, she held her breath and prayed the passerby would turn down another passage. The steps grew clearer. By the lantern-fruit's weak glow she looked up, and what she saw—
Was Keyaru's distinctive face: brown short hair, delicate features.
She froze, staring at the boy she'd labeled a "fat sheep." By rights they shouldn't have any overlap. But with her sense of safety in tatters, she couldn't stay calm.
She didn't speak first. But when Keyaru stopped in front of her, she'd already decided. She'd been right all along.
Adventurers were all filthy parasites.
"You… saw everything?"
Resigned, she lifted her face without expression, then loosened her supporter's pack and pulled out a coin pouch. Like tossing alms to a beggar, she flung it in front of him, voice tight with rejection.
"It's the last of my money. Get me out of the Dungeon alive—and it's yours."
"Mm?"
"I think you've misunderstood something."