Dolls, magic, frilly dresses.
A face fit for a princess.
And overwhelming strength.
Alice's appearance had struck a deep chord within Lili's heart.
The very same familia members Lili feared so much had been sent scrambling in panic by Alice's hands.
Lili had never encountered an adventurer of such power before. To her, adventurers—no matter how strong—were beings who existed in a world apart from her own.
She knew better than to provoke powerful adventurers.
And powerful adventurers, in turn, rarely paid any mind to someone like Lili. Even if she were to trick one of them…
Most adventurers had their own pride.
To those who dwelled in the sewers like Lili, they seldom resorted to outright bullying. Strong adventurers, in particular, despised the idea of picking on the weak.
Those capable of reaching high ranks often held fast to their own personal convictions.
Of course…
If you crossed an adventurer of that caliber once or twice, they might let it slide. But push too far, and they wouldn't hesitate to retaliate.
So Lili always took care never to offend high-level adventurers.
And yet…
Whether by sheer bad luck or some twist of fate…
Twice.
She had offended this princess-like adventurer not once, but twice. And now, she'd even been tracked down to her own home.
Magic.
Not like her own transformation magic, but offensive spellcasting. This girl in her delicate, flowing dress was undoubtedly a powerful adventurer.
Lili didn't know which familia she belonged to, but that didn't matter right now.
All that mattered was finding a way to win over this girl—to convince Alice to spare her life. Years of surviving in the shadows had honed Lili's ability to read people to an impressive degree.
At the very least, thanks to that skill…
She could tell that this girl—who was even more beautiful than an elf—seemed to be wrestling with how to punish her.
The conflict was plain to see on Alice's face.
This powerful adventurer was clearly one of the rare kind-hearted souls Lili almost never encountered.
Because of that, Lili felt certain that if she apologized sincerely, the other girl would surely forgive her.
And so…
Lili bowed deeply to Alice.
"Thank you so much, Miss Adventurer!"
"Huh?"
Alice was taken aback by the sudden gesture. She never would have expected this girl—who'd not only tricked her but also stolen from her—to apologize so earnestly.
It was nothing like the folks back in Gensokyo…
Those characters were the unrepentant type—you catch them once, they'd just do it again, without so much as a word of apology.
Lili's sudden apology left Alice momentarily speechless, her thoughts stumbling over themselves.
But this wasn't Gensokyo. Alice had been living in Orario for a while now, and though she didn't interact with people much, she could still handle the situation.
And just as Lili had guessed, Alice's thoughts leaned toward mercy.
"Just… be more careful from now on," Alice said with a resigned shake of her head.
When it came to women, Alice's heart held far more tolerance than it did for men. Perhaps it was because the self she remembered from Gensokyo had never really interacted with males, surrounded only by relatively kind-hearted women.
For instance, if she ran into someone from the Loki Familia again, she might hold back if it were a woman.
But if it were that werewolf who'd stood in her way? She wouldn't hesitate to teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget.
Since Lili had apologized, Alice saw no reason to press the matter further. It'd be pointless and a waste of time besides.
With that, she turned to leave.
But seeing Alice about to go, Lili grew anxious.
She'd always known, but today's events had driven the lesson home: in Orario, no matter how carefully you tread, if someone targets you…
Without strength, you have no way to fight back.
Lili had been working tirelessly to save up enough money to leave her familia. But after what happened today, she was convinced that even if she managed to scrape together the funds, someone would just take it all away without a second thought.
Everything in the Soma Familia was controlled by their level 2 captain, Zanis Lustra.
And Captain Zanis was anything but a good person.
So now, an incredible opportunity was right in front of her. If she could just seize it…
"Wait!!" Lili called out loudly. "Miss Adventurer! Please allow Lili to repay you!"
From Alice stepping in to drive off those three when they were bullying her, to readily accepting her apology without holding a grudge…
Lili knew—this girl was the once-in-a-lifetime chance she'd been waiting for.
"Hmm?" Alice frowned, turning back to look at Lili, waiting for her to continue.
Relieved that Alice had stopped, Lili took a steadying breath before biting her lip, wrestling with her thoughts.
If this girl was her opportunity, then to seize it, she needed to choose her next words carefully…
"There's no need to repay me. If anything, just try to avoid causing more trouble and focus on training. Without strength, it's hard to survive in this cruel world. I let you off this time, but next time, you might not run into someone like me."
Alice's tone was calm, almost detached.
Hearing her advice, Lili took a deep breath and made up her mind. She would lay all her cards on the table for this girl.
If she wanted to rely on her as a protector, as a shield…
Then winning her favor through deception would be the worst approach.
It might work temporarily, but lies had a way of coming to light eventually.
Even if her honest intentions might displeasure the other girl, it was still better than provoking her anger when the truth eventually surfaced.
So, looking straight at Alice, Lili spoke with earnest determination.
"Miss Adventurer, Lili tricked you once and stole from you once. Both actions surely angered you."
"Even if Lili had her reasons, what's done is done. Lili doesn't expect your forgiveness."
"But, please… give Lili a chance to atone. A chance to work by your side. A chance to earn your protection."
"Lili has done many bad things, but she never wanted to. It's hard to believe, coming from Lili's own mouth."
"Still, Miss Adventurer… please give Lili this opportunity."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.