When Alice led Loki and the other two into the living room, Lili—who had also finished her meal and was helping Shanghai and Hourai clean up—was utterly stunned at the sight of them.
The Loki Familia was widely considered the second most powerful faction in Orario, right after the Freya Familia.
In fact, one could argue that in terms of overall military strength, the Loki Familia might even surpass Freya's, since the power of Freya's members lay mostly in individual combat prowess.
If you could manage to restrain their lone Level 7, most of the remaining members were only around Level 5—nowhere near comparable to the Loki Familia's roster of Level 6 adventurers.
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(Author's Note: Oops, I messed up here. The Loki Familia members were actually on an expedition when Bell fought the Minotaur, and they all leveled up after that. I wasn't paying attention when I originally wrote this and treated them as if they were already Level 6 across the board. But it doesn't change much, so let's just go with it.)
(Key members of the Loki Familia are Ais and Lefiya. The others aren't as important.)
(This is a crossover fanfic, and when Alice transmigrated, she stirred up quite a bit of trouble—just consider it an AU.)
--+--
In the Soma Familia, aside from the captain, Zanis Lustra, who was a Level 2 adventurer, all the other members were only Level 1. Even a high spec Level 1 adventurer was someone Lili couldn't hope to match, let alone the three figures now standing before her: the goddess Loki herself, the Level 6 Nine Hell, and a Level 3 elf—Lefiya Viridis, known as the Thousand Elf.
To put it simply, every single person in this room was someone Lili would never have had the chance to meet in her previous life—true VIPs.
"Well, well~ Is this little one a Pallum?" Loki's interest was immediately piqued when she noticed Lili. After all, Lili was quite the beauty herself, even if she looked young and wasn't really Loki's usual type.
But being a Pallum… Loki felt she could make an exception.
"Mm, Lili is a child I rescued. She's going to be working at my shop from now on, handling orders and such," Alice explained. "I'll also rely on her to purchase materials for me. Having Lili around takes a lot off my mind."
Alice genuinely appreciated Lili's capabilities. If it were her doing the shopping, she'd definitely get ripped off without even realizing it. But with Lili, that wouldn't happen.
"Is that so?" Loki turned to Lili with a grin. "Well then, Lili-chan, how about joining my Familia?"
"Huh?" Lili was completely caught off guard by the invitation.
Loki had her reasons for asking. As a goddess, she trusted her judgment—and she'd already figured out why Alice's shop hadn't been attracting many customers.
Even without knowing all the details, she was sure that anyone Alice accepted had to be a good kid. Talent and combat ability didn't matter much; character was what counted. The Loki Familia wasn't lacking in fighters anyway.
Most importantly, Loki had no intention of pressing Alice about joining a Familia. Alice was different from all the other children in Orario—no, in the entire lower world. She was special. Loki saw no need to interfere with her choices.
But Lili was different. Loki could see her potential clearly, and if Lili joined the Loki Familia, she could offer her protection—protection that would also help build a good relationship with Alice. Plus, gaining another promising member was always a win-win.
Joining the Loki Familia…? Such a thing had never even crossed Lili's wildest dreams. Her mind went completely blank, and she instinctively looked to Alice for guidance.
"Lady Alice…?" she murmured, lost.
"Hmm?" Alice glanced at Lili, noticed her confusion, and smiled gently. "Lili can make her own decisions. I won't command her either way. If she's willing, I won't stop her."
"But Lili already belongs to a Familia. Even if I don't think much of it, and even though she's suffered a lot there, only she can truly say goodbye to her past. So, could you give her a little more time?"
"I see." Loki's lips curled into a smile as she turned back to Lili. "Well then, Lili-chan, my invitation will always be open. Whenever you make up your mind, just have Alice bring you to me."
"Ara~ If I come next time, will I actually be allowed in without getting stopped and beaten up?" Alice teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Aha… ha…" Loki scratched her head awkwardly. "That was an accident, really! I had no idea Bete would go and fight you like that."
"But speaking of which, aren't you gonna teach him a lesson, Alice-chan? Don't get me wrong, Bete's not a bad guy deep down. If you punished him, he'd take it without complaint—he knows he was in the wrong."
"So here's my proposal: how about making that guy cross-dress as an apology to you?" Loki suggested, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
Alice glanced pityingly at Lefiya. "Putting up with such an unreliable goddess must be tough. For the first time, I feel like not joining the Loki Familia was a pretty good call."
Hearing this, Riveria, who stood beside Loki, sighed and facepalmed in resignation, while Lefiya offered an awkward smile.
Meanwhile, Lili took a deep breath and spoke to Loki with determination.
"Lady Loki! Please forgive my rudeness, but I am still a member of the Soma Familia. I will seriously consider your offer to join your Familia!"
"So, I'm sorry!"
She stood up and bowed deeply.
"No, no, it's fine," Loki waved it off. "With Alice as an example, it's okay even if you refuse. Even if you leave your current Familia and join another, that's your choice."
"But my door will always be open for you."
"I don't know if you're aware, but the captain of the Loki Familia, Finn—the Level 6 'Braver'—is also a Pallum, just like you. So if you joined, even if no one else looked out for you, Finn definitely would."
Loki's tone was gentle.
"Yes!" Lili responded firmly.
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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.
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