Chapter 125: Experience the Burning Divine Power!

“Keep up! I’m the one doing all the work of eliminating the monsters. If you can’t even handle something as simple as carrying the luggage, then what are you except a complete waste of space?”

The male adventurer walking at the front of the passage berated the girl behind him in a harsh voice. Yet beneath his abuse, the girl did not even dare raise her head. She merely followed meekly behind him.

Because she was a professional supporter.

In other words, a porter. Although this was another world, it clearly lacked convenient items such as dimensional bags or spatial rings. In realistic adventuring, there was naturally a need for such a profession.

Whether carrying essential supplies, spare weapons, or the magic stones obtained from slain monsters, a heavy backpack would eventually become an unnecessary burden. Under such circumstances, dedicated logistical personnel naturally came into existence.

In most familias, newcomers would basically take on similar roles. They followed behind their seniors, learning while providing whatever assistance they could. However, there were always a few exceptions. A blessing merely brought out a person’s potential. Those with no talent for combat, or whose temperament was unsuited to fighting, would abandon the path of adventuring and become full-time supporters instead.

And the treatment such people received was far worse than that of newcomers.

Among the motley crowd of adventurers, not everyone needed a supporter, nor was everyone willing to casually share the magic stones they had fought so hard to obtain with someone whose only job was carrying them.

Thus, without a reliable familia to serve as their backing, supporters occupied a very low position.

As the pair drew closer, the male adventurer at the front quickly noticed Roland waiting there and came to an abrupt stop.

The girl, who looked as though she belonged to the Pallum race, raised her head because of this unexpected development. Her chestnut hair and young, pretty face were revealed beneath her hood. She instinctively put on an ingratiating smile, but the emotions in her eyes remained utterly flat.

“Excuse me… Is there something you need?”

Seeing that Roland was clearly waiting for someone, the male adventurer regarded the rising hero uneasily.

“I have business with the supporter beside you. If possible, leave on your own.”

Roland cast the adventurer a languid glance. Too lazy to waste words, he spoke in a tone that sounded less like a request and more like an order.

“Yes, yes! This girl and I only formed a party today. We have no other connection whatsoever!”

The male adventurer had no intention of questioning him. Instead, he looked as though he had just been granted a reprieve. Roland was someone capable of defeating even the Sword Princess. As a mere Level One, the wiser choice for him was to live as safely as possible and avoid becoming entangled with such monsters.

After the male adventurer fled in a flash, Roland walked over to the girl, who was using a sweet yet false smile to conceal her fear and disgust as much as possible.

“You’re Liliruca Arde, aren’t you? Of the Soma Familia?”

“…Yes, sir. I’m a supporter affiliated with the Soma Familia. You may simply call me Lili.”

Though supporters occupied a lowly position, they were renowned for their well-informed networks. Roland’s reputation had long since become famous throughout the city.

His indifferent expression made Lili extremely uneasy, but she still forced herself to smile as she uttered the name of that nauseating familia.

“What is it you require?”

“I’m Roland. Come work for me. I want you to take me to the Soma Familia. I intend to take over the divine wine business and distribute it throughout the world as quickly as possible. You may lack talent in combat, but I admire your ability in business. More importantly, you possess a special advantage.”

Lili gave a stiff smile.

The Soma Familia was a very unusual presence in Orario—not only because of its patron deity, but also because of its peculiar way of existing.

They did not worship their god. They worshiped only the wine he brewed, using it to control the familia’s members while constantly amassing wealth.

But ultimately, it was still nothing more than a small-time operation. Why would a renowned hero be interested in something like that?

“You must be joking. Even with divine wine, the Soma Familia can’t distinguish itself amid Orario’s competition. How could we possibly stand out in the entire world?”

“It’s simple. One reason is that your familia has too few strong members. Even if you exhausted yourselves completely, the tribute you could offer your god would still be limited, which means your production would be insufficient. Besides, most of it is consumed by your own people.”

Roland lowered his head and gazed at Lili. A faint, almost teasing glimmer passed through his deep crimson eyes.

Under that gaze, Lili felt her entire body tremble, as though every secret she possessed had already been laid bare.

“The other reason is even more obvious: prejudice between races.”

In Orario, after a thousand years of disasters from the Dungeon had repeatedly encouraged the world to unite, overt discrimination had become rare on the surface.

But that was all it amounted to.

It was common for races to band together and form nations or factions. Although the familias of the gods generally treated all races equally, the advantages granted by the exceptional talents of elves, dwarves, and beast people made them more eager to choose members from those races.

Some races even used those advantages to establish monopolies in certain industries. If you did not belong to the same race, you would not even have the opportunity to integrate, let alone promote a business.

Unless you operated under the name of a god, success was nearly impossible.

“If you understand all that, why did you come to me? Surely it would make more sense to approach the head of the familia.”

Lili answered Roland, but the tips of her shoes shifted restlessly against the ground, as though she were afraid he might discover something.

“Why? That Cinderella of yours, the one who can transform into other races, seems far better suited to this than anyone else.”

Roland curled the corner of his mouth into a playful smile.

Liliruca’s pupils contracted. At last, she could no longer maintain her false smile. Fear and panic filled her face.

Cinderella.

It was the rare magic on which she depended for survival, allowing her to transform freely into all manner of forms. In disguise and infiltration, it was an ability of unparalleled excellence.

In another familia, she would surely have been carefully nurtured. But in the Soma Familia, already reduced to chaos by divine wine, her position was even lower than that of a gate guard.

This should have been a secret known only to her. Yet Roland had revealed it directly. Was this why the heroes of legend were able to find suitable companions—because they possessed abilities like this?

It was so unfair.

They were both unable to choose their origins, yet through his talent, he could freely choose his own future…

Looking at Roland’s mocking expression, Lili inexplicably felt a stubborn flame of anger rise within her.

“I refuse! I will never help adventurers like you!”

Lili lifted her head as high as she could, trying to calm her pounding heart, and boldly met Roland’s gaze.

Adventurers were all the same. They bullied the weak by relying on their strength. Even if he was a hero chosen by the spirits, could he really change everything?

He might be able to save countless people, but he could never touch the realm of the gods.

Seeing Lili refuse to cooperate, Roland’s eyes flickered. He extended one hand toward her.

Just as the girl instinctively thought he was about to crush her head, a warm sensation settled on top of it.

She opened her eyes in a daze and discovered that Roland had removed her hood. Without hesitation, he was stroking her head.

So warm…

Being treated with such intimacy after so long made Lili narrow her eyes in comfort. Gradually, however, she felt the crown of her head growing hot.

“There, there, there, there, there!”

“What are you doing?!”

With her head being rubbed at high speed, Lili flushed with embarrassment and pushed Roland away.

“Well… It felt strangely natural, so I wanted to see what would happen.”

“Are you a child, Sword Hero?”

Roland chuckled and raised one finger.

“As a condition for working for me, I can make you a promise.”

“A promise?”

Lili pursed her lips, visibly tempted, but soon shook her head.

“I don’t trust adventurers like you. In the end, I’m weak, and I have no right to negotiate with you. Once everything is done, what could I do even if you went back on your word?”

“Would you travel everywhere proclaiming that I’m untrustworthy?”

Lili had suffered bitterly in this regard. She had lost count of how many times she had worked herself to the bone collecting magic stones for others, only to receive none of the promised valis. Some people behaved even worse and simply kept everything for themselves.

“That part isn’t necessary. Everyone where I come from already knows that I’m someone who breaks promises. Besides, in the end, it depends on how difficult the promise is.”

Roland spoke seriously.

“If it benefits me, I generally keep my promises.”

“Then you definitely won’t agree to Lili’s condition.”

Was breaking promises really something worth boasting about? Lili stared at Roland speechlessly. Still, the fact that a hero who stood in an entirely different stratum from her could be so frank made her trust him a little more.

After a moment of silence, she wore an utterly helpless expression.

“All I want is to leave the Soma Familia and convert to another one. Can you fulfill that request?”

Liliruca Arde was a member of the Soma Familia. But as a Pallum, she was naturally unsuited to combat and adventuring, so she could not possibly have been recruited willingly. Nor could the small Soma Familia, which did not even have an expedition obligation, have taken members from other familias by force.

There was only one reason Lili had received a blessing.

She had been born into the Soma Familia.

This was not some theory of destiny. It was simply reality. Both of her parents were members of the Soma Familia, so she had received her blessing at a very young age and was obligated to remain loyal to the familia.

Normally, someone with such impeccable lineage should have been treated well. But that was not the case in the Soma Familia.

As the god of wine, Soma could create divine wine using the materials and techniques of the lower world, even without employing his divine power.

It was a terrifying substance that intoxicated both body and mind. Yet it was not harmful. It merely brought people an unimaginable sense of pleasure. In the lower world, even gods belonging to other familias coveted Soma’s divine wine.

But since it was wine, addiction was only natural.

Without the necessary resistance, even a Level Two would become immersed in it, much less a Level One. They were simply incapable of resisting its madness.

Most members of the Soma Familia were Level Ones. Naturally, they became enthralled and would do anything for divine wine. This disappointed Soma, who simply gave up entirely and devoted himself to brewing. So long as the familia continued offering him wealth and materials for making wine, nothing else mattered.

In order to meet his standards and obtain the blessing of divine wine, the familia rapidly descended into decadence. Everyone became like gamblers possessed by madness, constantly seeking ways to make money. Some even resorted to unscrupulously robbing their fellow familia members.

There was no supervision and no rules. That was the Soma Familia of the present day. With its patron god having completely given up, it was easy to imagine how difficult it would be for Lili to convert.

Yet Roland smiled.

The faction was small, no one paid it any attention, and it possessed a highly malleable specialty. It was practically made for him.

All he needed to do was change its name.

“That will be incredibly easy. In fact, I happen to know a suitable familia that is desperately seeking capable people.”

Roland snapped his fingers.

“Come on. We’ll go to the Soma Familia’s headquarters right now. In return, you’ll have to work hard for me. Whether divine wine can find a market beyond Orario will depend entirely on you.”

“Huh?”

Roland was so decisive that he did not even hesitate. Lili could barely conceal her surprise.

Could there really be such a foolishly kind hero in the world? What she could offer was far less than what he intended to accomplish. And if he truly took control of the Soma Familia, she would have no chance of escaping his grasp anyway…

Lili’s expression grew increasingly complicated. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She merely followed closely behind Roland.

The next moment, a pitch-black shadow enveloped them. Under Lili’s guidance, they soon arrived before a building in a remote corner of Orario.

Unlike the headquarters of other familias, this place was utterly unremarkable. It did not even display an emblem to proclaim its identity, and the main gate was tightly shut.

“This is the headquarters of the Soma Familia?”

“Yes. Usually no one opens the door from outside. Everyone stays inside the headquarters, drunk out of their minds. I’ll go and get them to open it…”

It was the first time Lili had returned to the familia’s headquarters during the day, and she looked somewhat lost as she turned toward Roland. Although she had not yet converted, she had already instinctively taken on the duty of running errands.

They had not known each other for long, but she had already realized that Roland was less like a hero and more like a worldly sovereign.

“There’s no need to go through all that trouble. As the new master of this familia, I need to teach these bastards a few rules.”

Roland smiled amiably. Rather than having Ais act, he raised his own hand.

“I’ve been wanting to see what changes those growths have brought me.”

Brilliant, dazzling flames erupted from Roland’s palm like a blazing sunset. They tore through the gate of the Soma Familia and obliterated a large section of the buildings beyond it.

The fragments flew outward like waves, releasing shrill howls. Broken stones fell like rain, rattling down upon the headquarters behind the Soma Familia. Amid that vast, silent uproar, Roland’s arrival was proclaimed.

Lili stared at the scene in disbelief, her face filled with shock. For a moment, amid the scattered radiance and thunderous explosions, only Roland’s booming laughter could be heard.

“Feel the power of burning divinity!”

(End of Chapter)