A month ago, if Liliruca had to choose between the boy in front of her and the 'Braver', she would have, without a second thought, immediately sided with the latter.
Even as recently as this morning, the answer in the girl's heart would not have changed.
"It seems that after 'dying' once, the water in your head has been completely drained."
Seeing the Pallum girl on the bench remain silent, Levi made a rare sharp-tongued comment.
He had never shown this side of himself to the two Heroic Spirit girls he had summoned.
Because of this, in the next second, Alise couldn't help but speak up: "Levi, you don't have to put it like that. This young lady has already been through so much..."
"Oh?" Levi turned to look at the girl by his side. "Even if this Miss Liliruca has swindled many adventurers in the Dungeon, not only pocketing a large number of drop items but also stealing their expensive weapons, which they rely on for their livelihood, sending them back to square one overnight, possibly even preventing them from returning to the surface?"
Hearing this, Alise fell silent instantly: "Uh..."
She was a champion of justice, yes, but not a sanctimonious fool who couldn't distinguish right from wrong.
As for Liliruca, it went without saying. She remembered every bad deed she had committed, for her conscience had not yet been completely erased.
"So, are you going to judge me?" the Pallum girl asked in a low voice.
Levi sneered. "That's the job of the constabulary. What the hell does it have to do with me?"
"Orario is glamorous on the surface, but crime runs rampant in the shadows. Smuggling goods, human trafficking, spreading contraband... In a certain country I know of, any one of these is a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even death. Forget the constabulary, do you see any of the gods caring?"
The blue-ribboned goddess, having been randomly called out, coughed.
Levi knew he had strayed a bit. "In short, unlike these two beside me, I've never been a hero of justice, nor am I interested in being a judge of evil."
Liliruca took a deep breath, a determined look on her face. "Lord Levi, Lili is not a fool. Just as you said, the water in Lili's head has been completely drained."
"So, whatever your purpose is, you can tell Lili directly without beating around the bush."
Although she had been busy with her own affairs recently, she wasn't unaware of the War Game starting the day after tomorrow.
Naturally, she had long known what Levi looked like from The Guild's announcements and understood that he was the target she had set her sights on a month ago but had been rejected by.
Levi wasn't embarrassed at having his thoughts seen through by the girl.
He liked talking to smart people; it saved time and effort.
"If you had been a bit more thick-skinned before, grabbing the ladder offered by the 'Braver' and doing everything you could to join the Loki Familia—or at the very least, becoming an external member of the Loki Familia—then what happened to you today would have been impossible."
"But it's clear that, whether out of pride or simply not thinking of it, the safest path has now been blocked by you yourself."
"Even if you find the 'Braver' again, he'll most likely only be able to help you leave your Familia while sending you away from Orario."
"But if you do that, your subsequent fate is basically sealed."
"Given the nature of the Soma Familia's leadership, even if only to prevent similar cases from happening, they will surely find a way to have you killed."
"So..." Liliruca opened her mouth, asking with difficulty, "without your intervention, can Lili only choose to live in obscurity for the rest of my life?"
Levi shrugged. "You could also try to gamble."
One learns from their mistakes.
The Pallum girl, awakened from her 'fantasy', threw her ridiculous pride on the ground. "Lili doesn't want to die, so please, Lord Levi, save me. Lili will do anything."
As she spoke, she tried to hug the boy's arm, though she was stopped by the twin-tailed goddess in the next second.
"I'm not interested in children." Levi wasn't a lolicon and had no special interest in Pallums. "But I like Valis. The more, the better."
Liliruca wasn't a fool. Hearing this, how could she not understand his real plan?
"You want Lili to be your representative in the Soma Familia?"
Levi nodded approvingly. "After the War Game, I have a big deal to discuss with the Soma Familia, but that guy Zanis is a bit dirty. Teaming up with such an idiot, I'm afraid I'll get screwed one day. It's better to pull him down and put one of our own up as captain."
"So, you chose Lili?" Liliruca pointed to herself.
"It's just that I happened to run into you today." Levi had no intention from the start of giving the girl the false impression that he couldn't do it without her. "If I had met other members of the Soma Familia first, I would have chosen them too."
Seeing the matter laid bare, Liliruca actually breathed a sigh of relief.
"As a Lv.1, I can't keep the other Familia members in line."
"I will naturally strengthen you and help you achieve the Feat to reach Lv.2, or even Lv.3, allowing you to surpass Zanis's strength in the shortest time possible." What Levi didn't say was that Liliruca herself was meant to be a living advertisement for his products.
As long as she remained the captain of the Soma Familia, other Familia leaders and gods who saw her would think of the Ice-Fire Wine series he planned to launch.
As he spoke, Levi had already taken the '1-star Fire Wine' he had test-made half a month ago from his inventory, dangling it between his middle and index fingers.
He then explained: "1-star Fire Wine. Its effect is to increase the five-dimensional ability scores of a Lv.1 adventurer. By my calculations, a normal person can drink at most 10 bottles to raise all their stats to their personal limits."
"Now, Liliruca, tell me, do you desire power?"
Because she had once been trapped in the whirlpool of desire for the divine wine, she actually hated drinking.
But if she could gain the power to change her destiny by drinking...
Then forget Liliruca; 99% of adventurers in Orario would probably choose to become alcoholics.
However, just as she subconsciously reached out, wanting to take the Fire Wine.
Levi put it back into his inventory.
The Pallum girl in front of him subconsciously puffed her cheeks, instinctively or intentionally changing her address for him. Levi's lips curled into a smile, knowing she was hooked.
"No rush. We haven't even signed a contract yet."
As for Alise and Gojouno Kaguya standing at the side, they exchanged a helpless glance.
Great, another unlucky soul about to be bound by a contract.
What? Who were the last unlucky ones?
Well, aren't they standing right next to Levi?
____
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