Night—inside the Soma Familia headquarters, in the council hall.
Liliruca Arde—who had parted ways with Guede at noon—was now being coerced into this place by two Soma Familia adventurers.
Standing before the council hall's window was a man who looked like he'd been waiting for a while: glasses, a neat scholarly appearance, but with a gaunt face and eyes that carried a gloomy, hostile cast.
He was "Wine Guard" Zanis Lustra, captain of the Soma Familia, Level 2.
"Yo. Been a while, Arde. Heard your luck's been pretty bad lately. Couldn't steal the 'cheese' you had your eye on… and almost ended up losing your life instead, huh?"
He spoke with biting sarcasm.
"Sigh… living like a rat gets you chased and cursed by everyone. And when you run into a mousetrap, you'll probably die a nasty death too, Arde."
The words were sharp, dripping with ridicule.
Lili's eyes narrowed.
"Lili knows what she's been doing isn't something she can be proud of, Zanis. And I hate to admit it, but I've known someone like you for almost ten years, haven't I? Quit trying to provoke me and just tell me why you dragged me here."
"Oh?"
Her tone had more backbone than Zanis expected. Up until now, his image of Lili had always been that of a meek, obedient little thing.
So she'd gotten bolder after some time apart… Tch. A rat is still a rat.
Still, if this was how she was going to speak now, he'd have to change the way he approached the conversation.
"Your temper's improved, Arde."
Zanis walked to the center of the hall and sat down on a sofa beneath an elegant magic-stone lamp.
With a gesture, the two adventurers who had brought Lili in withdrew from the room.
"Sit. Let's have a proper talk."
Lili didn't know what Zanis was scheming, but she understood the situation: force decided everything here. She sat on the sofa across from him.
Ever since she'd separated from Guede, she'd resolved that she wouldn't return to Soma Familia until she'd saved enough money to buy her freedom.
But they'd found her at a cheap inn and forcibly hauled her back.
"—!"
In the instant she let her guard down, Zanis flashed forward—too fast for her to evade—clamped a hand over her mouth, and shoved the mouth of a palm-sized waterskin between her lips.
The liquid poured into her mouth.
A familiar, addictive taste surged straight into her head.
Divine wine.
The moment she realized what it was, Lili began to struggle violently.
"Mmph—guh—!"
But against a Level 2, she couldn't resist at all.
And she had never drunk so much divine wine in one go.
Even though she fought desperately, after half a waterskin slid down her throat, her eyes began to go unfocused.
—How could anything in the world be as wonderful as divine wine? Lili didn't need anything else. As long as she had divine wine, she was fine…
That sinking, rotten thought flooded her mind.
"Hmph~!"
Only when Lili finally looked like a starving ghost did Zanis curl his lips into a twisted smile.
So I thought your will had strengthened. In the end you still submit to divine wine, don't you?
"But… you drank half my divine wine, you filthy rat. Still—"
Arde… your life is about to enter a countdown.
"Now we can talk properly."
Zanis's tone sharpened into the real point.
"I'll be direct. I got word that tomorrow morning, a Level 2 adventurer will be leading a team down to Floor 18—'Rivira', the Dungeon's Safe Zone."
"They've obtained a grimoire. The reason they're going to the eighteenth is to trade with the Dark Faction—to exchange the grimoire for money."
"The idiots. They get their hands on a grimoire and instead of using it, they sell it for cash?"
"Obviously they've been lured. The moment they step onto the eighteenth, that's their death sentence. If that's the case… wouldn't it be better for them to hand the grimoire over to me for safekeeping?"
"I already grabbed one of that adventurer's teammates—a Pallum supporter."
"Arde. Tomorrow you'll use your transformation magic and turn into the supporter we're holding in the dungeon. Then you'll infiltrate their party."
As he spoke, Zanis opened a hidden compartment in the council hall wall and produced a black helmet.
"I'll wear this—the Helm of Hades—turn invisible, and follow behind you. Once the party enters the Dungeon, we strike."
"When the time comes, Arde, you'd better seduce that adventurer properly. Confirm he's carrying the grimoire—then look for a chance to poison him."
"Don't worry. Once we get it, your reward won't be small. Not just divine wine—on top of that, I'll cut you in for three million valis."
"But if you try anything clever…"
He let the threat hang, cold and sharp.
"Then don't even dream of coming back out of the Dungeon alive."
With that, Zanis left the council hall—his face openly glowing with excitement and greed.
Because that treasure was a grimoire: the painstaking life's work of a sage-like figure, produced with years of effort and obsession.
An item that allowed someone to skip the awakening process and learn magic immediately.
Its value would certainly exceed ten million—likely far beyond that, since it wasn't something you could simply buy even if you had the money.
Just imagining it in his hands soon was enough to make Zanis nearly unable to contain himself.
Lili curled up on the sofa. The drunken haze made her expression unstable, but her thoughts had already regained a certain degree of clarity.
(Calling other people idiots… when you're the one drunk on arrogance, Zanis.)
To Lili, even setting aside whether the intelligence was reliable, Zanis's plan was the work of a truly spectacular fool.
It was full of holes.
But once Zanis had targeted her, she could only be dragged along into this absurd plot by a fool like him.
The frustration of her own weakness burned through her. She clenched her fists—yet there was nothing she could do.
This headquarters had become her prison. Zanis would never let her leave. Information wouldn't get out.
Damn it…!
She had only just decided she wanted to become an upright person—someone who acted openly and honorably, like Mr. Guede.
And that very night, reality smashed her with a hammer.
…
The next morning, Guede woke naturally, fully refreshed, and made his way down to Dungeon Floor 13.
This floor was rated for Level 2 adventurers and was known as the "first death line"—a cavern-type maze with a much higher, wider ceiling than the upper floors.
Here, monster spawn frequency increased further. More importantly, from this point onward, monsters were fully scaled to Level 2 strength—and some could launch ranged attacks resembling magic.
Normally, that meant you explored only as a party, and with at least one—or several—Level 2 adventurers present.
But Guede had already grown so strong that even back on Floor 12, he could deal with the upper floors' strongest monster—the young dragon—with ease. He wasn't improving much there anymore.
So today, he would push into the Middle Floors.
…
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