Five hours later, the Prum, Lyra, returned with intelligence regarding the Soma Familia.
Inside the meeting room of the Court of Stars, the information she brought caused the atmosphere to grow heavy.
"Here, look at this. This guy Zanis actually owes nearly eighty million Valis to the casino."
The Prum girl spread a slip of paper covered in dense handwriting across the table.
"And it wasn't racked up all at once. It's a cumulative debt. The creditor is a mid-level executive from the Ishtar Familia."
"Ishtar? That Goddess of Beauty? Her Familia runs a loan sharking business?"
Kaguya arched an eyebrow. The Ishtar Familia had always managed the Pleasure Quarter, which essentially meant they controlled most of the city's gray areas. It wasn't surprising that her members were involved in predatory lending.
"To be more precise, it's a private business run by certain members of the Ishtar Familia," Lyra explained. "The interest is terrifyingly high, and their debt collection methods are anything but gentle. Zanis has been stalling for two months already. The other side has sent word: if he doesn't pay up soon, they'll settle the debt through... 'other means.'"
Alise leaned over the table, her hands supporting her weight as she stared at the intelligence. Her brow furrowed deeply.
"Eighty million is no small sum. Although the Soma Familia is mid-sized, their lower-level members are ruthlessly exploited, and their overall income isn't that high. Where would Zanis even get the money to gamble like that?"
"Perhaps it's precisely because he didn't have money that he wanted to take a gamble at the casino," Solon analyzed calmly. One could say the current state of the Soma Familia was directly tied to Zanis's debts.
As a result, he had fallen deeper and deeper into the hole. Now that he was backed into a corner by debt, his control over the Divine Wine would likely become even more fanatical. After all, it was the only resource he had that could quickly generate a massive amount of Valis.
Ryuu's fingers tapped the table. "Lyra, any leads on where the Divine Wine is stored?"
"I have one, but I'm not certain." Lyra pointed to another section of the notes. "There's a heavily guarded basement at the Soma Familia headquarters. Word is that Zanis has hidden a batch of high-quality Divine Wine there, waiting for a 'special occasion' to bring it out. However, the exact location and the guard rotation schedules still need further confirmation."
"A special occasion?" Alise asked, puzzled.
"Likely to buy people's loyalty or to deal with an emergency," Astrea speculated. "For instance, if a large-scale rebellion breaks out within the Familia, he could use the Divine Wine to appease them."
Solon closed his eyes. In his mind, the phantom of the Abyssal Codex of Myriad Laws slowly rotated. In the list of spells unlocked at Level 2, one name stood out exceptionally: Invisibility.
A plan began to take shape in his heart.
"What if..." He opened his eyes, his voice steady. "What if we got our hands on that batch of Divine Wine—and then 'accidentally' let the members of the Soma Familia know about its existence and location?"
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Zanis is currently overwhelmed. He has to deal with his debts while maintaining control over the Familia. If the fact that he's hoarding a massive amount of Divine Wine is exposed while the lower-ranking members can barely even get their daily rations..."
Solon paused for a moment.
"How do you think those adventurers—controlled by the wine and starved for it—will react?"
The corner of Kaguya's mouth curved upward. "Rebellion."
"At the very least, severe internal turmoil," Solon nodded with a faint smile. "And while that's happening, we pay a formal visit to the Soma Familia with Lili. We demand to see the god Soma and submit a request for a Conversion..."
Lyra immediately grasped Solon's intent and picked up the thread. "Zanis will be caught in a dilemma. Facing internal pressure, he'll need his primary deity's support to maintain his authority. If we can offer some kind of trade—like putting in a few good words for him in front of Soma-sama in exchange for his consent to Lili's conversion..."
"He'll agree," Kaguya said with certainty. "When his own position is at stake, the departure of a bottom-tier Supporter is completely irrelevant. Besides, Lili is already the source of his trouble; our intervention has already made her an unstable factor."
Alise considered this, lost in thought. "So the plan is: First, find and steal the Divine Wine. Second, leak the news to trigger internal strife. Third, propose the Conversion as a bargaining chip?"
"There's one more crucial step," Solon added to Alise's plan. "Lili's own dependence on the Divine Wine. If she still craves it after the conversion, she'll just be suffering in a different place. We need to make her immune to it."
Everyone froze.
"Immune to the Divine Wine?" Lyra blinked. "I've heard that stuff has a level of temptation that even gods find hard to resist..."
"In my magic system, there are spells specifically designed to counter mental influence and addiction symptoms," Solon explained.
The second-tier spell Calm Emotions could provide protection against specific types of influence. If combined with a variant application of the third-tier Intellect Fortress... theoretically, it could temporarily or permanently isolate the mental effects brought by the Divine Wine. Of course, this would require experimentation and adjustment.
Ryuu pondered for a moment. "How confident are you?"
"Sixty to seventy percent," Solon said truthfully.
"Since the plan is set, let's see it through to the end. Do we act tonight?" Kaguya asked bluntly.
Solon looked out the window. The sun was sinking in the west.
"Tonight."
Orario under the cover of night was clearly a fine time for a little arson and theft.
The Soma Familia headquarters was located in the Southeast District. It was a rather dilapidated three-story stone building; the courtyard was overgrown with weeds, exuding an air of decay.
On a rooftop about a hundred meters away, Solon, Kaguya, and Ryuu were hidden in the shadows.
"The security is looser than expected." Ryuu's pointed ears twitched slightly.
According to Lyra's intel, there were currently two guards at the front gate, one at the side door, and two in the backyard. The rotation interval was about two hours. The entrance to the basement was behind the stairs in the main hall. It was secured by an iron door, and Zanis carried the key personally.
Kaguya chuckled softly. "We don't need a key. Solon, can you still use that Knock spell?"
"For ordinary locks, Knock is more than enough," Solon nodded. "The problem is how to enter the main hall without alerting the guards. Invisibility can only cover me, and it lasts for one hour."
"That's enough," Kaguya said. Using Invisibility paired with Knock would make this kind of infiltration easy. "Ryuu and I will cause a small disturbance outside to draw the guards' attention. You take the chance to slip in. Once you have the wine, leave the clues according to the plan."
Solon took a deep breath and began to chant the spell under his breath. The model for Invisibility constructed itself in his mind, and mana flowed through his body.
Under Ryuu and Kaguya's watchful eyes, his figure gradually faded until it vanished completely.
"Let's go," Solon's muffled voice came from the air.
Kaguya and Ryuu exchanged a glance, and their figures blurred as they leaped from the roof, merging into the night like twin shadows.
Thirty seconds later, a loud crash echoed from the Soma Familia's backyard, sounding like falling roof tiles.
The two guards immediately became alert and ran toward the source of the noise.
In that exact moment, a window on the side of the main hall was pushed open silently, and the invisible Solon vaulted inside.
Moonlight filtered through the grimy glass, illuminating the dust-covered floor and scattered furniture. The air was thick with the smell of cheap alcohol and stale sweat.
Solon held his breath and moved quickly toward the stairs.
The iron door was right in front of him. The heavy metal surface was pitted with rust, but the keyhole was shiny and new—clearly, it was used frequently.
Solon reached out his fingers. First, he used Silence to isolate any sound, then he cast Knock to open the lock.
The door swung open.
A rich, indescribable fragrance wafted over him. It wasn't an ordinary wine scent; it was a blend of fruits, flowers, honey, spices, and a certain... intoxicating allure.
Just from the smell, Solon felt a slight, momentary trance.
He steadied his mind and stepped into the basement.
The space wasn't large, about twenty square meters. Brewing equipment and empty barrels were piled against the walls. On a wooden rack in the center, twelve crystal bottles were arranged neatly.
Each bottle held a liquid of a different color—amber gold, rose red, emerald green, deep space purple... under the dim light of the magic stone lamps, these liquids seemed to flow with a life of their own, emitting a dreamlike glow.
Solon quickly took out the empty vials he had prepared from his waist pouch, drawing small samples from every color of Divine Wine.
Afterward, he took all the bottles that looked to be of the highest quality—the amber gold and the deep space purple—and stuffed them into a specially partitioned backpack.
Now, it was time to leave the "clues."
He pulled a pre-prepared, crumpled piece of parchment from his bag. On it, written in a scrawled hand, were a few sentences of complaint: "Another day of only half a cup of the cheap stuff... I heard Master Zanis is hoarding the good wine right here in the basement... If only I could have just one taste..."
He intentionally tucked the scrap of paper into a gap in an empty wine barrel. The position was conspicuous but not glaringly obvious.
Finally, Solon's gaze landed on a small chest in the corner.
The chest wasn't locked. Upon opening it, he found ledgers and some loose magic stones. He flipped through the ledger quickly and found the debt records. Sure enough, it noted the eighty million Valis owed to a member of the Ishtar Familia, with interest already exceeding a million.
Now, the evidence was complete.
Solon exited the basement and relocked the door. The main hall remained empty, and the commotion in the backyard seemed to have settled.
He quickly climbed back out through the window and met Kaguya and Ryuu at the prearranged rooftop.
"Mission accomplished." Solon deactivated his invisibility, pulling out the two bottles of Divine Wine and the ledger.
Ryuu picked up the amber-gold bottle, holding it up against the moonlight. "This is the thing that makes them go mad? It certainly looks beautiful."
"Don't open it, you useless elf," Kaguya warned sternly.
"I know."
"Next step: leak the news?"
Around this time, Lyra had already "run into" several Soma Familia members prone to complaining. She had casually mentioned rumors of hoarded fine wine and had surreptitiously slipped anonymous notes through the door gaps of several lower-level members' rooms.
Solon looked toward the Soma Familia headquarters. In the dark of night, the building looked like a sleeping beast.
But soon, it would be boiling from within.
"Before dawn breaks, make sure the news spreads through the entire Familia."
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Danmachi: My Magic Style is Different from Yours (43 Chapters – Ongoing)
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