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Chapter 67: Solution
Tsuna stood over Zanis, the architect of all this misery. Having taken Tsuna's brutal right straight and crashing from the sky, Zanis now lay sprawled out on the ground in a star shape, his face severely swollen and completely unconscious.
Slowly, Tsuna descended from the air, landing softly beside Lili on the shattered balcony.
"T-Tsunayoshi-sama…?"
Lili called his name hesitantly. Even though she knew he was on her side, she had never seen him so terrifyingly enraged.
"Sorry to keep you waiting…" Tsuna said, his fierce expression softening into one of deep regret.
He knelt beside her, his hands glowing with gentle Sun Flames as he carefully healed the raw wounds on her palms.
"You managed to get out? I heard you were locked up," Tsuna said softly.
"A man named Chandra helped me," Lili explained, her voice trembling slightly. "He said he was letting me go because he hates Zanis-sama, and he handed me the key to the cell."
"I see…"
Tsuna felt a small wave of relief. He had assumed the Soma Familia was entirely comprised of irredeemable scum, but it was good to know there was at least one decent person among them.
"More importantly… I am so sorry. Because of Lili, everyone was dragged into this mess…"
"Hestia told me about your past," Tsuna interrupted gently. "About how you had to steal just to scrounge up enough money to leave your Familia."
"Eh…!?"
"Stealing is a crime, yes. But you didn't do it because you wanted to. You were forced into it by your deity, your Familia members, and all those malicious adventurers who took advantage of you. This isn't your fault."
"Tsunayoshi-sama…" Tears welled up in Lili's eyes.
"Right now, the Hestia Familia is caught up in a War Game against the Apollo Familia. They're trying to win so they can take Bell."
"Is that true!?"
Having been locked in a cell since her kidnapping, Lili had no idea about the massive event that currently had all of Orario buzzing. Tsuna's words left her completely stunned.
"Yeah. And to win, we need your power. Please, lend us your strength."
"But… even if Lili joins, there's no way Lili can be of any real use…"
"That's not true. I heard it was your idea to seek refuge on the 18th Floor. You saved Bell's life, as well as the others. That kind of quick thinking is exactly what we need for this battle."
"But… as long as you are there, Tsunayoshi-sama, there shouldn't be any problems at all."
Lili fully understood that with Tsuna's overwhelming power, they could effortlessly crush the Apollo Familia even without her.
"That won't work."
"Why not?"
"This War Game started because the Apollo Familia wants Bell. Right now, Bell is training out of his mind just to beat them. That means Bell has to be the one to win. Even if I stepped in and offered to fight in his place, I doubt he'd back down."
Tsuna remembered Bell's desperate fight against the Minotaur. Ais could have easily stepped in to save him, but Bell had chosen to fight with his own strength to prove his worth.
"Besides, once this War Game is over, I'm leaving Orario."
"Eh!?"
Tsuna knew what Reborn's arrival meant. If his tutor was here, it meant they had established a way to travel between Orario and their original world. The time to say goodbye to this world was fast approaching.
"After I leave, you guys are going to have to face whatever battles come your way without my power. If I win this War Game for you, it won't do you any good in the long run. You have to achieve this victory with your own strength."
"But… even if Lili wants to undergo a Conversion, there is no way Soma-sama will listen…"
"Leave that to me," Hestia said, stepping onto the balcony while being carried by Naaza.
"Hestia…"
"Hestia-sama…"
"As a fellow deity, Soma might actually lend me an ear," Hestia said confidently, before glaring down at Tsuna. "You really went wild, didn't you, Tsunayoshi-kun. I never imagined you'd take it this far."
"I-I'm so sorry…"
Hestia hopped down from Naaza's arms and gave Tsuna a scolding look. Unable to argue with her, Tsuna could only offer a deeply apologetic smile.
"Well, whatever. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to save our supporter boy. I'll handle things with him from here, so you wait downstairs."
"Got it."
"Let's go, supporter boy."
"Yes."
Hestia and Lili headed deeper into the building to confront the patron deity, Soma, while Tsuna and Naaza leaped down from the balcony to the ground floor.
"Whoa, whoa… What the hell happened here…"
Chandra emerged from the underground cellar, staring in absolute horror at the devastated courtyard. Recognizing a potential threat, Tsuna immediately dropped into a combat stance.
"Wait, hold on!! I don't want to fight!!" Chandra shouted, quickly throwing both hands into the air to show he had no hostile intent. "I just came up to see how the fight turned out!!"
Realizing this was the man who had helped Lili, Tsuna slowly lowered his guard.
"You're the one who took out Zanis?" Chandra asked, eyeing the unconscious man.
"What if I am?"
"I just wanted to say thanks. I always hated that bastard."
"I see. So you're Chandra, the guy who let Lili out of the cell."
Confirming the man's identity, Tsuna completely dropped his hostility.
"I joined this Familia because I heard they had the best booze in the world," Chandra explained, scratching his head. "But thanks to that guy treating the Familia like his personal property, we couldn't even drink properly anymore. Plus, he was illegally smuggling the divine wine on the black market to line his own pockets."
"So…"
"Yeah. More than enough reason to lock him up. He won't be treating this Familia like his personal piggy bank anymore."
"Good. Then make sure you reform this Familia so nothing like this ever happens again. I'm not going to condemn your desire for divine wine, but ruining other people's lives just to get your hands on it is completely unacceptable."
"Understood."
"In exchange, I won't report this incident to the Guild. And I'll pay for the damages I caused."
"I'm cool with the first part, but I refuse the second."
"What?"
"We'll fix the damages using the money Zanis hoarded illegally. Consider it part of his punishment."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you, we've finally snapped out of the wine's charm and gotten a real chance to change things. Let me do at least this much. Besides, it's about time I faced our patron deity properly."
"Alright. I have one last request. Can you keep my presence here a secret?"
"I don't mind, but… why go to such lengths?"
"I don't want people knowing about my power. So please."
"A-Alright…"
Though he didn't fully grasp the circumstances, Chandra agreed to Tsuna's terms. Shortly after, he rallied the remaining, shell-shocked Familia members to begin cleaning up the aftermath of the conflict.
"Well, it's finally over," Tsuna muttered.
"Don't act like this is just 'over with'!!" Welf finally exploded, breaking his long silence.
"Why the hell did you blow a massive crater in the floor!? You nearly scared the life out of us!! If you're going to do something that insane, at least warn us first!!"
"S-Sorry… I-I actually held back quite a bit…"
"Y-You're kidding, right…!?"
Hearing that the devastating attack was him holding back, Welf and the others couldn't hide their sheer shock. The rest of the group stood frozen, jaws hanging wide open.
"Reborn-kun mentioned that you could obliterate the Apollo Familia all by yourself… I thought he was exaggerating…" Naaza murmured.
"To be honest, we barely did anything…" Ouka added.
"If anything, we were just dead weight…" Chigusa agreed meekly.
"Perhaps Sawada-dono could have resolved this entire situation on his own…?" Mikoto pondered.
Given Tsuna's absurd level of strength, Naaza, Ouka, Chigusa, and Mikoto seriously began to wonder if their presence had been entirely unnecessary.
"To be honest, I really don't want my power to be known," Tsuna said quietly, his tone turning serious. "If I can save someone without using it, I'd much prefer that. But… if I stood by and lost a precious friend right in front of me, I wouldn't be able to die in peace. That's why I decided to use it."
"!!"
Tsuna's words struck a deep chord within Welf and Mikoto. In that moment, the two of them simultaneously made a silent resolution.
"You have my gratitude, Sawada-dono," Mikoto said.
"Thanks, Tsuna," Welf added with a grin.
"?"
Tsuna blinked, completely lost as to why the two were suddenly thanking him.
Later that day, thanks to Hestia's divine intervention and Lili's earnest plea to Soma, her departure from the Soma Familia was officially approved. Following the incident, the Soma Familia underwent a massive internal restructuring, gradually steering itself toward a much brighter future.
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