Chương 42: I Just Want to Pull Her Out of the Mire

Inside the noisy tavern, dwarves stood on stools and challenged each other to drinking games. Beast people devoured the food on their tables, elves drank ale quietly with composed faces, and human adventurers shouted and boasted at the top of their lungs. Everything was lively.

"Cheers! To another great harvest today. It is all thanks to Lili. Without her, I definitely could not have brought so much out." Cael raised his mug and clinked it with Lili's. The rich scent of wine rushed out, making nearby adventurers swallow. Wine sold by Soma Familia. Just how much money did this brat have, drinking something like that?

"Lili should be the one saying that. Without Mr. Cael, Lili could not have earned this much. Cheers!" Lili shouted happily, her eyes sparkling like a little money lover's.

"Mr. Cael has to drink all of it. We are not going home until you are drunk."

"Of course. It is so expensive and so good that wasting even one drop would hurt. Besides, this is Lili's goodwill. How could I waste Lili's goodwill? Cheers!" Cup after cup was poured into the mug. Cael drank in big gulps, and soon his face turned as red as a tomato. His eyes grew unfocused, and after a hiccup, he slumped dizzily over the table.

"Hm? Why are there three Lilis? Four..." Cael reached out and caught Lili's animal ears, mumbling drunkenly.

"Yah... Mr. Cael, you are drunk." Lili's whole body trembled as if she had been shocked. She quickly supported him, and a faint curve appeared at the corner of her mouth. This was Lord Soma's wine. An ordinary person would be drunk until the next day after one small cup. Even if Mr. Cael was a powerful adventurer, after drinking this much, he should be drunk until at least tomorrow night.

"I am not drunk. I can still drink. Lili, you are so cute. I wish I could win your affection. I like you." Cael pinched Lili's cheek and mumbled through his haze.

"Mr. Cael, you really are drunk. You are speaking nonsense. Let us find somewhere for you to rest." Lili hesitated slightly. She bit her lip, rented a room in the tavern, and helped the drunk Cael inside. When she came out, both of her hands were clenched tightly under her loose white robe. She ran out of the tavern and pulled her hood over her head.

"Strike the bell at midnight." Light flickered over her tail and animal ears. The Chienthrope transformed into a Prum. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Lili ran along streets lit by Magic Stone lamps, clutching what she had just stolen from Mr. Cael. Yet she felt none of the happiness she usually felt after stealing something. Only guilt filled her chest. Images from her time with Mr. Cael rose in her mind without permission. His gentle smile.

His clear eyes. Strength is not something that exists to bully those weaker than you. It exists to protect the people you cherish. Pleasure working with you, Miss Supporter. I will give everyone two choices. First, kneel and apologize to my Supporter. Second, leave behind the hand that pushed her and the foot that stepped on her. Miss Chienthrope Supporter, a lone adventurer is looking for a Supporter. Would you accompany him on a dangerous and fascinating adventure into the Dungeon?

The strong protecting the weak, and a man protecting a woman. That is only natural. Lili, you are so cute. I wish I could win your affection. I like you. Lili ran through the streets, trying to get as far from that tavern as possible. She bit her lip hard, her emotions in chaos.

"I am sorry...

"It is all Mr. Cael's fault. Why did you show Lili that? Why did you explain it like it was nothing and refuse to treat Lili like an outsider?"

"Lili is the worst kind of Prum, someone who deceives, betrays, and steals. Why would you explain something like that to Lili? Do you not even know that people should not show off their valuables?"

"In any case, it is Mr. Cael's fault." Lili shouted in confusion and disappeared into the darkness of a narrow alley. Not long after Lili ran out of the tavern, Cael came out and followed her. His star-colored eyes were clear, without the slightest drunken haze. He had only pretended to be drunk. Bravery could nullify abnormal mental states, and drunkenness counted as one. No matter how much he drank, at most his body would be drunk. His mind would remain clear.

"If she runs off like this, the men I taught a lesson this morning will definitely vent their anger on her. That would be bad." Cael followed quietly, a faint smile on his lips. This was the moment he would try to pull that girl out of the mire. What he wanted most was to reach the part of her that still wanted to trust someone.

"Damn. Lili has transformation magic. If she turns into someone I cannot recognize, this gets troublesome." Cael followed from a distance, but at an alley intersection, he lost her completely.

"This will take some time." Transparent World opened instantly, and his perception rose sharply. Since he had seen the flow of Magic inside Lili's body before, finding her should not be difficult. But now that he had lost her, it would take time. Also, from the moment they left the Dungeon, he had sensed several hostile gazes. They were probably Soma Familia trash. Because he had dealt with those three in the morning, they likely wanted revenge on Lili and planned to take her money too.

He could not think of any other reason. Soma Familia had become a group of people willing to scrape up money by any filthy means just to drink a mouthful of Divine Wine. As long as they could get that one drink, they would do anything dirty. The god of wine, Soma, had been disappointed in his Familia for exactly that reason, abandoning them entirely. Over time, that Familia had become a trash heap.

On the other side, inside a gloomy, strange pawnshop opened by a small dwarf in a narrow alley, a white-bearded Prum stood on a high stool and examined the mechanical watch through a magnifying glass.

"Oh, oh. I cannot sense any Magic at all, yet the inside is full of power."

"And these three hands and the outer markings correspond perfectly to the time of day. It does not seem to be off by even a second. Even if it ran for a hundred years, it might not lose a single second. As long as the tiny gears inside this Magic item do not break, it can keep turning forever."

"Unbelievable. How was this Magic item made? These gears are far too small. Even the most dexterous dwarf craftsman could not make them. Perhaps only a god of smithing could create something like this."

"I am no expert in this field, but if I had to give a price, it would be worth three million valis."

"After all, it is only a Magic item for telling time. No matter how delicate and precise it is, all it does is tell time."