Stripped of his mask by Roy, the former Captain's face turned ghostly pale as he stammered for excuses.
Roy's shout ended it once and for all. "The materials for the Divine Wine were bought with everyone's money! Lord Soma worked himself to exhaustion! You are nothing but a parasite sucking the blood out of them! Get out!"
Roy's final word hit like a sledgehammer. The old man trembled. Having lost all support, he didn't dare fight Roy and scurried away from the compound. Roy immediately sent men to seize the wine and assets at his home for the public coffers.
"Who's next?" Roy's sharp gaze swept over the crowd.
In the vast Soma Familia, out of thousands, not one dared to meet his eyes. They all looked at the ground. Watching Roy suppress the masses, Lili looked on with adoration, her eyes sparkling. In this moment, Roy was even cooler than he had been on the night of the battle.
The remaining executives exchanged glances. Roy was more troublesome than they imagined. It was time for the final plan: If we're not welcome here, we'll go elsewhere.
The executives and several hundred members spoke in unison: "Lord Soma, please grant us a Conversion."
Conversion required the permission of the primary god. Without it, they would have fled long ago. Soma and Lili's expressions darkened. These people weren't necessarily "elite," but they were the best of a bad bunch. If they all left at once, the Familia would be paralyzed instantly. This was exactly what they were trying to avoid.
Suddenly, Roy lunged forward like a tiger into a flock of sheep.
"Sprout of Justice, you dare to attack us!" The executives drew their weapons; some were Level 2 adventurers.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
Sharp blade auras flew toward him, but Roy didn't flinch. His hands glowed with golden lightning, materializing into high-quality gauntlets. With a wave of his hand, he batted the blades aside, closed the distance, and unleashed a flurry of punches.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After images flashed as Roy's fists collided with their bodies. Dull thuds echoed through the courtyard as man after man was sent flying. In ten seconds, the executives and their cronies—over a dozen people—were neutralized. The riot was suppressed instantly.
"Did you think the Soma Familia was a place you could just come and go as you please?" Roy asked coldly.
Everywhere Roy looked, people backed away in fear, leaving a wide circle around him. They were seeing the "God of War" from that night all over again. In that moment, they understood: Roy's "politeness" was only based on the condition that they didn't flip the table. Trying to take hundreds of elites and desert the Familia had crossed Roy's line.
"This is an audit," Roy said, his tone grim. "I advise you all not to hide anything. Confess and be treated with leniency; resist and face the consequences!"
Under Zanis, most members were victims, but a few had grown fat on the spoils. Whatever they had taken, Roy was going to make them spit it back out with interest!
In any other world, one person suppressing thousands wouldn't happen. But in Orario, Soma could strip their Falna with a single thought. Against a crowd of ordinary people, Roy would be like a knife through butter, even if their numbers were ten times larger. He would show them what "killing without blinking" truly meant.
With the overwhelming Roy standing guard, the old-timers didn't dare cause any more trouble. They began to confess their misdeeds honestly.
In less than three days, the Soma Familia's numbers dropped from over six thousand to just three hundred and twenty. Most were exiled; the truly wicked were tossed into Ganesha's prison. Those who remained were those with clean hands—not necessarily because they were saints, but because they hadn't had the chance to be bad yet. Under Zanis, they were marginalized, working as guards and having to wait in line just for a drop of wine.
Now, with a new administration, their time had come. But everyone knew: while the ten-year-old Pallum girl was the nominal Captain, Roy, the Vice-Captain, was the true ruler of the Soma Familia—second only to the god himself.
Roy hadn't even had three minutes to enjoy the peace before the next headache arrived: dozens of liquor distributors.
"Dora-Roy, what do we do?" Lili ran over for help, looking pitiful. The merchants had gotten smart; they were demanding the original Divine Wine, not the diluted garbage from before. Their contracts specified Divine Wine, and since the secret was out, Zanis's old tricks wouldn't work anymore.
They could supply it in the short term using their reserves, but with their numbers decimated and the Familia in ruins, they would run out within two months. Then, they'd be hit with massive breach-of-contract fines.
"We pay them back. What else?" Roy said casually.
Lili felt like she'd been stabbed in the heart. This was bankruptcy! Even with Zanis's vault and the seized assets, paying the fines would drain their finances to zero.
"Lili," Roy asked, "if the people are saved but the land is lost, the land can be retaken. If the land is saved but the people are lost, both are lost. Do you know what that means?"
Lili shook her head.
"It means as long as the foundation is there, we can recover any loss."
Lili looked thoughtful. Roy continued with a hint, "For the current Soma Familia, what is the 'people' and what is the 'land'?"
Lili's eyes lit up. "Money is the land; the Divine Wine and our members are the people!"
Roy nodded. She was a quick learner. Pallums were physically weaker than humans, which led them to become masters of strategy and intellect—the most famous being Finn Deimne, the "Braver" of the Loki Familia. In Roy's eyes, Lili's talent was no less than Finn's. In the original timeline, she survived for years in the slums using only her wits and transformation magic.
"Lili, our cash and assets are gone, but don't forget—we still have the Divine Wine."
A spark of inspiration flashed in Lili's mind. "Master Roy, you mean...?"
"Let's hold a Divine Wine Auction!" Roy grinned. It was time to drain the private vaults of Orario's gods.
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Danmachi : Starting with an Elf (378 Chapter – Ongoing)
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