The Soma Familia's base.
If Ron remembered correctly, it was located beside the pleasure district of the so-called "Godly Brothel of the Mistress." As an upright gentleman, that was obviously not the kind of place he would ever go.
That said, finding it wasn't difficult.
'Just what do I have to do to squeeze some compensation for emotional damages out of Zanis?'
That was the problem occupying his mind right now.
The whole affair started when adventurers like Bruno grew covetous of the weapon on him. After they died in the Dungeon, the Soma Familia refused to let the matter rest and continued their pursuit.
They even dispatched Lv.2 adventurers.
If his strength had been even slightly lacking, he would certainly have perished in the Dungeon—and as the victor of the battle, there had to be a victor's reward.
Just then...
He heard a familiar voice coming from behind. Turning his head, he saw Lili—Liliruca Arde—cloaked and walking toward him.
"If you're heading to the Soma Familia…"
"Do you need me to guide you?"
The girl's youthful face was brimming with a smile. After the Lv.2 adventurer Ganu from their Familia went into the Dungeon to carry out the pursuit, Lili had been closely following the situation.
By the time Ron returned to Orario, the final outcome was already obvious. It wasn't that she enjoyed watching trouble for its own sake—rather, when it came to the Soma Familia, the person who most wanted to see them destroyed could only be herself.
She was also quite relieved that, in the beginning, she hadn't harbored any ill intentions toward Ron. Otherwise, the end awaiting her would, in all likelihood, have been death in the Dungeon.
"Alright."
Having a guide was, of course, the best option.
Ron didn't refuse. It would save some time. As for Lili's motives, he asked casually, "Aren't you worried?"
"After I leave, won't your captain target you?"
"…"
This exchange felt strangely familiar.
It was just like their conversation when they first met—when she warned him about the dangers of the Soma Familia. It was probably this guy teasing her former ignorance.
Lili had never imagined that the victor of this dispute would be Ron. After giving it careful thought, she smiled and asked in return, "Were you also about to say that you aren't afraid my parents would be threatened?"
"If I answer using your words—"
Because her nominal parents had never truly raised her, they had long since died completely in the Dungeon while exploring it, driven by their craving for divine wine.
The girl's smile was radiant as she said, "Then that's… don't tell me any of that pointless nonsense!"
"That really sounds like something born of real life."
...
The Soma Familia.
As a Familia that had developed in Orario for so many years, the scale of its base truly exceeded Ron's expectations—it had already reached a level of considerable luxury.
To be honest, he had never expected to come here.
During the brief wait, a middle-aged man wearing a white suit, with short gray hair, approached him from afar with a gloomy expression.
Zanis Lustra.
Ron could, of course, recognize his identity—the one known as the "Gandharva," the true power behind the Soma Familia, and likewise a Lv.2 adventurer.
"Zanis, let's talk about something."
"Who are you?"
And the moment he saw Ron, Zanis had already recognized who he was, which also meant the death of Ganu, the Lv.2 adventurer of the Familia.
Otherwise, this guy wouldn't be qualified to be standing in front of him at all…
Yet purely in terms of adventurer strength, he was even inferior to Ganu. That meant the power Ron possessed was absolutely not something he could afford to provoke!
A strong sense of danger enveloped him.
Zanis had no intention of acknowledging anything. Instead, he forcibly suppressed his anger and moved to drive him away. "This is the Soma Familia's base. Idle outsiders aren't qualified to stand here."
"Captain Zanis."
Ron's tone was relaxed, but his words were not polite in the slightest. "Could it be that you're so forgetful, forgetting so quickly that you had people hunt me down?"
"…"
"There's no reason you can have people chase me down, but I can't come to your doorstep to ask for an explanation, right?"
"Then what do you want to do?"
He's absolutely here for me!
But in the face of the difference in adventurer levels, no matter how many adventurers the Soma Familia had, they absolutely wouldn't be a match for the guy in front of him—it would be nothing more than sending them to their deaths.
Zanis's expression was extremely dark.
"Compensation."
"Your pursuit during this period seriously affected my Dungeon exploration. As the captain, you should at least pay some compensation for emotional damages."
"…"
After hearing Ron's words, no matter how furious he was inside, Zanis could only endure it. And he truly wanted to ask—who the hell was actually chasing whom here?
If all the adventurers he had dispatched never returned, the number of adventurers who had died at Ron's hands was already close to fifteen, including even the backbone members of the Familia—yet this guy was the one coming to demand compensation!
He took a deep breath, doing his best to keep his tone calm.
"How much do you want?"
"Twenty million Valis."
Treating Familia members as tools to squeeze out money, the wealth Zanis had accumulated was definitely considerable, so Ron had no intention of being polite with this guy.
Noticing the other party's gloomy expression,
he lightly tapped the scabbard of his greatsword with his fingers and spoke with a smile: "If you don't want to pay, I won't force you—but then you'll need to be prepared for the Soma Familia being unable to explore the Dungeon from now on."
The best method would naturally be to cut the weeds down by the roots.
However, based on the information Lili had provided, Zanis basically never went into the Dungeon. He just lingered around Orario, leaving very little room to act.
After all, under the governance of the Ganesha Guard, could a massacre of an entire Familia really be allowed to happen?
"…"
After hearing the exact figure, Zanis felt as if his heart were bleeding. After all these years of running the Familia—setting aside the money he handed over to Soma to buy brewing materials—he had never managed to save up this much!
But as the captain of the Familia, he knew this matter had to be settled. As long as the members could carry on exploring the Dungeon normally, there was at least a chance to earn it back.
"At most…"
"I'll pay you at most ten million Valis as compensation."
"Deal."
Seeing how readily Ron agreed, Zanis realized that he had definitely named too high a price. But since he had already agreed, if he were to go back on it again—looking into the calm eyes of the youth before him—he even had a premonition that this guy would not hesitate to draw his sword and cut him down!
Gritting his teeth, he said, "I can give you this money, but you must guarantee that from now on there will absolutely be no incidents of you obstructing the Soma Familia's members from exploring the Dungeon."
"No problem."
"On the condition that you don't think about coming to provoke me first."
Ron stated this expressionlessly.
It was only after obtaining the ten-million-Valis deposit certificate from the Adventurers Guild, and leaving the Soma Familia's base, that he could no longer suppress the smile spreading across his face.
Who said today was a day without gains?
Relying solely on daily Dungeon exploration, who knew how difficult it would be to save up this sum. If Hestia had been present, he would at least have said: Our Familia finally has money.
Unfortunately—opportunities to fleece sheep like the Soma Familia did not come often.
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