Liliruca Arde was an unfortunate girl.
"Shut up! Get out there and make some money!"
There had been no blessing at her birth, not even a single welcoming smile.
"Money, money, money... With that money, I can buy more liquor... Ahh, liquor, liiiquorrr!"
Her parents were trash, and love was a concept entirely absent from her upbringing.
"This still isn't nearly enough! You useless piece of shit! You're good for nothing!"
All she had seen and felt as she grew up was the malice of others.
"Drink this. Then you'll become family with us too."
The ecstasy of a forced sip.
"Want more? Then work. Bring in money by any means necessary."
A future of ruin that no one had bothered to warn her about.
"You can't run away."
That vile, evil shackle always clung to her ankles, dragging her down.
From the very beginning until now, it had always been the same.
A pitiful, broken life, kicked around like garbage, never once grasping anything she had truly wished for or longed for.
That was the entirety of the girl named Liliruca Arde.
"Hey, Liliii~!"
No, it *had* been.
"Ah, Dida."
"Want to have a drink today too?"
"Sounds good. The usual place?"
"Where else would we go?"
"Okay. Let's cash in the magic stones and head out. Hey, you there! Hurry up, slowpoke Supporter. You're lagging behind!"
"Ah, yes. I'll be right there, heh heh."
"Shut it! What are you grinning about? Honestly, this is why Supporters are such a pain... Useless as hell, and all they care about is money like beggars. A bunch of nuisances, every last one of them."
"Hey, hey, isn't that a bit much? Well, it's true that the only thing they can really do is haul baggage."
""Hahaha!""
The same as always.
Trash adventurers she was already sick to death of—to the point where she, the victim, had become numb to it.
What difference was there, really, between Level 1 adventurers like them and a Supporter like herself, that they felt entitled to spout such nonsense?
Unlike the smiling mask she wore, Lili repeated curses and insults in her heart over and over, dozens of times, hundreds of times.
At the same time, she instinctively knew she wouldn't be earning any honest money today either.
In those men's minds, Lili's share had already vanished; it had been repurposed as their drinking fund for the night.
The excuses would be predictable.
*You didn't really do anything in the fight. This is all good experience for you. You little brat is just a money-grubbing beggar. It's late today, so we'll divide it tomorrow.*
"Anyway, you did your part today. We'll handle cashing in the magic stones, so you can head on home. It's too late already, so let's meet again tomorrow and split the money then."
"Ah... yes. That sounds good. Lili will be going now. Adventurers, thank you for your hard work today."
"Pfft! Yeah, get going."
"See you tomorrow, kid. Heh!"
See?
The moment she thought it, they showed their true colors.
Their shallow, filthy intentions to look down on her were written all over their garbage faces.
As expected, adventurers were nothing but a bunch of empty-headed trash.
Lowlifes no different from herself.
Yet, simply because she was a Supporter, they looked down on her without end.
Vermin who never thought about the future, wasting every cent they earned on booze and women.
*But ironically, thanks to those idiots, Lili can still make a living like this.*
This time, Lili smiled sincerely.
Most of today's earnings were indeed in the baggage bag she had just handed over.
However, the contents were mostly small junk that took up weight and space.
The magic stones and valuable drop items—the things actually worth money—had been secretly siphoned off long ago.
Based on her experience, their value was far greater than the amount those fools would waste on drinks tonight.
All Lili had to do was wait for the vermin to leave, then visit the Guild separately to cash them in.
Just as she was about to turn away,
"Yo, Arde."
"K-Kanu?"
A familiar face—one she would rather never see again—was standing behind her.
Naturally, Lili's face, which had been smiling calmly just a moment ago, turned deathly pale.
"W-What brings you here?"
"I saw everything from over there. Looks like you made a pretty good haul today."
"Ah, yes, um..."
She managed to steady her racing heart and answer the man's greeting.
That was the extent of the resistance she could muster.
As if he knew that very well, the man continued casually, stating his business.
"Well, there's no need for long talk between us... I've got an important appointment with some friends today, but I went and left my wallet at the inn. What a disaster, truly."
"I-I see..."
"You know what I mean, right? I'll pay you back laaater."
Pay her back, my ass.
He treated her like a personal emergency piggy bank.
He hadn't drawn a knife yet, but he was a bandit through and through.
If possible, she wanted to ignore him and run, never to face him again.
But if she refused, this man would not hesitate to use force.
Worse still, this wasn't the first or second time.
The cruel bastard in front of her was a childhood terror, a nightmare more vile than any monster.
For the weak Lili, resistance was a dream she couldn't even afford to have.
"H-Here..."
In the end, Lili reached for the spoils she had worked so hard to earn.
She figured that if it was going to be taken by force anyway, it was better to offer it willingly and keep her body intact for next time.
Just then, another acquaintance approached from behind.
"Yo, long time no see."
"A-An!?"
Lili jumped, completely flustered.
Behind her stood a young man wearing a mischievous smile.
"Hah, what a coincidence. I was just looking for a Supporter myself. If you don't mind, could you come down to the Dungeon with me right now? I'll pay a little more than last time."
The man spoke as if he were oblivious to the tension.
At his sudden intrusion, Kanu frowned and asked warily who he was.
"What's this, buddy? You know our Arde?"
"Yes. And who might you be?"
By contrast, the young man called An didn't seem to have any particular reaction.
He simply kept smiling pleasantly at Lili.
He showed no sign of wariness, no hint of suspicion.
Moreover, his clothes were perfectly ordinary; at a glance, he looked like nothing more than a regular person with slightly sharp eyes.
That was what put Kanu at ease—or rather, made him careless.
After all, he was an adventurer.
There was no reason to fear some ordinary person with no power.
"He's a member of the same Familia as this girl. More importantly, you want to take Arde to the Dungeon as your Supporter at this hour?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"That's a shame. Arde has an important matter to handle with us today, so she can't help you out, buddy."
"Is that so? Hmm..."
"It's a matter between members of the same Familia. I hope you can understand, buddy."
He pressed a little harder.
When his hand clamped onto Lili's shoulder, her flinch made it obvious to anyone watching that this was not a friendly interaction.
But the excuse he offered was reasonably convincing, and usually, unless someone was unusually meddlesome, they didn't want to get involved in other people's trouble.
Human beings were selfish creatures by nature.
"Well, fine. If that's the case, I suppose I should understand as an outsider."
"Hahaha, thanks, buddy. See you around. Come on, Arde."
"Y-Yes..."
As if to prove the point, An stepped aside without a moment's hesitation, handing Lili over to Kanu.
At his cold response, Lili could not even speak and simply lowered her head.
As she was dragged along by Kanu, the shadows on her face shifted from hope to despair, and finally, to resignation.
"What a shame, Arde. You must've thought some stupid prince would come save you."
Meanwhile, Kanu felt relieved to have shaken off the annoying interference.
Now all he had to do was go somewhere deserted and dark, get what he wanted from her, and then part ways.
"Now then, let's continue what we were saying earlier—ghk!"
That was what he had thought.
For about thirteen seconds.
"Oogh! Guh! Ugh!"
"K-Kanu?"
At the strange groaning, Lili looked over at him.
The man who had seemed so triumphant just moments ago was now deathly pale.
Compared to the expression Lili had been wearing earlier, his looked no less serious—if not worse.
"A-Abrupt chills...! Ghk! M-My stomach too...!"
He was trembling all over, desperately clamping his legs together and clutching his stomach in a panic.
Anyone could see he was suffering from a severe sudden illness.
"D-Damn it! W-What the hell is happening all of a sudden...! D-Don't go anywhere, stay right there, Arde! Blech! L-Let's talk again in a bit, oooogh!"
Now he was even retching.
The situation looked so dire that Lili could only stare blankly at his receding back, unable to say a word.
Naturally, the people around the retreating Kanu also panicked, hurriedly putting distance between themselves and him.
Watching that from behind, she even felt a little sorry for him.
For about one second.
"Did you do that, An?"
"Who knows? Did something happen?"
At Lili's question, the young man who had somehow reappeared simply shrugged, that mischievous smile still on his face.
His brazen attitude left Lili speechless, but as the saying went, a win is a win.
She too could only smile mischievously in return.