around.
“Have you finished?”
Lilly was standing right beside him, looking up at the ant’s body with big eyes and standing as tall as she could.
Bell blinked his wide eyes a few times and chuckled to himself. He held out his hand, gesturing. “Just a moment.”
Bell finally guided the small blade to the top of the killer ant’s chest. Lilly quickly moved in to claim the stone.
“Well then, shall we call it a day, Mr. Bell?”
“Eh? Already? I can keep going, no problem.”
“No no, you’re being overconfident. Today, Mr. Bell has slain many purple moths, a monster that spreads poisonous wing-scales during battle. The effects are not immediate, but if you breathe in too much, your body will be poisoned.”
“N-no way!”
“It’s true. Lilly was careless and forgot to buy more antidotes…Lilly suggests going back to Babel Tower for treatment.”
As soon as Lilly finished speaking, Bell remembered Eina saying that he should be aware of where he was while battling moth-type monsters. Bell put his hand to his head with a small gasp and agreed with Lilly’s proposal.
“What is being poisoned like…? Wait, when do the symptoms show up? I’ll need all of my strength to slay monsters, otherwise…”
“There is no problem, Mr. Bell. Lilly knows a fast way to get back to Babel without having to fight any monsters.”
“Y-you do?”
Lilly nodded her head in a resounding “yes” and pointed toward the exit of the room. A group of adventurers stood just outside the archway. They turned and left upon seeing that Bell and Lilly had already slain all of the monsters within.
“If we trace the path of other strong adventurers, there won’t be any monsters. They prowl the Dungeon for monsters…I mean, dropped items and magic stones, right?”
“Oh, I see.”
“Even if monsters come out, we can just hide in the shadow of another party and they will take care of them for us. The idea is to choose a path with people, and we can avoid all battles.”
Usually, Bell would avoid adventurers from other
Familias
to prevent any difficult situations from happening. But in times like this, it might be the best option.
This was a good way to get out of a bad situation, if they could pull it off.
“Many honorable adventurers are in the Dungeon at this time of day. If Mr. Bell sticks close to Lilly, he won’t have to use his weapon even once.”
Lilly looked up at Bell with one of her big smiles, and he was struck by just how reliable the girl was.
“Lilly, you really are amazing. You are a ‘supporter’ for a reason: I can count on you.”
“Mr. Bell will learn many things too with experience. Now, let’s get moving!”
Lilly snatched Bell’s hand and half pulled him out of the room. Following the footprints on the dungeon floor, they ran past a few groups of adventurers on their way to the top. Whenever a monster showed up, they were always close to the battle party. Lilly’s instincts were spot-on.
She was so efficient, it was almost as if she had done this hundreds of times.
“Mr. Bell, Mr. Bell. About today’s payment…”
“Well, you have helped me out a lot. So I think we should split it fifty-fifty…”
“All magic stones and dropped items collected today are yours, Mr. Bell. May your wallet be warm tonight.”
“What?! But that leaves you nothing! Didn’t you say you wanted at least thirty percent?!”
“Your trust is worth much more to Lilly. Today was a day for Mr. Bell to learn about Lilly, and think of this as a thank-you gift.”
“To…learn about you?”
“Everyone gets this trial day, not just you, Mr. Bell.”
So today was just a test for Lilly. Bell didn’t feel right about it at all.
Bell blushed as he looked at the girl, wanting to apologize.
“…Besides, everything else is a parting gift.”
A strong breeze blew through the lobby and carried her words with it.
“…? Did you say something, Lilly?”
“No, nothing at all, Mr. Bell. If it’s okay
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