with you, please hire Lilly in the future!”
“Sure, I’ll think about it and come back with a good answer.”
Lilly turned and ran, but looked back over her shoulder and waved at Bell.
“Please do! Lilly is always in Babel, so you can always find me! Lilly’s not going anywhere, so take your time!”
The girl was grinning from ear to ear.
“Aah, another
Familia’
s supporter…”
“So, this wasn’t a good idea after all?”
I’m in the very familiar counseling room at the Guild main office, talking with Eina about Lilly. After visiting the medical facilities (they cost money, by the way) and the Exchange, I’d hurried straight here.
It sounds sad, but I don’t think I can make a good decision about something like this on my own.
The best way to solve this is to get another’s opinion, and who better to ask than Eina?
“I know you are concerned about a problem between
Familias
, but there have been plenty of cases of both sides benefiting from a healthy and respectable contract…Bell, what do you think of this girl, Lilliluka?”
“Well, she’s a good girl…and her skills as a supporter are very high.”
I think back to what I saw her do in the Dungeon. She’d made a good impression on me.
On top of that was her situation…I felt so sorry for her I couldn’t just ignore her.
I know it’s not good to do something just out of pity, but still…
I’m pretty sure that she wasn’t lying when she told me about how her
Familia
has been treating her, ignoring her. My gut feeling is she was telling the truth.
“Do you know what
Familia
she belongs to?”
“She said she’s a member of
Soma Familia.
”
“
Soma Familia
, huh…I can’t strongly support or oppose that one.”
“Um…Ms. Eina? What kind of
Familia
are they?”
She says, “Wait a moment,” as she pulls out a large file from the desk that was already prepared and opens it in front of her. Eina pulls a pair of glasses out of her pocket and with a quick flick of the wrist and a light
click
, she slides them over her eyes in one fluid motion.
It seems like she isn’t just going to give me her opinion, but some accurate public information as well.
“Looks like
Soma Familia
is your model dungeon-prowling
Familia
. They are a little different from other
Familias
in that they also dabble in the retail industry.”
“Retail? What are they selling?”
“They sell wine.”
“Wine…?”
“Yes. They don’t supply very much product to stores and marketplaces, but I hear the taste is extraordinary. Apparently there is a very high demand in Orario.”
She keeps on talking, adding that with a product like that, they shouldn’t even need to go into the Dungeon.
Since danger always follows adventurers, the best thing for gods to do when they make a
Familia
is to go into a safe industry. Sure, it’s a gamble to go into retail, but relying on adventurers for money is like walking on a suspension bridge that can be cut at any moment. Adventurers brush shoulders with death every day.
On the other hand, adventurers change everything. If the god is not afraid of the high-risk, high-return atmosphere of the Labyrinth City Orario, then adventurers are the best way to strike it rich in a hurry.
“That
Familia
is in the middle of the pack in terms of strength. No one stands out above the rest, but everyone has above average power. Whoa…They have quite a few members, too. I had no idea.”
“So if they have a lot of members, then that means…”
“Their god, Soma, has a good following. I haven’t heard anything good or bad about that god at all, though…”
“Um…the girl, Lilly, said this to me, but is it true that the god Soma doesn’t interact with any other gods or goddesses?”
“I would actually say he is rather famous for that. It feels strange to say that a god stays apart from this world, but that really is him. He’s never attended one of the other gods’ Celebrations, nor has he responded to social
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