106/121. 15 points. I lost 15 Heath points.
My hand moved to grab the blade of their own will, touching it sent waves of agony coursing through me. Even still, I wasn't the soft city boy that I was a few days ago. I was an adventurer! I...I could pull a sword out of my arm, no problem! It was easy! I...I just needed to pull…!
"Ahhh…!" I hissed, the blade sliding free, then clattering to the floor. Holy motherfucking shit dicks, that hurt so fucking much! Blood pumped from the wound like a leaking faucet, dripping down my fingers as I reached into my inventory to grab a health potion. It was still attached to my pouch and I dug a health potion from it.
Knocking back the vial so fast that I didn't taste it, I felt the pain vanish instantly. The 15 points of health were restored. Looking down, I saw my arm was fine underneath wet blood. So, at the very least, health potions restored 15 health.
It was only after I dropped the vial that I recalled that I still wasn't alone in the tunnels. Lili still stood there, her crossbow trained on me. Her gaze was firm, her jaw set. This...wasn't the Lili for the last half of the first season. This was a Lili that was down to murder me if I made the wrong move. I think I could stop her -- she would only be able to fire once before I was on top of her, so as long as she didn't hit something vital, I could subdue her.
With that thought in mind, I held up my hands and took a step back. "I don't have any problem with you. I didn't have any issue with him until he tried to kill me," I said, giving her space so she wouldn't feel threatened. She was just so small though, it was easy to mistake her for a child. A child aiming the fantasy equivalent of a gun at me, but that just made things more heartbreaking.
At that, Lili looked a little uncertain. She didn't lower the weapon, though, but she looked less likely to put a bolt between my eyes.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I swore, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. "Do you need help going back up to the surface?" I let the offer hang in the air, keeping my hands where she could see them as I kept an ear out for any monsters sneaking up on me.
"You killed him," Lili observed, her words not sounding like an accusation.
"I didn't know how strong he was," I told her honestly. "I couldn't let him rob me, I couldn't let him kill me, so I had to end the fight as fast as I could." Her expression was still hard, so I continued with, "I've been an adventurer for about two days. My goddess, Hestia, she has no one else. I promised her I wouldn't leave her alone. I couldn't let him kill me. And I don't want to hurt you at all, so could you please lower the crossbow?"
This was not how I imagined my first meeting with Lili. I never in a million years would have thought our first meeting would be me killing a man in front of her then being held at crossbow point. I should have walked away.
Then, slowly, Lili did lower the crossbow. "Does Mr. Adventurer promise not to hurt Lili?" She asked in a very small voice- ah. Right. She was trying to play me right now. The anime really did not do her justice in that regard, because without my meta knowledge, I never would have guessed that she was acting.
"I promise I won't hurt you. And my name is Jericho. Nice to meet you, Lili, just...wish it could have been better circumstances." I said with what I hoped was a friendly smile.
"Lili does too Mr. Jericho," Lili returned, her voice adopting an almost childlike quality to it.
"Lili, would it be okay if I pick up and sheath my sword?" I asked, gesturing to my blade that I dropped to grab Asshole's head. "I won't hurt you. I promise." If she was trying to pass herself off as a child, and she could with the ratty beige cloak that covered her, then I needed to treat her like one. I had to pretend that I believed her, especially when there was still a risk of her shooting me.
"...Lili thinks it's okay…" Lili trailed off, sounding unsure.
"Are you sure? I don't want to scare you either. Well, any more than I have, at least," I tacked on, not exactly helping my case.
Lili nodded firmly, the wary expression leaving her face, but not her eyes. "Lili is sure," she decided and, cautiously, I picked up my sword and slid it in its sheath at my belt. Its sheath came with a sachel-like bag attached to it, but, uh, my shoulders were too broad for it to fit the leather strap both were attached to, so I was forced to sling it over one shoulder since attaching it to my waist would have been too annoying.
"Thank you," I said, hoping that this was a good sign. Eventually, my gaze turned to the corpse. To the man I killed. Was it murder? No, I killed him in self-defense. This was on him. He tried to rob and kill me. This wasn't my fault. "What...do we do with him?"
"The Guild forbids bodies from being brought up from the Dungeon," Lili explained, walking towards me but staying out of reach. Giving the impression that she trusted me without putting herself at risk. "They say it's to stop adventurers from risking their lives to retrieve their comrade's bodies, but it's really to stop feuds between familias."
That was one hell of a lesson. "What?" I asked honestly, looking at her with bewilderment.
"What happens in the Dungeon stays in the Dungeon," Lili quoted. "Murders happen all the time down here. The Guild doesn't want proof of them. If an adventurer goes down into the Dungeon alone and he never comes up, then it's assumed that a monster killed him. If someone brings up a corpse and it's clear that's not the case, then the familia starts asking questions. Or makes accusations. So, the Guild wants to avoid all that."
"...Huh," I summarized my feelings on that, turning from her to look at the corpse again. "I might have chosen the wrong profession." The anime did not seem this grim when I was watching it and masturbating to Hestia on rule 34. Wait -- was Lili implying something there? That no one would look into my murder if she killed me here and now? Or was she trying to reassure me that nothing would happen since I killed that guy?
"Lili doesn't think so. If Mr. Jericho is already on the sixth floor in two days, he must be a super amazing adventure!" She practically beamed at me like she totally wasn't ready to plug me a couple of minutes ago.
"Thank you Lili," I said, feeling a different kind of exhaustion. "Would you like me to take you back up to the surface now?" I asked, still looking at the body of a man I killed.
Lili fidgeted shyly out of the corner of my eye, "actually, if it would be okay with Mr. Jericho, would he take Lili as his supporter?" She requested, throwing on a puppy dog look that was highlighted by her fake dog ears that jutted out of the top of her head. Her magic spell that made her look like whatever she wanted with the restriction that she stayed the same size.
That would...actually be inconvenient for me. Auto-loot would have to be turned off so she wouldn't get suspicious, and she would probably end up slowing me down. Then, on the other hand…well...she was Lili.
I knew about the bad hand life dealt her and I could relate, in a way. I wasn't tormented and horribly abused, forced to work a step above slave labor to survive, but...ah, well, let's just say I knew a thing or three about shitty parents and the sins of the parents do seem to be inherited by the children. I wanted to help her -- to give her that happy ending that Bell gave her. I wanted to pull her out of that deep pit of depression and hopelessness that was practically suicidal because I was struggling to pull myself out of that same pit for years.
Dying was what freed me from it. And I didn't want that to be the case for Lili.
However, Lili saw my hesitance and continued with, "Lili doesn't want to sound desperate, but Lili needed to support Mr. Ged even if he was really mean. She has rent due soon, and Lili doesn't want to lose her home…" All blatant lies.
"I...don't mind at all, Lili. Thank you for...understanding," I finished lamely, not sure what I should say about not judging me for killing a man right in front of her. Worse, I had no idea how she would react to it. She seemed fine with it, which was its own problem, but Lili was proving harder to read than I expected. The only thing I did know was any time she sounded chipper or happy, then she was probably lying.
"No, Lili thanks you for letting me be your supporter," Lili deflected. "Though, Lili does think that...maybe Mr. Jericho should take Mr. Ged's sword? Mr. Jericho's seems to be in really rough shape." She noted, patting her hip where my sword rested. Well...she wasn't wrong.
"Please forgive me," I told the corpse of a man I killed as I took his sword from his dead hands. It looked Asian -- a long straight blade, a small hilt that I could only barely fit one hand on, with a tassel hanging from the pommel. I tested the weight, finding it fine. The blade was longer than my sword, so it had that going for it. Plus, it wasn't nicked and blunt, so it was a definite improvement.
Turning to face the Dungeon again, I looked down at Lili. Her massive bag the size of two of...huh. If my goal was to grind stats, then I just had an amazing idea.
Lili tilted her head as I looked at her, trying to not look wary at me.
"Actually, how about this," I said, crouching down to her level. Well, as much as I could. Lili was a loli. I was a massive guy. I watched enough anime to know exactly what I had to do. I turned my back to her, gesturing to it with a thumb. "Hop on."
"Lili is confused," Lili informed, not jumping on my back like planned, forcing me to explain.
"I'll carry you. I'm trying to push myself down here, you know, train those Endurance and Strength stats. I don't want to leave you behind, and if I'm carrying you and your bag, then I can train Strength at the same time." I explained, looking back at her with an easy smile on my face.
"...Lili is still confused...but okay…?" Lili muttered uncertainty, walking up to me. She had to jump to wrap her arms around my throat, holding on tightly. I felt the weight of her and her bag instantly -- Lili wasn't quite a shoulder loli, yet, but that was fine for now. My Strength stat was going to shoot up with this plan.
"Alrighty then. Let's go!" I warned, breaking into a sprint, the sound of Lili yelling in my ear to slow down as I ran was almost enough to make me not think about the man I just killed.
Hopefully, the fights to come would manage that for me.
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A/N— I'll try to post daily. Powerstones and comments would help, it would mean alot and give me the motivation to continue the story. In fact two chapters a day wouldn't be impossible either.
I'll post an extra chapter every 500ps power stones, no limit!
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Ps. You can also read ahead at my Patreon to support the story and help me write more. Patrons get two chapters a day and 30 chapters ahead for just a couple bucks :)
Patreon.com/Ethereal0