AN: Surprise.


What the hell do I do now? I never expected she would just pop up one day asking to join me, especially not this early on. My tentative plan was to approach her when I was already in a position to help her, whether financially, if she could swing getting out of her Familia without conflict with the douchebag that functionally runs the Familia instead of Soma, or with generous application of firepower. Both of which I still fall short on.

However, if I turn her away now, I could be shooting my only chance to earn her trust in the foot. I'll just have to accept her party request for now and find out why exactly she volunteered to join me.

"Ah, hello, Supporter-san," I bowed slightly with my greeting. "Sorry for freezing up there, I just never expected anyone to call out to me," I tried to obfuscate my reason for my delay. "I'm still new to Orario and speaking Koine," which was the name of the common language, I've found out, "so forgive me if I unintentionally say or do something wrong."

I decided to start the conversation in a very japanese way, or maybe canadian. It seemed to have thrown her off her game too, since she showed a somewhat confused expression for a sec there, but she quickly recovered.

"No, no, there is no need to worry about that," she waved with both hands to reassure me. "Lily just saw that Adventurer-san did not have a party and Lily thought she would volunteer her services as a supporter," she got back to her pitch, speaking in the third person. I forgot she had that speech quirk. "Lily's full name is Liliruca Arde and Lily might not look it, but she is an experienced supporter," she proudly declared with her hands on her hips, chest puffed out and chin raised. I smiled a bit at how adorable she looked like that. "Lily is sure she would prove useful to Adventurer-san."

It seems Lily was very intent on joining me for some reason. In the story, she approached Bell to steal the Hestia Knife from him, but I don't have anything on me that looks expensive, not even Biggy. It's a huge sword, true, but there is no way a competent Supporter like Lily would mistake it for something particularly valuable.

"Thank you Arde-san, if you will have me, then I would be happy to join your party," I accompanied my answer with another small bow. It's hard to disassociate japanese mannerisms when speaking the language, so I'm bowing or nodding more frequently nowadays, but in this case it's just what I want. Lily is used to getting talked down to a lot by adventurers, so I'm trying to separate myself from assholes like that from the very beginning.

"Really!? That's great!" She rejoiced. "But please call Lily just Lily."

"If you are sure... Lily-san," I intentionally misinterpreted her. I don't know if it will work, but I hope to somehow convey to her that she deserves respect too, no matter how much others tried to stamp that out in her.

"No, no. Just Lily. Please don't add -san to it," came the expected answer. I contemplated trying to call her Lily-neesan, but taking into consideration what actually is inside this pallum girl's body of mine, I thought it would be too disturbing.

"Then, Lily. Please call me Avrora," I introduced myself finally with another slight bow, with my right hand kept near my heart. Very butlerific, if I say so myself. She responded with a similar bow, seeming a bit flustered. "Then, should we head down right away and talk about the specifics on the way, or should we find someplace to sit down around here?"

"Talking on the way should be fine," she said after looking around. "By the time we reach a more dangerous Floor we should be done with the more important topics."

With that the hooded pallum girl brigade set out towards the dungeon entrance. Even though it's still three years before the start of the story, Lily looks remarkably similar to her future self. Same big backpack, same long coat, same double hood over her head. Rather similar to me, in fact. The main difference from her future self should be her height, which I can't tell apart anyway just from seeing illustrations of her, and her bust size, which is still on the small side since she should be only about thirteen years old. Although that aspect of her appearance was also highly inconsistent depending on the artist and even circumstance.

That reminds me, I don't think I'm looking forward to experiencing puberty from the female side in the future. Since I'm about a month and a half away from being eleven, which fuck if I know how I can tell, it can basically start any day, provided pallum puberty works the same way anyhow.

"If I may ask, Avrora-sama," I think I froze more quickly from being addressed like that than I would've if I got hit by Riveria Ljos Alf's ice spell, Wynn Fimbulvetr, "what floor was your target for today?"

I stood still with one foot in the air, then slowly, mechanically, turned my head to Lily who stopped beside me.

"Please don't add -sama to my name, Lily. No one ever did before and I certainly don't deserve it," I said as I finally put my other foot down and turned towards her fully. "In fact, I should be the one calling you Lily-senpai, since you are both older than me and much more experienced with dungeon delving."

Honestly, getting called with the -sama suffix makes me break out in goosebumps, so I'll have to nip this one in the bud.

"That won't do Avrora-sama," I scowled at that. "You might not know, but Supporters live off the hard work of Adventurers like Avrora-sama. We Supporters only carry bags and gather magic stones while Adventurers risk their lives to kill monsters. We depend on their goodwill to survive, so we need to make the relationship clear," she explained, then her expression changed to a melancholic one. "So please allow Lily to call you Avrora-sama."

Tilting my head to the side, I kept looking at her for a while. This speech was very similar to the one she gave to Bell in the future. I'm fairly sure this is not how she really feels about the topic, but then why would she give this speech to me, a self-professed newcomer to the whole adventuring business? Is she afraid I would get back at her later when other adventurers told me about how most Supporters are looked down upon? Or is this a test if I just go along with it or speak out against the sentiment? I don't really know. I can accept her taking this route with Bell, who was a human male with a conspicuously expensive magical weapon, but towards a younger pallum girl with beginner equipment, it's more than strange.

"I understand," I said, nodding sagely. "In that case, let us resume our trek, Lily-senpai."

Just as she nodded and turned to continue walking she heard what I called her and almost stumbled.

"Why did it come to that!?" She cried out. "Lily just explained why Avrora-sama should call Lily just Lily, if you understand then how does it become Lily-senpai!?"

I smiled a bit at her irritated expression and twitching eyebrow. It's surprisingly fun to rile her up a bit, although she was able to quickly catch herself and go back to her fake smiling expression.

"I just thought we should make our relationship clear. Lily-senpai is an experienced Supporter lending a helping hand to a poor greenhorn adventurer who barely knows her left hand from the right. How could I call Lily-senpai anything less?" I asked with a smile.

Oh Lily, you will rue the day when you challenged me to a self-deprecation off! If there is something I'm not horrible at, it's self-deprecation. Maybe.

"Fine," she huffed, "Avrora-san." She decided to capitulate right away. Hah, Flawless Victory.

"Thank you, Lily." I also went back to calling her by her preferred name. I don't want to make her feel like I just bullied her into what I wanted, but that we came to a compromise. "Sorry about that, but it really creeps me out when people put me on a pedestal for no good reason, and simply being a battle oriented adventurer is not a good reason in my opinion," I tried to explain.

Honestly, I did not expect I would act like that towards Lily right away, it was almost like how I interacted with friends before. Am I so starved for companionship that I would latch on to her right away? Sadly, it's not impossible that it might be the case. I need to watch myself and dial it back as much as I can. Currently we are nothing more than possible business associates. Not friends, not companions, not even party members yet.

"That topic aside, how do independent supporters get paid?" I asked her. "Commission-based or a set sum for each day?"

"That is usually decided on a case by case basis, but ultimately it depends on the discretion of the adventurer or party in question," she answered. In other words, independent supporters probably don't get paid more than a pittance, and even that only because if they didn't pay at all, then other supporters would not be willing to work with them in the future. Even though supporters are looked down upon by many adventurers, the role they fulfill is essential for an effective party.

"I see. In that case, an even split should be fine for today, I think," I said as we kept walking. Suddenly I remembered that I didn't answer her question about how deep I intended to go today with all the disagreements about suffixes. "Ah, by the way, I planned on going to the Fifth Floor today. Is that okay with you? How deep do you usually go with other parties?"

"The Fifth Floor is no problem at all! Lily is proud to say that she frequently accompanies parties to the Tenth Floor and sometimes even beyond," she boasted. "But I thought that since Avrora-san has no problem using such a large sword she would have no problems on even deeper floors than the fifth."

"Since I've only recently come to Orario and started exploring the dungeon I'm trying my best to be cautious and only advance when I'm certain I can handle it. I'm a bit of a wimp that way."

Hmm, I think she knows something about my capabilities and is trying to fish for more information. If that is indeed the case, then where could she have found out about it? I'm fairly sure I made sure to do my experiments in only secluded places where I would've noticed somebody snooping for sure, so it's unlikely she saw some of that. Also, I don't remember any of the parties I've come across from time to time having such a distinctively small person among their numbers, so that can't be it either.

The other two events that might be relevant are when I showed off a bit for a four-man party, and the attempted mugging incident. In the case of the first, what I did wasn't even that impressive and she only could've heard about it from second hand, which I don't think would be enough reason to approach me.

That leaves the second one. One where a small figure with a large backpack ran away from a bunch of enraged adventurers after cleaning out their bank. Yeah, I would have to be fairly stupid to not see a possible connection there.

From the short glimpse I got from the perpetrator I clearly remember green hair. Just like mine. The question then becomes if she intentionally set that party on me, or if it was accidental. Since we haven't interacted before that I see no reason for it to be on purpose, but I can't be certain. For all I know the Lily in this world could be significantly more ruthless than her depiction in the light novels. I have to keep in mind that possibility too.

Although, even if she had green hair at the time, I don't think she did it deliberately to resemble me, since she has had to make that change before signing on with the party, and there is no way she could coordinate her theft to be within running distance to me that much later, since she would've had no way of steering the party towards my location. All-in-all, it's much more likely she just happened to run across the room I was staying in at the time and the rest is history, as they say.

To summarize, she probably witnessed or at least heard about the incident later somehow.

So, from her perspective which is the more reasonable explanation? That a previously unknown pallum girl barely in her teens wandering around on the Fourth Floor could terrify a five-man party solely with her own power, or that she had some kind of magic item on her person for emergencies that she used to accomplish the feat. Even I know which is the more reasonable explanation. Even if in this case it's the incorrect one.

So she is most likely aiming for a rare magic item that I don't actually have. Or maybe I've just made a bunch of incorrect assumptions and she just wants to lay low with a low-risk partner for a while after her latest heist. I can't be certain just yet.

"Lily doesn't think she ever heard an adventurer describe themselves as a wimp. In fact, most would react badly if someone ever called them that," she mused. "But Avrora-san is not a usual adventurer, is she?"

I glanced to the side at her after hearing that question and I saw her well crafted guileless smile.

"Since I don't yet know how a usual adventure acts, I'm afraid I can't tell you one way or the other," I deflected. "Can you tell me a few stories about the adventuring life while we are walking? I admit I'm very curious to hear from someone who already spent a lot of time dungeon delving."

"Since Avrora-san is so new to being an adventurer I guess Lily will have to enlighten her," she graciously agreed.

During our descent into the dungeon, Lily kept telling me tales mostly about how adventurers messed up in various ways that may or may not have got them killed. A few stories sprinkled here and there had the parties in question triumph against dire odds too, probably to hide her anti-adventurer sentiment a bit. Nevertheless, it was quite fun listening to her telling those kinds of stories. Educational too, since hearing how others messed up will help me to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

With the help of my foreknowledge, I was also able to spot the parts where she carefully chose her words to avoid insulting the adventurers in the story directly. Indirectly though, many of them came across as impressively idiotic. I don't know if that's her bias showing or the average adventurer is really that stupid. Although I fear it's the second one. I don't doubt that a great percentage of the low-class adventurers are simple thugs working as adventurers just to support their drinking and whoring habit.

While I was immersed in Lily's storytelling we reached the Fifth Floor. Since it was a bit later in the morning than I usually arrive there were more than enough people to clear out the monsters from the main route, so we didn't have to fight any until now. Now that we have arrived at our goal though, it's time to prepare ourselves to start the day in earnest.

"Eina-san, my Advisor, told me a bit about how jobs are divided in a party, but I would like to hear your explanation too. Just to be sure that we are on the same page," I asked as we stood next to each other in front of a side corridor leading off from the main route.

"It's not that complicated," she started to explain. "Lily's job is to make sure the other members of the party are able to fight the monsters effectively. That sometimes means removing corpses from the way, calling out possible dangers, or providing distractions in case the monsters threaten to overwhelm the party." I remember that some adventurers think that distracting means throwing the supporter into the way of the monsters and running away while the supporter holds their attention. If the supporter is able to get away then fine, if not, it's not that big of a loss in their mind. Assholes. "With just the two of us here, Avrora-san's job is to simply deal with the monsters, the same as before," she summarized. "Lily will handle harvesting and carrying the magic stones and drops."

I nodded to signal my understanding, but then I shook my head.

"You forgot my most important job, Lily," I said, which visibly surprised her.

She furrowed her brows. "And what would that be, Avrora-san?" Looking at me sideways, she asked with a dubious and a bit ticked off expression unsuccessfully hidden by a fake smile. She has been a supporter for many years now and an absolute rookie is trying to contradict her on something this basic right at the start, well, I would be ticked off too.

"Protecting you, of course," I said with a slight smile as I lightly poked her shoulder next to me.

"D-d-don't underestimate me! I can perfectly take care of myself!" She exclaimed with a face red with anger. "Since Avrora-san is still a greenhorn she should just focus on protecting herself. To a veteran like Lily the Fifth Floor is nothing special," she declared.

"I'm sorry, you are right. That was a bit too presumptuous of me," I apologized with a contrite expression. She was right of course. That could've been taken as me undervaluing her abilities, even though that was not my intention. Dammit, another faux pas, and before we even begin to work together.

Since I've already finished checking my equipment I stepped forward into the side corridor we were standing in front of. After a short pause Lily followed after me. With the conversation well and truly murdered for now, I've put my game face on and started looking for monsters to take my irritation with my social incompetence out on.

A few minutes later I sensed four indistinct shapes on the other side of the wall we were walking next to. The entrance to the room that contained at least those four monsters was just a few steps ahead of us, so I took Biggy off my back and got ready to use it anytime. A glance at Lily showed that she almost said something at the same time I reached back for Biggy, but then she just nodded and stayed silent. She probably wanted to warn me to get ready before running blindly into a possible ambush spot like that.

Stopping before the doorway I once again checked for monsters in the room with my Territory and beside the four indistinct shapes, that were most likely war shadows, I also felt a larger shape on the far side of the room, probably that one-eyed frog thing. Fog shooter, yeah, that. I always forget its proper name. Probably because every time the 'frog shooter' name comes up my first thought is some kind of contraption that shoots frogs at people instead of a big frog that shoots out its tongue.

I waited in silence for a few seconds until most of the war shadows had their backs to me, then brandishing my sword I ran into the room as fast as I could. I was able to cleave apart two war shadows before any of the monsters even noticed me. Another one tried to do a backhand slice with its knife-like fingers, but I ducked below its trajectory and with a circular slash I separated its body into a few distinct parts. This maneuver would still be beyond me if I only depended on my non-existent swordsmanship knowledge, but even with the reduced range of my Territory, I was able to sense the enemy's position accurately enough to avoid its attack and to make sure mine hit.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the last war shadow closing in fast and the frog thing getting ready to shoot its tongue at me. Yes, my Shell would've blocked it, but one, I don't really want Lily to know about it just yet, and two, not dodging when I could and just relying on my Shell is a bad habit to get into. It still costs Mind to deflect hits, so I should be as economical with it as I can. With all that in mind, I dodged to the side so that the war shadow was directly between the frog and me, but contrary to my expectations that did not dissuade the frog from shooting out his tongue. The sticky appendage apparently hit the back of the war shadow, yet it was unable to find purchase on the swirly smoke that constituted its body. All it did was give it a push that sped up its approach to me. Not having time to properly swing Biggy I simply held the giant sword out with its pointy end towards the enemy and watched the smoky monster impale itself on it.

The body evaporating in a second notified me of the fact that unfortunately I destroyed its magic stone too. Shame.

However, a more immediate concern was that there was no body in the way anymore to block the next attack of the frog monster. Not seeing it until it was too late to dodge due to the dissolving monster blocking my line of sight, it shot out its sticky tongue and managed to attach it to my sword. Not waiting for it to try and pull me along, I took Biggy in one hand and threw it point first, letting the frog's tongue guide it straight into its gullet and out the back of its head. Biggy finally came to a stop, stuck into the wall of the room with a frog monster impaled by the mouth hanging from it.

Making sure no other monsters were hiding anywhere in the room, including the ceiling, I looked towards Lily to see her verdict. The only thing I saw first was her backpack, since she was keeping watch at the door, looking out for possible incoming monsters. As expected of a professional, she is performing her role well.

When it was clear no other monsters were approaching she turned around and moved to pick up the magic stones from the war shadows. Since I accidentally broke one's stone and pretty much chopped up the others there was no need to dig into them, the magic stones were just lying on the floor, waiting to be picked up. Seeing that she wasn't saying anything about the fight, I went to collect Biggy.

"Avrora-san, please wait just a second," she requested. "Usually I would start by pointing out that it's a foolish thing to let go of your weapon, even when the fight is apparently over, but the position of this frog is just too perfect to not take advantage of it first," she said as she made an incision in the easily accessible center of the frog's chest and extracted its magic stone. "There, done."

With that, she pulled out Biggy and handed it over to me. To say it was a bit of a shock to me would be quite an understatement, It must've come out on my expression too, because a slight smile appeared on Lily's face too. I know that her Skill, Artel Assist, makes her able to haul heavier weights than she ordinarily could've, but Biggy is so heavy, that even with my nearly 400 in Strength stat I can barely lift it without telekinetic assistance. I don't remember her exact stats near the start of the story, but if I remember right, her Strength stat never even went above 120, even by the point she managed to level up. So, she just casually handling Biggy like it's nothing was a surprise, to say the least.

"Wow, Lily, you must have an amazing Strength stat to be able to lift that," I said in an impressed tone.

"Lily is sorry to say, but it's thanks to my Skill that I'm able to carry it. It's also the reason why I don't fall over when carrying this big backpack with me," she gestured to the sizable bag on her back. "Most people assume that it's lighter than it looks, but it's really quite heavy."

"That's even more amazing, having an awesome Skill like that!"

"Awesome? No, not at all," she shook her head. "Although this exact Skill was not cataloged by the Guild before, it's very similar to many other common supporter skills. It's really nothing special," she said with downcast eyes.

I have my doubts about that, but I don't think it's the best time to go into that yet. So I changed the topic.

"In that case, do you have any observations about the fight just now? If so, I would like to hear it."

"Avrora-san, do you want my honest opinion?" she asked after pondering a bit.

"Yes, by all means. Don't hold back on the criticism or I won't be able to improve otherwise," I urged her to be candid.

"In that case," she took a large breath, "I think Avrora-san was too rash, overconfident, and it was a serious mistake to not collect your weapon immediately, even at the end of the fight," she smiled.

Gah, those remarks felt like arrows piercing me one by one. But, hold on. I asked her to clarify those verdicts because there was still a chance that it wasn't that bad.

"First of all," she started, "you ran into a room without even scouting out what it contained. It could've been empty, or full of monsters you have no way of beating, or even an adventurer party on their break."

Yeah, from her perspective I just ran into the unknown, which would be a very brash thing to do. Only I had my Territory to scout for me, so I was fairly sure of the room's contents. That's one point of evaluation that might've changed if she knew about my abilities.

"Second," Lily continued, "after running in you never even tried to block the attacks, you always counterattacked. A greatsword like that is not just a tool to deal heavy damage, but it also serves as a shield, which Avrora-san never took advantage of. The only time you did use it to block was when you intercepted the frog shooter's tongue, and in that case it would've been better to dodge instead."

Yep, two for two so far. If she knew about my Shell, then she might've had a different opinion.

"Which leads us to the third mistake, which, as Lily has mentioned already, was not collecting your weapon immediately after it was thrown. Lily understands that it was the last monster and you thought everything was already over, but you never know what might happen in the next moment, and you don't want to be caught flat-footed down in the dungeon without a weapon at the ready at all times," she finished her admonishments. "Although it meant it was less work for Lily to extract its magic stone, it was still a mistake in the end," she added.

And that's three conclusions that would've changed if she knew that I could sense inside the room, had no need to fight defensively because of my Shell, and that I could call Biggy back to my hand anytime I wanted. I guess it's not fair to expect her to provide on-point constructive criticism if I'm hiding most of my abilities from her. Still, those were some well-observed points that would've been true for most people. She really is good at this stuff.

"Thank you, Lily. I'll be sure to revise my approach."

"This is just my personal opinion of course, I'm sure Avrora-san knows what she is doing," she said with a wide, but once again obviously fake smile. "There is no need to take the word of a simple supporter about battle so seriously." And she went back to self-deprecation. I see how it might get annoying to listen to. Now I know how others felt when I did the same sometimes, only I wasn't just being modest, like Lily here.

"Not at all. I know that I'm very much ignorant about matters like this, so I need to listen to those with more experience than me, which Lily more than qualifies as," I tried to reassure her. It's true that without my ability I would most likely be lying in a ditch somewhere, dead, or alternatively, I would've never even set foot in the dungeon by this point. It's honestly amazing that Lily has been roaming the dungeon since she was just a small child. She practically grew up in it. It's important to respect that and not get all big-headed just because I got deus ex machina'd into a more advantageous position.

"Now then, with that topic over, we should get moving, right?" I asked Lily. She nodded in the affirmative. Since she already gathered up all the magic stones, there was nothing else keeping us here.

The next few encounters did not have any of the new kinds of monsters participating, so they ended up about as difficult or dangerous as reaping wheat. Due to Biggy's size, it was rare that Lily had to dig into monsters' corpses to get their magic stones, since almost all bodies ended up in more than one piece, triggering their fast decomposition. It kinda felt like a casual stroll to be honest.

After the third such battle, I resolved myself to try and work out more efficient ways of moving and handling Biggy, so at least I would gain something from them, aside from the magic stones. It was also a somewhat effective way of keeping my focus off the awkward silence that developed between Lily and me.

It took me another few fights to determine that I have no way of objectively determining if my moves are good or not. All I could do was find the method that felt the easiest to do and I've already done that before this. I see only two ways of advancing my swordsmanship skills. One, keep fighting stronger monsters and pick up things along the way, or two, find someone that would be willing to teach me. Since I still don't think I have enough money to pay for such lessons, the first method it will be.

I could also switch back to hand-to-hand, but having Lily in my party makes me a tad reluctant to do it just yet. Maybe after a few days of working together.

"What are you writing, Avrora-san?" Lily asked from next to me with her hands on her knees and leaning forward, trying to peek at my notes.

More than two hours have passed since we arrived on the floor, so Lily called for a short break. After drinking a bit from my water flask I grabbed the opportunity to jot down my notes before I forget the details.

"Oh, it's just my notes about the dungeon," I answered. "I'm not the best at thinking on the spot, so I note down everything that might be significant and analyze it later on the surface with a cooler head."

"Avrora-san doesn't seem that high-strung to me," she expressed her doubt.

"Hah, believe me, unless I'm alone in my room, I'm always high-strung," I chuckled a bit. It hit me once again that I'm actually speaking to a living, breathing version of a character I've spent a lot of time watching and reading about. It's not just an excellent cosplay or an actress playing the part, she is actually Liliruca Arde, a pallum supporter who was dealt a bad hand and is still doing her best to live her life anyway. It's a hell of a weird feeling.

Noticing that I kept my eyes on her for too long I quickly averted my gaze.

"Avrora-san," she called out to me.

"Yes?" I answered in a hurry, afraid that she noticed my lingering gaze and is calling me out on it.

"Lily noticed that Avrora-san doesn't have any Familia emblems on display, so Lily was curious what Familia Avrora-san hails from."

I knew this question would come up, so I thought of a slightly more detailed backstory for myself, but I think sharing the whole thing right off the bat would not be the best idea. If I told her that I was left alone in the middle of Orario with no-one to rely on she might think it's just a ploy to gain her pity.

"It's just a small Familia called Gaia Familia," I waved it away as not important. "It's based outside of Orario, so I don't think you've heard about it. As far as I know, I'm the only member working as an adventurer at this time."

"Gaia Familia? Lily has indeed not heard that name before," she confirmed.

"What about you, Lily?" I asked her back. Although seeming a bit reluctant at first, she finally answered.

"Well, Lily belongs to Soma Familia," she said with a somewhat sour expression, "but since Lily is so weak no one wants to party with her within the Familia, so Lily mainly works as an independent Supporter," she finished her explanation.

"Soma Familia? With the emblem of a cup and a crescent moon?" I asked back, to which Lily nodded. "I see. Not long ago I saw an adventurer with that emblem throw a tantrum at the exchange for not getting more valis," I fibbed a bit to explain my foreknowledge.

She stammered at that. "I-I understand if Avrora-san wants me to leave if-"

"No no, nothing like that," I interrupted. "After that scene, I asked my advisor about it and she told me that the main business of Soma Familia is making alcohol and their members only work as adventurers to provide the funds for that purpose."

I don't know if Eina knows about how Soma Familia functions just yet, but it's not implausible that I heard this from her, so she'll be my cover for it.

"A Familia famous for selling a limited amount of highly acclaimed alcohol and unruly adventurers behaving like addicts; it's not that hard to put two and two together," I said with a half-smile. "Honestly, not being able to find a party within your own Familia would usually be a sad thing, but in this case, I'm glad that Lily is not that close with such people."

"Lily would like to refute those remarks, but sadly she can't," she said, still morose.

"It's okay. I can tell that Lily is not like that," I tried to reassure her. "I promise I won't hold your Familia's faults against you. Unless, of course, you are the hidden leader of your Familia, having everyone dancing on the palm of your hands while you disguise yourself as an unassuming supporter," I tried to inject a bit of levity to chase away the somber mood that descended along the way.

She chuckled a bit, then made an exaggerated surprised sound. "How did you know that, Avrora-san? Tsk, tsk. Now that you have become aware of this grave secret, your only choice is to swear yourself to Lily, as Lily's underling," she said in a haughty tone.

Deciding to play along I grabbed Biggy from next to me and bent the knee in front of Lily. With both my hands supporting the flat of the blade and my head bowed, I offered my sword to her in the customary way.

"Lady Lily, please allow this inexperienced minion to serve you as you see fit," I supplicated.

"Rise, Avro- Aaagh, I can't do it, it's just too embarrassing," she started with the same haughty tone but became unable to continue half-way and ran away in embarrassment instead. Only until the exit of the room though, anything farther would've been reckless and Lily knows better than that. "Avrora-san, stop playing around like a small child and let's get back to exploring. We already spent too much time on this break," she said, most likely in part to hide her embarrassment. With a big smile on my face, I got up and walked after her.

"Since we spent a bit more time on break, how about we speed up a bit?" I asked Lily. "If Lily feels that I'm getting too reckless, then call out to me and I'll slow down."

I almost told her to call out to me if she can't keep up, but that would've been another unintentional disparaging remark towards her, so it's good that I managed to catch myself before I actually did say it.

"Very well, Avrora-san. Let's get to it," she agreed.

Getting my head back in the game I started roaming the floor at an almost jogging speed. Making sure to always do a visual check of the monsters before engaging and using the flat of Biggy to ward off attacks, we kept up a nice pace after that. Lily managed to easily keep up with me and I must've done well enough, because she didn't tell me to slow down even once.

The only time we stopped for more than a few minutes was for lunch, during which Lily told me a few more stories, or rather cautionary tales, since they were once again mostly about adventurer fuck-ups.

It seems there is always another adventurer party that thinks it's a grand idea to barge into the pantry on the Seventh Floor and try to take on every monster present. There are usually three kinds of outcomes to that, the party gets killed before they leave the pantry, the party gets killed while running away from monsters outflowing from the pantry, or perhaps some manage to survive by Pass Parading some unsuspecting other parties.

Those ultra super smart individuals think that they cracked the code to getting rich quick and that no one ever thought of the same idea, or if they did and it didn't work, well, it's just because they were incompetent. They will obviously do better.

The truth is that attacking a pantry isn't worth it at any level. If you are strong enough to hold out against every monster around the pantry, then you can just go down a few levels more and harvest magic stones that are simply worth more, and if you aren't strong enough, well, then you will just die. Not worth it either way.

Still wondering where those people get their boundless self-assurance from, I noticed that Lily's sandwiches have barely any meat in them, mostly just various vegetables like lettuce, tomato, although it's technically a fruit, and cucumber. It's not that I didn't like eating the sandwiches I get from the pub, but since I'm not a big meat eater, I try to not focus on its flavor and just shove them down as fast as possible without choking.

However, Lily's sandwiches were just the kind I like the most, so overcoming my reluctance I asked her.

"Lily, would you like to trade sandwiches?" She looked up just after biting into one of her sandwiches. She looked at my sandwich, well packed with meat stuff, then she looked at her's, packed with vegetables and minimal meat, finally, she looked back at me with a cocked eyebrow, radiating the question 'Why would you want to do that?' as she finally bit through the sandwich and started to chew it.

"I don't really like meat that much, so Lily's sandwiches look much better to me," I explained. "So, how about it?"

She was still chewing slowly, so couldn't answer verbally, but after running her gaze back and forth between my sandwiches and hers, she finally relented and handed over her box of sandwiches. I've done the same and we traded boxes until we emptied each.

Lily's sandwiches were damn good, so I was able to enjoy their flavor too, not just use them as necessary fuel to survive. A few glances in Lily's direction told me she also liked my sandwiches better. A good trade all-in-all.

Feeling sated after lunch, we spent another few minutes relaxing, since it would've been a bad idea to start doing strenuous stuff, like killing monsters, on a full stomach.

"Lily, do you think we should try to go even faster? I think I'm getting the hang of the Fifth Floor and could do better," I asked her.

"Lily is not sure that's a good idea, but if Avrora-san is sure, then we can try it. Don't worry, Lily will be able to keep up," she assured me. "However, if we come across a killer ant or war shadow, then we should slow down."

"Understood. Will do."

Thanks to our now jogging speed and swift dispatching of most monster groups we gather a respectable amount of magic stones and item drops. We even got a war shadow claw, which was lucky, considering we barely saw a dozen of them today. Since it was the first drop of its kind I came across I asked Lily if I could take it for sentimental reasons and she agreed. I told her to take its price from my share of the money, but she said it was alright. I thanked her and put the claw away into my bag.

Finally, it was time to leave the dungeon, so we made our way towards the surface through the main route. Along the way, I checked out the number of magic stones we got with my Territory, and it was 448 pieces. About a dozen came from the newer monsters, war shadows and frog shooters, but there was still no trace of killer ants. Not that it's a bad thing per se, but an encounter with one or two at a time would be good practice before we go down another floor, where they are more common. No matter, there is a good chance we will see one tomorrow.

Hah, we. It's still strange to not be alone anymore, but also a bit reassuring. It's good to have an experienced person like Lily watching my back. I hope she decides to not break up the party once we are out of the dungeon.

A fair number of adventurer parties were also on their way out, so no monster barred our way. I accompanied Lily near the guild exchange, but decided to not queue up with her.

"Lily, can you handle the exchange? I'll go sit on a nearby bench if it's okay with you."

"By all means, Avrora-san. This is also a Supporter's job after all," she declared. "Lily will come find you after."

Just as I said, I took a seat on one of the benches near the exchange and waited patiently. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, since this would be a perfect time for Lily to abscond with today's earnings if she wanted. The main reason I didn't queue up with her was to see if she would try to take off with it, or maybe skim off the top. Since I've counted the magic stones I can tell that today's income would come to about 40k valis. Not the most I've earned so far, but not bad, especially while hiding most of my abilities.

The next several minutes were kinda nerve-wracking. I knew that the exchange queues were quite long at this time of day, but when minute after minute went by without any signs of Lily I almost gave up hope. I even thought about the possibility that other adventurers grabbed her after seeing the sizeable sum she exchanged, but since there are multiple denominations of coins you can't tell the amount of money in a pouch just from the size of it and the exchange clerks are more discreet than just shouting out the exchanged amount. I very much doubt an experienced supporter like Lily would make a mistake that would allow others to work out how much money she got. There is also the fact that trying to shake down someone within Babel itself is a fast way to get blacklisted by the Guild. That kind of thing happens a lot down in the dungeon or in some side alleys, but doing the same on Guild territory is just not done. Even asshole adventurers with questionable intelligence are aware of that much.

So, the only possible reason why Lily might not come this way, is that she decided to take another exit from Babel, which would mean that I was just the latest-

"Avrora-san! Look!" She almost shouted my name, but she lowered her voice to whisper for the rest. "This is incredible! I never thought we would get so much, Avrora-san is amazing," she continued.

"Sorry, Lily. You startled me a bit," I said as I rubbed my eyes, leaving them a bit red. "I must've dozed off there a bit. What is it that's so incredible?"

"This, look!" She said as she took a seat beside me and showed me the contents of the pouch. It was most likely today's earnings, but it would've been more impressive if I actually could tell how much it was. "It's forty thousand valis!"

Wow, I guess my estimate was spot on. Also, that means she most likely did not pocket too much, if any, from what she got at the exchange. It may be because it's a good sum either way, or since it's the first day she is trying to lull me into a false sense of security. Time will tell.

"That's quite good," I reacted with much less enthusiasm than her.

"Good? Good!? Avrora-san, an average Level 1 adventurer party earns about twenty-five thousand a day. Getting forty thousand all alone is nothing short of phenomenal!"

"First, it wasn't all alone, you were with me all the way, second, I'm glad that you're happy with it, Lily," I smiled at her. "Does that mean you would consider working with me in the future too?" I asked the important question.

"Of course, Lily would be more than happy to keep working with Avrora-san," she answered seriously. "But Lily thinks that Avrora-san could easily join a more established party if she wished, why would Avrora-san want to keep working with someone like Lily?"

"Don't sell yourself short, Lily. From what I've seen you are a highly competent supporter and I have a lot to learn from you. It's possible that I might be slightly above average for a new adventurer, but compared to your level of experience in the dungeon, it's all but irrelevant. I still think that I'm the one getting the better deal from working together," I explained my stance to her. It was entirely true as well. Today really highlighted how much I'm just bumbling along, relying on my superior Status to coast me along. When I observed Lily from time to time, I could see a bunch of instinctual reactions she must've gained on lower floors. The way she reacts to sounds, the way she cases up new rooms as we enter, the way she can effortlessly find the best spot to not get attacked by monsters, yet be able to watch out for various dangers, honestly, it's much more amazing than my 'hit things until everything dies' type of conduct so far.

I was afraid that growing too fast in stat terms would make me miss out on essential beginner adventurer lessons, but with Lily there, that won't be a problem.

"Also, I don't think I would be able to work well with other combat-oriented adventurers, so a two-person party with Lily is perfect for me," I finished up.

For some reason Lily's cheeks were a bit red. Ah, she must not be used to getting praised. Well, she better get used to it, because I don't think I will lack opportunities to praise her in the future.

"Very well, Lily understands, even if she's not sure she agrees."

"Then, how about meeting here tomorrow at about eight in the morning?" I asked her.

"Yes, that would be fine. So, about the same as today?"

"Yeah, about that," I agreed. "Then I guess we should divvy up the money we got and go on our way for now."

"Oh, yes, there was still that," she chuckled. "Then Avrora-san said that we would divide it fifty-fifty, but with this much-"

"Fifty-fifty is perfectly fine, so twenty thousand for each of us," I said and grabbed the pouch to count out my share. Since all coins were 500 valis coins, I was able to quickly count out forty of them and stash them away in my bag. Making sure I got the right amount I counted the remaining coins, then handed the pouch back to Lily since there were indeed the same forty coins left in it too.

"There, I made sure I didn't miscount on my end too," I said as I handed over the money. "Thank you for working with me today. I hope we can get along from now on," I said as I did the customary light bow too.

"Thank you, Avrora-san. Then Lily will see you tomorrow," she said goodbye.

"Bye, Lily."

I watched her large backpack vanish into the crowd in no time, then with a long drawn out sigh I collapsed back onto the bench. All things said, this was a hell of a stressful day. I really did not want to mess up too much interacting with Lily, which I still managed to do a few times, but hopefully nothing that would cause her to ditch me immediately.

Not wanting to fall asleep on the bench for real I pulled myself to my feet and set the Hostess as my destination. After using my window as entrance once again, my only wish was to just fall on my cot and sleep until tomorrow, but I knew there were a few things I had to take care of first.

With utmost enthusiasm I discarded my coat and bag, dug out my sword maintenance kit, and sat down on the floor with Biggy on my lap. Since Biggy was larger than a conventional sword and my body rivaled that of a five years old human's in height, it was not that simple. Nonetheless, telekinesis to the rescue, I was able to orient and fix it in mid-air in ways that I could reach it and do what needed to be done. Hopefully, I did not mess it up too much.

With that done, the next on my list was taking a shower and washing a few clothes. I usually shower in Babel, but today I forgot to with all this Lily business.

While busy with the aforementioned two tasks, I thought about Lily's situation. It would of course be nice if the cheerful facade she kept up today could, with time, turn into her honest feelings simply due to my association with her, but I'm deluding myself into thinking it possible. The truth is Lily hates all adventurers at this point and it's unlikely that a nice word or two could elicit a persistent change in that view. For now, the best I can do is act professionally around her, hold myself back from treating her as if we are already good friends, so as not to creep her out, and turn a blind eye if she starts to pilfer some coins.

In the story, the main reason she was gathering money was that it cost a lot of money to be allowed to leave the Familia. At this point in time, it might be possible the douche-leader would even let her go with that, since he might be unaware of her transformation magic yet. If that's the case, then the whole leaving the Familia could perhaps go down without a hitch if she can gather up enough money.

I let out a sigh and paused washing my clothes. It's all uncertain for now. All I can do for now is get stronger, a line frequently uttered by many a cliche shounen protagonists, and save up as much money as possible for whatever comes.

Having finished the laundry, I took a shower and changed into my sleepwear after, which was just another, slightly flimsier, set of my everyday clothes, a hooded shirt, and almost knee-length shorts. Thankfully I could just throw my coat on top and go down to the pub to eat dinner without having to change once again.

It didn't take long to finish dinner, pay rent, and retreat back to my room. There was only one routine task I had to do today and that was updating my Falna. With all the excitement today I forgot why today was an important point in my Falna development and remembering it filled me with a bit of trepidation. I know there was little cause for being panicky, but I couldn't shake the bad feeling off.

A few minutes later I was sitting cross-legged, blood slowly trickling from a few small cuts on my slightly shaking hand. No matter how many times I tried, the same 999 in Magic stat greeted me every time I opened my Falna. It seems my worry was warranted after all.