Chapter 54: It's Unreasonable Not to Charge Extra for This!
The sudden turn of events left Lili's mind in a brief state of blankness. The restaurant was the one the Soma Familia usually chose for gatherings.
Even the specifications of the dishes were ordered by her according to the usual style.
The cost was naturally put on the Soma Familia's tab. She used her Familia member status to pick up the meal and disguised herself as a restaurant employee to deliver it.
In a short time, she couldn't figure out which step had gone wrong.
"I'm not particularly sure... the manager asked me to deliver the meal." With the magical disguise of "Cinder Ella," she averted her gaze.
Lili gritted her teeth and shirked responsibility, while her peripheral vision swept over the adventurers below.
Some impatient Familia members had already started to feast on the dishes laced with Blue Butterfly scale powder. The drug's effect was very fast.
If she didn't leave now, her identity would probably be exposed soon.
She looked up and hurriedly explained, "The restaurant is very busy tonight. If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back now?"
"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
As the captain of the "Soma Familia," and having controlled so many members with divine wine, Zanis was, of course, no fool.
His suspicious nature, coupled with the unusual circumstances and Lili's evasive and nervous attitude.
He didn't think this was a simple mix-up of delivering the wrong meal. His sinister gaze swept over the many Familia members below.
Zanis's heart was filled with contempt. He gave instructions to his deputy, Ganu, "Go 'invite' the owner of the Antler Restaurant over."
"Let's see what's really going on!"
"And you bunch of trash, didn't you notice something was wrong with the food?" Realizing he had been plotted against by other adventurers.
The veins on Zanis's hand gripping the railing bulged. His tone was unconcealedly contemptuous towards the members.
If they weren't able to earn money, he would never have thought of giving these trash dependants, obsessed with divine wine, any good grace!
He then turned his head to glance at Lili, a basic guess already forming in his mind.
Observing the members who had eaten the food carefully, one could see their state was off; they appeared drowsy even without tasting the divine wine.
And not far away, the restaurant waitress who looked inexplicably familiar to him. A gentle smile appeared on Zanis's mature face.
"So, do you have anything to explain?"
Up to now, the situation was already uncontrollable. Lili stood frozen on the spot, currently lacking the strength to stop anything.
Once the other party brought the owner of the Antler Restaurant over, it meant everything would be exposed.
Using her Soma Familia member status to order food, pretending to be a restaurant waitress to deliver laced food to the banquet gathering...
She couldn't imagine what the consequences would be, but it was definitely not something she could bear!
Facing Zanis's gaze, she subconsciously retreated, breaking the ceramic plate hidden in her clothes to attract Liam.
Perhaps she could buy some time to escape?
"."
When this thought arose, Lili's mind quickly rejected it.
The Familia members below had already stopped their actions. The few adventurers who had fainted had thoroughly sounded the alarm in their hearts.
The plan was a complete failure at this point. The intense turmoil in her mind made her unable to maintain the "Cinder Ella" magic's effect.
As her disguised appearance disappeared, she reverted to her original, true form...
And watching Lili gradually transform from an unfamiliar waitress into a familiar Familia member, Zanis's vision was momentarily blurred.
It was certain now; this girl had planned everything.
His gentle smile didn't diminish in the slightest. On the contrary, it was as if he had discovered a new continent, a business opportunity even greater than the Familia members!
Liliruca, who grew up in the Familia, could actually use magic to nearly deceive him?
Without any surprise, Zanis became extremely interested in Lili's "Cinder Ella" magic. He slowed his pace and gradually approached.
Her purpose in doing this was easy to guess. After all, Lili had a prior record of this kind, unable to bear the Familia's environment and escaping.
Only to be kindly taken in by a couple who owned a flower shop.
The result, of course, was her return to the Familia, a process that didn't take much of his effort.
Tonight's various actions were probably an attempt to use some special drug to knock out all the adventurers, then go to Soma to discuss leaving the Familia?
Zanis would not allow any other members to escape his control, let alone Lili, who could potentially earn him a lot of money in the future!
"Liliruca."
"I remember that's your name?" He gradually recalled the identity of the young woman before him, his smile gentle yet full of pressure.
The other adventurers hadn't yet discovered Lili's identity.
Zanis felt his attitude could be appropriately gentle. By holding this leverage, he could make Lili more obedient to his arrangements. "You wouldn't want..."
"The matter of poisoning Familia members to be known by others, would you?"
What broke the silent atmosphere was a tall, strong adventurer, knocked out by the "Blue Butterfly scale powder," along with the glass of wine placed in front of him.
Both fell to the ground, the crisp sound of impact echoing.
"Clang!"
"What a waste!" Not paying attention to this unexpected interlude, Zanis was just about to maintain order in the Familia and cover up the matter with Lili.
If it caused public anger, it wouldn't be appropriate for him, as the captain, to protect her. He had to divert this matter.
But things went against his wishes. What followed was a short and gentle knock on the door.
Probably a late Familia member. Zanis dismissed the possibility, as he had more important things to deal with now.
Before he could make his next move…
The brief knocking sound gradually disappeared, replaced by the violent impact of the wooden door being shattered by a sword aura slash, splintering into the room.
"Bang!"
"."
Including Zanis and Lili, the gazes of all Soma Familia members present involuntarily turned towards the doorway.
Standing there was a young man's figure, cloaked in grayish-brown, holding a short sword in his hand.
Almost instantly, he became the focus of all the adventurers' gazes, filling the originally silent atmosphere with a growing sense of strangeness...
The sound of ceramic and glass shattering on the ground was hard to distinguish through a wooden door, but since it was the signal to act, Liam, of course, did not delay.
There was no response to his knock. Worried that his client might be in danger inside, his method of opening the door was more... swordsman-like.
The wood splinters didn't raise any dust, but seeing that only a few adventurers inside the Soma Familia home were asleep, with the majority still awake.
Liam's face almost couldn't maintain its composure. The scene before him, why was it so different from what he had expected?
"Huh?"
"Um..."
Forced into a corner by Zanis, even at her most desperate moment, Lili hadn't thought of implicating Liam.
In the current critical situation, he would actually take the initiative to come and save her!
All sorts of complex emotions flooded the young woman's heart.
Knowing she needed to do something to show her stance, taking advantage of Zanis's brief daze, she ran down the wooden stairs towards the young man.
When she reached the side of this figure who, to her, was exceptionally reliable.
The fear enveloping her heart was soothed. Then, worried that Liam would misunderstand her and think she had deliberately placed him in a dangerous situation.
Lili decisively pulled out a yellowish ceramic plate from her bosom and explained earnestly, "I'm telling you, I wasn't the one who dropped the plate just now. Do you believe me?"
"."
Even if it was a mix-up, Liam had no time to think. His gaze swept over the vast number of adventurers in front of him.
He felt the situation was somewhat delicate, and couldn't help but grip the hilt of his sword.
"Can I win?"
Probably even Teacher 2.5 (a Jujutsu Kaisen meme referring to Gojo Satoru) couldn't give him an answer now!
Not blaming Lili for this matter, Liam shook his head lightly, "There's no need to say these things now…"
She was even prepared for him to draw a clear line, but she hadn't expected Liam to have this attitude. When the young woman looked up.
Her brown pupils were filled with unconcealed admiration.
Recalling the scene where they negotiated the deal, without fear of the current situation, the smile on her face was incomparably earnest, "I can add more money."
"Mm…"
"If it's not enough, you can have all the money I earn in the future!!"
(End of this chapter)
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