[16] Was Cinderella Truly Happy?

Chapter 16: Was Cinderella Truly Happy?

"My mom used to read me a lot of fairy tales when I was little... like Cinderella."

— The Last Storyteller

"Must've been nice. My mom passed away when I was young. Do you know what it feels like to join the workforce at age seven?"

— The Strongest Demon King

"By the way, the original version."

— The Last Storyteller

"Hold on, you little—?! What kind of harsh childhood education is this?!"

— The Greatest Demon King

...

Lili was happy.

Even though she had returned to the dungeon and resumed her work as a supporter, she was happy.

The self-proclaimed "dad" in her life was eccentric, silly, and unpredictable, but she was happy.

He pushed her to grow stronger by forcing her to hunt monsters and made her endure various training regimens at home, which was exhausting—but she was still happy.

At the end of the day, they would gather around, share a meal with laughter, say their goodnights, and head to their respective rooms to sleep.

It was different from her life before, but she liked how things were now.

Honestly, she thought she was lucky to have met Luke.

"Radiant arrows of light, pierce my enemies and punish them!"

For the past few days, Riseria had been studying magic, and now she had mastered a simple spell.

With her chant, magical energy gathered in her hands, emitting a brilliant glow.

"Magic Missile!"

The spell surged forward, striking the body of a Killer Ant before her and exploding on impact.

"Hmm, so this is the current level of power... If I increase its speed and impact, it could become quite effective. Perhaps I could also add a function to automatically track and attack nearby monsters..."

"A skill that lets you develop magic... no matter how you look at it, that's totally broken."

"It's also the kind of skill that'll get you into trouble if word gets out. Lord Susanoo told me not to reveal this, second only to Luke's skill. Seriously, what kind of skill does that guy have?"

Even though they were in the same Familia, neither Susanoo nor Luke had disclosed anything about Luke's [Heaven-Slaying Star] skill.

It wasn't about a lack of trust; it was about minimizing the risk of leaks. The more people knew, the higher the chances of exposure.

As the evening drew near, the two left the dungeon, exchanged their spoils for money, and exited Babel to head home.

"I'm going to swing by the market to pick up some things for my magic research. You go ahead without me."

"Be careful. If you draw attention to yourself, that face of yours will cause trouble in more ways than one."

Like always, Lili saw Riseria off without much thought and turned toward the north main street to head home.

The distance from Babel, the dungeon's entrance, to their home was a bit far. However, for Lili, who was blessed with divine favor, it wasn't a difficult walk.

After all, in the dungeon, she routinely walked much farther distances.

Humming a light tune, Lili strolled along.

She thought about today's earnings. How much should she save? Maybe they could afford to eat out this week? It was a modest but happy train of thought.

And then—

Someone yanked her into an alley.

Caught off guard, Lili resisted, but her assailant was stronger than her—clearly an adventurer of higher rank—and she couldn't break free.

"Well, well, look who it is. You've been looking pretty lucky these days."

The voice belonged to someone who had tormented her for years.

Canoe Belway.

While Lili was working as a supporter in the [Soma Familia], there was a person who would always abuse and threaten her, taking her money.

That person was the man standing right in front of her now—Canoe Belway.

"I heard you transferred to another Familia, but... it's a nameless, small one, right? There are only three members in the whole Familia, including you, if I remember correctly?"

At this point, the news of Luke reaching LV.2 hadn't been publicly announced, as it had only been known among the gods before the guild made any official reports.

Unless it was a particularly special case, the guild would keep things confidential until the gods themselves made the information available.

On the surface, the [Susanoo Familia] appeared to be a small Familia with only three members.

"Times are tough, you know? Harder to make money lately. So, how about you hand over some? Come on, Ade?"

With that, he threatened Lili and threw a punch toward her face.

The heavy blow caused Lili to fall to the ground, and then another kick hit her in the stomach.

"Ugh....!"

"Ah, ah. You shouldn't scream, you know. People might hear."

The happiness she had was shattered.

Just like before. Just like that time.

This man had destroyed it again.

Lili clearly remembered seeing him smirking behind the flower shop when it was destroyed.

Do you want to be happy? I wanted that too, but it doesn't come easy.

She recalled Luke's words.

"I can't give you any money..."

"Huh?"

"I can't give you money. This money is what Lili and Riseria earned from hunting in the dungeon."

She absolutely could not give it to him.

Angered by her words, Canoe continued to kick Lili in the stomach.

She wanted to scream, but Lili bit her lip and endured it. Screaming would be giving in to him.

Never again.

I don't want to go back to the past.

'That's why I grabbed hold of it. I fought, killed, survived, and kept moving forward, eventually reaching my happiness. If someone like me can do it, you can too.'

Lili remembered the words she heard while talking to Luke.

She would not give up.

"Get lost....!"

"What? Ade, who do you think you're talking to?"

"I said get lost!"

Lili rolled to dodge a kick aimed at her stomach, ignoring the pain as she got up.

She clenched her fists.

'Watch closely, Lili. I'm going to punch you with all the courage I've got.'

'Huh? Ouch! That's painful! And it's just an ordinary punch!'

'Right, an ordinary punch filled with courage. That's something anyone can have… as Maka Albarn said.'

Lily didn't know who Maka Albarn was, but in this moment, right now, she poured all of her emotions into it.

Even if it was futile, even if it hurt, she would not hesitate.

She would have courage, just this once.

"Haahhh!"

Lili charged at Canoe and threw a punch with all her might at his abdomen.

Though she would have preferred to hit him in the face, the difference in their sizes meant that even if she jumped, the best she could do was aim for his stomach.

The fortunate thing was, since her punch was aimed at his abdomen and not his face, Canoe wasn't able to dodge quickly enough. He never expected her to strike back, and thought that as a supporter, she couldn't hurt him much anyway.

After one blow, he would strike again, and take the money from her. That's what Canoe Belway thought.

Her punch landed squarely on his abdomen, and before Lili could even register what had happened, the shockwave from the impact felt like a powerful body slam from an armored creature, as if something with layers of hard armor had collided with him.

"Ku, ugh?!?!"

It was as though the punch had taken all the frustration she'd been harboring and turned it into raw power.

The force of the blow wasn't just strength, it was the culmination of Lili's will, the "will of the weak."

No matter how strong he was, Canoe was still only LV.1. Without extraordinary stats, there was no way he could withstand such a blow.

His body was sent flying, crashing violently into the wall, leaving a crack before crumpling to the floor.

".....Eh?"

Lili stared in disbelief at her fist.

It looked like an ordinary hand, small and delicate, the hand of a fragile little girl from the Pallum race.

Though recently, with all of Luke's training, there were signs of calluses starting to form on her palms.

"What on earth was that?"

Despite her confusion, Lili felt a strange satisfaction. She quickly composed herself, grabbed her backpack, and headed home.

If her body had been hurt or her face bruised, she could easily hide it. She pushed the thoughts aside and walked home, acting like nothing had happened.

"I'm back."

As soon as she stepped into the home, however, Lili collapsed.

Sasano and Luke, as if they already knew, carefully laid her down in her room, allowing her to rest in bed.

...

Liliruca Arde

LV.1

Strength: 117 → G 215

Endurance: 124 → G 289

Dexterity: 170 → H 101

Agility: G 203 → F 322

Magic: 10

Magic

『Crystal Heel』

Incantation - [A girl's happiness is something she must chase after and seize for herself. A magical glass slipper that shines for the girl.]

•Support Magic

•Accelerates

•The user wears a magic that has a repulsive force on their feet, which can be controlled by the user.

•The repulsive force increases in proportion to the shock received.

Skills

[Athel Assist]

•A correction that applies when the equipment load exceeds a certain threshold.

•Ability modifiers are proportional to weight.

[Pride of the Weak]

•Does not falter.

•Endures.

•Amplifies.

[Weak Runner]

•Converts all stats except endurance into agility.

•Effects are canceled upon contact with others.

•The target of contact before activation is an exception.

•Can be triggered at will.

...

Susanoo laughed as he watched Lili's new skill.

"This child always had the potential to manifest some magic. Even if we had let things be, it would have manifested in some form eventually… but it seems to have developed exactly as she wished, which makes me happy."

"My daughter has grown so well. Very proud of her."

"By the way, aren't you pushing yourself too hard? In just a few days, her strength and durability stats have increased this much? While you have skills, she doesn't, right?"

"It's nothing special. Just taught her how to fight carefully, hit her a couple of times, and showed her some of my breathing techniques. You know, those techniques that strengthen muscles just by breathing."

"Are you talking about Ripple Breathing Technique?! No, that's a completely different ability… what kind of sucker have I taken in?"

Then Susanoo's expression changed.

Luke also furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth.

"Did you see that guy's face?"

"I've identified his current location. I'll deal with him after entering the dungeon."

"Hitting a pinpoint target and identifying his location in an entire city? What kind of monster…"

The two were talking about Canoe, who had beaten Lili and tried to rob her.

Luke had already witnessed everything when he went to pick Lili up but didn't step in as she wanted to handle it herself.

However, what happens after is another story.

"Gods aren't allowed in dungeons… Besides, it'd be more convenient for you to handle things in the dungeon, right?"

"Are you okay with a god endorsing murder?"

"I've seen plenty of scum in my life. Who do you think took their heads?"

A dark aura of intent to kill emanated from Luke.

He wanted to cut that guy's head off right then and there, but he held back because if he got caught and ended up with a bounty on his head, he wouldn't be able to take care of Lili.

"I won't let that bastard die easily."

"So how're you going to kill him?"

"You know those small LEGO figurines? When you put a bit of force on them, their heads, upper and lower bodies, and sometimes even their arms come off."

"Ah, those."

"Let me repeat: I won't let him die easily."

Luke flicked a 10 Valis coin he'd received when he first met Lili.

It was his fee.

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