INTERLUDE
DOES CINDERELLA DREAM OF HAPPINESS?
“Congratulations, supporter. You’re going to level up.”
It was the day after Bell’s Status update.
Hestia had held off on telling Lilly the results of her update so she could present them in front of the entire familia.
“Huh?” said Lilly, not fully comprehending what she’d just heard. It seemed like time froze for a moment. Then she continued, her expression unchanging. “Who is?”
“You are.”
“I’m what?”
“Leveling up.”
“Where?”
“Right here.”
“When?”
“Just now.”
There was a moment of silence in the living room where Bell and the rest had assembled. And then—
“Y-YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!”
Lilly thrust both her fists into the air, letting loose an uncharacteristic shout of triumph.
It was a full-bodied expression of victory that startled Mikoto and Haruhime while Bell and Welf both jumped back in surprise.
“Here’s the result of your last Status update before you leveled up,” said Hestia lightly, stifling a laugh as she offered Lilly a sheet of paper.
Lilly practically leaped to see the contents, still breathing heavily from her cry of joy.
Lilliluka Erde
Level 1
Strength: I81 -> H106 Defense: H144 -> 189 Dexterity: G265 -> 298 Agility: E417 -> 468 Magic: E499 -> D500
Magic
Cinder Ella
• Shape-shifting magic
• Target will assume the form envisioned at the time of casting. Without a clear image, spell will fail
• Mimicking an existing form is recommended
• Activation chant: “Your scars are mine. My scars are mine.”
• Deactivation chant: “Stroke of midnight’s bell.”
Skills
Arter Assist
• Activates automatically when weight carried exceeds a certain threshold
• Amount of assistance is proportional to weight carried
Command Call
• Expansion of telepathic communication range while shouting above a certain level
• During melee combat, area increase is determined by scope of battle
• Directions will be transmitted only to receivers with the same Falna. Maximum distance depends on the sender’s level.
This was her final Status at Level 1.
Leveling up involved acquiring a large amount of excelia by accomplishing various deeds and required raising at least one ability to the sixth rank.
In this case, it had been Lilly’s magic that had gone from I-rank to D-rank, as it had risen quite dramatically over the past month. She’d used her shape-shifting magic to sow confusion in the battle on Daedalus Street during the operation to help the Xenos return to the Dungeon. And just a few days earlier, she had finally crossed into D-rank.
There was also the matter of great deeds.
Although she’d had relatively few opportunities for direct combat, the many brushes with death Lilly had survived had apparently been worthy of a level-up.
The decisive factor must have been the encounter with the moss huge and the Amphisbaena in the most recent expedition, but even without that, Lilly had overcome many challenges that were extremely impressive for a Level 1 supporter: her kills in the middle levels, the battle against the Black Goliath, the War Game, and all the events surrounding the Xenos.
More than anything else, it was her triumph over a black mark on her history, Soma.
Her progress was a natural result of everything she had been through.
Furthermore, this level-up was the affirmation of the value of Lilliluka Erde’s entire life, from the moment she’d been given a Falna and inducted into a familia upon birth.
On top of everything else, she’d developed a new skill, too.
As Lilly gazed down at the paper, she trembled with emotion.
“So, what do you want to do for your development ability? Resistance is an option, but it looks like you could go for Compounding, too.”
As Hestia reviewed the possibilities, Lilly pounced. “Th-that’s the ability that Miss Nahza has, isn’t it?! Back when I was a thief, anytime I wanted to fool an adventurer, I’d pretend to be busy using Compounding to whip up an item!”
Evidently the reason Hestia had deferred Lilly’s Status and not immediately leveled her up was to give her the opportunity to discuss the choice with Bell and the others before settling on a development ability.
Lilly was excited all over again, but now she agonized over the choice—although it was an enjoyable sort of dilemma.
Compounding was a development ability often acquired by herbalists, and it was chiefly used to create medicines. It could raise the efficacy of items like recovery potions to the point where they almost seemed like magic, closing wounds instantly and more.
Essentially, if she chose Compounding, she would be able to make potions and potentially all sorts of other things—which would significantly cut down on certain item expenses!
Lilly had never thought of herself as an herbalist, but in truth she found the possibility quite charming. The ability to make potions as needed on her own would be a serious financial coup. The idea lingered tantalizingly in her mind, particularly as the one in charge of the familia’s money. If she became decent at it, there was even potential to sell some of the items she made and make a little money.
Still, Resistance could be useful, too, even if it’s less exciting…
Simply by passively preventing harmful Status ailments, Resistance was powerful. It was especially sought after by those who went on Dungeon expeditions, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that high-level adventurers who ventured deeper into the Dungeon considered it essential. There were certain things that were simply impossible to do without it.
Lilly agonized.
Then, after much deliberation, she chose Resistance.
While Compounding was extremely appealing to her for its utility in item creation, Lilly’s true goal was to continue being Bell’s supporter.
To not falter in the Dungeon.
To be ever at his side, ready to aid him however she could.
Being of use to the party, and therefore to Bell, was her highest priority.
It wasn’t as simple as the Far Eastern proverb “For rice cakes, go to the rice cake shop,” but the reality was that they considered Nahza as a close ally and could count on her to provide whatever items they needed. It stood to reason that an experienced, talented herbalist would be able to produce better items than someone who’d only just started out. Lilly could continue to haggle with Nahza while relying on her for whatever they needed, as she always had.
Everyone had their strengths.
Lilly decided to prioritize her role as supporter.
“Congratulations, Lady Lilly!”
“This is amazing!”
“If I’m not careful, Li’l E’s gonna surpass me!”
Surrounded by Mikoto, Haruhime, and Welf, Lilly found herself showered in praise.
I’m so happy!
I really am!
I almost thought this day would never come!
Lilly felt as though she had finally been accepted.
Accepted by a reality she’d once loathed so bitterly.
Accepted by a world that now, thanks to so many people in her life, seemed to shine brightly.
“I’m so glad for you, Lilly!”
But more than anyone else…this boy had changed her.
Thanks to him, she’d found the strength to stop living as the sad girl covered in cinders and start being true to herself.
He had saved her.
And now that boy looked at Lilly with a beaming smile. No matter how much he grew and matured, his easy smile never seemed to change.
There was a time…when I really wanted to make his life hell.
Deep down, Lilly felt an indescribable emotion as she thought back to their first meeting. The relish she’d once had at imagining how thoroughly she would swindle that lost little lamb—or rabbit—was still a good memory somehow. Despite being a dark moment in her past.
“What’s wrong, Lilly?”
“…Nothing! Not a thing, Mr. Bell!” She shook her head and returned Bell’s smile with one that was every bit as bright.
Then she repeated her oath—a promise she would keep no matter what happened.
“Lilly’s gonna keep supporting you, from now till forever!”
“~? ”
Lilly hummed a cheerful tune to herself as she walked through the city. With her newly promoted Status, she was now officially Level 2. She found it impossible to hide her delight.
“The expedition ended in failure, and our familia was almost on the brink of bankruptcy, but…turns out there are rewards that you can’t put a price tag on!” She jumped and twirled like a kid who’d just received their allowance.
Without anyone around who could identify her as one of Hestia Familia , she was showered in the smiling, fond gazes of the adults occupying the storefronts she walked past.
Normally she would’ve resented being identified as a child, but for the moment, it didn’t bother Lilly one bit.
If she consciously flipped the “switch” on her new abilities, the speed that she could run and the distances she could jump would change dramatically. She could probably leap from the street right up to the second-story roof of one of the nearby houses if she really wanted to.
Even as she considered how it would take both time and training to become accustomed to her new abilities, Lilly was brimming with excitement at her newfound potential.
“Oh, come to think of it, the familia might also get promoted because of Lilly…?”
Would the tax they had to pay go up? Would it be better to keep her level-up a secret?
She mulled over the various possibilities, but finally burst out in a delighted and entirely out-of-character laugh.
“Who cares? Yippee!”
She was unbelievably delighted.
“Heh-heh…Now it’s time to deliver this along with the good news.”
Cradling a bag in both arms, Lilly ran through the streets as they began to fill up.
“Hey! Are…are you Lilliluka Erde?”
“Huh? Who…Mr. Ruan?!”
Ruan Espel, the fellow prum she’d suddenly run into, had the dress and air of a knight’s page.
Once a member of Apollo Familia , he was currently a free agent and Lilly seemed to recall that he was currently working at the Hidden Home of the Prums, a prum-only tavern.
“What are you doing around here?”
“…I’m on errands for the pub. What, isn’t it obvious?” said the prum boy—a year older than Lilly—showing off a shopping bag that was quite large given his physical size. His lip curled into a sneer, seeming to indicate that perhaps he still held a grudge from the War Game. “What about you? Going around giggling like a little kid. What’s got you in such a great mood?”
Not even Ruan’s curt tone could ruin Lilly’s mood. She thrust her chest out proudly, still holding her own bag in both arms. “After our expedition finished, I leveled up! Lilly has joined the ranks of the Level Twos!”
Ruan’s shock was both instant and loud. “Wh-whaaaaaaaaat?!” Pedestrians stepped around the two prums to avoid their little melodrama as it played out in the middle of the street. “Y-you’re kidding me, right? There’s no way a prum could level up that easily! Hell, weren’t you weaker than me to begin with?!”
“Well, I have my magic, as you are surely aware, Mr. Ruan! This is the result of all the practice I’ve been putting in!”
Ruan’s disbelief was unrelenting, but as he gradually accepted the truth of Lilly’s words, his attention drifted away.
He slumped. His expression distorted in shame as he glared at Lilly with dark eyes. “Damn it…Why is it only you…? I’ve…I’ve been…”
Lilly froze.
She knew that expression.
A scant five months earlier, she had worn the same look.
Envy and jealousy. A heart coveting that which didn’t belong to her. The constantly gnawing feeling that the smiles of others was unbearable.
And in Lilly’s case, there was hatred as well.
Looking at Ruan only to see her past self, Lilly soon regained her composure.
“You know, Lilly had a really, really hard time, too. I worked so hard I nearly died. It’s not something worth being jealous over!” She made her argument with a single raised finger, trying to reverse the sudden gloom that had sprung up.
“Ugh…I—I get that.”
Whether he realized that his jealousy was misplaced or felt miserable at his own inability to do anything, Ruan scowled.
Lilly knew all too well what it was to feel inferior, and she knew she’d gotten carried away in her excitement.
But she did not try to comfort Ruan, because she understood that sympathy was the most painful thing of all for someone in his position.
Ruan pursued the subject no further and was obviously trying to change the subject. “…So what gives? You came out by yourself for something? I assume you’re not reporting your level-up to the Guild. That bag you’ve got…Is it money?” He looked at the sack Lilly was holding, perhaps having heard the coins jingling from within it.
“Oh, this is for—”
That was as far into the sentence as Lilly got before her ears caught the sound of a certain familiar voice.
“Lilly, sweetheart?!”
“—!”
Lilly held her breath. In an instant, through a gap in the crowds, her keen prum eyes spied an elderly couple who seemed to be coming in her direction.
They were still a ways off.
The moment she was hidden from sight by the press of the crowd, she recited the short, familiar chant.
“Your scars are mine. My scars are mine.”
It was a blazing fast spell; no one had time to notice.
The high-speed transformation happened amid the swish of a traveler’s cloak, the turn of a wagon’s wheel, the hefting of a dwarf’s heavy load. The only one to see Lilly briefly cloaked in a gray light before she became someone else was Ruan, whose eyes went wide at the near-instant effects of her spell.
The astounding casting speed was a benefit of her new level—the proof of her newfound strength.
But more than that, her tactician’s eye—that ability to maneuver into a brief blind spot—was a prize earned through constantly escaping death during the expedition.
The “girl” whose transformation none but Ruan had witnessed now slipped into the crowd as she walked toward the elderly couple.
“Lilly, dear…wha—?”
“I’m sorry, is something the matter?” The “elf girl” tilted her head in confusion as though she’d only just noticed the couple. She had long, pointed ears, and wide, almond-shaped eyes. Her clothes only looked similar to a red outfit worn by a certain Lilliluka Erde.
The old human couple gave her awkward smiles, either convinced that they had the wrong person or perhaps simply disappointed.
“Oh, our apologies, dear. We mistook you for someone else. You look so very much like a girl we used to know, we just…” said the old woman apologetically. She held a flower bouquet in her arms, and it seemed like they were on their way to deliver it somewhere.
The young elf girl looked up at their kindly smiles, but it was the silent Ruan beside her who spoke up. “I heard you say ‘Lilly.’ D’you happen to mean Lilliluka Erde, of Hestia Familia ?”
“…Yes, that’s right,” came the regretful reply from the old woman.
The old man, her husband, continued in her stead. “We run a flower shop, you see, and…some time ago, she used to live with us, and we did something quite awful.”
“…”
“Though…we weren’t aware of how terrible it was at the time. We were thinking only of ourselves, and without taking even a moment to consider that poor girl’s burden, we kicked her out. After showing her only the most meager kindness, we drove her away, and…”
The old man spoke as though he were delivering a confession. As the couple stood in the middle of the street, they were bathed in the irritated and even resentful gazes from the pedestrians who flowed around them.
“There’s always money being left in front of the store, you see…as though she’s saying ‘I’m sorry.’ At first, we thought she was mocking us, but the payments always come with flowers. Always flowers, the exact ones we’d told her we like…”
As the old man’s voice caught, Ruan stole a glance at the elf girl’s hands.
Those small hands held a pouch filled with gold coins.
“…Well, Hestia Familia ’s become a pretty well-known group. Ask around for where their home base is and I’m sure you’d have no trouble finding it. If you wanted to see her, couldn’t you do it any time you wanted?” Either out of capriciousness or consideration for the girl next to him, Ruan feigned innocence and asked the question the elf girl would never have been able to.
“We don’t even know how we would begin to approach her…No, that’s not it—if we really did go, we don’t know what we would say or do, you see…” said the old woman. She seemed to imply that, as the ones who’d cast Lilly out, they had no right to have regrets or deliver apologies.
There beneath the expanse of the clear blue sky overhead, the old couple’s faces were dark and heavy.
An overwhelming, oppressive silence fell among them. It was a sight Lilliluka Erde didn’t want to witness.
Which was why—
“…Sir, Ma’am.” The elf girl spoke. “Would you give me those flowers you have?” she said with a guileless smile, trying to dispel the darkness that colored the couple’s faces.
“Wha—?”
“I’d like to have those lovely flowers you’re carrying.” She held out the pouch containing the gold coins and gestured to the bundle of white flowers the old woman carried.
“W-we couldn’t possibly…these are just what we didn’t sell today, and that’s far too much money. Much too much for these meager flowers—”
It wasn’t Lilliluka Erde but simply a nameless elf girl who gently interrupted the old woman to speak. “You see, today something really good happened for me. Something that makes me feel like everything I’ve gone through has been worthwhile. That’s why I’d like to buy that bouquet from you…with those feelings and these coins.”
It was the girl’s true desire. Though her form was a deception, her words were true. She smiled, hiding her sadness behind her eyes.
After a moment, the stunned couple’s faces finally brightened. It was as though they were looking through the elf girl in front of them and seeing someone else entirely. Her smile was sad and lonely—but also somehow happy.
“Thank you…Miss Elf.”
The old couple didn’t say Lilly’s name. But they gently patted her head, as though she were a treasured granddaughter.
The girl’s cheeks colored, and her face split in a great smile.
The old couple said their good-byes, turned away, and disappeared into the crowd.
Then, Ruan spoke. “…Hey, you really okay with that?” His voice mingled with the sound of the hustle and bustle around them, and he’d probably guessed more or less what had just transpired.
“It’s fine.” Once again going unnoticed by anyone else, Lilly dispelled her magic disguise. She held the bundle of flowers to her chest, still looking in the direction the old couple had gone.
“Seeing Lilly would’ve only upset them. It’s better this way.”
“…”
“I ruined the place they once gave me…and now that I’ve finished paying them back for all the trouble I caused, it’s over.” Then, to banish the melancholy mood, she smiled brightly and continued in a joking tone. “And anyway, I’m just as bad as them. No, I might be even more scared to meet them. Even after leveling up, I guess I’m the same weak little prum I’ve always been.”
After a moment of silence, Ruan spat his disagreement at her. “The hell you are.” The prum avoided meeting Lilly’s eyes. He hadn’t been sure whether to say it. “You’re strong. Way stronger than me…”
Lilly smiled.
It was a smile of gratitude.
And the swaying white edelweiss flowers in her arms seemed to smile, too.
“…”
Meanwhile, the god Soma looked up.
“What is the matter, my lord?” asked Chandra, a dwarf with a wine gourd affixed to his waist.
They were in the headquarters of Soma Familia , in the third district located in the southeastern part of the city.
Soma was in his chambers settling accounts with Chandra, his chief lieutenant, but suddenly he paused by the window.
His long hair hid his eyes, and he ignored Chandra, instead facing out the window. “That girl…she’s grown.”
“…?”
“Just…a feeling I have.”
Even after her conversion to another familia, the traces of the first Falna etched upon her would not necessarily have disappeared completely. Like a scar, the ichor a child had been administered would remain on their back, as proof they’d once sworn themselves to a different god.
Soma didn’t think of it as a bond, per se, but he had the distinct feeling that the girl had taken a step closer to the gods.
“That girl—you mean Lilliluka Erde?”
“…Yes.”
“I don’t really get it, but…if you’re interested, shall I go to Hestia Familia to inquire about her?”
Chandra had only been promoted to captain of the familia a few months earlier, but he was quickly learning how to interpret his god’s terse, cryptic statements. He’d incidentally just laid his hands on a record book of former members of Soma Familia , and he flipped through it to find Lilly’s entry.
When he found it, seemingly written in Soma’s own hand, only the absolute barest of information, like her gender and race, was recorded.
Soma was silent in response to Chandra’s question, but at length he shook his head slowly. “No…leave it.”
“Hmm, why?”
“I…have no right to approach her.”
“‘No right’?”
“I abandoned her once. And…she has since slipped my grasp.” Soma said nothing more.
Realizing that no explanation would be forthcoming, Chandra shrugged. “You’re as inscrutable as always.” He easily hefted a large crate over his shoulder and carried it out of the chamber.
Alone now, Soma gazed through the window at the streets of Orario that spread out below. “Congratulations, little Lilliluka Erde…” he said to the girl who was surely somewhere in that city, his voice tinged with regret and admiration. “You’ve grown so much,” he murmured with a smile on his lips.
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