Is It Wrong For Me To Start With Three Skills In Danmachi ?!

Chapter 138: So, still need our help?



It all originated from Soma Familia's divine wine...

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As the god of wine, Soma was completely obsessed with brewing. In modern terms, he was a pure "tech geek," with no talent whatsoever for management. So, he came up with an idea: use the only thing he could offer to reward his children, divine wine.

Very quickly, those who tasted the divine wine became its captives because of its exquisite flavor.

But... Soma then discovered a second problem.

To brew proper divine wine, not only did he need to devote his full attention, but the material costs were also astronomical.

In other words, the Soma Familia needed money, lots and lots of money.

The "clever" Soma immediately thought of a second solution: he set a rule, whoever earned more money could drink more wine.

Once this system was put into effect, the entire familia went mad!

And then, a vicious cycle began.

The adventurers, whose minds and bodies were enslaved by the divine wine, gradually lost their bottom line and morality in their pursuit of wealth.

They stole, robbed, murdered each other, betrayed each other... As long as it was for money, and as long as it brought profit, they would do anything. And this situation lasted for decades.

When the first generation of familia members had children, those children inherited not blessings, but corruption.

Adding to that, it coincided with Orario's most chaotic and despair-filled age of darkness, which only worsened everything.

By now, the people of the Soma Familia were rotten to the core.

The supporter belonging to Bell Cranel, Liliruca Arde, grew up in this darkest of environments.

And so, someone who had crawled and struggled through such cruelty and survived to this day, how could she possibly obey the words of a "cloaked clown-masked man" she just met, who clearly didn't look like a good person?

Reflecting on the cause and effect, Fron's lips curved bitterly. He had still thought too naïvely of human nature...

"Ahhhhhhh, !"

"Hel-help me!!!!"

A miserable, terrified scream echoed from ahead. The girl swordsman beside him instinctively wanted to rush forward to save them, but Fron grabbed her hand.

"Fron?"

Ais looked slightly anxious. If adventurers encountered trouble, companions would usually try to help. She first glanced at the hand gripping her wrist, then raised her head slightly, confused, as if her eyes were asking: Why stop me?

"Look..."

Fron, sensing the emotions the girl conveyed, pointed with his staff toward the corner ahead. Ais instinctively followed his gesture with her gaze.

And then she saw, two burly adventurers clutching obvious loot that wasn't theirs, faces crazed with excitement, running frantically.

Behind them, chasing in swarms, were killer ants, their sharp foreclaw blades still dripping with fresh human blood.

Seeing this, Ais' eyes grew cold.

Having fought in the dungeon for so many years, she only needed a brief glance at the situation to guess what had happened.

If their companions had been killed, these adventurers should have been terrified, fleeing in panic.

There was no way they would escape loaded with spoils.

And judging by their expressions, not fearful, but thrilled, something was clearly wrong.

"Betrayal."

The girl's gaze turned icy, and she gripped her beloved sword.

'No, it's betrayal upon betrayal.'

Fron's eyes seemed to see through everything.

The Soma Familia's three-person team had ambushed Bell Cranel's group in the middle floors of the dungeon...

And they successfully intercepted Liliruca's loot.

Overjoyed, their leader failed to notice that his two underlings, carrying heavily wounded killer ants, had cornered him and then threw the monsters at him.

And that's when they ran into Fron and Ais.

Lili betrayed Bell.

The three-man leader stole from Lili.

And in the end, his two teammates killed their own captain.

Perhaps, if it went further, those two would even betray each other...

"That emblem..."

"Ah, Soma Familia."

Thanks to Fron's prior explanation, Ais immediately understood the cause and effect.

The girl averted her gaze. Fron, however, curled his lips into a cold smile, staring mockingly at the two men approaching.

"Hey, what are you two standing there for? Hurry up and help! We're in trouble here!"

Spotting the two young adventurers ahead, the pair's hearts leapt, but they kept pretending to be desperate.

And then... Fron spoke playfully:

"According to the usual terms, if I save you, you should hand over all your loot to me as compensation, isn't that right?"

"What?"

We've been tricked! was their first thought. But one quickly dismissed the idea.

"Hey, look carefully, idiot, that's the Loki Familia's Flame Demon and Sword Princess! You trying to die!?"

"!?"

Finally, their greed-clouded eyes adjusted to the faint glow, and they recognized the figures ahead.

"...Fl-Flame Demon and Sword Princess!!!!!!"

Realizing they'd been recognized, Fron's aura turned sharp and oppressive.

"So, still need our help?"

"N-no... no, no need!"

"Don't be like that. If word got out that we stood by and let you die, it might hurt the reputation of the Loki Familia. In that case... this will do."

Scum should accept a scum's fate, Fron decided to give them a "hand."

The Scholar's Staff in his hand pointed slightly forward. His lips moved, softly chanting the name of a spell.

"[Fire Bolt!]"

--?

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, !"

A two-meter-wide bolt of flame shaped like lightning tore through the ceiling above them.

"Crashhhhh..."

The immense magical power shattered the dome, shaking the entire passage like a cave-in. Rubble fell like rain, sealing off the only escape route.

Ahead lay a dead end.

Behind, hell itself.

Despair filled their hearts. Their faces twisted in unwillingness as they screamed their final cries.

"No... noooo!!!"

"Pl-please! Spare us, we'll give you everything, all our, AAAAHHHH!"

Splurt, splurt, splurt,

The screams abruptly ended.

In the cavern, only the sound of monsters feeding remained.

Witnessing Fron's actions, the golden-haired swordswoman beside him remained unmoved. Even her golden eyes radiated nothing but cold.

"I suppose that counts as cleaning up Orario, right? I didn't kill them directly, just gave things a little push."

Fron was quite satisfied with his method.

He hadn't killed them himself, only guided the environment. The true killers were the monsters.

"Ais, do you blame me?" The girl shook her head and slid her sword back into its sheath.

"I- I think Fron did the right thing. People like them... deserve death."

"...Heh."

For the first time, Fron felt as though he was seeing Ais anew.

He stared intently at her expressionless face, then suddenly smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair.


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