Roy didn't go to the meeting. Instead, he headed to a specific street. He needed a legitimate reason to wipe out the Soma Familia without raising suspicion. A "Berserker" or an "Assassin" wouldn't do—it had to be a righteous crusade.
The flower shop ahead provided exactly what he needed.
A group of greedy adventurers was smashing the shop to pieces, ignoring the pleas of an elderly couple and the cries of a small Pallum girl.
"Arde, you really thought you could escape?" a bearded dwarf sneered, raising a fist to strike the girl.
Suddenly, the dwarf's arm was caught. He turned to see a handsome, black-haired youth. Dwarves were famous for their strength, but Roy's grip was like an iron vice. A sickening crack came from the dwarf's wrist, making him howl in pain.
The dwarf swung his other fist, but Roy parried and flipped the several-hundred-pound man over his shoulder, slamming him into the pavement. Roy looked at the onlookers. "Doing this in broad daylight? You're a disgrace to Orario."
"It's Justice Sapling!" "Wait, that kid is a Level 3!!"
The thugs realized who they were facing. "Arde, you got lucky today!" they spat, trying to flee into the alleys.
"Did you misunderstand something?" Roy's voice was like a winter wind. He lunged forward. A youth tried to slash at him, but Roy caught the blade between two fingers.
Within moments, the thugs were a pile of groaning bodies on the ground. A cheer erupted from the crowd. Roy reached out a hand to the Pallum girl. She hesitated, seeing the dirt and blood on her own hands, and shrank back—a sign of deep-seated self-loathing.
Roy didn't care. He pulled her up and used a low-grade potion to heal her scraped palms. The girl was stunned. "Such an expensive potion... for me?"
"Potions are meant to be used," Roy smiled.
The girl, Liliruca Arde, was on the verge of tears. That potion cost tens of thousands of Valis—how could she ever pay him back? Roy knew her story: born to Soma addicts, orphaned young, and used by her Familia as a disposable pack horse. She hated adventurers and used her magic to steal from them to survive. Currently, she was still in her "flower shop" phase, before she had truly fallen into darkness.
"Lord Roy, how can we thank you?" the elderly couple asked. "It's fine. I just can't stand bullies," Roy said with a sunny, heroic smile.
He feigned confusion. "They were from the Soma Familia. How did you cross them?" The couple looked at Lili. The girl trembled and lowered her head, consumed by guilt for bringing this disaster upon her benefactors.
"This is bad," Roy shook his head. "Groups like that don't give up. They'll keep coming back like leeches unless the source is dealt with. They'll ruin your business just for spite."
Roy crouched down to Lili's eye level and smiled warmly. "How about you hire me to solve them for good?"
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