Is it wrong for slimes to be in dungeons? (revised)

Chapter 25: Darkness of Oarario

(3rd person POV)

The Soma familia was abusive. Soma was the god of wine and because of this, his ability to make wine was second to none in the mortal realm even with his arcanum sealed.

His constant pursuit to create better wine however was a very dangerous thing for the members of his familia. Due to his ability, the members of his familia would do anything to have a taste of his wine, and due to his hyper-focus on his wine, he often left his familia unattended.

This left his familia to create a brutal hierarchy where those on top used and abused those on the bottom, taking their money, and service through fear-mongering tactics and violence in order to gain access to wine.

Liliruca Arde was a victim of this, being born into the familia and with no way to leave due to their god's apathy and unwillingness to listen to his familia. Thus she was trapped at the bottom abused by those above her.

Lily was used to being weak. Being looked down upon and being used. She had long since grown accustomed to it and through it learned how to use that to her advantage. As a supporter, she would trick and manipulate adventures to make a living...That is until she met Bell. He was different from most adventures. Kinder, more naive, more forgiving...Even after she had tried to play him and steal from him he still forgave and saved her.

So for her...when she found out the Soma familia had been involved in the attack, and deduced that it was because of her...a sort of pit formed.

One formed from guilt, regret, and self-loathing over having caused trouble for her savior.

"I'll deal with them myself," she said her voice steady. The cold calm resolve in her eyes dared anyone to challenge her statement.

"W-wait," Bell tried to interject, but Lily was quick to shut him down.

"It's okay, Mr. Bell, more than likely their getting involved because of me," she said. "Or at the very least I'm their excuse for getting involved."

"H-how do you know?"

"No she's right," Rimuru confirmed. "When I threatened...err asked why they were getting involved they mentioned that because of Liliruca here, they had every right,"

He stared up at Rimuru for a moment concern scrawled across his face. "B...but that doesn't mean she has to deal with this alone!" he tried to say.

"Under normal circumstances, you may be right, but you yourself are in a situation you can't exactly ignore," Amaterasu pointed out. "Apollo isn't just gonna sit on his ass and wait for you to deal with Soma," she added. "At least not until you indulge him a little," she sighed.

"Woah woah woah what do you mean by that?!" Hestia quickly interjected. "You better not be implying what I think you are!"

"Relax," Sophia interjected, "In the first place Amaterasu is too dense when it comes to that sort of thing."

"Huh?! How rude! I know about that sort of thing!"

"Oh, really then what are we referring to?"

"You...You know...That sort of thing..." She looked away embarrassed.

Sophia stared at her unimpressed. "What sort of thing? How am I supposed to mean unless you say it?"

"Grrrr," Amaterasu just scowled at Sophia instead of responding.

"If we could please get back to the topic at hand," Lily interjected the little charade going on between the two. "What were you suggesting we do then, Ms. Amaterasu," she said with a frown on her face.