Is It Wrong To Level Up In A Dungeon?

Chapter 12. Saving Lili

Bell stepped forward, his presence casting a shadow over them. The laughter faltered. One of them—a lanky man with uneven stubble—gave him a wary glance.

"You're Bell Cranel."

It wasn't a question. The name carried weight now.

Bell didn't waste time. "Where's the Soma Familia's hideout?"

Silence. A pause too long. The trio exchanged glances.

Then, a smirk. "And why would we tell you that?"

Bell's gaze didn't waver. "Because if you don't, I start breaking things."

The smirk twitched. The tallest of the three scoffed, standing to his full height. "You think you can just—"

Bell was faster.

Before the man could finish his sentence, Bell moved. A blur of white. A gust of wind. A single step was all it took.

He wasn't the weak adventurer they had mocked before.

A hand gripped fabric. A sharp twist. The man was slammed against the tavern wall before he even realized what happened.

The other two stumbled back, eyes wide.

Bell's voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the weight behind it.

"Where is she?"

A beat of hesitation. Then, the stubbled one swallowed hard. "Outskirts. Near the old east gate. An abandoned manor."

Bell released the man, who crumpled to the ground, gasping.

He didn't wait for thanks. Didn't wait for threats.

He was already gone.

The hunt was over.

He had his target.

The moment he stepped inside, all eyes turned to him. The dimly lit hall reeked of spilled alcohol and stale air, filled with Soma Familia thugs lounging about in drunken stupors. At first, they sneered, some chuckling at the audacity of a lone adventurer waltzing into their den.

But beneath the mockery, Bell caught it—hesitation.

Some of them had seen him before. They remembered the white-haired rabbit who once fled from monsters now standing unshaken before them. They heard about him cutting down a Silverback single-handedly, and heard the rumors of his speed, his strength, his relentless will.

He met their gazes, calm, unwavering. He didn't raise his voice.

He didn't need to.

"I'm here for Lili."

The laughter died. Conversations halted. A thick silence settled over the room as the gathered adventurers exchanged wary glances.

Then, a voice slithered through the tension.

"She belongs to us, Cranel." The speaker—a broad-shouldered man with a jagged scar running down his cheek—leaned forward, smirking. "If she had an issue, she should've paid her way out."

Bell didn't move. Didn't flinch. But his crimson eyes burned.

"You mean the debt you forced on her?" His words were quiet, edged with steel. "The money you stole?"

A slow exhale. His fingers curled into fists.

"She's not your property."

The air turned suffocating. The Soma Familia wasn't used to being challenged—certainly not by someone who could back it up.