Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 710 The Troubles of Becoming a Leader, DanMachi Encounters Spontaneous Mutual Aid Among Girl Groups

"Ah—if I had known, I should have refused to become the leader of the Soma Familia!"

Lily Luca clutched her head in frustration, running her fingers through her hair as if she wanted to tear it all out.

"If I weren't the leader of this raid group, I should be happily fighting monsters in the dungeon with Broly and the others right now!"

It's not like now, trapped in this office, facing a mountain of family affairs that seem impossible to handle.

Of course, since she has already become the leader, she can also choose to "do nothing" and just tell the members below "everything as usual" and she can still live a carefree life.

But the desire to change this decadent clan drove her like a diligent little bee.

Now that she had this opportunity and ability, Lily Luca felt she would definitely regret it if she didn't do something about it.

"Boom boom boom——"

A crisp knock on the door sounded.

"Come in."

Lily Luca quickly smoothed her messy hair and regained the composure befitting a captain.

The door was pushed open, and the burly human Chandra walked in.

He had shaved off his beard and was dressed impeccably.

Compared to his image as an old drunkard that was instantly recognizable before the "Feast of Divine Wine," he now seems more like a competent senior assistant.

In fact, he is indeed playing this role now, as many clan affairs now require his assistance as an elder of the Soma clan.

Chandra didn't really want to do this kind of troublesome thing, but unfortunately, the guy who used to help the captain manage the family affairs was sold to the Ishtar Familia as a "gigolo" after the former captain, Chanis, fell from power.

Now, besides him, there's practically no one else in the clan who can be of use.

Furthermore, only those who are willing to listen can obtain the antidote to their alcohol addiction and be able to taste alcohol again, unlike those who are forced into abstinence mode.

If they disobey, not only will their antidote be cut off, but they may also face even worse consequences.

For an old alcoholic, quitting drinking is worse than death, and with them still no match for the new leader, the entire Soma Familia is now practically obedient to Lilyruka.

However, simply obeying orders is not enough. To revitalize the Soma Familia, which is currently in such a mess, a sufficient number of beverage orders are needed to provide corresponding employment opportunities.

"Invite people in."

Lily Luca assumed they were wine merchants who had come to discuss business, so she didn't refuse to meet them.

However, when the six visitors who had been brought in appeared before her, the little girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"Eh? Miss Ais, Miss Lefia, Tiona, Miss Tione, and Seele and Miss Liu, what brings you all here?"

"Miss Lily, congratulations on becoming the leader of the Soma Familia."

Ais offered her congratulations as soon as they met, though her delicate, expressionless face didn't look like she was offering congratulations at all; rather, it looked like she was simply reading aloud.

"These past two days, Miss Ais heard about your situation from Mr. Broly, and yesterday she went to see Lord Loki, hoping he could help you."

Lefia added from the side.

“Our clan consumes quite a bit of alcohol daily, so it doesn’t matter who we do business with,” Tiona said, waving a receipt representing the clan’s reputation. “At Lord Loki’s suggestion and with the captain’s approval, we’ve brought you a huge alcohol order today!”

The zeros that flashed across the receipt indicated an amount of at least tens of millions of fiat currencies.

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a crush on my commander, would you?"

Tione suddenly leaned closer and stared at Lililuka with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Huh? I like Captain Finn? How come I didn't know that?"

Lily Luca was completely bewildered. Her interactions with Finn were limited to the few days they spent together in the dungeon.

"Yes, that's for the best." Tione nodded in satisfaction. "If the captain ever proposes to you in the future, please be sure to reject him firmly."

"My sister is a little jealous because the leader praised you in public, saying that your previous outfit resembled the legendary goddess prototype, the little hero 'Leader of the Knights of Finana,' and even directly entrusted you with the clan's liquor business."

Tiona laughed and explained to her sister, which finally made Lily Luca understand the inexplicable warning.

"Don't misunderstand, Commander Finn just wants to return a favor."

Tiona was referring to Broly helping to instruct Fiora and Lefia in swordsmanship.

As an important companion to the boy, Lily Luca even made him willing to secretly plot for her to become the leader of the Soma Familia, so she naturally received Finn's attention.

Of course, the news that the leader of the Hestia Familia was plotting to pave the way for her dwarf companions and seize the position of leader of the Soma Familia was spread by a certain information-gathering god. That god even called it an agreed-upon thing—helping his friend Hestia promote the fame of her child.

However, now that the deed is done, it doesn't matter whether it's kept secret or not. Someone will always find out the inside story, just not in the same detail as they do now.

"So that's it."

"Of course, it's also because of my admiration for you, Miss Lily."

Lefia added that if it were just described as "returning a favor," it would seem too mercenary.

"Yes, please thank Captain Finn and Lord Loki for me."

Lily Luca readily agreed.

She was going to be Broly's wife in the future, and as the future mistress, she felt she was fully entitled to receive the benefits that the master's current connections brought her.

The Loki Familia also brought her orders worth 20 million Families. The reason it was less than the Ishtar Familia's amount was because the Ishtar Familia resold alcohol, while the Loki Familia used it themselves.

"By the way, Lord Loki also said that if you can provide a stable supply of divine wine, she is willing to place an additional order for ten million falies."

The production of this divine wine is extremely limited.

On the day of the Divine Wine Feast, the outer members consumed more than ten million Fali of Divine Wine. Although the deterrent effect was excellent, making the bitter Divine Wine a nightmare for many drinkers, Lilyluka was still heartbroken for a long time afterward when she learned the exact amount consumed.

Fortunately, some of them were preserved.

Lily Luca quickly did the math in her head, then nodded and said, "No problem, I can provide ten million Fali's worth of divine wine."

To go from hating the divine wine to selling it, all it takes is a change in one's stance.

In the hands of the former leader, Chanis, the Divine Wine was a bait specifically dangled in front of the members, forcing them to cross the line time and time again in order to make money.

In Lily Luca's hands, it became an important commodity for external sales; the profits from selling the divine wine were far greater than those from selling ordinary alcoholic beverages.

"That totals thirty million Fali. This is our clan's contract. Captain Lily, please take a look."

Tiona placed the signed contract on the table.

After checking the numbers and confirming they were correct, Lily Luca signed two beverage supply contracts with the Loki Familia.

The contract bears the official seal of the Soma Clan leader and is protected by the guild, but the guild will also collect a 5% transaction tax from it.

Because of this tax, some people choose not to sign contracts in order to avoid taxes, which is why many businessmen are anxious after Lily Luca took over.

Those liquor merchants who hadn't signed contracts were worried that the new team leader would pocket the deposits and not deliver the goods.

Of course, this can actually be solved with just one sentence: "Everything will be executed at the agreed price."

However, driven by profit, some merchants tried to take advantage of the internal strife within the Soma clan to drive the wholesale price even lower.

The original 5% tax was a 2% discount that the Soma clan offered to merchants in exchange for private transactions without contracts, in order to avoid taxes.

But now, some merchants want to reduce the discount to 4% or even more.

Because there was no formal written contract, only the former group leader's private ledger, some businessmen even turned around and accused the company of offering a different price than the agreed-upon preferential price.

Lilyluka knew Chanis's character well; he wouldn't suffer such a loss and didn't believe a word of the merchants' nonsense.

However, she still needed these people's drink orders, so she had no choice but to deal with them temporarily.

However, now that she has these two orders totaling 60 million fares, Lily Luca can finally ignore some of the joint price-cutting threats from those liquor merchants.

She had even rehearsed in her mind: if anyone comes to try to lower the price again, she will just reply directly - take it or leave it. If you don't want to do this business, there are plenty of people who do.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking. The Soma clan brews alcohol, and offending all the alcohol merchants is not a good thing.

Sixty million in fares is not enough to make one arrogant. If a large company wants to bully its customers, it needs at least six hundred million in stable orders.

While pondering this, the little girl turned her gaze to the two waitresses of the bountiful hostess tavern next to her.

"Miss Seele, Miss Ryu, are you here to deliver an order to me today as well?" "Yes, but our orders are nothing compared to those of the major clans. For Commander Erd, they are probably dispensable."

Seele spoke with a hint of sarcasm, as if to say that we were here to make a fool of ourselves.

"Oh, no, not at all! I'm very grateful that you two came to help me. Um... it's for Brother Broly, right?"

Lily Luca asked tentatively.

"What does your business have to do with Mr. Broly? I thought we were friends, but it seems you don't consider me a friend at all, Miss Lily!"

Seele put on a hurt expression, making Lily Luca suddenly realize that she had said something wrong.

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Lily Luca quickly apologized.

"Hey, I was just kidding, you didn't take it seriously, did you?"

After she apologized, Miss Seele said those words again.

Looking up, Lily Luca saw that the girl who was supposed to be advertising the signboard had no tears at all; instead, she was all smiles. Only then did she realize that she had been tricked.

When it comes to manipulating other people's emotions, Freya, who has transformed into Seele, is a master, after all, she can see right through their souls.

The reason she was pulling at the little girl's emotions was because she saw that the little girl's soul had become slightly more beautiful after she became the leader of the clan.

Although the little girl's soul is not yet at the same level as the soul of the child she has taken a liking to, it is true that she is gradually becoming more outstanding and shining.

The little girl's growth was due to that Saiyan boy, the Saiyan boy's soul, and also because the little girl was undergoing some subtle changes.

If she hadn't been paying close attention, she probably wouldn't have noticed this situation, which made Freya quite curious.

This led to her teasing the little girl with words. She would only do this to people she was interested in, and clearly, the changes in Lilyluka had piqued her interest.

Lily Luca: "???"

"I'm sorry, Miss Lily, Seele sometimes likes to tease people, please don't be angry with her."

Ryu apologized on behalf of her friend.

"So, Miss Lily, do you consider me a friend?"

Lily Luca wanted to say no, but when she looked up, she saw the gray-haired girl pull out a guild contract from her pocket and wave it around.

A fleeting glance at the length of the zeros on it suggests that it represents a substantial order.

“Miss Seele is too kind. Of course we are friends.”

Lily Luca took a deep breath, put on a fake smile, and said insincerely.

【However, I'm the big friend, and you're the little friend. We're both people Broly wants to meet, so if you come in, you'll have to call me Sister Lily Luca!】

Seele stared at her with wide eyes. As the girl being played by a god, she immediately saw through the little girl's insincerity. But that was quite normal; many of the children she had tricked had the same reaction.

"In that case, we'll leave the 'Abundant Mistress' tavern's monthly liquor business, worth 22 million Faris, to Miss Lily. Remember to give us some discounts and send us a few extra bottles of good wine."

"Well, sending a few more bottles of good wine is no problem, but can the bountiful mistress consume 22 million faris of wine every month?"

Lily Luca was somewhat surprised. She often ate dinner there and knew that the Feast Hostess Tavern was very successful and its customers had considerable spending power. However, to say that they would stock up on so many bottles of liquor every month was a bit far-fetched; seven or eight million would be more like it.

"Hmph, Miss Lily, don't underestimate our tavern. Our lavish mistress makes over forty million falies a month."

Seele proudly raised her chin, "Of course, 22 million Fali is a lot of alcohol, but our boss, Mia, has some private channels to handle it. I had to beg her for a long time before she agreed to stock some alcohol with you."

"Uh, okay, Miss Seele, thank you again, but is that channel you mentioned stable?"

Lily Luca expressed her gratitude sincerely this time, but she still hesitated. Long-term, stable orders were what the Soma Familia truly needed.

"Don't worry, the orders are just as stable as those from the Loki Familia. As long as the quality of the drinks provided by your Soma Familia is up to standard, this business will never end."

After all, it was this goddess herself who personally instructed that the Soma Familia's drinks be indirectly ordered by the logistics department through the bountiful mistress; whether it was reliable or not was entirely up to her.

"By the way, isn't Mr. Broly here? I don't think I've seen him."

After signing a beverage order contract, Seele asked out of curiosity.

In order to help Lily Luca, the boy had been coming and going from the tavern in a hurry these past few days, and hadn't said much to her. Seele just felt that the Saiyan energy was a bit low.

Okay, that was a joke. She just wanted to observe the subtle changes in the Saiyan boy's soul.

"Brother Broly went to the dungeon with Bell."

Of the other six people present, four were people Broly wanted to meet, and Lily Luca didn't hide it.

"Hey, Mr. Broly went to the dungeon. Why didn't he invite me along?"

Ais blurted it out without even thinking.

"Um?!"

Lefia stared at her wide-eyed and asked instinctively, "Miss Ais, have you been unhappy being with me lately?"

Upon hearing this, the swordswoman looked at the elf girl blankly, seemingly not understanding why she asked such a question.

"Otherwise, why are you so eager to go to the dungeon with Mr. Broly?"

Rafia pressed for an answer.

"Ah, Lefia, I don't think Ais meant that."

"Hmm, Ais probably has another bout of 'getting stronger anxiety'. She hasn't received Broly's special training for a few days, so her strength growth has slowed down, and she's getting anxious."

The Amazon sisters each offered a sentence, helping Fiora explain.

"That's right. When I practice with Mr. Broly, my skills always improve by leaps and bounds. If I practice alone, my progress is too slow."

Ais nodded earnestly to herself; she was eager to improve.

"Woo..."

Lefia stopped talking, but a look of frustration appeared on her face. She knew that Miss Ais might not have meant it that way, but she still felt like she was about to become a loser.

Well, recently, Ais has been teaching Lefia swordsmanship, which makes her feel like her relationship with the girl has progressed rapidly, as if they have reached a state of being more than friends but not quite lovers.

But now it seems that this was just her illusion, and this illusion made her somewhat overreact when the Fiora showed excessive enthusiasm to others.

Simply put, Lefia is an elf who gets jealous for no reason.

Lily Luca listened to the conversation of Loki's Familia and observed the subtle expressions on their faces. She had a feeling that Broly's plan to simultaneously encounter the Sword Maiden and the Elf Girl would face some difficulties, because Miss Lefia seemed to harbor some overly intimate feelings for Miss Ais.

"Brother Broly took Bell to wait for the 17th floor boss 'Goliath' to spawn."

Lily Luca only explained one sentence, and Ais and the other adventurers understood it instantly.

This is a matter of profit distribution. The other party went to wait for the floor owner to refresh, so naturally they wanted to enjoy the profits all to themselves.

If I go with you, will you get a share of the profits?
How could you possibly accept that?
How could he possibly refuse?

It's better not to shout than to shout.

"Is Mr. Broly going to fight Goliath alone?"

The swordswoman asked with some curiosity.

Floor owners with enormous physiques usually possess strength surpassing that of their peers.

Don't underestimate Goliath just because he's only a Lv.4 floor master in the middle layer. In terms of combat power, he's probably stronger than some higher-level monsters in the deep layer.

"Wait, didn't I say Bell? Isn't he human?"

"Uh, Mr. Craney, who can only barely deal with Lv.2 monsters, probably won't be of much help in defeating the floor master Goliath, right?"

Okay, when it comes to defeating the floor master, the Sword Maiden didn't really consider Bell as an effective combatant or a teammate of the Saiyan boy.

"Well, I think Bell can still be of help, like his luck, which can be used as a lucky charm to increase the drop rate of loot..."

Lily Luca thought to herself, but said on the surface, "I can't really help, but Broly is enough on his own..."

(End of this chapter)