Her back became sticky as Lilly broke out into a cold sweat. What had originally meant to be an innocuous admission of truth suddenly became a conspiracy faster than she could count from one to fuck.

She blanched. “Royalty? Hahaha…” Shrinking from the intensity of the stares she was being subjected to, she desperately tried to think of a reason why she would be in possession of [Inventory]. It wasn’t like she herself knew why, and telling them that she had mysteriously thrown from her world to this one with a royal bloodline skill and access to the class of an ancient order of assassins sounded like the most blatant lie she could possibly come up with. Not to mention, it could mean a one-way ticket to the psych ward, if they even had those.

The one who seemed the most anxious about this was Amy. With that epiphany, Lilly realized just how much of a mess she had gotten herself into. Of course, Amy would be suspicious. She was a runaway from a noble family! Suddenly, months after she escaped from an arranged marriage, a person with no background shows up, joins their party, and reveals that they have a skill safely guarded by the high echelons of society. Anyone would be on edge after that!

Lilly groaned inwardly. There were only two things she could do now, either come out with the whole unadulterated truth or a lie like a rug. So far, she had told anyone who asked about her past that she was the daughter of an adventurer, and had lived in a remote village for her whole life. It was an easy lie, but one that didn’t seem very plausible, all things considered.

At this rate, the truth started to seem a bit more appealing than her other options. She knew close to nothing about this world and having a group of confidants would go a long way towards remedying the majority of her issues. Did she trust them enough for that? John seemed like a decent person, someone who didn’t shirk from duty or responsibility. Lilly was closest to Amy by far, taking to the girl like a fish to water. Eli was an anomaly but had yet to give her a reason to be suspicious. As elusive as the elf might be, he did his job, followed orders, and assisted in the party’s endeavors. At the very least, he didn’t seem to disagree with her inclusion.

Lilly sighed nervously. “If you would all give me the time to explain myself, I would like to tell you my story.” It wasn’t an easy decision, by far. However, lying at every step of her new life seemed counterproductive and, if she was being honest with herself, unappealing.

John nodded and paid rapt attention, while the others continued to watch her warily. She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “I… er… was not born in this world.” Watching her potential partners for a reaction, she continued to describe her life since arriving on Azalea. The mysterious forest that she woke up in; the drake that chased her and nearly cooked her alive. The cache that she miraculously found that led her to attain her class and skills.

“I spent a little over a month training my levels and surviving in the woods.” She paused for a moment. “Actually, I don’t know if it was a month, I don’t exactly know how people keep track of time here,” she said, then continued to describe her journey to Fressia, her fortuitous meeting with Vinny and his family, her arrival at Fressia, and finally, her first job as a solo adventurer.

“I couldn’t save her. Since coming to this world, I pretended that it was all some kind of game; I didn’t take it seriously and my naivete got someone killed.” She clenched her fists, then relaxed them. She finished her story with her finishing up the rest of her jobs, and how she came to meet them on the caravan.

At some point during the story, her eyes had focused on the floorboards. Tentatively, she looked up to meet their gazes and was met with Amy rushing in for a hug, burying her face into Lilly’s chest. Lilly tensed up for a moment, then relaxed and wrapped her arms around Amy.

“I’m sorry.” Amy’s muffled voice drifted from her chest.

“Sorry? I’m the one who-” she started.

Amy tightened her arms. “I’m sorry for doubting you.”

Lilly’s eyes softened, and she breathed out in relief. She looked up to meet John’s gaze and found him looking pensive.

“John?”

He blinked, his eyes refocusing on her. “Hm? Ah yes, sorry. Was thinking about how you could’ve ended up here. It doesn’t seem like you were summoned, but how else did you cross realms?”

“Perhaps it was a dragon playing at being a god again,” Eli added quietly.

“Indeed, she did come from the forest bordering the domain of dragons.”

She looked from John to Eli, then back to John. They seemed too casual about what she told them. “Why are you so accepting of this? I just told you that I came from another world.” She almost felt stupid for being so stressed about the secret, looking at the party.

John looked at her, then laughed out loud. “You know, if you were lying, that would’ve been the boldest, most outlandish lie you could’ve possibly told us. It would be much easier to say you were orphaned with the skill than to claim to be a realm traveler.”

Eli tapped his ears. “I am trained in the ways of the heart, as the heart does not lie. As far as I know, you believe that you have been honest.”

John nodded. “There you go. Still, that was quite the fireball you dropped on us. No worries, we’ll help you out until you can hold your own.”

She sat there with her mouth slightly agape, her mind not quite catching up with the chain of events. She had expected some opposition to her story, perhaps even an altercation. To be trusted so easily felt wrong, almost like she was betraying them somehow.

Amy pulled away from Lilly, her eyes a little moist. She blinked away her watery eyes, and recollected herself, returning back to her bright self. “So, you come from another world? One without magic? What was it like?” A sudden bombardment of questions came streaming from the sorceress’s mouth.

Before Lilly could answer, John held up a hand and interrupted the Q&A session. “Hold on, we can talk about that later. First, we need to prepare for the dungeon. Regardless of our respective pasts, we need to work on our team synergy with Lilly’s addition, and bring her up to speed as well.”

Amy pouted, but otherwise listened to his decision.

“Alright, now that we’ve had the heart-to-heart talk, we can focus on our next plan of action. Supplies that we need to bring include camping gear, spare weapons, healing and mana potions, extra clothing should we plan to stay for more than a couple days, food and ingredients, miscellaneous items like ropes, lamps, a map, medical supplies, and more. Normally, we wouldn’t be able to bring more than enough materials to stay for more than a few days, but with Lilly’s skill, we have a lot more freedom now to stay for longer periods of time. The sky's the limit, as humans like to say.

“After we’re done with that, we need to consider how deep we plan on going in the dungeon. We can theoretically stay in there until our permit expires next month, at which point we will need to have it renewed at the Society. We also have more space for loot, by virtue of Lilly’s skill. With that in mind, I suggest we stock up a week or two worth of foodstuffs and supplies. If need be, we can come back up, restock, and dive again. Any objections?”

Seeing none, he nodded affirmatively. “Okay, today, we’ll go stock up on supplies, flesh out our respective roles a bit more, and we’ll start diving tomorrow after a proper night of rest.”