Chapter 134. Engagement – Footprints
The next day, Lena’s father, Dehorman, returned. As usual, he threw a feast with alcohol after a successful hunt, happily remarking on the abundance of game in the mountains these days.
This time, Lena stealthily sneaked some beer to Leo behind her mother’s back, and Leo did not refuse. They drank more than usual and chatted merrily.
Abundant food, the red glow of lanterns. Alcohol. Dear Lena and people who felt like family.
Except for the {war}, this was a prosperous and happy place.
Afterward, Leo sparred with his father. As before, he practiced {Swordsmanship.3v: Bart Style} and was acknowledged, frequently visiting the blacksmith.
He was preparing to catch the Noguhwaho.
He hadn’t spent all of his {initial funds} because he realized he didn’t need that many iron skewers.
He knew both how to hunt and the attack patterns of the Noguhwaho.
He also knew why Lena would sometimes fall victim, so although it was still dangerous, he planned to avoid the {war} unscathed this time.
Spending his days alternating between the blacksmith and home, Leo suddenly felt guilty. Sitting down in the clearing behind the house, he scratched his chin thoughtfully.
‘I did benefit from Minseo…’
Wasn’t it fate for Lena and me to die to the Noguhwaho originally?
If it weren’t for the {Hunting} skills I gained in the first childhood friend scenario, Lena and I would have discovered the Noguhwaho’s footprints and descended without any precautions.
And we would have died.
Even if not, our deaths on the battlefield were almost certain. Without Minseo, we might not have met Katrina or the Swordmaster, but that’s an unknown variable best left aside.
No matter how angry I am, I won’t fabricate facts that don’t exist.
Leo’s previous anger, somewhat subdued, now allowed him to calmly evaluate right and wrong.
For starters, it was a fact that Minseo did wrong.
Even conceding a hundred times, this thought did not change. He treated Lena as a tool for ‘clearing’ the scenario and ruined my life. Although it’s a past that disappears with a new beginning, it was my body and my life, not his.
It’s unfair that my body was taken by someone I had never met and made me act cruelly to someone I loved, so his sin is great.
But Minseo’s circumstances were also pitiable. He didn’t act out of desire; he was driven by the constraints of rising death limits and scenario cycles, and after that, he didn’t try to use Lena again.
The results were always bad, as usual, but that couldn’t be helped.
‘I should do something too…’
Thinking that he benefited from Minseo, he felt a sense of responsibility. Recalling what Prince Leo thought also made him uncomfortable.
Prince Leo thought quite differently from me. He felt grateful to Minseo just because the situation had improved, no longer dying alongside his sister on the streets.
And Lev. I couldn’t understand what that country bumpkin from the childhood friend scenario was thinking.
Possibly due to his taciturn nature, Lev didn’t try to seize control from Minseo.
Generally accepting Minseo’s mentality, he seemed clearly favorable towards him as well.
‘Yeah. I’m the only bad guy here.’
Leo snorted lightly. In his opinion, Lev had a good reason for it.
It was the first and last happy ending.
In the first cycle, Lev married Lena. He had hidden his feelings for her friend who wanted to become a priest, but thanks to Minseo, he had a happy newlywed life and lived blissfully with their children in the village of Demos.
Sharing memories, I know how joyful Lev was during that time…
They built their nest in an abandoned wooden house on the outskirts of the village. When Lev was fixing the roof of their newlywed home, Lena would peek out from below.
– “Leo! Eat some bread! Hans’ auntie gave us loads.”
Lena couldn’t tear her eyes off Lev, seemingly thrilled to bits that Lev liked her. Lev also had no qualms holding her hand.
Then they married, blessed by all the villagers.
…I’m envious. Dying with jealousy over the happiness Lev experienced even just once.
In contrast, I’ve only seen endings filled with misery.
My least terrible ending was returning home after losing a thumb and Lena losing an arm.
Throwing away my one-handed sword, Lena sobbed uncontrollably in my arms and never visited the clearing again.
That’s no happy ending.
Leo bit his lip. With a sigh through his gritted teeth, he concluded.
I want to live properly like Lev. Is it such a huge desire to live happily with Lena in this Avril Castle? 14/22. The cycle limit has increased by one, and Minseo is gone…
“Why are you sighing like that?”
Leo flinched in surprise. Lena had approached and was staring at him with curious eyes.
“It’s nothing. Did you finish training?”
“Hmm~ I’ve done enough for today… but I’ll rest a bit before doing more.”
A brief silence followed.
Having just escaped his tangled thoughts, Leo said nothing, and Lena sat down beside him, quietly gazing at him.
In the field, the beautiful yellow sunset of the north, which had avoided snow for a while, was falling gracefully.
“Leo.”
“What?”
“You know, can you tell that you look a bit different these days?”
“How so?”
“Well, should I say you’ve become more calm, or should I say you’ve become more reliable… the atmosphere has changed.”
[Quest: Noble Killer 50/50 – {Grace} ability increases by one level.]
[Quest: Rebel 10/10 – {Blood of the King} ability increases by one level.]
“Praising me?”
“Yep~ Praising you. At this rate, can I go somewhere and brag that you’re my fiancé? Hehe.”
Lena paused as she was about to pat Leo’s head. Somehow, it felt like it wouldn’t be right to pat him as usual.
As she tried to withdraw her hand, Leo grabbed it. When Lena placed her hand on her own head, Lena smiled and patted him.
“Lena.”
“Why?”
“Let’s play hooky today.”
Lena’s eyes widened.
“What? Whoa, seriously. Leo, it’s you, right? I never thought the day would come when you suggest playing hooky. Hm… sorry, but I don’t want to. I’m busy.”
“Don’t say that, let’s go out. Okay? I don’t have time… no, since the boss came all the way here, it would be a waste not to send him off. When else will we have fun?”
“That’s true, but…”
“I’ve finished all the training for today. Let’s go out for a while. It’s not good to push too hard. Besides, they say drinking is good for you.”
“Mm. Drinking… sounds good. It’s nice, but…”
“Let’s go~.”
Leo Dexter coaxed cutely. With his firm hand, he held her hand firmly and led her along.
Lena was slightly taken aback.
“Why is he acting like this? Since the other day.”
Since he suddenly burst into tears a few days ago, Leo had changed a lot. Could it be the onset of adolescence? Nevertheless, Lena didn’t mind the changed Leo who used to always pick on her, so she got up from her seat.
“I never knew this bear-like guy could be so cutesy.”
Smiling to herself, she thought she would just play for a little while and return, but at the marketplace, Leo ordered a lot of alcohol and delicious food without hesitation. With generous spending wherever he was getting money from, the drinking session dragged on.
Leo, drunk on alcohol, couldn’t seem to remember much and asked a lot about old stories. His tone was much softer and there was a hint of nostalgia in his voice, compared to usual.
Somehow, it felt pitiful.
As the market was closing, the two of them, who had ended their drinking session, hugged each other on the way back.
Whether Leo hugged me first or I pulled him into the embrace first, Lena cupped Leo’s cheek.
“Did you know that I like you?”
She whispered in a chicken-skin inducing tone, borrowing darkness and the scent of alcohol, and Leo brightened up with a smile.
“I know. Whether you know or not.”
It was dark so it was hard to see clearly, but Leo seemed to have cried at that moment.
* * *
Peaceful days followed for a while.
Leo no longer mentioned playing hooky. He felt embarrassed about the cuteness he had shown.
The real self didn’t do such things.
“I was too hasty.”
His level had significantly dropped.
It was frustrating knowing we couldn’t be together for a lifetime. However, the fact that there was no end to our work in sight was something to be grateful for.
Something he had heard on the battlefield before.
– “My dream is to become a knight and marry you. That’s why I intentionally tried to delay it. I’m sorry. Won’t it be difficult for a mother to become a knight?”
After killing Katrina and receiving the honorary knighthood from the prince, Lena’s confession was made. We were of an age where it would be fine to marry immediately, and we were engaged, but Lena was postponing the marriage.
However, is it easy to receive a knighthood appointment? Without considerable skill, it is difficult to become a knight. Thanks to Leo’s {Swordsmanship.3v: Bart (style)}, he was confident that he could obtain the qualifications of a knight at any time, but Lena could not.
In the early stage of the script, she couldn’t even win against one knight. At best, she was at the level where she might become an honorary knight.
Fortunately, Lena’s skills improved rapidly. Especially last time, when he was about to divorce Lena, she grew incredibly fast, taking less than a year to catch up to ‘me’.
A tremendous talent.
However, her talent focused solely on swordsmanship, was also a constraint in another sense.
Just as there was a time constraint for Leah in becoming a priest until Eric de Yeriel, the prince in the scenario of beggar siblings, ascended, here, the moment Lena became a knight, the ‘job ending’ would appear, and the episode would end.
Inwardly, her talent seemed cruel. What was so urgent about it…
However, this engagement scenario was nothing but the result of Lena postponing the marriage.
Thanks to this, about a year or two was created.
It’s a shame, but at least during that time, I will live happily with Lena. Until her dream of becoming a knight with me comes true, I will be with her.
It wasn’t as if I was totally neglecting Minseo. Someday she would have to go to the capital to become a knight, so I planned to find out a little something then. We had never been to the capital of Astin Kingdom, ‘Bernoulli’.
It might be helpful for Minseo to collect information, whether he would come to his senses…
“Honestly, it wouldn’t be bad if Minseo doesn’t come to his senses. Do I have anything more to lose?”
There isn’t.
It would have been the same for other ‘Leos’.
We were aware of the direct crises that came with each scenario, and thanks to our accumulated achievements, we could easily achieve our goal if we just lived comfortably.
That much has been possible since the old days. However, Minseo was determined to ‘clear’ it somehow, make Lena a princess, achieve the ‘true ending,’ and escape.
It didn’t matter to us. Even Prince Leo, who had favor with Minseo, was ready to give up his heritage if he caused harm to his young sister at any time.
So the only one who would be at a loss if we didn’t get our act together was Minseo. Isn’t there a reason why we shouldn’t jump into a pit for that scoundrel? Right?
That’s how Leo Dexter made up his mind. Since Minseo wasn’t around, he thought this round would be enough to collect information reasonably.
However, it didn’t take long for that careless plan to fall apart. Some time later, Lena and Leo Dexter, who had come of age, joined a hunting team led by Dehorman. Once again, Leo, wielding a trap to catch the Noguhwaho, climbed the mountain with Lena and the group to check the traps early in the morning, but…
“No catches here. Let’s go.”
“Huh? Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha?”
There were no footprints of the Noguhwaho to be seen.
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