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82. Beggar Siblings – Departure

Leo was startled and turned to Lena.

Gold coins.

Unpleasant memories surfaced because of that, while his sister remained blissfully oblivious with a nonchalant expression. For now, Lena didn’t seem to be involved in ‘that kind of thing.’

“W-where did you get this…?”

“I received it as severance pay from my last job.”

Kasia, offering the gold coins, blushed as she spoke shyly.

+ + +

While making shoes for Lena and Leo, Kasia had forgiven her father.

As she remembered the work her father did, she somehow began to understand him.

Her father had done such hard work all alone. His effort was embedded in the ‘last’ and various tools left behind.

When the first pair of shoes for Leo was completed, Kasia could finally understand why her father smiled so joyfully each time he finished a pair of shoes.

She found herself delicately wrapping the shoes in rustling paper, mimicking her father’s touch.

A sense of fulfillment surged within her for having created something.

When the second pair of shoes for Lena was completed, Kasia called Lena over to try them on and asked if there was anywhere uncomfortable.

Worried that small bits of fluff might remain, she eagerly said, “Sister, the shoes are so pretty! They fit perfectly!” as she thoroughly examined them.

The responsibility of the creator pressed down on her, solidifying her resolve.

At that moment, she realized.

Her father, who had sincerely made shoes his entire life, must have gone through all these moments.

There was no way her father would abandon her… He was someone who poured his heart into even a single pair of shoes.

Though she still didn’t understand why he had taken his own life, she felt reassured that it wasn’t because he had turned away from his only daughter.

That thought alone gave her a sense of salvation.

I have not been abandoned.

And that night, while everyone was asleep, Kasia briefly set down the shoes she was working on and stared blankly at the wall.

She didn’t know why she did it.

Was it because she grew tired of looking at the wall, or because memories of her parents sitting side by side, chatting, came flooding back?

She placed a chair in front of the store and sat down, gazing at the sky rather than the wall.

In the quiet darkness, a star stubbornly shone brightly.

This small star repeatedly disappeared into the darkness, only to glitter back again.

Tears fell from her eyes without reason.

Kasia jumped up and headed toward the brothel. As usual, the air was thick with a sticky atmosphere, and men glancing lasciviously as they passed by remained unchanged.

However, Kasia had changed.

“You’re quitting? Kasia, what happened?”

The brothel manager, Brestin Zauer, unfailingly referred to her as ‘Miss Kasia,’ but she didn’t mind.

She asked for the money that was still owed to her. She firmly stated she would be leaving this place now.

The contract had long since ended. Why on earth had she continued working here… How pathetic.

Had she thought that with her father’s death her own future was over? Or had she resolved to die as well?

—Tap.

Reading the clarity in Kasia’s eyes, Brestin Zauer offered her ‘a single gold coin.’

She declined it, saying it was too much, but he didn’t take it back. He insisted it was severance pay and handed it to her again.

Kasia looked into the cold, expressionless face of the man in front of her.

His dull gray eyes intertwined with Kasia’s dark yet lively eyes that sparkled like starlight.

She had never been with this man.

Thinking about it, that was quite strange.

Brestin Zauer always sought women. There were rumors that he couldn’t sleep unless there was a woman beside him due to something that happened in the past.

Yet, Brestin didn’t have a relationship with any woman. He simply wished for a woman to be in his bed and took turns with the prostitutes from the brothel.

Kasia had never been summoned, even though they had argued once.

After some hesitation, Brestin spoke.

“You need to gather your things from the waiting room.”

“I’ve already packed everything. Do you think I’m some kind of lover?”

The two of them stared at each other, silence hanging between them for a moment. A strange atmosphere flowed, but neither mentioned it.

Brestin broke the silence.

“Go live well. If it gets tough… don’t come looking for me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? That doesn’t make sense.”

Kasia burst into laughter at his words, and Brestin Zauer found it strange.

This was the first time he had seen her smile so brightly. Even after more than a decade together…

What on earth had he done for this girl?

He felt a pang of sympathy for Kasia, but had offered her nothing special.

Was he so conditioned by the gloominess and self-pity that filled the brothel? Or was simply etching her name into his icy heart not enough?

How embarrassing.

Brestin found it unbearable to witness her smile and issued a dismissal.

“Just go.”

He didn’t show the usual courtesy of pulling out a chair for her or opening the door as she left.

Kasia, unconcerned, stood up alone and put the chair back. As she approached the door, she left a parting remark over her shoulder.

Brestin Zauer struggled to focus on work for a long time.

+ + +

Leo looked suspiciously at the gold coins Kasia had offered.

Severance pay?

Yet this was too large a sum to be severance pay.

‘So, she did work after all.’

What a pitiful woman. A pang of sorrow gripped Leo’s heart.

It was clear that Kasia had sold her body for a good favor. To bring him money. The claim of severance pay was surely a lie.

Leo had been busy. During the day, he searched for Gilbert Forte, that scoundrel; in the evenings, he met with Katrina to gain her favor; and at night, he looked after his sister…

Thus he had failed to pay attention to her. He had only verified that she was diligently making shoes.

What a fool. What a stupid fool.

Though he had resolved to free her from her shackles, he had allowed this to happen.

He shouldn’t have mentioned needing money to travel to the Conrad Kingdom. That careless remark had inevitably pushed her to work.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this. This is…”

Feeling guilty, he attempted to refuse, but Kasia shook her head vigorously. Just like Brestin Zauer did, she forcefully placed the gold coins into Leo’s hands.

“Please, accept it. Really. Instead…”

Her voice, thin like a mosquito’s buzz, followed.

“Could you take me with you?”

“Where to? The Conrad Kingdom?”

“…Yes.”

Kasia had pondered over the gold coins for days.

If she gave him this money, he would surely leave.

Just looking at him made her heart feel like it would burst. She didn’t want to let him go. But…

She wanted to help him.

Caught between these conflicting emotions, she gathered her resolve.

Give it to him.

Provide what the person she loved needed. Then request to be taken along. Whether he took her or not would be his choice. It wouldn’t be fair to force him.

…Despite that determination, was it really that easy to change one’s heart? Kasia anxiously awaited Leo’s response.

Leo hesitated.

“The Conrad Kingdom is far. It would take several months to get there. What about the store?”

“I can just close the store. There are hardly any customers anyway. I’m fine.”

As long as she could be by your side.

“We’d have to cross the border, so they’d want to verify your identity…”

“I’m a free citizen. I have my identification.”

“What will you do in the Conrad Kingdom? What can you…”

“I’ll be making shoes. I can do that anywhere.”

Kasia felt her heart twist at his hesitation. He probably didn’t want to take her along.

Well, of course. A woman like me…

Swallowing her pride, she muttered self-deprecating words.

“Sir Leo, you don’t need to worry about me. Just… if it’s inconvenient for you to have me follow, then I won’t. You can just accept the money.”

I’m going mad.

Leo felt uncomfortable with Kasia being by his side. Emotionally.

He had no idea how to handle this love-hate relationship with her.

This Kasia was not the one from before. She had never helped them in front of the pharmacy, nor had she sold Lena to the brothel, nor saved his life.

Yet the memories of those vivid incidents remained etched in his mind, and he couldn’t simply erase the feelings tied to her. No matter how much she was the ‘Kasia’ he met for the first time.

As he contemplated silently, Lena, who had been curiously examining the gold coins in Leo’s hand, innocently asked.

“I really like Kasia. Is it not possible for her to come with us?”

Leo’s discomfort grew at the sight of his sister holding the gold coins, but he wrestled with it.

There were indeed good points to taking Kasia along.

The journey to the Conrad Kingdom would be a long one. It would be nice to have someone to look after Lena along the way. It was better than solely being responsible for his sister.

The quest of shackles. There was that too.

It seemed that this time, Kasia had gotten into trouble again, but if she started making shoes in the Conrad Kingdom, who knows what would happen. Perhaps starting over in another kingdom was the path to liberation from the shackles.

After much contemplation, Leo finally agreed.

“…Fine. Let’s go together.”

“Thank you! I-I’ll do my best!”

It was simply about leaving together, yet what did she mean by that?

However, no one bothered to challenge her statement. Probably because Kasia’s bright smiling face was just too dazzling.

Leo cleared his throat and shifted his focus, while Lena clapped her hands, delighted.

*

Filthy curses erupted in the dark night streets.

“You dirty bastard. A raving lunatic.”

“…Just endure it.”

The female knight cursed the person she was guarding, yet the knight beside her didn’t scold her.

“Then what do you want me to do? If he weren’t the Count’s son, I would’ve killed him already.”

Perhaps her colleague’s restraint spurred her on, as she moved away from the wagon and began to seriously spill out her complaints. The wagon bore the crest of the Forte family.

However, the crest was quite unique.

A broken sword.

The broken sword, reduced to half, symbolized the Forte Count’s family.

Though it might be a source of shame for knights, this emblem became the symbol of the Forte family, the best knight’s family in the Belita Kingdom, for a reason.

It was linked to a hidden history about the birth of the Count’s family.

Long ago, a knight fought valiantly to protect his lord. Even with his sword broken, he fought to the end, and the lord he saved eventually ascended to the throne.

The king, who could not forget the knight who sacrificed his life for him, made the knight’s son a noble.

The castle granted to the son was named ‘Forte,’ meaning the lower part of the sword blade, to honor the broken sword that the knight carried while fighting for the king.

In keeping with that loyalty, the Forte Counts had served the king for generations.

Though it appeared that Count Hermann Forte became a swordsman opposed to the royal faction in this generation, his loyalty toward the king had not waned.

As a result, Count Forte frequently visited the royal palace. He was so accustomed to the palace that he practically made a room in there his office.

Those who witnessed this would say, “That’s the Forte family for you.” and “Even after reaching a pinnacle like the Swordmaster, he still cares deeply for the king.”

They believed without doubt that the loyalty of the Forte family would continue on through the generations…

However, Gilbert Forte, the Count’s only son, had just died.

Leo shoved the bloodied sword into its scabbard, barely having time to clean it, and stepped out of the brothel.

“Did you hear what that bastard said to me earlier? He said I could come in and sit next to him. Damn bastard.”

Passing by the knight expressing his displeasure toward the deceased, Leo successfully completed the assassination.

Gilbert Forte was a debauched man. Flirting with noble ladies was his daily routine.

However, even a notorious player like Gilbert couldn’t charm someone every single day. On those dull days, he’d stop by a very special brothel run by Lord Brian Zauer.

A place that selected only the most beautiful women from Oberg, where Gilbert would book a room and have his usual fun…

Until Leo barged in and beheaded him.

With the beautiful, nameless woman beside him.

[ Achievement: Civilian Murder – You have killed ‘4’ civilians. You will be slightly unfortunate. ]

In a perfectly soundproof room, it would take time for anyone to realize a murder had occurred. With the woman by his side dead too, it would take still longer for the bodies to be discovered…

Leo coolly passed through the knights and hurried toward the leather district.

Thanks to the gold coin obtained from Kasia, things had become much easier.

He no longer needed to wait for the prince to be humiliated before making the money, and he could buy information about Gilbert Forte through Rauno family’s intel dealer.

He learned that he visited this brothel two to three times a week, and after a few days of waiting, the carriage of the Forte family appeared.

It would have been challenging if the knights protecting Gilbert had entered with him, but the honorable family knights didn’t set foot inside the brothel.

Leo whistled softly.

With this, his childhood friend, Lena, would no longer be chased out from the Monastery Church.

Furthermore, yesterday, Katrina issued him a ‘Certificate of Temporary Knight of the 2nd Knights Order,’ allowing him to legally cross the border.

Katrina had said, “Writing such things is technically an overstep… So you must come back, alright? If you don’t come back, you’ll die.” while admonishing him.

Anyway, what a funny woman she was.

But what would be Katrina’s destiny?

Would she have to go to the battlefield?

But she was a knight, and it was an honorable thing for knights to participate in wars.

After several days of conversing with her, however, she bore no signs of shadows.

Always open-hearted and confident.

It was impossible to understand her.

‘Still, since I’ve killed Gilbert Forte, perhaps the war won’t break out. Would that solve Katrina’s predicament?’

It didn’t seem likely… Leo clicked his tongue and surveyed the dark streets of Oberg.

‘There’s nothing more to do here. At least as far as I know.’

What could he do?

He couldn’t possibly know and manage everything in the world.

Yet Leo reassured himself that he had considered as many options as possible and returned to the shoe store.

Then, the next day, he left Oberg with Kasia and Lena.

To reclaim the lost {bloodline}.