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102. Childhood Friend – The History of Asin

Leo stared blankly at the tattoo on the palm of his right hand and arm.

The information on {The History of Asin} revealed what are known as Asin.

In ancient times, when non-human races flourished on this continent, these races worshipped an unnamed supreme god.

They prayed and offered tributes to catch the attention of the creator of all things and the master of this world.

However, it was all in vain.

The supreme god did not accept their tributes and was impartial to all races, hence there was nothing to gain from serving them.

Then, the non-human races gradually began to worship their own gods. They held ceremonies dreaming of a transcendent being that would grant them privileges, and as a result, the “Asin” was born.

Asin (兒神), the Child God.

Born from the longings of the non-human races, they listened to the wishes of their worshippers. Unlike the supreme god, if they received tributes, they returned an appropriate reward and contributed to the prosperity of the race.

Among them, Oriax was the god of the Minotaurs.

That race, which dominated the southern part of the continent, was ferocious.

Sensitive to their territory, Minotaurs would brutally eliminate all visible non-human races. They remembered even the smallest mistakes and sought revenge tirelessly.

Consequently, they fought wars with other races almost daily, and when the battles ended, they would pile the enemies’ corpses like mountains and offer their sacrifices. They were thrilled to have made their enemies pay the price and presented the corpses to their god.

Of course, their sacrifices were meaningless. The supreme god, who was the master of all things, did not accept tributes; thus, the Minotaurs’ sacrifices were mere frenzied feasts glorifying their slaughter.

However, over a long period of repeatedly performing these sacrifices, their madness birthed a god. Oriax was born from the decaying heaps of corpses and became their god.

Leo clenched his fist as he repeated this realization. The imprint on his right palm was no tattoo. It was a mark left by Oriax’s power.

This marked the presence of an intruder in my territory… Probably invisible to others.

The information on {The History of Asin} continued.

Since “history” is essentially a record of events, there was an abundance of records about the ferocious races and their ruthless god, Oriax.

They expanded their influence by slaughtering countless non-human races, starting from the shores of the southern continent.

However, the Minotaurs’ prosperity did not last long.

As they expanded, they encountered a formidable adversary in the southeastern part of the continent, currently occupied by the Conrad Kingdom.

It was the Centaurs.

The two half-human races clashed on the fertile plains, leading to decades of fierce wars.

The conflict ultimately ended with the victory of the Centaurs, who loved music and built friendships with other races.

In truth, such a “trivial” conflict between races shouldn’t have been included in {The History of Asin}, but the reason it was documented was that the cornered Minotaurs sacrificed their lives to summon Oriax.

Oriax descended, breaking through the veil separating god and creature. The Centaurs likewise summoned their deity, Amdukias, and the two gods clashed.

It was a cataclysmic battle.

Countless beings, as well as towering mountains, decayed thanks to Oriax, while the music sung by Amdukias with five mouths shattered rocks buried deep in the earth.

That is why there are few mountains and rocks in the Conrad Kingdom today.

The battle that devastated the southeastern continent ended with Amdukias emerging victorious. Oriax lost all the Minotaurs who worshipped him and faded into the pages of history… only to reappear later.

Normally when the non-human race that believes in Asin disappears, they vanish without a trace.

Leo rubbed his palm and then turned his eyes to the trumpet tattoo on his left forearm, the symbol of Barbatos.

Unlike Oriax, who caused all sorts of trouble and is detailed in {The History of Asin}, Barbatos…

“Leo! Are you listening? Huh? What’s that?”

Lena turned around with mountain berries in hand, interrupting his thoughts. She pointed at the scabbard attached to Leo’s waist.

[ Achievement: Bound Item, 0/3 ]

[ Sword – Indestructible. ]

“Hmm?”

“Wow! It’s a sword, right? When did you get this…”

“Ta-da!”

What a disaster.

Leo hurriedly drew the sword, pretending to show off.

“Surprised, right? Look at this. Isn’t it cool?”

This game is devoid of any considerations. Like before, the only item he had, a ‘sword’, was set to appear as soon as the scenario started. And this Lena is quite perceptive…

“Owowow! Where did you get this? Did you buy it? Let me see, I want to touch it.”

“I bought it last week in a big town. What do you think?”

“It’s heavy! Amazing! But… why did you buy something like this?”

“I wanted to learn swordsmanship, so I splurged a little.”

“Swordsmanship? Didn’t you want to be a hunter? Do you need something like this for hunting?”

“You don’t know about hunting, but when it comes to hunting…”

Truthfully, a sword was almost useless for hunting, but Leo adapted common knowledge that ordinary people might easily misconceive.

“And I need to be prepared in case I encounter bandits. I’ll be an adult next year, so it’s good to have this in advance.”

“Ohhh, I see. That’s interesting.”

Lena clumsily swung the sword and poked the ground a few times before handing it back. Then she glanced at Leo with a scrutinizing look.

“Geez, you hid this just to show off? You could have just shown it in town.”

“Hehe, showing it in town seems too much of a brag, you know? My father has a sword too, but he left it in the mountain lodge and didn’t bring it down.”

That’s a blatant lie. My father doesn’t have a sword. But Lena won’t ever come to the lodge…

Lena said, “Hmm~,” and turned her attention back to the mountain berries.

‘That seems to have passed well.’ ─ Leo thought, trying hard not to show any habits.

He felt the jingling of {initial funds} in his pocket and stared blankly at Lena’s back.

Her tightly wound hair swayed with each berry she picked, brushing against Leo’s heart.

‘Lena…’

This time, he planned to send Lena to the Monastery Church. In the childhood friend scenario, there was an event where she could become a priestess.

The plan to marry Lena Ainar to the prince had been abandoned since the engagement scenario.

He reflected deeply on the sight of Lena suffering and Leo Dexter’s gnashing teeth in anger.

He wouldn’t use Lena as a tool for completion. He resolved to make her happy while also aiming for completion.

This was Minseo’s vow, but it also deeply struck Leo from Demos village.

He too had once selfishly obstructed his friend’s path just because he wanted to be happy. How many times had he recklessly hindered his friend’s future?

Though Minseo’s desire played a part, he was practically an accomplice too.

He didn’t want to part ways with her.

‘But now we must part. Lena has a dream, and I have things to do… Honestly, I’d just be a hindrance if I were around her. Lena gave up her dream because of me. That shouldn’t be…’

Leo steeled himself.

Friendship. That was enough.

Lena and Leo filled a leather sack with mountain berries. Leo’s slow hands made Lena help out (“Leo! Why are you so slow? Let’s hurry and go back.”) as they went down from the mountain.

“Take care. Enjoy your meal!”

“You too…”

“?”

After letting Lena in, Leo returned home and let out a sigh.

His father was out hunting.

‘Where did I put my boots? I don’t need the blanket, right?’

He prepared to set out on a hunt in his room, which he hadn’t seen for a long time. He donned a thin forearm guard to avoid scratches from twigs and tied a rope around his waist. He was about to put on his hat when he flopped down onto the bed.

“Haah.”

He thought he would leave for the hunt and not return until autumn.

Lena, his childhood friend, was incredibly sharp. She was curious and never overlooked anything strange. Leo was the object of her attention, and mixed with the habits of other Leos, he couldn’t escape her gaze as he repeated the scenario.

Last time, Lena had suspected, “Are you really Leo?” and “You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

Disappointment piled up like a balloon about to burst.

Unfortunately, there was no way to resolve it. It was impossible to remember and control all those trivial habits, nor could he confess, “I’m actually not Leo.”

It was challenging to explain his bizarre situation, but the gap between being Leo and not being Leo was something only Leo himself understood.

Talking about it seemed unlikely to bring Lena any special help… nor did he want it to.

Lena needed to become a priestess.

He didn’t want to complicate his friend’s head with unnecessary words.

Besides, there was a practical reason. This childhood friend scenario forced {the priestess} event.

The princes in the capital of the Orun Kingdom were waste that couldn’t be recycled and must be avoided. Then he’d have to go to another kingdom, but to cross the border, going to the lord’s castle would sweep him into the event leading to Duke Tertan’s House.

Following that event would get him killed by Bart. The wrathful Bart, with resentment against the duke’s house, had slaughtered all the servants and handmaidens when he attacked Prince Palace Tertan, thus concluding the last childhood friend scenario.

So, he had already made some choices in the beggar siblings scenario.

Once Kasia handed him the gold coins, without rushing to stop Bart, he chose to kill Gilbert Forte. So that when Lena went to the Monastery Church in Lutetia, she would not encounter him and get kicked out.

Leo’s heart sank heavily. His body pressed down into the bed, sinking deeper.

‘Just hold on for two months. I’ll return on the day Lena leaves and send her off joyfully.’

While he might be escaping to the lodge to avoid Lena’s suspicions, it was more about dodging her confession.

Before long, Lena would suggest going to pick mountain mushrooms. There, she would subtly confess, “I think I might quit my priestess studies.”

That would be a significant turning point for her attitude.

After that, she would take my hand, and I… would be unable to break away from Lena. Whether I had resolved to send her off or not, I’d be unable to suppress my fluttering heart.

So let’s keep our distance from the start.

When I tried to break off the engagement with Lena Ainar in the past, I felt similarly. I had resolved to establish a clear distance before I got too deeply involved.

It wouldn’t be repeating the same mistake.

Lena and I are friends. And Lena gently nudges me to pursue my dreams.

It’s better this way than hearing Lena’s confession and both of us getting flustered, then parting in tears.

Lena will probably be a bit bewildered why I went to the lodge and didn’t return…

Leo turned in his bed. He needed to leave after dinner, but for some reason, he didn’t want to get out of bed.

He lifted his left arm and gazed at the tattoo on his upper arm. He had struggled to erase Lena from his thoughts and tried to think of something else.

‘Barbatos…’

Like the white necklace from the beggar siblings scenario, it seemed a tattoo indicating some {event}.

It was the symbol of Barbatos with several trumpets intersecting.

There was almost no information about Barbatos in {The History of Asin}. It only mentioned that he was a god born from the wishes of “hunters.”

This meant that Barbatos was likely a mild god.

The lack of records indicated he hadn’t caused any major incidents, and not all Asin were as wicked as Oriax.

Oriax was among the top five most heinous gods of all Asin, while most Asin simply existed quietly, accepting offerings from their believers and returning favors.

Leo’s father would bury the heads of the prey he hunted in the ground and bow to them at the end of each hunt, which was a kind of sacrificial ritual.

It was unclear whether hedesired something from it or not…

‘But what does this mean? Is it telling me to receive the power of Barbatos? Is it urging me to use his power to defeat Oriax?’

This tattoo seemed to provide a clearer direction, much like the {bloodline} event of the beggar siblings.

Not having recognized the {History of Asin} information all this time, he hadn’t paid much attention to this tattoo, and in the childhood friend scenario, he might have had opportunities to borrow Barbatos’s power.

And now, the opponents Leo had to face were beings that transcended human reasoning. To deal with them, it seemed he would need powerful abilities.

‘But…’

Leo scratched his head.

Something felt off. There was a sense that something didn’t align.

Lena, who wanted to become a priestess, and the church, which massacres non-converted barbarians. Serving Barbatos stood in complete opposition to Lena’s future aspirations.

Lena is the heroine of this game…

‘It probably doesn’t matter since I’ll have to make Lena a princess before she becomes a priestess, but it still feels strange…’

Could this be a trap? Perhaps a malicious plot to have him bitten again? Or is it a definitive path like the {bloodline} event?

After pondering for a while, Leo could no longer bear his hunger and rose from his bed. He rummaged through the kitchen and quickly prepared a simple meal.

‘Let’s think slowly. There’s plenty of time.’

To leave before Lena…

After finishing his meal, Leo put on his boots, pulled down his hat, and stepped outside. He stared blankly at the small adjacent house, Lena’s home, contemplating whether to say something before leaving.

In the end, he called out,

“What?! At this hour?”

“Yeah. It just turned out this way.”

He called for Lena.

“Why? You can just go tomorrow, right?”

“I’ll be an adult next year too, so I need to learn hunting early to save face. That’s why I plan to stay at the lodge for a while.”

“Really? Isn’t it dangerous? Don’t overdo it; just go in the morning.”

Oh, that’s such a good option.

Unable to contain his anxious feelings, he hastily packed his things. He felt incredibly foolish but was too dressed up to turn back now.

“It’s not dangerous at all. The road to the lodge is one my father and I have traveled often, so it’s a bit cleared, and there are no bandits around. No big beasts either. If there were, my father would’ve caught them already. It’ll be fine.”

“I’m worried… But fine. How long will you be gone?”

“Not sure? I think I might be there longer than usual?”

“Alright. Have a safe trip. Take care.”

“Yeah… You too.”

“Uh? Of course, I’ll be fine. You’ve been acting strangely today.”

“…I’ll go.”

“Go~.”

After saying their goodbyes, Leo climbed the dark mountain.

The next day, Leo’s father looked at his son, who had suddenly arrived at the lodge, with a puzzled expression.

There was no reason for such a sudden visit, and since it took a full day to walk to the lodge, arriving in broad daylight meant he had left the night before.

Nonetheless, he nodded at his son’s words, “I want to learn to hunt quickly,” and said nothing.

Leo unpacked his belongings at the lodge and lay down on the bed to catch up on lost sleep. Nestled on a pile of cheap leather, he thought.

Now, the day he would return to the village would also be the day he would send Lena off.

When the {priestess} event arrives with autumn and Lena leaves, she would be on her way to becoming the priestess of her dreams.

Then Lena would be happy.

And I…

Leo fell asleep quickly.

Since coming to the lodge, he had been engrossed in hunting to try to forget Lena. Even without the memories of the past, he tried to cover up his growing fondness for Lena with their friendship. He resolved to eventually send her off so she could become a priestess…

However, just like always, his plans were interrupted by variables.

One day, over a month since coming to the lodge, Lena arrived at the lodge. “Leo!” she shouted, panting heavily.