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338. Childhood Friend Ep – Copy

On cloudy days, Leah comes to the bakery.

This has become a habitual practice of hers, as if it were a proven fact, going around searching for food every day.

So, Hans, the baker’s son, waited for Leah to come to work, but… she still hadn’t shown up by the time her mother was done with the morning dough.

“Tch. Is today a bust?”

It wasn’t anything major; he just wanted to say a word to Leah. Hans, who had been loitering around the bakery since morning, clicked his tongue and turned around.

The interesting stories he had saved from the big town could be used next time.

At that moment, Dino, running around making a fuss, came into view.

“Guys! Big news!! Leah got a prophecy! Apparently, the priest…”

“Dino, it’s too late. We were just talking about that.”

They were the town’s young men.

As they headed off to work in the fields, they chattered loudly.

“The priest asked to borrow a horse, right? It’s for Leah.”

“Oh. But can we lend a horse when there’s only one? It’s fine for now since plowing’s done, but…”

“I heard the village chief is troubled about it.”

“Hmm? Is it really something for the village chief to worry about? Since it’s for the youth organization, we should have a say in this.”

“That horse belongs to the chief, strictly speaking.”

“Still. Who cares about ownership? We’re the ones working the fields.”

And so on and so forth.

Hans’s ears perked up.

He slyly squeezed himself into the group of the working young men (“Hans, what brings you here?”) and eavesdropped. The gossip concluded that Leah would soon be leaving.

Hans couldn’t focus on his work. It had been too long since he had done any fieldwork.

After that, Leah said her goodbyes to the villagers, promising to return soon. Reb was with her, seemingly determined to follow along.

Where could she be going? Since she got a prophecy, it must be to Lutetia, right?

Hans ran to the big town as if he were possessed. He searched for merchants who had previously taught him trade skills, asking if he could join a merchant group heading to Lutetia.

But as a rookie with no goods, he was turned down everywhere. Furious, Hans grumbled but then gave up.

“Damn… What kind of prophecy is this…”

Feeling like a dog chasing a chicken. Actually, there wasn’t any difference.

Perhaps it was instinct that led the resigned souls to lower places. While wandering lost, he was soon sucked into the dark corners of Toridom, the big town. There, shady residents lurked in the shadows.

“Welcome! Did you come alone? Oh, you’re a bit young, huh? Is it your first time here?”

It was a lowly thug. He greeted the naive visitor with a twisted smile.

But this was a far cry from legitimate business. The thug shamelessly poked at the guest’s pockets.

Confirming that the kid had money, he wrapped an arm around him to lead him deeper into the shadows…

“Hans. What are you doing over there?”

“R-Reb!”

“Not over there. Come out here.”

“Y-Yes, I’m sorry. I took a wrong turn…”

“Really? Why don’t you just stick around?”

Hans attempted to shrink away from the thug’s arm but to no avail.

The thug’s words were no longer questions or invitations.

“Stick around. Hey! You too.”

“Uh… that’s not…”

“Forget it. We’re not going. Hans, come over here.”

“Ah— such a rude brat. Can’t even take a hint. Alright, go.”

The thug released Hans.

But with a clink, he snatched a bundle of money from Hans’s pocket, checking the amount without caring further about them.

Hans stuttered, “Uh… uh…”

“Why?”

With a cold glare from the thug, he retreated. Reb silently pulled Hans along.

“…”

“…”

Stomp, stomp.

I wonder how it feels to be a fool in front of your cousin. As Reb matched his pace tiredly, Hans finally released his pent-up frustrations.

“Why did you stop me? I’d rather get robbed there than here.”

“Do you even know where that place is?”

“Who cares where it is. Now Leah is… No, damn it.”

The two fell silent for a moment.

As they walked aimlessly, Hans realized they were passing by a familiar spot when Reb spoke up.

“Are you going to live like this?”

“What about me?”

“Working for peanuts while fetching the merchants’ leftovers, and being labeled as a lazy bum by the townsfolk.”

“Profit. Who cares what anyone says! I will definitely become a merchant…”

“Bringing leftover bread from your aunt’s bakery to save up for starting capital. So, where’s that money now?”

“…”

“Take it.”

“What is it? Books and… money?”

“It’s the money I’ve saved up over time. And the book won’t hurt you to read, so take it. You know how to read, right?”

“No. What the heck! Where did all this money come from…”

“How can you say you’ll become a merchant without knowing how to read? You need to study first. I’m leaving soon. Live well.”

Eight silver coins and five copper coins.

Reb returned what was clearly Hans’s initial investment. Even included was a little information on the {Rules of the Back Alley} to help him as he lived like a fool.

Reb was cutting ties.

The last episode with the childhood friend. So that he wouldn’t have regrets about repeating his actions in the next episode, he made sure to thoroughly prevent Hans from getting involved in prostitution.

Then a few days later, Reb and Leah left the village.

They departed by carriage, with the carriage provided by the Toridom Church and the horse sourced by the chief. He preferred to buy a new horse from the big town rather than giving them the only horse in the village, responding to the young men’s suggestions. But…

“…It’s Bante, huh.”

The horse the chief bought was Bante.

It was only natural since Leo had first met Bante when he bought it from Toridom, but it was a strange coincidence. At that time, he had gotten it for a great price using Barbatos’s charm.

“If this activates the riding achievement, or not?”

He whistled, but Bante, tied to the carriage, merely blinked without anything happening. Reb found himself in a bit of a bind.

The carriage was selected precisely because it could be pulled by a single horse. But he had intended to summon Bante to attach two horses. The destination was still far.

“Well, I guess we have no choice. Let’s just go.”

“Tch. It ends up like this.”

Reb grumbled in disappointment.

If summoned, the black horse, Kus, would have barreled through the plains, and the white horse, Woody, would have appeared dazzlingly in the moonlight.

He wanted to show something cool to Leah, but oh well. Not long after, Reb lost his words.

– Hee-haw?

At the riverside, a lazy brown horse, Bante, was lounging around.

Leah burst out laughing.

“What a lazy friend you are.”

“Hey! Aren’t you coming? Looking silly over there.”

Reb caught another Bante and attached him to the carriage. Thus, the clever horse pair began their journey eastward, setting out for a long trip…

The two Bantes were perfectly identical in appearance, gait, and mannerisms.

As if they were copied from a mold.

– Hee-haw!!

– Hee-haw!!

*

By the time Reb and Leah arrived at the capital of the Conrad Kingdom, Rutina, the autumn leaves were beginning to turn vibrant colors.

Despite having traveled without pause for over a month, that was the case. The continent was unimaginably vast, and Reb’s time was incredibly tight.

Curious, Leah asked just as Reb suggested they ignore Hirie Gaidan and Palace Tertan.

“Why the rush? The ending is about whether my job dictates something or if I get married, right? Can’t we decide the ending time ourselves?”

“That’s true, but we need to align it with the next episode. To capture Astroth, we need to head to the Belita Kingdom, in any case.”

The next engagement scenario will start in winter. Ray will convince Lera to head toward Oriax, so they need to synchronize their timing.

“Ah… right. That person named Lera said she doesn’t dream, huh, right?”

“Exactly. She’s a bit tough to manage. So, we have to hurry to accommodate.”

“Hmm~ I got it. But what about that person over there? Can we just leave them?”

Leah pointed far away.

There, Palace Tertan’s group was crossing the Irotashi River, and Reb shook his head.

“Probably. Oriax isn’t with them.”

Before, Palace was carrying a necklace with a red gemstone as per Oriax’s plan.

It then passed to Hirie, and Hirie and Palace had to part ways and return separately, but the two lovebirds ended up crossing over to the Conrad Kingdom to get the duke’s permission to marry.

Then, they met Sir Bart and had the necklace taken from them… Now that things had gone this way, Reb started to understand the divine design behind it all.

The love blessed by the gods.

Hirie and Palace will reunite. They’ll meet Sir Bart, and the necklace will fall into the hands of that insane knight, driven by vengeance. With screams that tear apart the sky.

Because of this chain of events, we could encounter that red gemstone, the lifeline of Oriax. Had it not been for this, it would have been incredibly remote to annihilate Oriax.

The main god who treated human lives and emotions like pieces on a chessboard. But now that Oriax was captured, it seemed everything was returning to order.

The Palace heading over there will meet Hirie and fall in love all over again. The two will promise to marry and work through parental consent… at this moment, Reb was overtaken by an unwelcome feeling of sentimentality.

They would likely go to meet Hirie’s mother. Sierra Gaidan, who had shut her heart after losing her son, would have seen Reb, who would have been around the same age as her son, and been reminded of reality.

And Palace Tertan was the same age as Reb.

Three years younger than Hirie. That’s perhaps why he was appointed to her.

‘…Now that I think of it, Sir Bart is probably living just fine too.’

With Oriax gone, Prince Eric had caused no trouble.

The Royal Knights who had run away with Prince Lean de Yeriel and Princess Reriana de Yeriel… had now returned to normal lives. Oriax’s existence had been this significant.

Proud and moving. But it wasn’t entirely pleasant either.

Considering how much we struggled to get here. Saying it feels like a memory after the fact is a joke.

Thus, Reb and Leah crossed the river, passing by Palace who was heading out on a blind date.

At that time, Leah had already dreamed most of it, gazing sadly at the riverside. Reb, splashing water to capture her attention.

Leah smiled brightly.

Gratefully.

And back to the present. Leah entered the capital of the Conrad Kingdom, Rutina, and was busy looking around.

With extensive support from the Cross Church, it wasn’t lacking in cash, so Reb grabbed anything that looked delicious and handed it to Leah.

“So, where are we going now?”

“We need to meet Lean. We have to enter the castle, but… it might be tough with just the pass we received from the Holy Woman?”

“It might be possible, but it would take a few days running back and forth to the church. It’s a hassle.”

“Hmm… then let’s just go in. Wasting days saying we’re getting approval isn’t ideal.”

“What about the carriage?”

“We have to go out anyway. There’s a secret passage on the outskirts of the city.”

A little while later, Leah gasped in awe.

“This is the secret passage? How amazing! It’s a bit scary!”

“Quiet now. We’re almost there. This part is connected to the well, so be careful. Once we go up here, we’ll find the garden… oh no.”

As they peeked out from the dry well, a figure was visible. Though his appearance had changed a lot, Reb recognized him at a glance.

Sir Bart was looking down into the well, apparently off-duty and dressed in civilian clothes.

He seemed to be patrolling the secret passage.

Naturally, to his eyes, Reb appeared as nothing but an intruder, and with a swift motion, he drew his sword. He didn’t make a sound because it would be worse to reveal the location of the secret passage than to have one or two intruders.

Bart leaped into the well, ready to capture the intruders. Reb grew tense.

Without the Swordmaster, he would likely have no equal. Unless he couldn’t use the Oblivion Blade, Reb would have to give it his all. So he kicked out just as Bart descended—

“Gah!”

“Eh?”

Bart was knocked out cold by the kick, and Reb, stunned, stammered, ‘Did I just hit him?’