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9. Childhood Friend – Initial Funds

I fell from a vast sky. It was the intro video I saw last time. So, I must have completed a full loop.

The video focused on Lena in a peaceful village, wandering through the forest. She had an old leather sack slung over her shoulder and was looking back at him.

As Leo entered the body, the new Leo’s mind kicked Minseo out into a corner. And Leo particularly absorbed “his story” from Minseo’s memories.

“Leo! Are you listening to me?”

“Lena!”

I’m back.

I met Lena from Demos Village again. The same Lena who welcomed me when I first entered this game. We had separated with marriage.

Leo shouted in joy at seeing her again, but she returned a bewildered expression.

“What’s suddenly up?”

Lena, who had no clue about everything that had happened.

Leo felt a pang of loneliness as he lost his words. Memories of having been married were fresh in his mind, yet to her, Leo was still just her childhood friend.

He swallowed hard, pushing down the sadness he had wanted to express. Heartbreaking, but it was probably for the best, he comforted himself.

Living like this, stuck in an infinite loop, couldn’t continue. It was hard to bear mentally, and he also thought it was unfair to Lena.

So ultimately, he had to make Lena a princess, but if she remembered the past, she would never escape this place.

Thank goodness Lena didn’t know about the previous events. Leo crunched his teeth.

“Leo?”

As Lena approached with a puzzled look, he forced a grin and pretended it was all a joke.

‘What should I do…’

Leo fell into thought.

Lena, teasing him that his joke was weak; if he wanted to make her a princess, he needed to find a way out of this village and somehow take her to the capital. But, as he had given up on this before, it was no simple task.

The event to leave for the Monastery Church came to mind. If he used that event, he could easily send Lena to the capital of the Holy Kingdom, but either way, the priest wouldn’t be able to marry her.

Now that he thought about it, he was in a bind.

If he sent Lena away during the event, she would become a priestess and could never be a princess, and if he didn’t send her away, he would end up marrying her.

No matter which direction he took, he wouldn’t be able to clear the game.

Scratching his head in frustration, he felt something heavy in his pocket.

Pulling it out, he found eight silver coins and five copper coins. He remembered receiving a scenario reward called {Initial Funds} at the end.

Along with it, the ending for his little sister Lena flitted across his mind, but he quickly forgot and tucked the money into his pocket. Fortunately, Lena hadn’t seen it since she was busy picking mountain berries.

‘With this money!’

Leo excitedly fumbled with the coins in his pocket.

This was quite a sum.

It wasn’t enough to get to the Holy Kingdom, but if he used it sparingly, he could definitely reach Nevis, the capital of the Orun Kingdom, or the capital Lutina of the Conrad Kingdom.

‘Yes! Let’s leave the village. That will solve everything.’

The priest heading to the Monastery Church would arrive around autumn, so he could just leave for Nevis before that. Then, while staying in the capital, it would seem he could find the prince of the Orun Kingdom.

With a plausible plan forming, Leo felt at ease.

He even started whistling as he picked the mountain berries, making Lena, who had just been pouting, glance at him with a strange look, soon shifting to a cheerful expression.

*

As soon as Leo’s father returned from hunting, Leo urged him to go hunting again. His father, spurred by his son’s enthusiasm, hastened his schedule.

He always wanted to teach Leo the sacred art of hunting. Perhaps pleased by his son’s zeal, he faintly smiled, packed up again, and they set off the next day.

Leo’s house was quite a distance from the typical hunting grounds. They had to cross two mountains, taking a full day just to reach the cabin.

The hunting cabin was a small fortress hidden in the mountains.

Traps were set all around the cabin, and numerous signs warned anyone not to approach. It was like a warning to bandits, saying they better not rob the place while the hunter was gone.

To a hunter, bandits weren’t really that threatening. As long as they were cautious about their cabin getting robbed in their absence, it was fine; in fact, bandits tended to avoid hunters.

Chasing a hunter who had traps laid out everywhere was exceedingly risky for a bandit. They feared they might trigger a trap that would lead to a report, so when a hunter appeared warning them, bandits would typically retreat or negotiate.

The next day, Leo and his father checked the traps and set new ones.

Leo took an active role.

Using his {Hunting} skill, he tracked the signs of prey and hypothesized their activity ranges to create traps suitable for them.

He successfully laid ambush traps for a herd of Migas (small omnivorous creatures resembling ducks and pigs that travel in packs, with no distinction between male and female), startling them from the other side for a successful drive hunt.

His father quietly followed the proactive Leo.

As evening fell, the two finished their hunting and returned to the cabin. As usual, his father prayed to Barbatos, offering sacrifice, and started cooking the innards.

The small lungs of the Migas sizzled as they cooked.

“Leo, you’ve improved a lot.”

His father, cooking, suddenly remarked. Perhaps admiring Leo’s skills, he finally opened his mouth.

Leo seized the opportunity.

“Dad, I have something to say…”

He mentioned he wanted to leave the village with Lena, showing the {Initial Funds}. He made up a story that he had secretly been saving money from hunting all this time.

“I was lucky to catch a bear in my trap last time…”

While hunting does indeed bring in money, it was a little much for a teenager in his mid-teens to have, so he added embellishments.

As he stretched out the tale of pursuing an injured bear caught in a trap and luring it back to capture it again, his father, impressed by today’s hunting, nodded without a word.

Leo continued.

“Lena wants to go to the Monastery Church, and I really want to help her. With her family situation, she’ll never get a chance to start. With this money, I just need to gather travel funds to get to Nevis and then to Lutina. I can’t let her go alone… can I go with her?”

His mixed motives in the lie made his father stroke his coarse beard. After watching the fire stiffly for a moment, his father got up and went into the cabin.

Leo stayed back to finish cooking the lungs.

His father soon returned with a small pouch in hand. Rattling, the bag filled with coins was handed to Leo. Opening it revealed it was stuffed with silver coins.

That was it. His father splashed the blood on the cooking lungs.

“Dad, thank you.”

He didn’t say anything until the end, but it was a silent approval. Leo no longer found this silence awkward like he once had.

The two of them quietly chewed on the lungs.

*

“Leo~”

“Hey! Wait a moment, I’m almost done with dinner!”

Today was the weekend. It was the day Lena had confessed she wouldn’t become a priestess in the last scenario, and she arrived exactly at the same time.

Leo deliberately waited for today. Although this world didn’t feel like a game at all, he thought it was better to discuss it at a significant turning point in the story.

Clearing the dishes, he exchanged a wink with his father, but his father pretended not to notice.

When he stepped outside, Lena was carrying a large pouch.

“Lena! What’s going on this early? Did you stop by before heading to church?”

‘Is she suggesting we go collect mountain mushrooms?’ He wanted to say that but held back.

“Leo, what are you doing today?”

“I’m free today! Want to go somewhere together?”

“Yeah! I was going to go pick mountain mushrooms, can you come with me?”

“Sure. Wait a minute.”

After that, everything proceeded exactly the same.

The two arrived at the foot of the mountain, chatting happily while picking mushrooms until they settled down to take a break, and Lena fed Leo some jerky.

“Nom nom…”

“Nom nom…”

A brief silence fell. If it continued like this, Lena would surely say she was giving up on her priest studies.

Leo took the initiative.

“Lena, would you like to come to Nevis with me?”

“Huh? Nevis? Why there?”

Leo couldn’t look her in the eye and turned his head. Now he had to tell a big lie, so he simply turned away, pretending to be shy.

“Just, you know… it’s the capital of our kingdom, and I thought I’d like to see it once. There are tons of people and lots of food, and I hear there are places to work as well.”

“I thought you wanted to be a hunter?”

“I can hunt anytime. And…”

“And?”

“It’s closer to the Holy Kingdom… since it’s the capital, there should be lots of merchants heading to Lutetia, right? The Monastery Church is in Lutetia, isn’t it?”

In this world, there was only one recognized church, the Cross Church.

The Cross Church had significantly contributed to driving the different races from the continent, which led all seven kingdoms since the Acaian Empire to designate it as the national religion.

The main body of the Cross Church was in the capital of the Holy Kingdom, Lutetia, specifically referring to that church as the ‘Monastery Church.’

In contrast, there was naturally a church in the capital of the Orun Kingdom too, but it wasn’t called the ‘Monastery Church.’ That was just the Nevis Church.

Lena looked blankly at him before speaking.

“But how would we get to Nevis? Isn’t it a two-month walk? It sounds too dangerous.”

To Lena’s concerned question, Leo took out ten silver coins from his pocket.

There was actually more. If he combined what he received from his father, he could even reach the Monastery Church.

But Leo was planning to stay in Nevis while working on making Lena a princess, so he didn’t show all of it.

He knew from the Beggar Siblings scenario that he was aware of the prices in the capital.

It was nothing compared to this rural village. No matter how hard they worked there, they wouldn’t accumulate much money; they would have to live day by day.

While making Lena struggle a bit, he planned to go out hunting under the guise of seeking clues to meet the prince. If this was indeed a clearable game, there must be a way to meet the prince.

‘If I give out a little bit of money each time, I could claim I was hunting and Lena wouldn’t lose hope…’

Just as he was thinking about something devious, Lena’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the considerable amount of money.

“Wha—how did you get this money…? Did you get it from your father?”

“I borrowed a bit from Dad and saved up some myself. I just feel lonely going alone, so can you come with me?”

Although this proposal sounded like a request, it was something Lena couldn’t possibly refuse.

With Leo, on a journey toward the church, into a new world. It contained everything she loved.

“Okay! I’ll go! I really want to go!”

Tears welled up in Lena’s eyes.

She was so happy that she smiled brightly while tears streaked down her cheeks.

“Leo! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Leo felt a twinge of conscience at her overflowing joy. He had been conspiring to keep Lena from going to the Monastery Church, but here she was, hugging him while crying.

He hid his discomfort with a forced smile, patting her small back, but her tears didn’t stop easily.

Above them, the Koko-ren hanging from the tree pulled away its arms from the branch, looking annoyed at the noise, and disappeared far away.

*

A few days later, “Leo! I got permission!”

Lena came running, all excited. How she managed to persuade her parents, he couldn’t figure out.

‘If she were my daughter, I’d never allow it…’

Was she perhaps expecting a ruckus when I return with Lena? Or was she purely supporting Lena’s dream?

In any case, it didn’t matter.

Leo was happily welcoming the news and asked, “That’s great! You’re going to tell the church too, right?”

“Of course! Want to go together?”

The two went to the church, explaining everything to the priest and monk, who joyfully blessed them.

It wasn’t just a short phrase of goodwill; it was a genuine blessing using holy power.

As he waved his hands, a warm energy enveloped Lena and Leo. Perhaps moved, Lena spoke with a trembling voice.

“Father! To go this far… thank you so much!”

“I’m even happier that our Lena is finally heading to the Monastery Church. Keep strong.”

It was evident the priest cared a lot for Lena.

Blessings were costly. The priests’ holy powers deplete as they are used.

Healing injuries was relatively cheap. While the required holy power was also low, it could only be adjusted by the visible amounts.

However, treating illnesses or granting blessings consumed a lot of holy power. Healing required pouring in a large amount of holy power at once to finish in one go, and once granted, blessings needed to last a long time.

The priest had generously bestowed such a blessing on both of them.

After Lena and Leo expressed their thanks and were about to leave the church, just as they were parting, Leslie the monk came rushing over.

“Lena, take this.”

He handed Lena a pouch full of copper coins. Lena jumped back in surprise, wagging her hands, but he insisted.

“Monk! You really don’t have to give this! It’s okay…”

“Please take it. I’ve collected this to send you to the Monastery Church anyway. Everyone from the church contributed a little, so it’s not just mine. Who’s watching? Quickly, take it.”

“…Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

“Right. Be careful on your journey.”

Tears welled in Lena’s eyes, and the monk awkwardly smiled. It was a warm atmosphere, but Leo felt tense.

He had worried about whether the amount would be enough to get to the Monastery Church, but it turned out to be a baseless concern. Even when combined with the money Lena received from her parents, it was far from enough to reach the Monastery Church. Without the {Initial Funds} or the {Priest} event, she might have never left this village in her lifetime.

That evening, a small farewell party was held in the village square.

The village chief lit a bonfire in the square, and the villagers brought out various snacks and drinks. As words of encouragement for Lena’s dream were shared, the farewell party turned into a festive celebration once the drinks started flowing.

In the midst of it all, Hans, oblivious as ever, blurted out, “Aren’t they just eloping for love?” only to be scolded by Hans’ lady.

The bonfire illuminated the entire village in a warm red glow through the night.