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12. Childhood Friend – Nevis

The newly contracted merchant group set off.

As we got closer to the capital Nevis, numerous small towns and cities appeared, causing the merchant group to halt the carriage several times.

Luckily, we had some cash to spare. Lena and Leo took their time sightseeing during the days we rested, and Leo subtly offered Lena some alcohol.

The village of Demos was rather strict about alcohol, not serving it to anyone who wasn’t of age. Young men snuck around to get some to drink, but if caught, they faced serious trouble.

So, the diligent Lena had never drunk alcohol in her life.

Determined, Leo bought a whole barrel of beer to take back to their lodgings.

As he put down the barrel and fished out some glasses, Lena excitedly licked her lips, but nervously cast her eyes downward.

“Are we allowed to drink this? We might get in trouble…”

“Who would scold us?”

“Like, Binard…”

Binard was one of the five gods worshiped at the Cross Church, known as the god who admonished wicked deeds.

Leo, positioning himself as the devil, tempted her.

“Even the priest drinks when making offerings.”

“That’s true.”

“Think of it as practice. Why not? You’ll become a priest someday. Besides, we’ll be of age in a few months, right? I’m sure Binard would understand this much.”

Lena, intrigued, took the offered glass and toyed with it.

She had been curious about what alcohol was for a long time. The village adults always seemed happier and laughed more after drinking it.

Pretending to reluctantly give in, she raised the glass to her lips.

“…Should I?”

“Of course! Just take a little sip. There’s a reason adults enjoy it.”

Drinking with a close friend for the first time was something special.

Leo reminisced and filled Lena’s glass. It’d been a boring couple of days in this insignificant village.

Carefully, Lena tilted her glass to take a sip.

“Mmm! This tastes interesting.”

Seeing her gulp down the beer without a care, Leo chuckled to himself.

Just as planned.

“But Leo, this is starting to make me feel a bit dizzy.”

“Isn’t that the point?”

He feigned innocence while sipping his own beer, ensuring Lena didn’t overdo it.

As expected, Lena started getting tipsy and talked more.

It was the perfect setting to ask her old stories without suspicion.

Leo randomly picked a moment from the past.

“Lena. Remember that summer from two years ago? Do you recall?”

“Oh! That! I remember~ Back when you~”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s right!”

Under the influence of alcohol, Lena began spilling her old memories. Unknown to Leo, the past stories she recalled were detailed and vivid.

There was the time they awkwardly captured Koko-ren and got scolded by the village elders, the instance where Leo saved Lena from drowning in the valley, and when he was goofing off in the church while she studied, accidentally triggering a panic among the village boys who thought there was a fire…

Strangely, Leo felt a strange fullness listening to their shared memories.

With each revelation, he felt more like the real Leo.

‘I am not Leo.’

This premise always tormented him.

Accepting, “This is a game, and I am Leo!” might ease his mind, but he couldn’t let go of that thought.

This was a minimal wall for Lena, who blossomed the more Leo’s spirit merged with the scenario.

It was a necessary barrier, as even without merging, the circumstances were bound to turn better. Facing someone’s genuine goodwill felt like this.

In return, all he could do was build a small wall.

Because I am not Leo.

Lena leaned forward, bringing her face close to his.

Her little tongue was all over the place, confused.

“You! Why do you keep being so nice to me?! Huh?! What are you trying to do? Huh?!”

As Leo wrestled with his drunken thoughts, Lena’s words grew bolder.

And her drunken state seemed to amplify her voice, as she almost yelled.

“I’ll be a priest! No, I mean, when I become a priest, what are you—? Huh?! I’ll make sure to give you—!”

“Just bestow a blessing or something.”

“A blessing? A blessing? Leo! Wait, once I become a priest, I’ll absolutely~”

This is amusing, but it’s about time to put her to bed. Giving her more would surely lead to trouble.

Leo tossed Lena onto the bed.

She started to wrestle with the blanket as if telling it to move, before promptly falling asleep.

The next day, she, of course, didn’t remember a word she had said.

Someday, he’d need to teach her about the risks of drunkenness, but that opportunity never came.

The merchant group arrived in Nevis.

*

The merchant leader guided Lena and Leo to find lodgings.

After quite a while of looking around, he finally came to a stop.

“Here we are. It’s been a while; I almost got lost.”

The place he pointed out was a small inn on the outskirts of Nevis. It appeared clean, with a few flower pots placed outside.

Upon reaching Nevis, the merchant leader offered to introduce them to a cheap yet nice place he knew.

He sheepishly smiled, saying not to feel burdened as it was a friend’s establishment.

For us, newcomers to Nevis, this was a great deal. An experienced merchant leader definitely knew better, so they gladly accepted his kindness.

As the merchant leader opened the inn’s door and stepped inside, they found a surprisingly spacious lobby compared to the building’s size.

Behind the counter sat a neatly mustached innkeeper.

“Been a while! My friend.”

“Whoa! It really has been ages. I almost forgot about you since you never visit.”

The two cheerfully greeted each other.

Lena and Leo followed the merchant leader to greet and asked if they had twin rooms. The innkeeper, sounding a bit apologetic, stated it was primarily the friends he cared about.

“We definitely have rooms for the two of you, but there’s no room available for your merchant group. It seems we have more guests than expected.”

There wasn’t a single person in the inn lobby. It appeared there were either many reservations or current guests had all gone out.

It made sense being daytime.

The merchant leader looked disappointed.

“Oh no, that’s unfortunate. How about at least giving these friends their room? They’re traveling with me; I’d appreciate it if you could offer a discount for my face.”

The innkeeper hesitated, debating for a while, but ultimately chuckled and accepted.

“Planning to stay long?”

“I think we might stay for a while, at least if you give us a good price. Can we first try one night? I need to find work, so I’m not sure how things will turn out.”

“I see. To attract long-term guests, I should show you the best room. Follow me. Oh wait, hold on. I forgot something I meant to give you last time.”

The innkeeper led them to a room on the second floor.

As expected, this capital had different accommodations.

The clean bed looked comfortable just at a glance, and there was a tidy dresser and wardrobe in the corner.

By the window was a table, though the flower in the small pot had wilted, it added character to the room.

Lena, seemingly impressed with the room, poked Leo from behind. Leo had no intention of declining and promptly pulled out some money. Thanks to the merchant leader, the price was also reasonable.

While they still didn’t know where Lena would work, they figured they might be staying here for quite a while. A nice room like this was a huge welcome for them.

After handing over the money, the innkeeper gave them the keys and left.

Lena turned around, beaming as she looked around the room.

“Leo! This place is really nice, isn’t it? And the price is cheap, right?”

“Yeah. It must be low since it’s on the outskirts. But the facilities are really good!”

“Are we staying here from now on?”

“As long as your workplace isn’t too far, let’s stay here.”

Lena excitedly opened the window, and below, they saw the merchant leader just leaving the inn.

Lena leaned out of the window and waved her arms widely.

“Thank you, mister!”

The merchant leader looked up, waved lightly, and walked away briskly.

He maintained his composure until the very end.

“Such a great person.”

“True. Other merchant leaders joked too much.”

The first merchant they met had a rather loose tongue. He made Lena feel quite embarrassed with his innuendos.

In contrast, that merchant leader was polite. Even when they first met, he had generously lowered the price upon realizing their circumstances.

He was quite considerate.

Lena and Leo watched his retreating figure for a while before closing the window.

“Will we meet again?”

“If there’s a connection, we’ll surely meet again someday.”

The two unpacked their belongings and informed the innkeeper they were heading to the town center. He simply smiled, stroking his mustache, as if to say, “Do as you please.”

As they left the inn and stepped onto the main road, the scenery of Nevis unfolded before them.

“Leo! Look at that castle! It’s huge!”

Lena couldn’t hold back her amazement.

In the distance, high castle walls that looked to be about eight meters tall stretched endlessly. As they approached the castle, the walls seemed to grow larger.

Near the castle gates was a bustling market.

Merchants selling various grains and vegetables, leathers and livestock, flour and salt, and more were bustling about with their stalls spread out.

Peddlers traded at the outer gate while processed goods were likely sold inside.

Lena was astounded, bouncing around in excitement, unable to contain herself at the capital’s vibrant atmosphere.

This was on a whole different level compared to the large village market (Torito), and it was a far cry from the cities they had traversed before.

Since it was Leo’s first time outside the castle, he also looked around, fascinated.

The Abrival Castle, which was the backdrop of the engagement scenario, felt more military in nature and didn’t have such bustling life.

As for Oberg, the capital where the Beggar Siblings scenario took place, Leo hadn’t been outside the castle before, so he didn’t know, but it might have a similar vibe.

While wandering around, they spotted a crowd gathered somewhere.

“Ugh… Are they selling slaves?”

On a small stage, emaciated and naked slaves lined up one after the other.

All of them bore scars as if they had been abused and wore expressions of resignation, devoid of any spirit.

Most of the crowd watching merely seemed to be spectators.

Those sitting in the front row seemed to be the real customers, examining the slaves’ conditions with serious expressions.

Soon, the seller took the stage and began explaining something. To summarize, they had captured a tribe of barbarians from the southern swamps.

Even though the “Age of Man” had begun, there were still many uncharted lands on this continent.

Long ago, the Acaian Empire unleashed massive legions across the continent in the name of the gods.

In that process, all the other races were exterminated, but the barbarians survived. This was because the Cross Church, which cared for humanity, opposed the slaughter.

Thus, many barbarian tribes still remained in uncharted territories.

The Ainar Tribe, which appeared in the engagement scenario, was considered barbaric by the standards of the central and southern kingdoms.

It was merely that the northern kingdoms had accepted the barbarian tribes as their citizens upon gaining independence from the empire.

The central and southern kingdoms looked down upon the Aster & Aster Kingdoms as lands of barbarians, and only the Holy Kingdom, heavily influenced by the Cross Church, maintained relations with those two kingdoms.

This meant that few princes were available for Lena Ainar from the engagement scenario to meet.

Only princes from the Aster & Aster Kingdoms or the Holy Kingdom were viable options.

If she concealed her identity, she could approach any prince, but Leo had no confidence in persuading the prideful Lena Ainar.

Lena poked Leo.

“Leo, what are you thinking? Let’s go. I can’t watch this…”

“Oh! Sorry. Let’s hurry.”

He had briefly forgotten about Lena in front of him while lost in thought about other scenarios. She turned her head away with a glum expression.

For the innocent Lena studying theology, this was surely a distressing sight. Theology always preached the duty of selflessness for humanity.

But reality was quite different.

They exited the market, approaching the castle gates. Just then,

“Hey, you over there. Come here.”

A guard stationed at the gate called out to Leo.