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132. Childhood Friend – For Real

In the darkness where the hole disappeared, a tremendous amount of messages surfaced.

[ Childhood Friend Ending: The End of Corruption ]

– (Omitted) …swallowed by Barbatos, Ashin became a spirit. Right after that, Leah fought a battle with Saint Maryel for two days and ultimately died. –

– Born in the village of Demos, Reb had a happy childhood. Although he lost his mother early, he was with his father, a superb hunter… (Omitted) …having become an Apostle, Reb’s mind was consumed by Barbatos. After killing all the humans in Nevis and his father, he headed to Jerome Holy Kingdom to retrieve Leah. Just as Barbatos took Leah in the Monastery Church, he regained his sanity, but Reb, cursed and turned into a thorny bush, was burned by Saint Maryel. –

[ The engagement ending for the relationship scenario has been changed. ]

[ Lena Ainar ]

[ Final Job: Great Warrior of the Ainar Tribe, Squire ]

[ Marriage Partner: Engaged to Leo ]

[ Leo Dexter ]

[ Final Job: Squire ]

[ Marriage Partner: Engaged to Lena ]

[ Engagement Ending: Annihilation ]

+ Born in Abrival Castle, Lena Ainar had a happy childhood. The daughter of a great warrior from the Ainar Tribe… (Omitted) …having succeeded in capturing a monster known as the ‘Spirit Reindeer,’ Lena became a great warrior. Afterward, following Leo’s will, she departed for the Jerome Holy Kingdom for training. While staying at Bidorin Castle and learning swordsmanship from Sir Brian, she was invited by Baron Berger Agatha to join a subjugation force to capture the Evil God; however, she was killed by Reb on the Anatolea Plain. +

+ Born in the capital Barnau, Leo Dexter had a happy childhood but lost his mother at a young age. With his father, a knight of the First Knight Order of the Austin Kingdom… (Omitted) …he was killed by Reb on the plain. +

[ Beggar Siblings Scenario Ending has been changed. ]

[ Lena de Yeriel ]

[ Final Job: Shoemaker ]

[ Marriage Partner: Santian Rauno ]

[ Leo de Yeriel ]

[ Final Job: Unemployed ]

[ Marriage Partner: Unmarried ]

[ Beggar Siblings Ending: Rebellion Failure ]

+ Lena, born in Rutina Castle, had an unhappy childhood. Led by the hands of others, she was hidden with Leo in a vast field, and when she opened her eyes, the field was filled with corpses. Afterwards, Lena followed Leo… (Omitted) …encouraged by Leo, Lena headed towards the Conrad Kingdom with Kasia. At Noyar Port, she learned that she was a princess, but upon arriving in Rutina, she was of little help to her brother preparing for rebellion. The rebellion failed. Leo de Yeriel, who left to capture Prince Eric, never returned, and Lena fled to Belita Kingdom with the help of the knight, Jenia Jaqueri, who was guarding her. Returning to Oberg, Lena went to find Kasia. Having given up on avenging her brother due to Jenia’s persuasion, Lena de Yeriel spent her quiet life making shoes with Kasia. In time, she accepted the confession of Santian Rauno, married him, and bore two sons. +

+ Born in Rutina Castle, Leo had an unhappy childhood. Led by the hands of others, he was hidden with Lena in a vast field and… (Omitted) …meeting Sir Bart at Noyar Port, Leo de Yeriel prepared a rebellion by leading five knights to the capital of the Conrad Kingdom, Rutina. However, the Second and Third Knight Orders were dispatched to quell the Apostle of the Evil God under Cardinal Berg’s command, and with Prince Eric de Yeriel hastening the coronation, a desperate Leo, with only the knights of the First Knight Order he had barely gathered, ambushed the coronation venue through the secret passage of Rutina Castle. For a moment, they succeeded in capturing the castle, but Prince Eric escaped. In his struggle to break through the encirclement of noble knights summoned by the sorcerer, Ristad Jegen Dorph, and the Rutina defense forces, Leo was struck by a flying blind arrow during the battle and fell in combat. +

Three photos came to mind.

The first photo. Against the background of the Monastery Church engulfed in white flames covered in thorny bushes, Lena, or rather, Leah, was rushing toward the saint in a state of undress.

With a gaze that seemed to have lost its very eyes, Leah’s bloody, red eyes were glaring fiercely. Her bare body was densely covered with red trumpet patterns and was burning white.

The second was a photo of Lena Ainar abandoned in the thorny forest. Her face, pierced through the heart, was a mess from being stabbed and scratched by thorns, and in the upper corner of the photo lay Leo Dexter, collapsed.

The last was a picture of her younger sister, Lena de Yeriel.

Sitting on a round wooden stool, she was spread out with various types of leather on the table, contemplating what to use as ‘armor.’

The setting was a small workshop.

It appeared to be the shoe-making workshop of Lena, where behind her, her two sons were playfully tussling around.

Brightly shining golden eyes twinkled in the faces of the cheerful little kids with brown curly hair, both apparently inherited from Lena.

And if one didn’t pay careful attention, they might miss it, but through the slightly opened window, the complicatedly intertwined mansions were visible.

The three photos and lengthy texts began to slowly fade away. As always, messages announcing the next scenario were poised to appear…

Minseo had no thoughts at all.

In his mind, the pleas and prayers of the innocent people he had brutally murdered echoed, along with their desperate screams and agonizing last words.

An old man, bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, wept while clutching his dead granddaughter, begging for her life. Having cursed with a venomous face, he was beheaded after being scorned, “Shut up.”

Two young sisters, trembling in a small shop, cried while helping each other wipe away their blood.

“Ah, mister. P-please save us.” ─ Upon hearing this, he turned around, feeling generous. After all, the bleeding wouldn’t stop anyway; it didn’t matter after all.

Freed from enchantment, Hirie Gaidan scolded him, covered in blood returning to the mansion.

“What the hell did you do? And you killed my father, didn’t you? Answer me!” she said, seemingly not valuing her life.

Returning home after killing his father, confused, he wordlessly pierced a hole in her chest.

And then,

And then…

And then……

Minseo’s mind shattered into pieces.

Overwhelmed with guilt and terror, his mind turned blank. These were scenes that a modern person living a comfortable life could not endure.

Without even the thought of needing to read the texts, Minseo stared blankly into the void. The ending credits gradually faded away.

If Minseo’s mind had been intact, he would have noticed it, but the message announcing the start of the next scenario appeared quite late. After a brief time passing through the oppressive darkness, it eventually popped up, shoving the dazed Minseo into the next scenario.

[ You failed to clear the Lena Growing. ]

[ Leo, you have diligently worked as an Apostle of Barbatos. For your achievement, we present you with {Bracelet of Barbatos}. ]

[ Restarting. ]

A scene of a mountain range blanketed in heavy snowfall unfolded. The perspective of the scene traversed over rugged gray rocks, over the thick walls of Abrival Castle, and past a small urban area.

And soon, it arrived at the home of Lena Ainar and Leo Dexter. In the open area behind them, Lena, swinging a sword, suddenly turned her head sharply.

“Leo! Are you listening to me?”

– Clang

“What, what is it? Why are you doing this?”

Leo Dexter dropped his sword. He quickly approached Lena and pulled her into a hug.

[ Achievement: ‘14th Leo – The player’s assimilation speed with Leo slightly increases. ]

[ 14/22 ]

[ I do not know Jinmyung. ]

Lena’s face flushed bright red from Leo’s sudden action, leaving her at a loss.

Why is he suddenly doing this?

But then, she heard a sobbing sound close to her. Startled, she pulled away to see that Leo was crying.

“Leo? Why are you crying? Did something bad happen?”

Leo shook his head.

However, he didn’t let go of his embrace, leaving Lena unsure whether she should hug him back or tell him to let go.

She awkwardly shuffled her feet, while Leo repeatedly apologized to himself in his heart.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

Although it wasn’t his doing, feeling guilty just for remembering how he had vowed to break off their engagement in the previous scenario was unbearable. Unable to endure, he wrapped her in apologies and sobbed for a while.

After what felt like enough time, as if she thought it was enough, Lena turned and twisted to get him to let go.

With a somewhat calmed heart, Leo released her without a word, and Lena shyly cleared her throat before leading him to a chair behind the house.

“Hey. Something’s been bothering you, right? Talk to me. I’m all ears. Should I bring something to drink?”

“…Yeah.”

After waiting for Leo to sit, Lena returned holding a water jug.

The jug was filled with warm, steaming ‘Odre’ tea, which Lena’s mother would always brew around this time; of course, she remembered nothing of it.

“Okay, tell me.”

Lena casually perched on her seat. Pouring the tea, she leaned forward, seeming to want to counsel him.

How should he say this? Leo hesitated briefly before opening his mouth.

“Actually, I had a really bad dream last night……”

But he had nothing specific to share, and his words trailed off.

In spring, a war breaks out; once, he went to the battlefield alone and died, another time, they fought together, and she lost her arm while he returned missing his thumb; yet another time, they both died by the Swordmaster… It wasn’t necessary to say this, just as it wasn’t necessary to mention his intention to break off their engagement.

As Leo hesitated and couldn’t continue, Lena, mistaking it for the end of his words, interjected.

“I see… Umm… Oh! I, I’ve had something like that too. So, that is… Uhh…”

She stuttered and started to lose her train of thought.

In the midst of this serious moment, Leo couldn’t help but smirk.

So typical… Nothing has changed at all.

Though she said that, Lena had likely never dreamt of a nightmare in her life. Whenever she set her mind to sleep, she would doze off immediately upon resting her head on the pillow. Somewhat simple-minded, she was a person far from nightmares. At least, from past ‘experiences,’ Lena always enjoyed deep, refreshing sleeps.

“Ahem. If it’s a dream, then there’s nothing to worry about. Why are you crying over something like that? I thought something serious happened… Huh? Wait, what’s that?”

With a flustered look, Lena, abandoning her counseling role, pointed at something and asked.

At first, he thought she was referring to the bound item (sword) he had left behind, but it wasn’t that.

Lena was pointing at the bracelet around his wrist.

However, this was something he knew… or rather, now he knew.

‘Seems like it’s an item that came as a scenario reward.’

It was a simple leather bracelet.

The bracelet had three dark red beads attached to it. The moment he recognized the bracelet, its purpose sprang to mind, undoubtedly a reward from the previous Childhood Friend scenario.

Of course, he had no interest in it.

Lena opened her mouth with a sulky expression. It seemed she had truly forgotten about the counseling.

“Hey! You bought this from the merchant uncle yesterday, right? How can you be so stingy and buy it alone! That’s not nice!”

“Merchant uncle?”

“Yeah! Geez. You said you had no money… But what about mine?”

“…I’m sorry. I was a bit short on cash yesterday, so I could only buy mine. Want to go together later? I’ll get you one.”

Leo had no choice but to lie. He couldn’t even remember what had happened this morning.

But a merchant, huh? If his memory serves right, there had been no merchant in Abrival Castle during the prior rounds.

That was a memory he couldn’t possibly be mistaken about, because when the scenario started, when Lena had asked, “Leo! Are you listening to me?” she had babbled on, “When will the merchant come? There’s something I want to buy.” Clearly, something had changed.

However, Leo didn’t pay much attention to it. He would find out when they checked it out later…

“Really? Hmmm~ I must have had some hidden money. Hehe, I’ll clean you out today. Be prepared!”

Lena beamed with a smile. “Let’s go now! I’ll change clothes, so you get ready too!” she shouted before running back into her house.

Leo sat there for a moment. Finally alone, he guzzled down the now cold Odre tea. Unable to contain the boiling anger that surged as soon as Lena disappeared, he muttered.

“Damn… You’re really messing up someone else’s life.”

He was not Minseo.

As Minseo was engulfed in shock and lost his composure, his original personality emerged without synchronization.

He genuinely loved Lena Ainar, was full of self-love, and resolutely decided, ‘I won’t move an inch from this Abrival Castle!’

He was…

The ‘real Leo.’