---

134. Engagement – Footsteps

The next day, Lena’s father, Dehorman, returned. After coming back from hunting, he held a drinking feast, delighted that there were plenty of game in the mountains these days.

Once again, Lena secretly brought some beer to the table without her mother knowing, and Leo didn’t refuse it. They drank and chatted happily, overindulging more than ever before.

Hearty food and flickering red lanterns. Alcohol. My beloved Lena, and people who felt like family.

If it weren’t for the {war}, this would be a bountiful and happy place.

Later, Leo fought with his father. Like before, he gained recognition through {Swordsmanship.3v: Bartliu(流)} and frequently visited the blacksmith.

He was preparing to catch the Old Phantom Fox.

He hadn’t spent all of his {initial funds}, knowing that he didn’t need that many iron skewers.

He was familiar with the hunting methods and the Old Phantom Fox’s attack patterns.

He also knew how Lena sometimes found herself in trouble, so it was dangerous, but this time he planned to avoid the {war} unscathed.

As he shuffled between the blacksmith and home day after day, Leo suddenly felt sorry. He sat down in the empty lot behind the house, resting his chin on his hand.

“I did benefit from Minseo after all…”

Wasn’t it originally destined for Lena and me to die at the hands of the Old Phantom Fox?

If it weren’t for the {hunting} skill obtained from the first playthrough, Lena and I would have descended without any preparation upon discovering the Old Phantom Fox’s footprints.

And we would have died.

Moreover, regardless of that, dying on the battlefield was almost a certainty. If it weren’t for Minseo, we might not have met Katrina or the Swordmaster… but honestly, that’s something we can’t know, so let’s not dwell on it.

No matter how angry I was, I didn’t intend to fabricate facts.

With the anger from right after the scenario somewhat subsiding, Leo was now able to evaluate the rights and wrongs more calmly.

First and foremost, it was true that Minseo was at fault.

No matter how many times I conceded, this thought remained unchanged. That guy treated Lena as a tool for the ‘clear’ and ruined my life. Even if the past disappears when starting anew, it’s still my life, my body, isn’t it?

It’s frustrating that I lost my body to a stranger, and he made my beloved suffer, making his sins heavy.

However, Minseo’s situation was pitiable too. He didn’t act on his own desire.

He was driven by the increasing death limit and round limit, and whether he had remorse or not, he hadn’t tried to use Lena since then.

As always, things didn’t turn out well, but that was unavoidable.

“I need to do something too…”

Thinking that I had benefited from Minseo, a sense of responsibility washed over me. Memories of Prince Leo’s thoughts resurfaced, disrupting my comfort.

Prince Leo’s way of thinking differed greatly from mine. He seemed to think that just not dying side by side with his younger sister was a significant improvement, to the point of being thankful to Minseo.

And Reb. I had no idea what that rustic guy from the childhood friend scenario was thinking.

Perhaps because of his bluntness and few words, Reb didn’t try to usurp Minseo’s influence.

He tended to accept Minseo’s mindset… It certainly seemed he was favorable towards Minseo.

“Yeah. I must be the only bad guy here.”

Leo gave a small, dismissive snort. He believed that Reb had reasons for his behavior.

The first and last happy ending.

In the first run, Reb married Lena. The friend who wanted to become a priest had hidden his feelings, and thanks to Minseo, he envisioned a happy newlywed life, raising children in the village of Demos.

Since memories are shared, I know how happy Reb was back then.

In a run-down wooden house on the outskirts of town, the two decorated their new nest. While Reb was up on the roof fixing their home, Leah peeked out from below.

– “Leo! Have some bread! Aunt Hans gave us loads.”

Leah looked utterly captivated, unable to take her eyes off Reb. Reb could also take her hand without hesitation.

Then, surrounded by all the townsfolk giving their blessings, they were married.

…I’m envious. Even though it was just once, I’m envious of the happiness Reb found.

On the contrary, I only saw a miserable ending.

The best ending I had was that I lost a thumb, while Lena lost an arm and returned home.

After throwing away my one-handed sword, Lena sobbed inconsolably in my arms and never returned to the lot again.

That’s not a happy ending.

Leo bit his lip, releasing a sigh through clenched teeth as he reached a conclusion.

I too want to live properly like Reb. Is it such a huge desire to want to live happily with Lena in this Abrival Castle? With the round limit increased by one, and Minseo gone…

“What’s with the sigh?”

Leo jumped in surprise. Before he knew it, Lena had approached and was peering into his eyes.

“It’s nothing. Did you finish all your training?”

“Hmm~ I’m done for today, but… I’ll take a short break and continue.”

A brief silence ensued.

Having just escaped his tangled thoughts, Leo was silent, and Lena sat down beside him, quietly studying him.

The lot was beautifully illuminated by the northern yellow sunset, free from clouds for the first time in a while.

“Leo.”

“Why?”

“You seem a bit different these days, you know?”

“……How so?”

“I don’t know? I guess I could say you seem calmer, more reliable… the vibe has changed.”

[ Quest: Noble Slayer 50/50 – {Nobility} skill level will increase by one. ]

[ Quest: Traitor 10/10 – {Blood of the King} skill level will increase by one. ]

“Is that a compliment?”

“Yup~ It’s a compliment. At this rate, I could proudly say you’re my fiancé anywhere! Hehe.”

Lena reached out to pat Leo’s head but hesitated, feeling like it wasn’t proper to do so as she usually would.

As she tried to withdraw her hand, Leo caught it. He pressed her hand against his own head, and Lena smiled brightly while patting him.

“Lena.”

“Why?”

“Let’s skive off today.”

Lena’s eyes widened in shock.

“What? Wow – Oh my. Is that really you, Leo? I never thought I’d see the day you suggested skipping out. Hmm… Sorry, but no. I’m busy.”

“Don’t say that. Let’s just go out. Okay? I don’t have time… no, it would be a shame to just let the merchant group go now that they’re here. If not now, when will we have fun?”

“Well, that’s true…”

“You said you finished all your training for today. Let’s just go out for a bit. It’s not good to overdo it. They are selling alcohol too.”

“Hmm. Alcohol… sounds good. It’s great but…”

“Let’s go~.”

Leo Dexter acted cute. With his calloused hands, he pulled her sturdy hand.

Lena was taken aback.

‘What’s gotten into him? He’s been different since a few days ago.’

Ever since he suddenly burst into tears a few days prior, Leo had changed a lot. Could it be puberty? Still, Lena didn’t mind Leo’s burgeoning personality, so she stood up.

‘This bear-like guy can show his cute side too.’

Chuckling to herself, thinking she’d just play a little and come back, at the market, Leo ordered a truckload of alcohol and delicious food. Unconcerned about the source, he spent money without hesitation, making the drinking session stretch on.

Drunk Leo seemed to forget things easily and kept asking about the past. His tone was surprisingly more friendly than usual, laced with strange sighs.

For some reason, it was pitiful.

Only when the market was closing did the two part ways from their drinking spot and on the way back, they embraced each other tightly.

I’m not sure if Leo hugged me first or I hugged him first, but Lena caressed Leo’s cheek.

As he endlessly stroked her eyebrows with his thumb, under the veil of darkness and alcohol, she whispered, “You know I like you, right?” in a cheesy tone, and Leo smiled brightly.

“I know. How could I not know?”

It was dark, but it seemed like Leo had cried at that moment.

*

For a while, peaceful days continued.

Leo no longer suggested skipping out. He felt embarrassed about the cuteness he had shown.

It seemed I had never done such things in the first place.

‘I was too hasty.’

My expectations had been lowered significantly.

It was frustrating that we wouldn’t be able to be together forever. However, just being grateful that the ending wouldn’t come for another two years was enough.

I had heard once on the battlefield.

– “For me, my dream is to become a knight and marry you. That’s why I intentionally wanted to delay things a bit. I’m sorry. It would be hard to be a knight after becoming a mom, right?”

That was Lena’s confession after killing Katrina and gaining the squire title from the prince. We were at the perfect age to marry and were engaged, but Lena had been delaying the wedding.

But how easy is it to receive a knight’s title? It’s not easy to become a knight without considerable skill. Thanks to {Swordsmanship.3v: Bartliu(流)}, Leo was confident he could obtain the title whenever, but Lena wasn’t in the same boat.

In the early part of the scenario, she couldn’t defeat even one knight. At best, she’d barely qualify as a squire.

Fortunately, Lena’s skills had progressed rapidly. Especially in the last run, where she tried to call off the engagement, she had grown tremendously and managed to catch up to ‘me’ in less than a year.

What incredible talent.

However, the one-sided focus on her swordsmanship also became a constraint in another sense.

Just like there’s a time constraint for Leah to become a priest in the childhood friend scenario, or for Eric de Yeriel to ascend the throne in the beggar siblings scenario, at the moment Lena becomes a knight, the ‘job ending’ would activate, and the round would conclude.

Deep down, her talent felt frustrating. It would be fine for her to be a bit slow; why the rush…

However, this engagement scenario only existed because Lena was delaying her marriage.

In that way, we had a time span of about 1-2 years.

It’s regrettable, but for that time, I’ll be happy with Lena. Until the dream of becoming knights together is realized, I will stay with her.

I wasn’t completely ignoring Minseo. I planned to go to the capital someday to become a knight, and I wanted to gather some information by then. We still hadn’t been to the capital of the Austin Kingdom, ‘Barnau.’

No matter what happens later—whether we spark a rebellion there or not—gathering information would surely benefit Minseo. I don’t know when he’ll regain his sanity, but…

“Honestly, it’s just fine for me if Minseo never comes to his senses. Is there anything I stand to lose anymore?”

Nothing. This would surely be the case for the other ‘Leo’s’ as well. We knew all the direct threats coming in each scenario, and thanks to the achievements amassed, it wouldn’t be hard to achieve a comfortable life if we just decided to live peacefully.

That was possible since long ago.

However, for some reason, Minseo was intent on achieving the ‘clear,’ making Lena a princess and accomplishing the ‘true ending’ to escape.

We had no need to go that far. Even Prince Leo, who had goodwill towards Minseo, intended to abandon his bloodline if it harmed his sister at any point.

So the only one who would suffer from not coming to his senses would be Minseo. There was no reason for us to jump into the fire for that cold-blooded fool.

Right?

Thus, Leo Dexter decided. With Minseo gone, it was sufficient to gather information appropriately for this round.

However, that complacent plan wouldn’t last long before it shattered into pieces.

Soon after, the now adult Lena and Leo Dexter joined a hunting team led by Dehorman.

Like before, carrying plenty of iron skewers to catch the Old Phantom Fox, Leo paired up with Lena and went to check the traps early in the morning…

“There’s nothing caught here. Let’s go.”

“Wait? Huh huh huh?”

There were no footprints of the Old Phantom Fox to be seen.