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253. Engagement – Gift

On the mountain peak where snow was falling, there stood a gray castle beyond a rocky area. The scene signified the beginning of the engagement scenario and fell to Abrival Castle.

Two houses stood side by side.

Though they were both two stories high, their designs were different. The house on the left had a long roof, similar to other nearby houses.

The steep roof covering the second floor had windows cut out, and the piled stones let the swirling snow slip down.

Rough beams protruded occasionally, and all one could see were wooden pillars or stone.

In contrast, the house on the right was a refined structure with planed wood prominently featured.

While the materials were the same thin gray stones from the nearby mountain and the amount of wood may have been similar, the house’s design was exquisite compared to other houses that simply piled stones haphazardly.

Wood could be seen between the stone walls, adding flair to a wall that could have been boring.

Indeed, it was the home of the esteemed Dexter family. Behind it in the open space, Leo Dexter gazed at the unchanged house, his rugged body, body temperature, and the confident Lena Ainar wielding her sword. He looked up at the snowing sky, nearly brought to tears.

“Leo! Are you listening to me?”

Lena turned around. It was delightful to see her with the ‘wooden sword’ resting on her chin and shoulder. Her pride… brought joy.

“Of course. I’m listening. I was… listening.”

[ Achievement: ’20th Leo’ – The speed at which the player absorbs into Leo slightly increases. ]

[ 20/23 ]

[ I do not know the true name. ]

Minseo, you bastard.

What? I need to make Lena a princess? Damn it.

You have no idea how much we’ve suffered because of that wrong judgment. In the end, I became a Swordmaster, and it’s fortunate that I realized I had to hide my skills from Lena.

But the process was too terrible.

Engaged.

If I had known this, I should have figured out earlier that making Lena a princess would not be the ending. Each round, day by day was hell. I couldn’t sleep at night thinking I would have to break off the engagement with Lena, and I was frustrated at my lover trying to become a knight.

Looking back now, Lena did nothing wrong.

She didn’t abandon the engagement, acting tough about breaking up, and fought harder than anyone on the battlefield. She didn’t slack in training or engage in any behavior that would tarnish a knight’s honor.

The fault lay with Minseo… more so with myself. Accepting the words of that useless imposter as if they were advice was already a mistake. The very act of having entrusted my life to others was the wrong action to begin with.

Leo pushed away the remnants of Minseo lingering in his mind.

20th Leo. The absorption counter built up, and the faded Minseo fell silent. Apologetically murmuring, “Isn’t it better to avoid war?” he offered advice, but Leo Dexter did not accept it.

Lena said.

“Hey, you know that merchant group that just arrived? Let’s go buy something later.”

“Sure. I was planning to go too, so that works out.”

Clink. Leo confirmed that he had ‘seed money’ in his pocket and continued speaking.

“Before that, do you want to have another spar? There’s something I want to try.”

“Huh? We just sparred earlier. Hm… Okay. You haven’t had enough yet!”

Lena smiled brightly, putting away the wooden sword and grabbing her sword. Leo also took up his sword.

The sword felt as natural as part of his body. Leo intentionally let go of the solid bond. He held his sword loosely and said.

“You should get nervous.”

“Leo, you’re chatty today. Just come at me… Ah!”

Leo suddenly spun and brought down his sword in a swing. Lena thought it would be a strong strike right from the start and lowered her sword.

– Clang.

“Huh?”

What he thought was a killing blow merely struck her sword lightly. Realizing Leo’s lower body was turning, Lena quickly lifted her knee.

“What is this…!”

Blocking Leo’s kick, Lena realized she was at a disadvantage from the start. Leo, with leisure, stepped forward, invading her space.

I’m going to get hit.

Leo lifted his sword so it would strike her lowered sword’s handle. It was a close call, so Lena stomped the ground with her raised leg. She moved to Leo’s right and slashed diagonally with her sword.

“Whoa!”

Leo stepped back dramatically, feeling cheated for breathing heavily; it was her turn now!

The following thrust.

Leo wouldn’t be able to block this one.

However, with a jolt, Leo’s movements showed ease. Thinking that simply rotating the lost sword would suffice, Lena persisted with her thrust…

“Aagh! Lena’s actually trying to kill me.”

“Wha?! S-sorry! Are you okay?”

The thrust landed cleanly.

“You need to be careful. It’s not a real fight, and you can’t go stabbing like that.”

Leo, having landed on his rear, awkwardly rubbed his side where he had barely avoided a hit.

That was seriously close. His clothes were torn and a scratch had appeared on his skin.

If Leo hadn’t kicked off the ground at that moment, he would have been skewered.

“Sorry. Can you get up?”

“No. My legs are wobbly… Can you help me up?”

Feeling sorry, Lena took Leo’s hand. At that moment, Leo suddenly pulled her and knocked her down.

“Whoa! I almost ended up in the church. You better pay for my clothes.”

“I-I don’t have any money…”

Though compared to his peers, he had enough money, he wouldn’t have a dime left after buying leather straps at the market later.

“Are you saying to stick it? You should experience something too.”

“Geez, stop… Hahaha! That tickles! Stop… Aah! Cold!”

In the snowing open space, there was a brief uproar. While torturing Lena with tickles, Leo thought that wasn’t enough and collected the surrounding snow to dump it onto Lena’s clothes.

Lena, not one to remain quiet, rolled around for a while, and the two of them collapsed, panting heavily. Leo held Lena’s hand tightly.

Though the sky was overcast, the atmosphere was clear. Leo sat up and looked down at Lena.

“…”

“You’re… handsome.”

“Just hurry up and pay for my clothes.”

Leo kissed Lena. They nudged noses and smiled at each other before getting up.

“I’m going to wash up first. Since I’ve sinned, you clean up.”

“Okay.”

Leo disappeared toward the well, and Lena gathered the scattered swords in the open space. Suddenly remembering something, she took her sword again.

What did Leo do earlier?

Fumbling, she attempted to imitate the unique sword technique Leo had shown. Though she did not understand it, it was Katrina’s swordsmanship.

*

“Leo, about that thing you did earlier…”

Leo and Lena hurried toward the market. Worried that it might close since they were late, they were relieved to see it still open.

“Hmm? That thing? I just tried it thinking it would be fine, but it didn’t work. It puts a strain on the body. You can’t use it without being quite flexible. So, what should we eat, Lena?”

“Wait a minute.”

Lena rummaged through her pocket. One silver coin. Lena shook her head.

“I have no money.”

“I’ll buy it. I have plenty of money.”

“Oh, look at you. You’re dead today, then~”

Despite her teasing, Lena only picked cheap snacks. While chewing on sweet marinated meat, she looked around the market and said.

“Leo, wait a moment. I’m going to buy something over there.”

It was a stall selling leather.

Leo smiled and said, “Okay. Take your time,” and turned away.

Something felt off.

I hadn’t noticed it last time, but the barbarian sisters, Ran Abiker and Anne Abiker, along with Barnau, were inexplicably in the wrong direction.

If they were here in this narrow Abrival Castle, the direction indicated by {Tracking Skill} should have changed as I took a few steps. However, the direction pointing to the two sisters remained unchanged from the northeast, meaning they were quite far away.

Leo went to find a merchant named Vernon. He was the owner of the merchant group and had been the escort for Ran and Anne Abiker.

“Welcome! Is there something you’re looking for? No need to worry. Not all jewels are expensive. If you are looking for a gift…”

“Sorry, I didn’t come to buy anything. I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Anything at all. Estimates are welcome.”

…I feel a bit bad about this.

“Do you know Ran and Anne Abiker?”

“Huh? How does the customer know Ran and Anne? Could it be…?”

“Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not from the Ainar Tribe. I was born in Barnau. I had a brief connection back then, and I heard you came from Barnau, so I wanted to ask.”

“Ah, you’re quite fortunate. I know Ran and Anne well. What do you want to know?”

I wonder why they didn’t come here? But unable to ask directly, Leo changed the topic. As usual, a lie was necessary.

“I’m curious how they are doing. The last time I saw them, the kids were this small…”

“Haha. They’ve grown a lot now. Please, have a seat for a moment.”

Vernon, pleased to know that Leo knew Ran and Anne, gestured him to sit and brought out a cup of tea.

After introductions and some small talk, Leo introduced himself as “Yuan” to hide the fact he was the notorious Noel Dexter’s son from Barnau.

Vernon said.

“By the way, I’m worried. Ran and Anne seem to be acting strange at night…”

“Strange behavior, you say?”

“Occasionally, they walk around like they’re possessed at night. They have kids and husbands, you know. At first, I thought they were patrolling like during the old Nine-Day War, but they say they can’t remember anything. Well, it’s not something to worry about too much. The doctor says it’s somnambulism.”

“Hmmm…”

So, Ran and Anne have some illness?

It was something Leo couldn’t understand. After all, he had no memory of the 14th round when he met Ran and Anne Abiker.

The fact that Ran and Anne have children and that he left with them to capture the Spirit Reindeer monster only surfaced as information conveyed from Minseo, who had lost his mind at the end of that round.

It was bound to lack the finer details. He thought that perhaps it was information deemed unimportant and thus not conveyed, and Leo finally spoke.

“Hmm. In that case, maybe changing their living environment could help… traveling somewhere might improve it?”

“I thought so too. Honestly, that’s not all, but as you might know, Ran and Anne are excellent warriors, right? I tried to persuade them to accompany the merchant team, aiming to save on mercenary fees, but they refused.”

“Why?”

They had traveled together in previous rounds.

Curious why they didn’t come this time, Leo asked, but Vernon shrugged his shoulders.

“Probably because of the kids. It wasn’t an easy decision.”

“…That’s a shame. If they had come, I could have seen them again after a long time.”

Leo pretended to be disappointed as the conversation wrapped up. He wished to inform this merchant about avoiding the Count Brina, but it would be overly meddlesome, and not having a way to persuade him, he just momentarily moved his lips. At that moment, a voice came from behind.

“Hey! Leo! I’ve been looking for you forever. What are you doing here?”

It was Lena. Leo nodded and said goodbye to the merchant, stepping outside. Vernon smiled as he sent him off.

“What were you doing here? Did you come to get me a gift? Did I call you for no reason?”

“If it’s a gift, I already bought it.”

Leo pulled out a ‘pretty necklace’ from his pocket. Just as the name suggested, it was a pretty blue necklace. It suited Lena very well.

“Whoa… I was just joking. Thank you. Was it expensive?”

“It was ridiculously expensive. Even if you sold Abrival Castle, you couldn’t buy two.”

Hahaha!

Lena burst into laughter. She pulled out a leather strap she had hidden at her waist, saying:

“Here. Then I have a gift too. I was going to give it to you for your birthday, but… eh, just take it. Your sword handle looks a bit worn.”

Though Leo expected the gift, he was pleasantly surprised and smiled broadly.

I will live happily with Lena.

I will fulfill Lena’s dream, and even make Rev, who claimed to have reached the true ending by only sipping tea and being an inadequate lover, feel sick with happiness.

At the market of Abrival Castle. The couple, free from any scrutiny, walked arm in arm. With playful antics, Leo tousled Lena’s hair and received a kiss on the cheek. Lena, too, didn’t mind Leo’s candid expressions and happily chatted away.

It was a happy night.

The red blood moon was rising in the sky.