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27. Childhood Friend – Murder

“Is this all there is to it?”

Upon arriving at the bustling market of the big town, Leo intended to sell jerky at the shop his father used to frequent. However, the merchant offered him a meager amount that could barely be called money.

Jerky was usually quite expensive. Given this, he should have received a substantial amount, but it was just too little.

“That’s the market price these days. It seems a bit poorly dried, too.”

Leo silently placed the money on the table and hoisted the jerky back onto his shoulder. Although the merchant muttered something from behind, Leo didn’t even look back.

Unlike what other young men were selling, jerky had a long shelf life. If needed, he could just eat it himself.

His father only instructed him to sell the jerky, never saying what to buy with the proceeds. It was merely an opportunity for Leo to gain experience.

He didn’t want to part with his first sale under such unfavorable conditions.

After searching around for quite some time, he eventually found a merchant offering a fair price and managed to offload the jerky. He deeply bowed his head in gratitude, resolving to seek out this merchant from now on.

Leo returned to the town cart.

The cart was empty, with only a vigilante young man and Hans lounging on it. It seemed that none of the other youths had returned yet.

Except for Hans.

“Hey! Leo, you made it back!”

“Yeah. You got back early, too.”

“Well, it wasn’t long.”

Now there was nothing to do. Other young men took a long time to sell their goods.

The jerky Leo sold was always in demand and easy to evaluate for quality, making it simple to sell. In contrast, other young men sometimes struggled to sell everything, leaving the cart behind and staying at the market for days to finish selling their items.

But that meant they would incur lodging costs and wouldn’t be able to buy anything on the way back, making it a risky endeavor; they generally preferred to sell everything for a low price in just one day if possible.

The cart wouldn’t leave until early the next morning.

Though Leo had no burden and could leave alone whenever, he didn’t want to make such an unceremonious exit.

As he pondered whether to exercise out of boredom, Hans approached him and gave him a light tap on the shoulder.

“Leo. Come here for a sec.”

Most men would follow upon hearing such words, regardless of the reason or situation.

Was there magic woven into those words?

Upon reflection, it seemed like acquaintances were more likely to ignore such requests; perhaps it wasn’t magic after all.

Leo followed Hans.

“Where are we going?”

“Hehehe. You probably never went to this place, huh?”

Hans led him into an alley before opening a dilapidated door, revealing what lay beyond.

Behind the open door was a sign indicating it was a brothel.

“Hey. I’m outta here.”

“What? Why? You’ve come all this way.”

“I just don’t feel like it.”

As Leo turned to leave, Hans dared him from behind.

“Hey! What’s the big deal? Lena’s gone now, anyway.”

The mention of Lena stirred an anger within Leo.

“It’s fine. It’s dark, and you can’t see faces anyway. Just think of it as Lena. I’ve done it a few times myself, and it was fine… Ack!”

Leo’s body turned on its own. He kicked and mercilessly attacked the staggering Hans.

That jerk touched a sore spot.

This might be a minor issue about berating Lena, who left to become a priestess, but it triggered memories of his sister—of the Beggar Sister, Lena.

By the time Leo regained his senses, it was already too late. Hans lay on the ground bleeding, motionless.

He had already intended to kill the bastard. Leo had planned to gather travel expenses until spring next year and then kill him off quietly before leaving, but he hadn’t expected to act so quickly.

[Achievement: Civilian Murder – You have killed one civilian. Happiness will decrease slightly.]

“What the hell? What’s all this commotion? Uh!”

The brothel guard appeared.

He wasn’t a thug.

In a town like Torito, there wouldn’t be a proper family. More likely, they would only have bands of ruffians.

“Damn it… I need to run.”

Leo briefly considered killing this guy too. However, the longer he delayed, the worse it would be, so he ignored the shouting ruffian and ran.

As he dashed away, he scolded himself internally. He had just killed someone openly in the town; he needed to get out quickly. If caught, it would be a death sentence.

He sprinted towards the market. He bought more jerky, along with a water pouch and rope, which he secured to his waist. Stopping by the blacksmith, he acquired a hunting dagger to tuck into his belt.

He wanted to buy a backpack, clothes, and shoes, but he didn’t have time.

From a distance, he heard someone shouting, “Murder!” Luckily, since it was an incident in front of the brothel, news would spread slowly. The ruffians would probably be flustered and confused.

Leo dashed towards the opposite end.

Torito was surrounded by a tall wooden fence with openings on the north, south, east, and west sides, which the town’s vigilante committee guarded.

He spotted soldiers of the lord occasionally as well.

Taking a deep breath, he walked past the entrance, feigning nonchalance. It felt like arrows could fly toward him at any moment.

“Close the gates! There’s been a murder!”

By then, Leo had already escaped far from the town.

He could see the gates of Torito closing.

“Hey! You there, just leaving! Come back!”

Though it was only a few dozen meters away, Leo pretended he couldn’t hear anything and continued walking.

The glares of the farmers working nearby felt intense, but no one intervened.

Leo left the main road and hid himself in the forest.

And he didn’t look back.

*

“…and that’s when I found him.”

“So?”

“I sneaked up on him. He was so focused on gathering herbs. I…”

In the woods, two men had let their guard down, lost in an indecent conversation.

Hearing them from a distance, Leo retraced his steps.

It was a bandit hideout. Even if it had a dozen or so residents, a small cabin nestled against a cliff stood before him.

Two bandits were chatting carelessly at the entrance of the fenced hideout.

Leo circled around and scaled the fence.

– Crunch

Damn.

The autumn forest carpeted with fallen leaves was no place to move quietly.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Something just inside… wait a second.”

As Leo hid in the corner of the hideout, the sound of someone stepping on leaves grew closer.

He readied the hunting dagger.

Just a bit more…

As the bandit rounded the corner, he was met with a swift blade.

“Ah! Kugh!”

Blood poured down the dagger. The other bandit rushed over in shock, but it was too late.

Leo pressed the embedded dagger down firmly, extracting it slowly as air puffed out between flesh and metal. The bandit clutched at his spurting blood desperately.

“Looks like everyone’s gone out to work, huh? How many are here?”

At Leo’s question, the bandit hesitated.

Bandits were weaker than thugs.

They were disorganized and untrained, merely intimidating helpless townsfolk or robbing reckless merchants and travelers.

If thugs were large corporations in the city, bandits were small businesses hiding in the outskirts.

Were they even self-employed?

The bandits were no match for him. Even without a two-handed sword, he didn’t need one. The childhood friend Leo was stronger in the mountains.

[Achievement: Hideout Conqueror – You can find other hideouts more easily.]

[Achievement: Ten Bandits – You become stronger against bandits.]

For two days, Leo hunted bandits. Borrowing the bows and swords of the first bandits he caught, he shot them from a distance, killing them as they approached, and sought them out to finish them off when they tried to hide.

In the end, he chased down four who banded together in escape. The area around the previously quiet hideout was soaked in blood.

Finally at ease, Leo surveyed the hideout.

It had taken him nearly a month to find this place. Had it taken any longer, he might have faced the challenges of winter.

The hideout was ready for winter.

There was a good pile of firewood and plenty of food. He happily devoured what the bandits had prepared and settled into the hideout.

His plans had derailed. He had intended to hunt alongside his father to gather money, but after killing Hans, things grew serious.

Returning to Demoss Village was no longer an option.

There must have been witnesses to the murder, and soldiers would likely flood the village.

He considered explaining everything to his father before leaving, but he dismissed the thought.

If caught at the hideout, people would surely suspect that his father was hiding his son.

The best course was to simply run far away.

He felt remorse for the hardships his father and the villagers would soon endure. The thought of Hans’s mother made his stomach churn, but the deed was already done.

Leo climbed the mountain to evade capture.

Though the era lacked advanced science, messengers operated swiftly due to the priests. His description had likely spread to the lord’s castle and nearby villages the moment the murder occurred.

A lone traveler would stand out, so taking to the hills became a necessary choice. He would need to stay away from nearby villages for the foreseeable future and head towards a distant city.

Originally, he had thought to pass through Conrad Kingdom to the east.

The kingdom from which the Beggar Siblings were banished, a few weeks east would bring him over the border.

He had planned to search for clues in the capital that might aid the Beggar Siblings’ scenario, but all of that had gone up in smoke.

The territory where Demoss Village was located belonged to Duke Gaidan and bordered Conrad Kingdom. Leo had committed murder in that Duke’s land, making it impossible to cross the heavily-guarded border.

He had to completely revise his plans. The eastward route was closed off, and with no reason to head south toward the sea, only north and west remained.

To the north lay Belita Kingdom, and its capital Orberg was the backdrop for the Beggar Siblings’ scenario.

‘Will the Beggar Siblings be there if I go now?’

He wondered if his sister Lena was there too, but he saw no point in heading that way.

Even if they were there, the Beggar Siblings’ scenario had already concluded last autumn.

The remaining option was to the northwest, the Jerome Holy Kingdom.

Lena had left to become a priestess, and it was a place Leo must visit. He needed to find the prince there.

Revising his plans, Leo spent some time hunting around the hideout, collecting items that could turn into money, like antlers and hides.

But then a bit of greed took hold.

‘If things go well, I might be able to buy a horse…’

Horses were expensive. They were so pricey that he hadn’t even considered purchasing one, but after looting a hideout, it started to seem possible.

The bandits in the hideout were just getting by; they didn’t have much money on them.

The most valuable possession was the startup capital they carried—weapons. Swords, shields, and a few had leather armor; if he sold all of these and raised some money through hunting, he might just manage it.

‘Should I find another hideout?’

Even if winter was a good season for hunting, hunters, like animals, disliked moving in the cold. Hunting in an unfamiliar mountain also proved difficult.

And barely being able to purchase a horse wouldn’t be enough.

He also needed a two-handed sword and travel expenses. No matter how well he hunted, that wouldn’t be achievable this winter.

He was tempted.

With a horse, he could venture further. It would earn him achievements for being strong against bandits, making it easier to find more hideouts.

Leo pondered whether it was the right thing to kill to earn money easily. Having already committed murder once, what difference would it make to do it a second time?

‘Aren’t they up to no good?’

As the days grew colder, his thoughts gradually swayed in that direction.

*

When Lena arrived in Lutetia, the city was blanketed in heavy snowfall.

She had traveled for four months by carriage with Priestess Ophelia and Sir Corin.

Although fatigue weighed her down from the long journey, Lena ignored her tiredness and excitedly leaned out of the window.

Before her lay the magnificent Monastery Church she had dreamed of.

The capital of the Holy Kingdom, Lutetia, was nestled between mountains at the back and a flowing river at the front, with the Monastery Church sitting behind Lutetia.

A brief run out of the city walls toward the back mountains revealed another old castle.

The castle had white walls and towering spires, with intricate carvings and paintings adorning every nook and cranny of its interior.

The entire small castle was the headquarters of the Cross Church, which governed all churches across the continent.

In Lena’s eyes, every person wandering reverently around seemed like a priest.

As Lena struggled to contain her excitement, Priestess Ophelia gently reminded her.

“Lena, you’ll be entering the educational facility on my recommendation. I hope you’ll visit often, but I don’t know where I’ll be assigned just yet.”

Having spent months with her, Ophelia had her own evaluation. Lena was smart, diligent, and, more importantly, a remarkably virtuous young lady.

Perhaps having diligently studied theology since childhood, her fundamentals were solid as well.

Originally, Ophelia had intended to simply pass Lena along to the educational facility, leaving her to handle the admission process on her own.

However, Ophelia personally accompanied Lena in.

Lena’s admission process took merely a verification of her identity, thanks to Ophelia’s presence, and she was even granted the right to audit ongoing classes along with a small private room.

Ophelia’s recommendation was quite substantial. She was a high-ranking cleric close to the High Priest.

As Lena was led to her private room, she was so overwhelmed with emotion that she forgot to unpack and found herself lingering at the door, pinching her cheeks.

“Is this a dream or reality…?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she tried to gather her scattered thoughts.

According to the priest, students were usually only allowed their own rooms in their final year…

Ophelia had confidently requested this privilege, insisting that Lena would surely complete her rites of passage.

Of course, the room was cramped.

The rough bed and small desk filled the tiny room entirely.

But it was an incomparable privilege compared to living in a shared space with others.

Lena knelt to pray, filled with gratitude for all the kindness she had received.

“I wonder if Leo is doing well?”

It was winter, so Leo must be hunting hard.

“Please keep him safe.”

Lena’s prayers continued for a long time, invoking the names of Priestess Ophelia, the villagers, Priest Leslie, and her parents and Leo.

Thus, the first day in the Monastery Church came to a close.