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293. Siblings Ep – The Way to Become a Priest

“Yeah, Reb. It’s been a while.”

“Wha—!”

Reb’s sudden exclamation left him momentarily speechless. As the haze in his eyes lifted, he seemed bewildered by the realization that he had ‘woken up’ right now.

The beggar siblings’ scenario was cleared.

Only the childhood friend and engagement relationship scenarios were left, and Reb planned to become the king of the Orun Kingdom, make Leah a princess, and then pass the baton to Leo for crowning Lena Ainar as a princess.

Thus, [ Raising Lena ] would reach its grand conclusion…

‘The beggar siblings have ended.’

There wouldn’t be any further developments in that scenario, but Reb soon noticed that the names of Leo Dexter and Lena Ainar had changed.

To Ray and Lera Ainar.

Even the surname Dexter had disappeared, altering the history. Reb, forgetting that Leah was beside him, whispered lowly.

“What cycle are we in now?”

What on earth happened? Lean de Yeriel shrugged and casually replied.

“The twenty-second.”

…I’m the ‘nineteenth Leo.’ Reb chose silence, while Lean, who had taken over the turn, introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you. It’s been a while, Lady Leah. I’m Lean.”

“Do you, do you know me?”

“You heard the story, right?”

I did hear something. A few weeks ago. Leah scratched her head, puzzled.

So everything Reb said was true. Then the dream I had was also something from the past… gulp, Leah gazed at Reb in confusion. Reb said nothing.

I need to sort this situation out. Lean opened his mouth.

“Making the Lenas princesses wasn’t the clear condition. We were mistaken. We have to fulfill the dreams of the Lenas.”

“Dreams… you say?”

Though it had happened many times before, Reb seemed shocked again. He squinted his eyes and kept turning to look at Leah.

There would be countless scenes passing by.

The childhood friend scenario went through horrific endings many times as well. Reb (Lev) especially suffered emotionally.

Playing a general that didn’t suit him, ultimately deciding to become a king.

If Ray exploded in anger at Minseo, a relatively obedient Reb rotted inside, struggling with conflicts.

‘Who are the Lenas?’ While Leah was curious, Lean continued speaking.

“And that’s not all. We need to capture Oriax and Astroth. Minseo has been trapped again.”

He explained the last two engagement relationship cycles.

After killing Count Hermann Forte, Astroth descended and slaughtered everyone, while Minseo bounced to his world but returned. Ray, with the help of Lera, Baron Arpen Albasete, and Count Jacob Modred, managed to deal with Malhas as well.

At some point, Leah could no longer understand the conversation between Lean and Reb.

Austin? Astor? Kingdoms she didn’t know had appeared.

Moreover, three Swordmasters? There shouldn’t be more than one Hermann Forte Count on the entire continent.

Leaving Leah’s questions behind, Lean touched upon a grave fact that Minseo had noticed.

“Sir Bart was meant to be the Swordmaster keeping Oriax in check. We can’t let him go.”

“……I see. I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

Lean shrugged again, casually accepting the apology. It was already past, but Reb hadn’t even said to leave Sir Bart alone. Within the complex threads of time, Lean spoke.

“It’s fine! But in return, you have something to do this time. You need to capture Oriax. I won’t leave Oberg.”

“…Me? Even if I’m not the player, can I still vanish it?”

“It should work. It wasn’t intentional, but you also got rid of Barbatos, right? That… at the town of Taimun.”

Right. It was just last time… no, the 18th, when Reb was rushing to Oberg and had met Lean in the middle, killing a drunkard who was trying to molest Reriana and Ksenia.

He had been furious at what that guy wanted to do, but there was also a ‘trumpet symbol’ etched on the guy’s chest.

Shortly after Reb dragged him away, the world shook and the ‘Apostle of Barbatos’ achievement disappeared. Given the circumstances, that drunken man was undoubtedly Barbatos’s last follower.

When the Guardian achievement was unlocked, Barbatos was already included, suggesting that Ashin didn’t care who among the Leos captured him.

Lean concluded.

“Right now, you’re the only one who can catch Oriax. Listen well. I’m going to explain my plan. You need to rush to the territory of Marquis Harvey Gaidan. It would’ve been more convenient if you could summon a mount, but… you probably don’t have that achievement yet.”

“What? You said fulfilling the Lenas’ dreams is the condition for the true ending. There’s no need to convince the marquis to start a rebellion…”

“Just listen. Rebellion isn’t the purpose. Go wake the marquis’s wife. What you need is money. After treating her illness, get travel expenses and a gate pass, then go meet ‘Marisa.’”

…Ah! Reb realized what he was trying to say. Lean was plotting a way to stop Sir Bart from attacking Hirie and Prince Palace Tertan by the Irotashi River.

“Do you remember who Marisa is? She’s Sir Bart’s wife. Since she works as a maid in the Gaidan territory… use her to meet with the marquis’s wife or however you want to arrange it. The important thing is to bring her along if possible. If persuasion fails, at least bring along her second son. That way, you can stop Sir Bart.”

“I understand.”

Reb nodded, and Lean continued to speak.

“If all goes well, you’ll be able to arrive at the Irotashi River in time. But just stopping Sir Bart from killing Palace won’t be enough. You’ll need to get a necklace from Hirie, but she probably won’t give it up easily, so a bit of dramatics will be needed. Likewise, if you want to persuade Sir Bart to join you, you’ll need to show him the necklace…”

“So, you want me to leave it be until Sir Bart attacks Palace? I’ll make my entrance midway.”

“Exactly. Just make sure Palace doesn’t die. Sir Bart will get really anxious when he sees the necklace. Use that well. Take him with you and capture Oriax.”

Easier said than done, it would be a difficult journey. Reb figured it was because Lean couldn’t undertake these tasks himself due to

[ Debuff: Oriax’s Footstep – Provocation, cannot escape. Fixed at 11 years 11 months 11 days 11 hours 11 minutes 11 seconds. ]

that ‘Oriax’s Footstep’ was stamped. Though the mark of Oriax had actually disappeared.

Reb shared a few worries.

“But can I really capture Oriax? I’m not like you. You could easily persuade the knights… but no one will listen to me.”

“That’s probably true.”

“And to catch Oriax, Cardinal Berg has to help. You’ve realized by now that Cardinal Berg is…”

“Ksenia’s grandfather. Don’t worry. I’ll get in touch. Actually, something has gone wrong on this side too…”

“What kind of problem?”

“I’m not in a relationship with Ksenia. I confessed to her in the morning, but Katrina is causing trouble.”

“…?”

A question mark popped over Reb’s head. What does that even mean? But Lean shrugged and shifted the topic.

You lied to me too.

Since it was irrelevant to what Reb needed to do, Lean withheld the information to ease unnecessary confusion, just as the gods did for us.

“You don’t need to know. Don’t worry. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know through the mirror. My mirror is still with me. If worse comes to worst, I can discuss it with Sir Bart, or use it to persuade Cardinal Berg. You should know how to hunt Oriax. What you told me succeeded.”

“…What did I say?”

“To use the saliva of the Valleina. Oh, and don’t break Hirie’s necklace immediately. This thought came from Minseo, but break that necklace in front of Prince Eric de Yeriel. Then, Oriax will reveal his identity.”

“…Got it.”

With that, the important conversation ended.

Lean stood up from the steps and strolled leisurely down the corridor. He brought up a trivial matter.

“And you’ll get a message from Ray during winter.”

“What’s going on over there? History has changed. Oh, you don’t know either.”

“Yeah. It should be fine. There hasn’t been a civil war, so Ray’s mother should still be alive… Right, just to be safe, tell Ray not to throw away the mirror. In the last cycle, Ray put the mirror in the fireplace.”

“What? That guy, seriously…”

The bound item, the mirror, was an heirloom from Reb’s mother. I should say it was an heirloom, but anyway, it was something related to his mother, so Reb frowned. Lean said.

“Don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t in his right mind back then. When you get the message, just tell Ray to live happily at least. He struggled a lot in the last two cycles.”

“And me?”

“You’ve been doing fine all this time.”

“…How?”

Hearing that he had done well, Reb pursed his lips, eagerly wanting to hear more.

This Reb did not know how he had lived or what happy ending he had after learning the true ending condition.

Right now, the childhood friend scenario was right after the cleared beggar siblings cycle, so Reb only remembered a string of terrible failures. It was natural to wonder what his future would hold, what his and Leah’s happy ending would be.

Lean looked at Reb with pity and revealed.

“You and Leah ended up getting married. Leah really tried hard to marry you. Congratulations in advance. It’ll be the same this time too.”

Push. Reb’s face turned bright red. He immediately denied it.

“Wait, wait a minute. You said I need to fulfill Leah’s dream. L-Leah became a priest…”

“Yep~ and still got married. Leah is amazing. She even remodeled a church to marry you. Meanwhile, you’re thinking of burning down the Jerome Holy Kingdom and the Cross Church to marry Leah. Both of you are really something…”

“Stop it!”

Meanwhile, Leah was also blushing beside them. She recalled the dream she had just had and felt even more embarrassed.

In the dream, I, having become a priest, wandered the continent in search of Reb.

As a wandering priest, I arrived at the Conrad Kingdom and lamented at Reb’s grave, offering futile blessings.

Realizing that both dreams and love were precious to me.

I’m marrying Reb… Leah squirmed and pulled her knees up.

In the shining mirror, a handsome prince was smirking, and Reb, who had seemingly gone through some enormous events, waved his hands in disbelief. It was so bizarre that she couldn’t believe it. She gently grasped Reb’s hand.

“Why… why are you acting like this too?”

Reb’s ears were visibly red even in the dark.

Leah caught his hand, which he tried to retract, and declared.

“I’m not going to the monastery. Reb, take me with you. I want to help too. Hmm… I can join as a maid serving Lady Hirie Gaidan.”

“Wha, what?!”

“…Oh! Leah is really smart.”

A week prior, Reb disclosed everything that had happened so far.

In the repeated time, Reb, Leo Dexter, and Lean de Yeriel, the prince, experienced countless things, and though unbelievable, they all remembered. And Leah quickly found the answer.

“Since it’s not your turn right now, doesn’t it not matter what I become? I’m going to marry you. I’ve decided that now.”

“D-Don’t lie. Then there’s the priest. You want to become one, right?”

At the moment Leah was about to say something, Lean interjected.

“Reb, listen to Leah. Thinking back, Leah’s actually right… There’s not just the Cross Church where she can become a priest. I just realized it now too; it’s impressive.”

Reb didn’t understand.

Are they all trying to deceive me together? You have to go to the monastery to become a priest. What other way is there?

But Leah’s following words were shocking.

“Isn’t Cardinal Berg someone who raises priests? If I join him, I can’t do that?”

Um, Reb was left speechless.

At that moment, crack! With the sound of breaking glass, the mirror in Lean’s hand lost its light. Mine is just fine, but it seems Reb’s broke because we talked too long.

‘That side is done now.’ ─ Holding the mirror in his arms, Lean thought.

He had conveyed everything he wanted to tell Reb, and with the clever Leah by his side, there was nothing to worry about.

Now I just have to do well.

Having eased his worries about the other Leos, Lean returned to the room where his sister was.

Lying next to the deeply sleeping Reriana, he gently patted her head and began to fall asleep, slowly recalling Ksenia, Katrina, and Kasia.

The blue moon peeked in. It was a night that embraced the siblings lying in the barren storeroom warmly.