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33. Childhood Friend – Consideration

In the small storage room behind the bakery kitchen, there was a blanket that felt out of place in this chilly, flour-dusted space.

It seemed Lena was sleeping here.

The two sat hunched together in the narrow space, their knees touching as they shared stories of their time apart.

“…That’s how it happened.”

Leo listened calmly to Lena’s story.

That was a lie.

He was not calm at all.

He held back his emotions, fearing that if he showed how upset he was, it would make Lena even sadder; inside, Leo felt like he was crumbling.

It seemed Lena had also buried her sadness for a long time. Her voice was steady, and her gaze drifted far away, even in the cramped room.

Lena Ainar came to mind. She had made that same expression when she lost her arm and threw down her sword.

Lena had clung to the city gate all night. Fortunately, Priestess Ophelia had rushed out early in the morning.

She apologized, saying she had never imagined Lena would be kicked out that day.

Thanks to her help, Lena warmed up her frozen body, but she couldn’t return to the church. That was something even Priestess Ophelia couldn’t help with.

After that, Lena started looking for work. She planned to gather whatever money she could to return to the village of Demos.

But money didn’t come easily.

The capital was expensive, and her hometown felt hopelessly distant. She would probably never return to Demos village.

In the dry storage room, they both contemplated their future.

They couldn’t go back right away. Leo also had no money, so they would have to stay in Lutetia for a while.

They managed to rent a shabby room. Leo sold his dagger, and Lena took an advance from the bakery owner.

The room, moldy and devoid of sunlight, was as small as a bathroom. The cries of a wailing child in the next room never stopped.

Lena went to the bakery at dawn.

Leo saw her off and wandered aimlessly around Lutetia, eventually making his way to a back alley.

“What are you doing here?”

Lutetia didn’t have a large family, so he reluctantly looked for a small family house.

What a sight it was.

From the drunks slumped over in the daylight to the giggling groups gossiping, they were scattered all over without a care.

Leo found the family boss without much hindrance.

In the beggar siblings scenario, despite living as a thug for nearly half a year, he hadn’t seen a boss…

‘Are these guys really thugs?’

He shoved aside one guy who bumped into him and sent a fist into another’s chin.

– Crash!

“What?! Hahaha. Dasun, did you just get hit by a rookie like that?”

There was no tension among them. Only the family boss was visibly on edge as he bellowed from the back.

“Hey! Get that punk! Hurry up!”

Even at the boss’s urgent shout, only about half of them got up. And even then, they weren’t all that quick, continuing to chuckle away.

Leo stomped on the neck of the guy he just knocked down and snatched the dagger from his waist.

Let’s just take them all out and think later.

He wanted to unleash the rage building in his chest onto something—anything.

The brawl ended overwhelmingly in his favor.

While fighting, he understood. These weren’t thugs; they were just punks. Only the boss could pass as a real thug.

The gap between thugs and punks was vast.

Punks were just wasted slackers, who lost their will as soon as they were knocked down.

In contrast, thugs didn’t hesitate to kill. They were accustomed to life-and-death struggles and always fought desperately.

They lunged, gouged eyes, struck groins, bit, clung, twisted, and used anything they could get their hands on as a weapon.

The punks, not even twenty yet, were no match for Leo. When he yanked one of them by the collar, blood spraying all over, the rest scrambled to escape.

“Hey. You call yourself the boss? This family is a complete mess.”

“Ugh…”

“I have a few questions to ask…”

Leo intended to interrogate the so-called boss. But his questions didn’t seem very intimidating, and the guy answered dutifully.

First off, this wasn’t a family. There were no families in Lutetia; real families had set up small branches in cities near the capital.

These punks were scattered.

“Why? How can you run a business like this?”

“You’re a foreigner, huh? In the Holy Kingdom, we can’t stick around because of the Holy Knights.”

The boss, or rather, a punk dispatched from a family, continued to explain.

The holy insignia—that was the problem.

The Monastery Church had special knights known as Holy Knights.

Although they weren’t numerous across the continent, they were plentiful within the Monastery.

“They raid the alleys like it’s an annual event. If thugs are around, they’ll get marked and wiped out. So, we have these punks do the minor jobs instead.”

Leo glanced at the sprawled-out punks. They were indeed up to no good, but it was rare for one of them to have committed murder; at most, they had only done some extortion.

It seemed that wasn’t enough to get marked.

He asked about the prince and the war. But that punk, either lacking knowledge or refusing to know, just complained about how he could possibly know such things.

Realizing he was doing something he shouldn’t, Leo clicked his tongue and stopped. It was pointless to vent his frustrations.

“I answered everything I know. P-please spare me.”

“…Fine. Just give me some money.”

But the guy barely had any money.

If he gave away what he had for the punks, he’d have to shut down this location, and that’s how he’d end up dead back at HQ.

Knowing the punks’ plight made Leo soften.

It didn’t matter; even if he stripped them of all their money, it wouldn’t be useful. Lena would know he was broke and would certainly question any large sum he handed over.

Leo took the punk’s pitiful salary (small enough to be mere pocket change) and stepped outside.

He tossed away his blood-stained clothes and changed into fresh ones, then bought a dress for Lena and headed toward the bakery.

Lena was already waiting outside, it seemed.

“L-Lena…”

She stood there, blankly staring at the distant Monastery Church, with the beautiful evening glow behind her.

Her shadowed face was filled with despair.

“…Lena.”

“…Ah, Leo, you’re here. Let’s go…”

“Lena, look. I bought this with the money I earned today.”

“Thank you. It’s pretty.”

“I changed my clothes too. Does it suit me?”

“Yeah. It looks good.”

“……”

Lena responded to his questions, but she didn’t chatter away like before.

Seeing her like that hurt Leo. He pulled out all the money he had taken from the punk.

“Look at this. I earned a lot today.”

It wasn’t a huge sum, but it was more than he could earn in a day, so he shouldn’t have shown it. Still, he couldn’t stand Lena’s despondent expression.

“Where did you get this…?”

“I earned it today. You know I work hard, right? I’ll save up quickly so we can get a nice place to live.”

Lena stared at him silently for a long moment.

“Lena? What’s wrong?”

“…Leo. What’s that in your coat?”

The dagger he had stolen from the punk was sticking out awkwardly from his thin summer clothes.

“Th-this? It’s nothing special.”

Silence followed his lame excuse.

As he fidgeted and debated lying more, Lena grasped his hand.

“Leo.”

“Y-yeah?”

“Don’t overdo it. I’m okay.”

She grasped his hand tightly as she spoke.

“No matter what it is, I don’t want you to struggle because of me. I’m sorry.”

“……”

“Let’s go home.”

Lena trudged toward the sunset, and Leo followed her, feeling heavy-hearted.

Her shadow stretched long toward the Monastery Church.

*

Leo got a regular job.

His craftsmanship was appreciated anywhere, allowing him to easily secure a position as an assistant at a blacksmith’s shop.

He had pretended to enter with the dagger hidden under his coat.

Before the roaring furnace, Leo stood, tirelessly working the bellows.

Sweat poured down his body as he continuously moved, but he was mesmerized by the flickering flames, lost in thought.

‘What should I do now?’

As the bellows exhaled, the scorching heat enveloped him, and when it inhaled, the heat vanished in an instant.

Leo timed his breath with the change.

‘This won’t lead to any change.’

After work, he’d bring Lena from the bakery, but she always stood outside, staring blankly at the Monastery Church. Every time he saw her neglecting the beautiful sunset, his heart twisted.

He hadn’t obtained any information about the prince.

He had asked the blacksmiths while drinking, but the prince felt like an unreachable existence. His patterns of life were unknown.

There were rumors that he occasionally went hunting, but whether that was true or simply hearsay, Leo had no way to find out.

Getting Lena to meet the prince… seemed impossible.

It was only natural. Expecting such a thing was laughable.

He thought maybe a simple event in this game would lead to an easy way, but no convenient path appeared, and there weren’t any nobles or rich folks around in the bakery on the outskirts of the capital.

There were no accidental encounters. After a long journey, he vaguely understood that certain conditions had to be met for events to trigger.

Even in the game Prince Maker, there was a specific condition where you could only meet the prince in January.

Otherwise, you had to approach with some measure of knowledge or the means to meet the prince without shame.

Information about the war was equally fragmented. It was clear that the Swordmaster of the Belita Kingdom had done something, but what exactly he had done, or why the Austin Kingdom Army retreated so swiftly, remained a mystery.

High-level information in this world was precious and inaccessible to Leo.

‘Let’s marry Lena.’

He arrived at that conclusion.

He didn’t want to leave Lena, steeped in sorrow, alone. He wanted her gaze to turn elsewhere, somehow.

“Thanks for your hard work. I’ll head out for today.”

He left the blacksmith. Lena was standing in front of the bakery once more.

Leo hung his head in the middle of the street.

He was sorry for Lena.

He had chosen to escape into marriage, using his incompetence as an excuse.

Leo and Lena returned to the house located in the slums.

He fetched some water from the communal well and handed it to Lena. Covered in flour, she washed up in the room, and Leo rinsed himself vaguely in front of the well.

“I’m all clean.”

When he entered the room, Lena was standing, drying her hair.

Water flowed from the smelly drain on the floor.

“Lena, I have something to say.”

He sat her down on the floor. It felt wrong to make the woman he loved sit on a moldy floor.

Lena knelt down as he hesitated and finally proposed.

“Please marry me.”

Would Lena be happy if she married me?

It would surely be better than now, right?

Lena’s focus sharpened, but she said nothing, just silently moved her lips.

Leo waited.

“…Thank you.”

Smart Lena seemed to understand his thoughts and smiled faintly. Leo felt a weight lift at that small smile, and he became more talkative.

“Let’s save up and go back to our hometown. I’ll do my best. We’ll have a proper wedding then…”

Lena silenced him with her lips. Her wet hair brushed against Leo’s shoulder as a quiet kiss followed.

“Leo, I’m okay. Let’s not strain ourselves and live happily here.”

Her words shook him.

Lena comforted him in reverse. Her thoughtfulness eased the burden weighed down on his heart.

Before he knew it, Leo burst into tears, and Lena gently hugged him as he cried.

A few days later, early in the morning.

Lena and Leo married at the bakery.

Priestess Ophelia came to officiate, and a few of the bakery owner’s ladies waved work gloves, congratulating them on their marriage.

It was a modest ceremony, but Priestess Ophelia solemnly proclaimed the birth of a couple.

“Leo.”

Lena held Leo’s hand tightly, and he cupped her cheek as he kissed her.

Lastly.

[ Lena has been married! Congratulations. ]

[ Thank you for playing Lena Raising! ]

[ Lena ]

[ Final Class: Bakery Lady ]

[ Marriage Partner: Leo ]

[ Leo ]

[ Final Class: Blacksmith ]

[ Marriage Partner: Lena ]

[ Childhood Friend Ending: Marriage Abroad ]

– Born in the village of Demos, Lena enjoyed a happy childhood… (details omitted) …After being kicked out, she worked at the bakery. She married Leo, who followed her to Lutetia, and they lived happily with two children. She never returned to the village of Demos. –

– Born in the village of Demos, Leo enjoyed a happy childhood… (details omitted) …After searching, Lena married. He became a blacksmith and raised his children. He never returned to the village of Demos. –

Lena swiftly faded away and vanished. In the void, a picture of their modest wedding at the bakery floated up.

It was a wedding without any decorations. Imagine going to buy bread and unexpectedly getting married like this!

Despite that, Lena smiled brightly. She showed her beautiful teeth, as if to say it was okay, reassuring her clumsy husband who hadn’t even taken her home.

Leo couldn’t take his eyes off the picture. The lips that had touched were still vivid, while the story on the other side came to an end.

‘Somehow, I’ll go back to my hometown and marry her…’

To do that, he had to do something bad. He had to neglect Lena while saving up, and once he had enough money, he’d need to cross the border again with her.

And he had to pass through the Orun Kingdom once more.

All of it was an excuse. Once married, Leo would figure everything out himself. ─ He brushed it off, pushing the responsibility away.

Leo’s mind melted under the weight of regret.

Minseo appeared.

He fell into deep thought for a while.

Chaehwa.

Lena’s actions struck Minseo.

She comforted Leo, even after losing everything. It seemed Lena was the one holding him back from returning to their hometown. Not wanting Leo to strain himself.

‘How could she do that?’

I couldn’t do the same. I had only wanted to lean on Chaehwa, suffering alongside her instead, and I had relied too much on her.

Chaehwa must have suffered doubly.

What if I had done for Chaehwa what Lena had done?

Reassuring her, telling her not to overdo it.

Minseo turned back, leaving his homework behind. He wanted even more fiercely to step outside.

He needed to escape from here.

He had to return to Chaehwa and set right the foolish actions he had done to her.

Yet, even so, he wanted to make Lena happy.

He wanted to do something for his dear Lena before leaving.

This was no longer a game for Minseo.

[ You did not clear Lena Raising. ]

[ Due to interference by nobles, Lena could not fulfill her dream. As consolation, I provide you information about the Noble Society. ]

[ Restarting. ]