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3. Childhood Friend – Another Lena

“Lena! What do you mean by that?”

Priest Leslie jumped up in surprise.

“This is such a great opportunity… Lena, you should say you want to go quickly.”

“I don’t want to go. I’m going to stay with Leo.”

Lena boldly declared.

Her expression, seen from the side, was resolute. Leo hung his head like a sinner, unable to bear watching Lena throw away such a good chance for his own selfish reasons.

Priest Leslie gestured wildly as he tried to persuade her, but Lena remained unmoved.

“…We need to leave early tomorrow. If you change your mind, please come see us in the morning.”

The nameless priest who had tried to take Lena away had no choice but to lead the others away. The village priest comforted the flustered priest. The priest, unable to let go of his lingering feelings, kept looking back as he disappeared inside.

At the village entrance, only Lena and Leo, along with the cold autumn wind, remained.

“Lena… I’m sorry.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? I wasn’t planning on going anyway.”

“But…”

His throat constricted. He knew how much Lena wanted to become a priestess.

She was always diligent, working hard and studying, yet he ruined her dream just to live comfortably and happily himself. Tears brimmed in Leo’s eyes at his own cowardice.

Lena hugged him tightly, accepting his selfishness.

“I’m happy just being with Leo. That’s enough for me.”

It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a dream she had cultivated since childhood had vanished, but she was okay with it. She would live happily with Leo for the rest of her life.

The two embraced, not realizing how long they would remain together.

*

The next morning, Lena was afraid of wavering and ultimately did not go to see the priest. The female priest and the old man drove the carriage away with Lena’s dream.

Rumors swiftly spread that Lena had kicked away her chance to go to the Monastery Church because of Leo.

Lena’s parents felt a mix of regret and joy. They believed that Leo, who had been with their daughter since childhood, was a sincere and upright young man and a trustworthy suitor.

They hurried the wedding, and Leo’s father quickly agreed.

Lena’s parents pulled together all the money they could muster. They hadn’t saved up much, but the villagers lent them a helping hand. After all, it was a communal effort to prepare food, so they didn’t act stingily.

Leo’s father also helped a lot with the wedding preparations. He sold the hides he had stacked at the cabin and handed over the dried meat he had saved to the village hall.

Once the marriage was confirmed, Lena and Leo proudly held hands again. The village elders, remembering the sight of the two holding hands as children crossing the village, couldn’t hold back their blessings.

The wedding took place before winter arrived. The village priest officiated, and the entire village gathered in front of the church to bless Lena and Leo’s marriage.

Priest Leslie, putting his regrets aside, gifted Lena a book and a red ribbon. Hans spat on the ground from a corner of the church.

Leo held Lena’s hand, pledging deeply that he would make her happy for a lifetime.

“…I offer up the birth of a couple to the Lord.”

As soon as the priest finished his blessing, Lena dashed towards Leo, embracing him tightly.

“Leo! I love you!”

Leo grinned broadly. At that moment,

[Lena got married! Congratulations.]

Words appeared, covering Lena’s beaming face.

Lena before him began to fade further away.

“Lena? Lena!!”

Not just Lena, but the church and the villagers also faded away, enveloped in darkness. In the empty space, even his body did not exist. Only monotonous text gradually emerged from the darkness.

[Thank you for playing Lena Raising.]

[Lena]

[Final Job: Village Woman]

[Spouse: Leo]

[Leo]

[Final Job: Hunter]

[Spouse: Lena]

[Childhood Friend Ending: Peace of Demos Village]

– Born in Demos Village, Lena had a happy childhood. Though poor, she received warm attention from her parents and… (omitted) …Lena did not go to the Monastery Church and married Leo, giving birth to two children and living happily ever after. –

– Born in Demos Village, Leo had a happy childhood. He lost his mother at an early age, but alongside his father, an excellent hunter, Leo… (omitted) …eventually married Lena. Having become a remarkable hunter, he lived happily for life with Lena and their son and daughter. –

Her last image. A photo of Lena smiling happily at the wedding venue surfaced. Below it was a brief story summarizing Lena and Leo’s life.

‘What the heck is going on?’

Leo was bewildered.

Just a moment ago, he had been holding Lena’s hand. The warmth was still vivid… It felt as if he was caught in some unfathomable, immense magic.

Leo struggled to escape, flailing his limbs, but his disembodied spirit couldn’t move. He could only watch as the image above slowly disappeared.

As Lena’s picture vanished and the story of the two was erased, Leo, or rather, Minseo’s consciousness began to clarify.

‘Was this really a game?’

He felt goosebumps from the surreal reality as only his spirit floated aimlessly.

At the same time, rage welled up within him.

Who’s pulling the strings of my life like this? Why?

I was Leo. I had met my fateful partner and wanted to be with her, even trampling on her dreams.

He already missed Lena. He wanted to see her, joyfully chatting by his side. He wanted to hold her hand, which was filled with scars. He wanted to become a great hunter so that her hands would never be harmed again.

He wanted to live happily, even if it was in atonement for his selfishness.

As the story of Lena and Leo vanished, only an empty darkness remained all around.

It was then that Minseo could break free from Leo’s emotions.

As the faces of his forgotten parents and Chaehwa popped into his mind, Minseo panicked.

‘I need to get out of here somehow!’

The guilt of having genuinely loved another woman while forgetting Chaehwa poured over him. He felt he might not be able to withstand it any longer.

In front of his struggling eyes, words appeared once again.

[You did not clear Lena Raising.]

[Leo, you became a great hunter and lived happily with Lena. As a result of that achievement, part of Leo’s {Hunting} ability will be inherited.]

[It’s starting again.]

‘Shut up!’

The indifferent text disregarded Minseo’s outcry and vanished, and a new intro video unfolded before his eyes. It was entirely different from the one he had seen when he first started the game.

The video he had first encountered when launching the game had focused on Lena, smiling in the forest at the foot of the mountain, as it fell from the sky over peaceful Demos Village.

This time, it was a whole different scenario.

The viewpoint dropped into the city over snow-covered mountains and thick castle walls. The screen focused on an open space where two houses stood in front. There, a figure wielding a sword turned around… Lena?

“Leo! Are you listening to me?”

“Uh? Lena!”

Minseo’s consciousness ebbed rapidly. He tried to reach out but transformed into a bystander watching the situation from a distance. The faces of his beloved parents and Chaehwa blurred into obscurity.

“Hey? I called first, so why are you calling me?”

Lena, clad in thick leather armor with a sword slung over her shoulder, gazed at him with unwavering eyes.

She looked slightly taller and more robust than before.

While the previous Lena had been quite active and healthy, the ‘warrior’ before him could not be compared. She approached him, showcasing a well-defined figure that her broad shoulders and armor could not conceal.

She looked similar to Lena, but upon closer inspection, there was a slight difference in her impression. The previous Lena had a simple and kind expression, while this Lena’s tightly closed lips showed stubbornness, and her thick, straight eyebrows suggested firmness.

Overall, she had a somewhat tough appearance, but the slightly drooping eyes and the triangular shape of her ears revealed a sense of playfulness.

The new Lena approached and opened her mouth.

“Why have you been spacing out since earlier? And why are you staring at me like that? Want a punch?”

Leo was momentarily dazed. He was caught off guard by her rough voice, one that the previous Lena would never have been able to mimic, and pretended to look around.

Snowflakes fell from the sky, the open space behind the houses, and smoke rising from chimneys caught his eye. The houses and chimneys were made of thin stones stacked together, taking on a deep gray hue.

‘This is a completely different scenario.’

In the Prince Maker game, there were instances where you could choose your father’s profession. Depending on the series, you could select a job like retired knight, merchant, jester, or traveler as your father’s profession.

The chosen profession affected the father’s income, the daughter’s initial stats, and the girl’s attitude toward her father, making it one of the crucial elements of gameplay.

It seemed that [Lena Raising] also had multiple starting points.

The Leo from Demos Village had a hunter father and was childhood friends with Lena. But this time…

While trying to assess the situation, Lena’s palm struck him sharply.

“Hey! Leo! Why are you standing around when you’re supposed to be practicing?”

Leo sheepishly rubbed his head. He was at a loss for how to deal with this sudden change.

Without fail, the current Leo’s consciousness began to overlay Minseo, taking its place, but the fundamental need for ‘him’ to act in this situation remained the same.

“Hey, why are you hitting me?”

Minseo’s consciousness mixed with Leo subtly adjusted to match the atmosphere. Just like before, it took him several days to understand this situation.

This was Abrival Castle, a strategic point belonging to the Austin Kingdom in the northwestern part of the continent. And his name was ‘Leo Dexter.’

He was the eldest son of the Dexter family. Just like the Leo from Demos, he lived only with his father, but he heard they were from a storied knight family.

Although the surname Dexter attached to him, they were not nobility. His father had been granted the surname due to his achievements in the fierce civil war, which would only be passed down to his son, Leo.

His father had retired and lived on a pension.

After his mother died, they left the capital of Barnau and moved to her hometown, but… he could never ask how she had passed, and no one mentioned it.

A strange life began with a new scenario. Previously, he had ample time to assess situations, but this time felt very different.

“You brat! Why are you lifting your feet like that?”

Noel Dexter, Leo’s father, yelled as he hit his son with a wooden sword.

It seemed he often watched his son’s swordsmanship, as he caught Leo from the very first day of the scenario. This father was not taciturn like the previous one; instead, he unleashed a barrage of insults.

When the hammering finally stopped for a moment, Lena approached Leo with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you acting like that? Practicing alone?”

“…”

“That was your specialty, right? You did it so well before, what’s going on all of a sudden?”

Lena stood before him, swinging her sword, looking utterly bewildered.

Leo got up quietly and tried to replicate her movements. His body moved naturally, causing a sharp wind to follow his sword.

“What? You’re doing well.”

Lena turned away, as if it was trivial.

From then on, Leo had to watch her demonstrate several times.

Fortunately, it seemed that the techniques Lena awakened within him stuck in his body, allowing the sword to find its correct path without conscious thought.

This Leo Dexter must have been training in swordsmanship since childhood, for his body was genuinely strong.

While the previous Leo had also built a lot of strength from climbing mountains, he could not measure up to the current physique. With thick arms built for swinging swords, this Leo handled the sword lightly and effortlessly.

Leo marveled at his new body, yet it seemed it was lackluster in his father’s eyes as the beating continued ceaselessly.

The next evening.

Noel Dexter grumbled alongside his friend Dehorman, who had just returned from hunting.

“Leo swings his sword strangely?”

“Don’t even mention it. It’s like he’s forgotten swordsmanship entirely… What is he thinking?”

The hulking man let out a hearty laugh.

Lena’s father, Dehorman Ainar, was one of the great warriors of the Ainar Tribe here.

In the Austin Kingdom, the feudal system coexisted with chiefdom.

As numerous tribes in the north were absorbed into the Austin Kingdom, they maintained their existing power structures and were accepted as citizens of the kingdom.

For instance, Abrival Castle is owned by the Austin Kingdom, with troops, knights, and lords dispatched here. However, most of the residents living within the castle were from the Ainar Tribe.

Thus, the chief of the tribe and the lord governed the castle together.

Dehorman offered some comforting words.

“Hahaha! At this time, you’re bound to want to swing your weapon freely at least once. Don’t worry too much, my friend. Hahaha!”

But to Noel Dexter, the knight, it seemed the reassurance did not help at all, for his expression remained sour.

Dehorman and Leo’s father shared a deep friendship.

They were so close that they combined the empty lot behind their adjacent houses into one. And after Dehorman asked Noel Dexter to teach Lena swordsmanship, the exchanges between the two families increased, almost merging into one family.

Dehorman cheerfully patted Leo on the shoulder. He was so strong that Leo’s body shook.

“Don’t think too deeply! Swordsmanship is ultimately used to block, dodge, and slice!”

“…Well, there’s stabbing too.”

“Oh! I’m not much for stabbing since I’m more of an axe man. Kahaha!”

“Drink moderately, okay? No matter how much you just got back today, overindulging isn’t good for you.”

Lena’s mother scolded him as she brought out more large roasted meat and alcohol, while Lena subtly snuck a beer over to Leo.

With lanterns and a hearth ablaze, overflowing beer, and richly roasted meat, the day drew to a close.