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51. Beggar Siblings – Quest

Irène and Leo were engaged in a bizarre race, where just when it seemed they’d be caught, they’d slip away, only to be chased down again.

– Caw!

Frustrated by Leo, who darted away like a little rat, Irène threw her sword at him.

However, he twisted his body to dodge, and while she was busy picking up her sword, he scampered off into the distance once more.

The reason Leo could continue to elude her through the alleys all this time was simply due to the power of achievements.

[ Achievement: One Knight – Becomes stronger when facing a knight. ]

[ Achievement: Alley Cleanup – Becomes stronger in dark alleys. ]

Achievements and scenario rewards were truly fascinating. They guaranteed a definite and absolute effect that was not even magic.

“Becomes stronger” meant not only an increase in strength against that target but also improved agility, speed, and other enhancements.

Thus, when Irène got close, Leo ran even faster, and when she was far away, he was easily caught.

“Huff, huff”

Of course, Leo was running with all his might. If he got caught by that crazy girl chasing him, all talk would end and his neck would be on the line.

‘If only I had a sword!’

Leo regretted not having secured a weapon, but honestly, even if he had one, it wouldn’t have changed the fact that he needed to run away. Irène was as strong a knight as Katrina.

Thanks to Irène throwing her sword, there was a bit of distance created, and Leo spotted a flower shop at the entrance to the market.

– Clang!

He burst through the flower shop door, and Soirin, who was watering the plants, exclaimed in surprise.

“Leo? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Shh! Stay still. Stay still.”

Leo intended to hide in the flower shop to shake off Irène. However, that was a bit of a delusion. While it was true that Irène briefly lost sight of him, all the people around the market entrance were staring at the flower shop.

She followed their gaze and rushed into the flower shop, at which point Leo shouted, “Damn it!” and bolted through the back door.

“Ahhh!”

Soirin screamed and crouched down, covering her head in shock at the sudden charge of a knight.

Irène broke through the flower pots in her way, cursing and pursuing Leo like a rabid dog.

‘I need a sword! A sword!’

Leo was sprinting toward the family mansion.

Firstly, he needed a weapon and also planned to team up with the thugs to stop this knight.

But even that wouldn’t mean all his troubles would be over. His identity as a prince had been exposed now… What to do, what to do?

The necklace around Leo’s neck had inevitably invited disaster. He had thought it would be fine being in another kingdom, but that was a deadly miscalculation.

To think someone could recognize him at a glance!

Even Count Gustave Peter definitely mentioned “our” Conrad Kingdom.

Was he some kind of spy?

But to call him a spy seemed to understate the scale of things. He was well-entrenched between the Swordmaster faction and the royalists, while also being a close friend of the Marquis. Who knows what other connections he had?

This meant it would truly be difficult to make Leo’s younger sister, Lena, a princess in the Belita Kingdom.

To make her a princess, they would need to step into noble society, which would surely attract the attention of Count Peter.

To ensure Lena could safely become a princess in his eyes, they would need someone dependable to protect them both.

‘But the Marquis didn’t protect us…’

Why, though? When Leo had talked to the Marquis about becoming adopted, the atmosphere had seemed quite agreeable.

The Marquis certainly needed a new son, after all.

However, as time passed, Marquis Benard Tatian concluded that Leo was not suited to be the successor.

Initially, he was impressed by Leo’s strange atmosphere and his brazen request for a deal right in front of him, but the reality was that Leo’s performance as an adopted child was disappointing.

Noble life was not just about lounging comfortably on accumulated wealth. At least, that’s what the Marquis thought.

Had Leo continued to show promise, the Marquis probably wouldn’t have dismissed them, even knowing they were siblings fleeing from a prince and princess.

He would have found the Yeriel royal family a worthy adversary.

Unbeknownst to Leo, he found himself regretting his choice to approach the Marquis, as well as blaming Minseo’s spirit as he fled to the Leather Street.

Once on the street, he pulled out a whistle.

This was the territory of the Rauno Family, filled with thugs at every corner.

Leo was hoping to tackle that “crazy girl” together with them and strategize his next move.

Yet, despite his breathless blowing of the whistle, no one appeared.

‘What the heck is going on?’

Even Oberg was absent. He should have been around by this time…?

With no time to think, Leo spat out the whistle and ran. Irène had closed in on him once again.

Thanks to achievements, his escape ended here. Leo’s physical capabilities were no match for Irène’s.

In fact, even with sweat pouring down her face, Irène was breathing just fine, while Leo was gasping as if he were swallowing the dust off the ground.

Irène approached him step by step, her expression twisted with rage.

At that moment, someone else intruded on their bizarre race.

*

Kasia, who had been pushed aside by Leo and caught in the snow overnight, had fallen ill for several weeks.

Lying in the cold shoe store, she repeatedly cried herself to sleep, recalling Leo.

‘Why did he push me?’

Leo seemed dedicated and kind to his younger sister. Yet he rejected her.

They hadn’t exchanged many words. He had only spent one night in her shop before hightailing it to the Rauno Family.

However, that man had shoved her aside as if she were something filthy. Without a moment’s hesitation.

‘It has to be because I’m a prostitute…’

Kasia, lying ill, started to resent Leo, slowly shifting to self-blame for her life. A woman selling her body and thinking about love! She scoffed at herself and mocked her own existence.

And when she finally shook off her stupor, Kasia had transformed into someone else. She headed straight for the brothel.

“…Are you quitting?”

“The contract ended, didn’t it? A long time ago.”

Brestin Zauer, the brothel manager, lifted his gray eyes sharply to scrutinize Kasia.

After some weeks of absence, she returned with clarity in her gaze. And this was what she had to say.

He instinctively spoke up to stop her from leaving.

“Kasia, what happened?”

“Sir! Sir! Don’t call me ‘Miss’ Kasia!”

Kasia snapped, almost having a fit.

Brestin didn’t flinch at her sharp outburst, merely tapped his cheekbone as he pondered.

‘She’s changed.’

The habit of calling her “Miss” Kasia and her requesting him not to was something that had lingered between them for years.

Throughout it all, Kasia had insisted he drop the “Miss,” but she had somewhat established a baseline where it was unavoidable. Her words were merely complaints.

She accepted her current life but was not content with it—just a bit of rebellious whining.

Yet now, Kasia was vehemently rejecting the life she had lived.

Brestin recalled the past when she had shivered and begged for a job upon entering.

Or was it me who had tempted her into asking for help to save her ailing father?

He couldn’t quite remember. Either way, she had walked into that door uninvited.

At that time, Kasia was just one of many ordinary prostitutes he had to deal with. However, after a certain incident, he developed some sympathy for her.

+ + +

Just months into starting her job, she had been so desperate that she had run bare-foot to him, pleading to bring down her father hanging from the ceiling.

With curiosity, Brestin Zauer took a thug with him to her shoe store.

As they passed through the leather street, a brute tried to block their way, but upon hearing Kasia’s words, he followed them too.

Behind the small shop where Kasia led them was a room with a low ceiling, where a man, emaciated to the bone, hung limply.

It would have been easy just to cut the rope. The ceiling was low enough.

Perhaps the girl thought that if she cut the rope, her father would fall and hurt himself.

How ridiculous. Did she think that if something was stiff, it meant someone was alive?

Even though Brestin thought that, he didn’t ridicule her.

As he and the thug—with Oberg’s size—brought down the lifeless body, he held her close to comfort her.

Poor thing.

What woman tied to a brothel doesn’t have a heartbreaking story?

In that moment, Brestin Zauer felt Kasia’s name inscribed lightly on his icy heart.

+ + +

As he watched Kasia fuming and suppressing her rage, Brestin realized the day he would part with her had finally come.

“I’m sorry. From now on, no, fine. Got it.”

“The last payment from my last job is still owed, right? I came to collect that, so hurry it up.”

Kasia demanded her share tersely.

Brestin Zauer grabbed a few silver coins from his drawer… then dropped them and picked up a gold coin to offer to her.

“Here, take it.”

“What’s this? Just give me what I earned, will you?”

“It’s severance pay. Just take it.”

His firm reply made Kasia hesitate briefly over the gold coin, then she snorted and shot up, saying,

“Fine, see you later.”

“……”

As usual, Brestin didn’t bother to pull out a chair or open the door for her.

He simply sat in place and watched her.

Kasia, thinking “Well, of course,” attempted to turn and storm out.

At that moment,

“Kasia.”

Brestin called out to stop her.

With an annoyed expression of “What now?” Kasia turned back, but he hesitated for a moment before continuing,

“…You need to pack everything in the waiting room.”

“I already packed it! What do I look like, a little kid?”

She grumbled and then left.

‘What a fool…’

Brestin chastised himself for not being able to say “be happy” as he returned to his work.

Having come out with her “severance pay,” Kasia stopped by the market to buy some leather and cloth.

Aside from “that job,” she didn’t know how to do anything else. But she resolved never to do that again, so now she had to come up with ways to make a living.

At least, having watched her father make shoes since she was a child, she knew the process.

The process of making shoes began with drawing patterns on leather or cloth.

The size and length of the shoes, along with the style of the toe, would dictate the pattern, and by cutting out the traced patterns, she created the “upper” that forms the exterior of the shoe.

Next, the work involved carving a wooden mold called a “last.” This piece of wood, shaped like a shoe, would help determine how the shoe would look, so a lot had to be considered in the carving.

Kasia particularly struggled with making this “last,” but that was a later concern, as she initially used the ones her father had made long ago.

The process of stretching the upper over the last, nailing it in place, and pulling tight was quite a daunting task. It wasn’t merely placing the upper on the last; it required all her strength to stretch it while hammering in thin nails.

Sweating profusely, Kasia covered the last with the upper, then peeled it back and sewed it tight, stitch by stitch.

She thought, “So, this is what my father did all alone,” gradually forgiving him for abandoning her.

After cutting away the excess upper and attaching the sole, a shoe worth calling a shoe was finally born.

Kasia felt a strange sense of fulfillment and dusted off the small scraps stuck to the shoe for the finishing touch, polishing the rough and smooth fabric in turn.

It was complete.

However, the first shoe she had made was not something that could be sold. It twisted and crumpled in odd ways, leaving her dissatisfied enough to toss it aside after trying it on.

She spent days and nights inspecting her father’s shoes, studying them meticulously.

And while spending these rewarding days forgiving her father, on her way back from buying materials, she spotted Leo.

He was sprinting desperately in the distance, passing by without recognizing her.

[ Achievement: The Man Who Melted Kasia’s Heart – Earns a slight affection from Kasia. ]

The man who had pushed her away was still very much alive, shaking her heart anew.

What a terrible person.

Even if he rejected her, pushing someone like that away was truly cruel. And he was handsome and loved his sister. No, that’s not it. This can’t be right. He’s a terrible guy.

She struggled to shake off her infatuation, but it felt as though a nail was embedded in her heart, refusing to budge.

And then a knight appeared, brandishing a sword and chasing after that terrible man, catching Kasia’s eye.

Of course. The bad guy is being chased.

Kasia thought this and threw herself towards the knight. What am I doing?

“What the? You’re not letting go? What a crazy girl!”

Irène was stunned by the woman clinging to her neck from behind and attempted to shake her off.

But the girl hung on like a leech, and Irène, infuriated, was about to threaten, “If you don’t let go, I’ll kill you!” when she simply stabbed her.

Kasia clung on even as the sword pierced her abdomen, keeping her gaze fixed on Leo’s distant silhouette.

“How dare this filthy wench!”

Cursing furiously, Irène paused for a moment to steady her stance.

She stomped her feet into the ground and spun around, severing Kasia’s neck effortlessly.

The fountain of blood spurted into the sunlight, shimmering a violet hue, while the fabric and wooden scraps Kasia had held fell to the ground along with her head.

The fallen head continued to stare at Leo until the very end.

[ Achievement: Kasia Sacrificed Herself for a Man – Earns significant affection from Kasia. ]

[ Quest: Kasia’s Life – Please help free Kasia from her shackles. ]

At that moment, a message appeared in Leo’s vision as he dashed towards the scene.

This was the first quest he had ever received.