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52. Beggar Siblings – Chase

In the midst of his frantic running, Leo was startled by a sudden message and turned around.

From the distant entrance of the leather street, blood spurted like a fountain, and Irène was trying to shake off the headless body of the woman clinging to her.

‘Kasia?’

His mind went blank for a moment.

The resentful woman who had turned his sister into a harlot. Leo found it hard to accept that she sacrificed her life for him.

He had clearly pushed Kasia away. And he had completely forgotten her. But why?

Stunned as if struck by a blunt object, Leo came to a halt, but he had no time to mourn her loss or honor her memory.

Irène kicked Kasia’s body aside and charged at him again.

Leo took off running once more.

His breaths caught in his throat, and he hardly noticed his lungs growing heavy as thoughts of Kasia’s death flooded his mind.

Why did she…? Just for the sake of an achievement?

He had never seen anyone react this strongly to a ‘meager affection.’ Only Kasia had reacted so differently.

He simply couldn’t comprehend why Kasia had acted that way.

Isn’t it normal to resent and hate the man who had so brutally kicked her aside?

What on earth was going on with Kasia…?

At that moment, soldiers came into view.

The Rauno Family’s mansion was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, and the alleys were littered with the bodies of thugs.

Finally, Leo was able to push aside his complicated feelings about Kasia and think of another woman.

Lena!

The Marquis must have summoned him to his mansion and simultaneously struck against the Rauno Family.

Leo hid behind a pile of garbage in an alley, feeling completely at a loss.

He wanted nothing more than to charge at those soldiers, kill them all, and rescue Lena.

However, that was impossible. He had no weapon in hand, and Irène was hot on his heels.

The moment they spotted him, he would be dead.

Leo gritted his teeth, trembling as he bit down, his molars cracking in his mouth.

Lena! My sister!

He recalled the image of his sister waving goodbye in the morning, but there was no time to hesitate. He forced his red, bloodshot eyes away from the mansion and took off again.

‘There’s an escape route in the mansion’s basement. Lena must have gotten out somehow. Please.’

As a member of the Rauno Family’s upper staff, he was aware of the existence of the emergency exit. Although he had never been inside, he remembered hearing it was well-prepared, and he turned around.

Lena will be alright. She has to be.

In truth, Leo was in a much more precarious situation than Lena. He was trying to escape with nothing but his bare body, without any safety measures like an emergency exit.

He ran westwards, hoping only for his sister’s safety and first needing to shake off the female knight pursuing him.

However, everything he had built up in this scenario crumbled in a moment under the Marquis’s casual gesture. Now, he had almost nothing left.

There was, however, one person who could still help him. The reason Leo ran west was to use his last card.

Katrina.

She was a knight from the Belita Kingdom. If he could go to Katrina and explain his situation, he might avoid having his head cut off.

Then he could take a breather and look for Lena.

Leo rushed towards Rozerin Avenue. He heard she lived in a house with a blue roof in the second alley of Rozerin Avenue.

‘But what if Katrina isn’t there?’

It was broad daylight. If she had already left for the Knights Order, this plan would go up in smoke.

With a hope as thin as a thread, he headed there.

By sheer luck, when Leo arrived in front of her house, Katrina was walking home. It seemed she had gone shopping, as her hands were filled with a basket of fruits and meat.

Katrina spotted Leo and waved excitedly.

“Hey! Noel! Long time no see. What’s up? Why are you running like that?”

Leo had lied and told her his name was Noel.

He spoke in a hurry.

“Katrina! I…”

“Hey, call me sister!”

“That’s not the problem right now… Yes, sister. But I’m being chased!”

Leo shifted his term of address under her forceful glare and pointed to Irène chasing after him.

Katrina looked up and saw the knight charging from afar. She clicked her tongue and started scolding.

“Hey! Didn’t I tell you not to live like that? Of all people, it has to be a knight. Ugh, what a headache! Step back!”

She hid Leo behind her and stepped forward to confront Irène.

“Wait a second. It looks like this guy did something wrong…”

But Katrina could not finish her sentence. The knight barreled into her, attacking without hesitation.

Irène thought as she swung her sword at the red-haired woman blocking her path.

‘That trashy bastard!’

What the hell did that flashy guy do, bringing only women to help him?

This woman in front of her would likely be just like the other one.

Growing angrier, Irène unleashed her full fury onto Katrina, who yelped in surprise as she dodged.

“Ugh! What the hell! Do you want to die?”

She attempted to persuade Irène, but her words were ignored, and she started to get increasingly agitated.

“You bitch! You’re dead today!”

Katrina could no longer hold back her anger and drew her sword.

However, after a few exchanges, she realized this girl was no ordinary knight.

Even if she were at her peak, she would have been on par with this formidable opponent.

‘What the hell? I picked the wrong fight! What on earth did this guy do to get chased down by such a knight?’

Though she stepped forward bravely, she felt increasingly uneasy.

In reality, Katrina was no longer a knight.

She had quit the Knights Order just the day before.

Though her lover, Ellen, had urged her to quit her job, she mainly struggled to perform her taxing sword techniques due to a shoulder injury inflicted by Noel’s brother.

Thus, she couldn’t overpower this crazed knight with her sword skills, nor could she intimidate her by mentioning the royal knights.

Looking at the crazed expression on Irène’s face, she doubted it would even work…

– Clang! Clang!

Hiding her inner turmoil, Katrina continued the duel, but the situation increasingly turned against her.

Her shoulder screamed in pain, and she slowly found herself being pushed back.

However, she was the type of person who usually followed her emotions over rational thought.

“Damn it! Let’s both die together! Hey! Noel! Take this!”

Katrina shouted as she threw the proof of her retired knight status at Leo.

“Run with that! You damn bastard! If it weren’t for your brother… What are you standing around for? Get lost!”

[ Achievement: Saved Katrina – Katrina remembers your grace. ]

She still had a debt to repay to ‘that soldier.’ However, the soldier who had saved her was far away in the Austin Kingdom and would never meet her again.

To ease her mind, she believed she needed to repay at least this sibling she had met by fate.

Leo hesitated for a moment, grasping the token, but then Katrina raised her voice, veins bulging in her neck.

“Are you not leaving? Do you want to die? Just go tell your brother in the Austin Kingdom that you’ve repaid your debt!”

[ Achievement: ‘Saving Katrina’ is about to be lost. ]

Then she fully engaged in her swordsmanship.

Though her shoulder felt as though it might tear, all she could think about was teaching this crazy girl a lesson.

Leo briefly faltered, but then took off running again. He felt sorry for Katrina, but he had to survive and find Lena.

He headed directly for the Oberg City gate.

Whether it was due to a command from the Marquis, the gate’s guards were more vigilant than usual, but they lowered their heads and opened the way upon seeing the token Leo held.

At that moment, a new message popped up again.

[ Achievement: The man whom Katrina risked her life to protect – Gained great affection from Katrina. ]

[ Quest: Katrina’s Life – Please help free Katrina from her bindings. ]

Katrina had died.

In truth, Katrina had no intention of sacrificing her life for Leo. She simply meant to buy him some time to escape.

However, Irène wasn’t about to forgive her for letting Leo slip away, and Katrina continued to fight with fiery spirit against Irène, who was nothing if not a madwoman.

And so, she lost her life to Irène’s sword.

Leo realized Katrina had died through the message and struck his chest in self-loathing. It felt as if he could hardly breathe, as if something was stuck.

First Kasia, now Katrina… pathetic.

He took quick, short breaths while berating himself, but then he thought of Lena and snapped back to reality.

I need to find my sister.

Before anything else, Leo headed towards the Rauno Family’s lodgings on the outskirts of the city. He planned to grab a weapon and command the thugs to gather information about the situation.

But the family lodge on the outskirts of Oberg was engulfed in flames.

Leo found it hard to comprehend the sight. He had nowhere to go. He could do nothing but stand dumbfounded in front of the burning lodge, unable to decide which way to turn.

Just last night, or rather, that very morning, it had been an uneventful day as usual. He had breakfast with his sister and exchanged cheerful greetings with a few thugs he had befriended.

But that life had shattered into pieces with a single move from the monstrous entity known as Marquis Tatian.

The stability he felt from the tattoo of the Rauno Family on his neck and his skill in {Swordsmanship.2v} was as fragile as thin ice.

At that moment, Leo witnessed the true nature of Marquis Tatian. He was a monster wearing the guise of a human. Neither Leo nor Minseo had ever imagined that a human could have such immense power.

Leo realized he had underestimated the Marquis.

No, in fact, he had never underestimated him. He always thought he was someone impressive. He just fundamentally undervalued how much of a threat he truly was.

He thought an appropriate deal would satisfy the Marquis, yielding a win-win situation.

Of course, that turned out to be a colossal misunderstanding. He had entered the Marquis’s mouth with his paltry abilities, and the Marquis merely tasted him before swallowing him whole.

No, that in this case would be more like he spat him out.

Leo stood tremulously in front of the burning lodge, trying to steady his shaking body.

He had to escape. The crisis wasn’t over yet.

If the Marquis was this terrifying a person, a pursuit team would surely trail him. The only reason he had managed to shake off Irène and escape was a sheer stroke of luck.

His flight was far from over.

‘But where could Lena possibly be…’

To make matters worse in this damn game, it provided him with no easy way to find the heroine, Lena.

Just as he lacked any convenient interface like a “quit” button, there was no simple method to easily locate her.

The only hint that the end had not yet come suggested Lena was still alive.

‘At least Lena wouldn’t be stuck in Oberg…’

The Marquis would never forget about Lena. She would inevitably be hunted down by some means, and Lena would be desperately fleeing as well.

There was no way to find someone who was being pursued while being chased himself. He had to hide first and wait for the situation to calm down before searching for Lena. He prayed only for her safety.

He headed north, trying to shake off his pursuer. A task loomed before him: to find his sister alone in this vast continent.

Leo faded into a small dot in the expansive plains to the north of Oberg.

And winter was drawing near.