53. Beggar Siblings – Farewell

[ Lena got married! Congratulations. ]

Leo couldn’t find his younger sister in the end. After escaping from Oberg, he was chased by the Marquis’s knights. To evade them on horseback, Leo threw himself into the mud and even charmed the village women with his handsome face to get their help.

Ironically, it was a {war} event that aided him in his plight.

In the capital of the Belita Kingdom, Oberg, various supplies were being sent to the northern battlefield, so whenever Leo hid near these supply routes, the chase would delay.

Throughout the ages, all armies focused their efforts on securing supply routes. What a thousand or even ten thousand troops needed most was not to drive away the enemy in front of them, but to eat first and hold weapons in their hands.

The same was true for the Belita Kingdom Army; the generals were pouring all their attention into the rear supply routes.

The Marquis’s pursuit team was afraid to approach the supply routes carelessly, fearing that the entire army would turn their eyes on them, and Leo took that opportunity to make a run for it.

After shaking off the pursuit, Leo set up a nest in the mountains near the battlefield.

Though it was somewhat dangerous near the battlefront, he knew how the war was unfolding. The Austin Kingdom Army would not be able to cross the river in the distance. At least not until this winter.

As before, his {hunting} skills came in handy every time he fled. He wouldn’t starve or freeze to death at least in the mountains.

Still, life was not easy, and Leo spent his days busily. On days when heavy snowfall trapped him in his nest, he thought of Lena.

Had his sister escaped well? Was she okay in this cold? Surely, she hadn’t been caught by the Marquis?

Unable to endure the worry, anxiety, regrets, and self-blame, he set out to look for his sister before winter even passed.

Before that, Leo found a plant called ‘Depare.’

This plant attached itself to small animals like mice or maggots, surprisingly, those animals didn’t seem to mind at all.

It appeared that the Depare was such a character that those it stuck to occasionally acted as leaders, indicating some form of mutual benefit in their symbiotic relationship.

Leo killed a small animal and tore the Depare from its body.

Inside its body were round bulb-like roots, and when he pierced them with his fingernail, black juice dripped out.

This was meant to be put in the eye.

The information from {Rules of the Back Alley} indicated that using the juice of Depare to change the color of the eyes was often a method used by criminals to hide their identities.

He was aware of the side effects as well.

Burning pain in the eyeball and deterioration of vision. Leo was willing to accept such minor side effects.

He needed to find his sister, who wouldn’t feel any pain even if it went in her eye.

But wandering around with such golden eyes would mean he would never find his sister if he was once again hunted by the Marquis.

That was more frightening than worrying about his eyeballs.

Taking a deep breath, he dripped Depare’s juice into his eyes like eye drops. Despite his resolve, his hands trembled, and fear made his eyelids flutter, hindering him.

After several attempts, the juice finally dropped into his eye.

Leo screamed in a pain that felt like bursting, rolling around.

After rolling around for two days, once the pain dulls and he managed to pry off the blood-soaked eyebrow, his vision was still unclear.

Three Leos only looked similar on the outside, but all of them had good vision.

They could discern at a distance of several dozen meters whether Lena Ainar was wearing her clothes backward, whether his sister was about to bite into spoiled food, or what sort of prank the Lena from Demos village was planning.

But now, everything in front of him was hazy.

To see the branches before his nose, he had to squint, and the leaves scattered on the ground blurred together, appearing as just one mass.

Later, when he looked at his reflection by the water, his eyes had faded golden colors mixed with cloudy gray, resembling the dry leaves.

That wasn’t the only change. Somehow, there seemed to be bubbles swirling, with round bulb-like things gathering in his eyes.

As if Depare’s bulb had truly entered him.

However, he didn’t care too much about what happened to his eyeballs. He was just worried that his declining vision would hinder his search for his sister.

Finally ready, Leo began his journey and mapped out his next steps ahead.

In the center of the continent, the Belita Kingdom, to its west was the Marquis Tatian’s territory, so there was no need to go there. Lena wouldn’t have gone that way.

He also omitted quite a few regions to the east.

That place was held by royalists and a few centrists including Count Peter, where the Marquis’s influence was strong.

Erasing half of the Belita Kingdom from his head, Leo wandered through the remaining northern and southern regions.

To see a bit further, he scrunched his brow and took his time visiting towns and cities.

During this journey, he overheard in a tavern in one city about a declaration the Marquis spread throughout the nation.

– Capture everyone with golden eyes.

He was glad he used Depare. ─ Just then, he concluded that Lena probably wasn’t in the Belita Kingdom.

Since the ending hadn’t shown yet, it seemed Lena hadn’t been captured by the Marquis.

However, since her pupils were a bright golden color, the only way to avoid the Marquis’s order would be to go abroad.

Right. Lena must be abroad.

Then…

He found himself unable to move an inch, feeling the innkeeper’s glare as he sat in front of a pint of beer. The vastness of the continent felt overwhelming, leaving him lost for where to go.

The six kingdoms surrounding the Belita Kingdom… Where had his sister escaped to?

Leo held his head in despair. The thought of never finding his sister made him lose motivation and drink away his sorrows. The innkeeper smiled brightly.

A few days later, feeling hungover, he woke up the prostitute sleeping beside him and sent her off, then he plopped down on the disheveled bed, lost in thought before setting off again.

He felt it was unnecessary to go to the Holy Kingdom to the west or the Aisel Kingdom to the east, or the Austin Kingdom to the north.

It seemed unlikely Lena crossed the Marquis’s influence in the western and eastern regions.

She wouldn’t have headed to the war-torn Austin Kingdom either.

What remained were the Aster Kingdom, Orun Kingdom, and Conrad Kingdom…

He had a feeling Lena must have gone south.

Perhaps it was because he had come from the north, the rationalization of retracing his steps seemed a waste to him.

Even so, there was one (Aster Kingdom) to the north and two (Orun Kingdom, Conrad Kingdom) to the south, so this wasn’t an entirely wrong decision mathematically.

Leaving the disappointed innkeeper behind, Leo hurried onward.

He funded his travels… by killing people.

[ Achievement: Ten Mercenaries – You grow stronger when dealing with mercenaries. ]

Half a year had already passed while cutting across the Belita Kingdom vertically. He couldn’t afford to be late. There was no time to idle away earning travel expenses, so when he ran out of money, he robbed merchant groups.

Robbing merchants was simple. He just had to wait by the water.

Since the horses pulling the carriages needed to cool off and drink often, merchants aimed to not pass by water bodies.

Since bandits knew this too, ambitious and visionary types sometimes stationed themselves near the water.

However, the mercenaries’ jobs included preventing such things, so when merchants saw bandits crowding the area, they would steer their wagons far away.

Leo didn’t need to worry about such things at all.

He was guarding the river alone when he approached a stopped merchant team and threatened them. During that process, out of force of habit, he ended up beheading several mercenaries, but he didn’t care.

Fortunately, killing mercenaries didn’t count towards the [Civilian Kill] tally.

Probably because the mercenaries were wielding swords. Regardless of the reason, if one had their sword drawn, they had to accept the consequences.

As Leo made his way to the southern part of the Belita Kingdom, he faced a moment of choice.

Had Lena gone to the Orun Kingdom? Or the Conrad Kingdom?

After some contemplation, he decided to head southwest toward the Orun Kingdom.

It seemed burdensome to search for Lena in the southeast Conrad Kingdom, where Prince Eric de Yeriel was chasing the siblings.

Using the retired knight’s token given to him by Katrina, he quickly passed through the border and began to search the kingdom systematically.

He wandered through the Orun Kingdom in rags, stopping by Demos village in between.

There, he obtained good information.

The Lena and Leo in the ‘Childhood Friend’ scenario were real people.

They seemed to repeat the exact actions Leo had taken in the last segment, as Lena left the village with a priest heading to the monastery church while Leo was in a state of committing murder and escaping.

Leo confirmed through his own eyes that both the engagement scenario and the childhood friend scenario were being simultaneously played out, so he rested in Demos village for a few days to recover from his travel fatigue.

But Demos village was no longer what it used to be.

Firstly, there was no longer a bakery in Demos village. The kind lady, Hans, had fallen ill after losing her only son.

And Leo’s father, that hunter father, had vanished. He abandoned his home in the village and went into the mountains, never to return.

The villagers of Demos looked suspiciously at Leo as he inquired about various matters. Perhaps it was due to him being an outsider that they were being territorial, but the atmosphere in the village had evidently changed.

From simply locking their doors, to the village elders splitting into two factions and sitting apart… What had happened to this town once brimming with warmth?

With an uneasy heart, Leo left the village. While wandering the Orun Kingdom, the ending came.

[ Lena got married! Congratulations. ]

[ Thank you for playing the Lena Raising game. ]

[ Lena de Yeriel ]

[ Final Occupation: Unemployed ]

[ Marriage Partner: Santian Rauno ]

[ Leo de Yeriel ]

[ Final Occupation: Traveler ]

[ Marriage Partner: Unmarried ]

[ Beggar Siblings Ending: Eternal Farewell ]

– Born in Rutina Castle, Lena led an unhappy childhood. Guided by others, she and Leo hid in the wide fields… (omitted) …Lena, who escaped from Oberg, arrived at the Aisel Kingdom. Her vision severely deteriorated, Lena was unable to find a job but accepted a sincere proposal from Santian Rauno. She gave birth to two sons. –

– Born in Rutina Castle, Leo led an unhappy childhood. Guided by others, he and Lena hid in the wide fields… (omitted) …Leo, who shook off the pursuit, was captured while searching thoroughly in the Belita Kingdom, Orun Kingdom, and Conrad Kingdom, and secretly executed. –

Sitting by a merchant’s campfire, Leo felt the surrounding darkness settling and calmly accepted the ending.

He had known it would turn out like this.

The journey to find his sister had stretched endlessly, and all he could do during that time was wish for Lena’s happiness.

Having become a devout believer of the Cross Church, Leo read the text while offering a prayer of thanks.

It seemed that this little snot, Santian Rauno, was treating her well.

And in the wedding photo of Lena, his sister smiled brightly at the guests, yet furrowed her brow. As if searching for someone, her focus was distant. Her pupils resembled the dry, brittle leaves, just like Leo’s.

I’m right here…

Leo tearfully reached out towards his sister but realized he had become a floating orb, accepting his fate.

He was about to disappear.

All this time, Leo had resented Minseo’s spirit, but now he even let that go. After all, he was not the one who would make his sister happy.

As he silently left behind a message: ‘Please take care of Lena,’ he scattered like mist, and Minseo, who had risen, was engulfed in guilt.

‘……’

There was truly no excuse for this failure.

Minseo had a small exemption regarding the repeated failures over time. Merging with Leo’s spirit, he had been unable to move as he wished, thus shifting the responsibility onto Leo.

[ Achievement: First Death – The speed at which the player merges with Leo slows down. ]

This time it was indeed his mistake. While Leo was still there, Minseo was able to exert his will to some extent.

In the early stages of the scenario, although he was impressed by the cautious behavior of the family boss, Joseph Rauno, he had acted out of greed to enter the Marquis’s family. Enchanted by the talk of adopting a son, he didn’t think too deeply.

Who would have guessed that Benard Tatian, the Marquis, would be such a monster…

‘Hah, but I did my best…’

Nonetheless, there were excuses to be made. During the nearly two years this beggar siblings scenario endured, he had hardly rested.

From morning till night, he worked for the Rauno family, and in the late evenings, he dragged his tired body to meet merchants and gather information.

Then he’d find his sister, converse, and put her to sleep. In the morning, he would wake her up, and they would have their meals together.

This had been his daily routine.

Upon meeting the Marquis, he rifled through information on {Noble Society} to meticulously research how to talk to him and mumbled, rehearsing his script while riding in the carriage.

Honestly, if he had worked this hard in reality, he might have passed the external affairs exam, he muttered quietly, but he fell silent once again at Lena’s words echoing back to him.

– …So that’s why you took me. To show me to that uncle.

‘I used Lena’s appearance.’

Before that unchanging mistake, Minseo felt infinitely small.

It was entirely his fault that Lena got married alone in a foreign land after losing her brother.

‘I’m sorry, Lena. I…’

At that moment, the text appeared, pushing him forward.

[ You did not clear the Lena Raising game. ]

[ Leo, you desperately wandered the rest of your life looking for Lena. For that achievement, I grant you the ability {Tracking Skill}. ]

[ Restarting. ]

Once again, the intro video unfolded of dropping through clouds in the vibrant blue sky. Minseo, who had been feeling downcast, comforted himself watching that fresh, dynamic viewpoint.

Let’s do better this time.

It isn’t over yet.

It’s getting a little better, little by little.

It’s painful, but if I keep going like this, someday a happy ending will come for all of us.

Determined, Minseo’s gaze turned towards the woods beyond Demos village.

In the distance, he could see Lena.

The familiar and warm Lena from the childhood friend scenario. And Minseo became Leo………

“Leo! Are you listening to me?”

Lena turned and asked, but he could not reply.

Leo became pale and faint.

His pupils shifted down to the right and would not move.

[ Achievement: Tenth Leo – The speed at which the player merges with Leo accelerates slightly. ]

[ 10/20 ]

In his vision, the number 10/20 appeared ominously at the lower right corner, small but not fading away.

This game had a limit on attempts.