NOVEL NEXT Chapter 157
Chapter 157. Engagement – The Missing Woman
[Thank you for playing Lena Raising.]
Lena’s hair slipped through Leo’s fingers. The murmuring citizens, the broken railing, and even the Swordmaster whose mask had come off as he fell into the canal, all faded away in an instant.
A hideous face with a broken jaw emerged. It was an appearance that would capture anyone’s attention, but Leo couldn’t afford to care about that.
Something irreplaceable had disappeared, and a very familiar body was sinking into the canal. A head that should never have been light was in his hands.
‘……’
Darkness fell. Leo stared blankly as the feeling of Lena slipping through his fingers faded away.
How could this be?
Can a person die so easily? How can everything end without warning like this?
It felt as if his head was about to split open.
The rapidly rising anger, the self-blame that it was all his fault, and her shy smile, which was so out of place with the heat transmitted through their overlapping bodies, tore at his sanity.
Gasp.
But Leo Dexter endured. He maintained his sanity with labored breaths.
If I lose myself, it’s the end.
He hadn’t even read the last message, and there were so many things he had to convey to Minseo this time around.
Leo desperately tried to keep from falling apart. Yet as the dry words floated up, and Lena’s photo emerged, his restraint finally snapped, and he let out a wail.
[Lena Einarr]
[Final Occupation: Great Warrior of the Einarr Tribe]
[Fiancé: Engaged to Leo]
[Leo Dexter]
[Final Occupation: Apostle of Barbatos]
[Fiancé: Engaged to Lena]
[Engagement Ending: Honeymoon]
– Lena Einarr, born in Avril Castle, had a happy childhood… (omitted) …On her way back from the match, Lena threw herself at the Swordmaster, Count Jacob Mordred, who was attacking Leo out of nowhere. She died to save Leo from the Count’s sword. –
– Leo Dexter, born in the capital city of Bernoulli, had a happy childhood… (omitted) …Leo went mad. He indiscriminately killed the gathered citizens. Using their corpses, he prepared an offering for Barbatos and became a formal apostle, only to die fighting Count Jacob Mordred, who emerged from the canal. –
[The childhood friend scenario ending has been changed.]
+ Lev, born in Demos Village, had a happy childhood with his loving parents… (omitted) …Lev became an apostle and was swallowed by Barbatos’ influence. After killing all the humans in Nevis, he went to bring Leah to the Jerome Holy Kingdom… +
Lena’s severed neck filled half the photo. Her face, obscured by the ending message, now prominently displayed, pierced through Leo’s heart.
Tragically, her face bore no expression. Though her lips were mangled, as if she had clenched her teeth fiercely before being beheaded, her wide-open pupils signified her death.
Lena, you fool. You stupid girl. Why did you follow? Why! I told you to run…
The round sphere trembled momentarily.
But that was it. No sound, no scream, no selfish resentment escaped. And the belated apology was the same.
The letters and photos floating in the air eventually disappeared. Realizing that he, too, would soon vanish, Leo Dexter mumbled out a message for Minseo.
Whether he would hear it or not, he didn’t know.
As Leo Dexter disappeared, Minseo abruptly resurfaced. Though he returned to his original state upon meeting his end, Minseo was still not in his right mind.
‘Ah, no… Stop it. Please. Leave the kids alone. And grandpa too. Heeheehee, but it’s fun, isn’t it… Aaaaah!’
Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood. And more blood.
No matter where he looked, it was all blood. He was caught in a cycle of horrifically murdering people and then reveling in the sweetly descending divine power, only to writhe in agony again.
However, maybe because Leo Dexter’s message had been conveyed, or perhaps the familiar darkness around him, Minseo desperately read the half-vanished ending credits, even as he recalled the gruesome murder scenes.
And just as he was about to lose his mind again, a message heralding the next round appeared.
[You have not cleared Lena Raising.]
[Leo, you fiercely battled the Swordmaster. As a result of this achievement, you receive the {Swordsmanship.4v: Jacob Style (流)} ability.]
[A new start begins.]
“Brother… I’m hungry…”
When he regained his senses, it was Orville. After fainting and waking up on the spot, Leo looked around in dismay.
A dirty street. A wet bottom and an uncontrollable surge of hunger.
‘I’ve returned.’
Leo de Yeriel sighed as he smelled the pungent stench of filth. When he lifted his arm, though it was gaunt, it wasn’t decayed.
Oriax.
I died from his curse. My last memory was crawling on the ground, wanting to go to Lena, who was alone.
‘The other friends…all failed.’
The memories of the others stuck belatedly. They were memories of Lev, who became an apostle, and Leo Dexter, who struggled to live happily nonetheless.
“Brother. I’m thirsty too…”
Groan –
Leo stood up. He felt the sword dangling from his waist and the initial funds jangling in his pocket as he reached out to his sister.
Lena, who was sitting in the dirt with a dirt-stained face, raised her arm. Her small hand weakly rested in Leo’s left palm, the one without Barbatos’ symbol.
“Lena, let’s go eat. You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you?”
Lena looked up at him with a puzzled expression, but Leo didn’t retract his words.
How hard it must have been for his sister, left alone without him. Even though she had risen to the rank of duchess, she must have endured lonelier and tougher days than now, when they often went hungry.
Leo supported his staggering sister. He held her thin waist and helped guide her steps so she wouldn’t trip over any stones.
Lena accepted her brother’s actions naturally, then suddenly…
“Huh? Brother, what is this? And this too?”
She pointed to the sword and bracelet.
“I found them this morning. I’ll show them to you after we eat.”
Leo set his priorities straight. Lena simply said, “Okay,” and asked no more questions.
Was it this way? Leo rummaged through Minseo’s memories. He took a turn left and right through the alleyways until they reached the market.
As he always did, he showed a silver coin to the chicken shop owner. Ignoring the merchant’s disdainful glance at their shabby clothes, he asked for boiled chicken.
“No seasoning needed?”
“Yes, just boiled chicken will do. Please give us the broth and a little salt.”
“It’ll taste bland. Don’t complain later… Alright.”
When Leo handed over the silver coin in advance, the owner turned without another word.
“Brother, where did you get that? That’s money, right?”
Lena repeated the same question she always did when she saw the initial funds.
“Can we buy a house with that?”
Leo entertained his sister’s naïve questions, resorting to the answers Minseo had previously given. The swiftly prepared boiled chicken soon occupied Lena’s mouth.
Nom nom nom nom nom.
“Eat slowly, it’s hot. Here’s some salt. Drink the broth if it feels too dry.”
Despite the lack of seasoning, Lena devoured the body of the chicken as if it were the tastiest thing she’d ever had. She didn’t even bother with the salt.
Well, nothing good would come from putting something too stimulating into an empty stomach. Leo thought as he diligently chewed on the chicken himself.
The whole chicken was gone in an instant.
The chicken shop owner shot the siblings a look as if wondering what kind of beggars they were, while Leo, sharing the greasy broth with Lena, stood up. He grabbed his sister, who was trying to eat the remaining bits of salt with her hands, seemingly still hungry.
As they stepped out, Lena asked again. The merchant was sprinkling the salt they had left behind.
“Brother, what are those things you picked up this morning?”
“This is a bracelet, and this is a sword. It’s a weapon… it’s dangerous, so just look.”
Leo showed her the bracelet with only two beads left and the single bound item, the sword, drawing it out about two inches. He let her touch the scabbard but not the blade.
Lena, slightly pouting, spoke.
“So you didn’t fetch water this morning because you were picking up these things.”
“…”
Now that she mentioned it… Leo felt a strange sense of doubt. There was a curious point that Minseo had always taken for granted.
– Why didn’t I fetch water this morning?
It wasn’t the only question.
The starting point of the scenario. The filthy alley with stagnant water wasn’t their home. It wasn’t far but was a few alleys away, where they probably sought refuge from a downpour.
‘Without drinking water… where was I going?’
That had to be it. Otherwise, there was no reason to leave home.
Leo couldn’t remember when it started raining in the morning, but it didn’t seem like they had moved in the rain. If it had rained before they left, they would have drank rainwater from the cup placed in front of their shabby home.
Also, if something prevented him from fetching water in the morning— if he were on his way to get water, there was no reason to leave the cup at home.
“Lena, did I say something to you about going somewhere this morning?”
Leo asked. But Lena shook her head gently.
“No, you only said let’s go somewhere. Then, when it started to rain, you said we’d look for food after the rain stopped.”
“…Right.”
Leo put aside his questions. It seemed impossible to find out about something that had already been forgotten.
“Where are we going now?”
“…I have a place to go.”
Lena puffed out her cheeks in displeasure. But this time, there truly was no way for Leo to explain.
He was on his way to meet Cassia. Although he was about to ask a favor from a stranger, he couldn’t pre-explain to Lena.
[Achievement: The Man Cassia Protected with Her Life – Gain Cassia’s Great Favor.]
Moreover, because of the ‘Great Favor’ achievement, Cassia would tremble with kindness and offer all kinds of favors. So much so, that accepting everything would make the recipient suspicious.
Speaking as if he knew this beforehand was imprudent and awkward.
Leo walked with familiarity.
He had traversed this path countless times. It was a route he frequently traveled while working as a thug, so much so that he could navigate it blindfolded without getting lost.
‘When I think about it, there’s never been a time I didn’t receive help from Cassia.’
In the first iteration of the beggar siblings, she had shown us kindness without expecting anything in return, after we collapsed in front of the pharmacy.
In the second iteration, although it didn’t end well, she had given us a room when we had nowhere else to go, and in the third iteration, she introduced us to Ober and vouched for us to join the Rauno family.
And at that time, Cassia had thrown herself to save the man who had pushed her, sacrificing herself to Irene, the knight. Just like Lena Einar in the most recent iteration, she was beheaded.
A grateful woman.
And yet, a pitiful woman who only ever wanted one hug in return.
‘This time, I’ll surely repay her somehow. I won’t make her earn money for me again,’ Leo resolved as he turned into the alleys of Leather Street.
He no longer hated or resented her.
However,
“Huh?”
Leo’s steps came to a halt. Cassia’s shop was nowhere to be seen. In the spot where the shoe store should have been in the middle of the alley, there was now just a warehouse piled with miscellaneous junk.
Distressed, Leo wondered if he had come to the wrong place, despite knowing that was impossible. He wandered around the area, bewildered, and returned to the warehouse, only to be dumbfounded.
Cassia had vanished.
Even with the absolute ability {Tracking Skill} he had obtained as a scenario reward, he couldn’t locate her.