357: Lena - Leo
Since it’s autumn, the sun is still shining brightly instead of snowstorms, and the central market square is bustling for the first ti in a while.
My na is Rera Ainar.
The “Re-” sound in my na is pronounced long, like Rera. I’m a warrior of the Ainar tribe. Well, technically, not yet—but I’ll be one soon, so let’s just go with that.
I was born and raised here in Avril Castle. I’ve never been anywhere else, but I believe there’s no place like this.
Anyway, I thought my life wouldn’t change much for a while.
I assud that after joining the winter hunt and being acknowledged as a warrior, my daily routine of swordsmanship training would shift. But things didn’t go as I expected.
The first sign of change appeared... Let’s see. Ah, yes. It was around last sumr.
“Rera! Daydreaming again? Hurry up and carry this!”
Oh no.
Before I could even think about last sumr, a heavy load landed on my shoulders.
It was a sack of Odre fruits that my mother handed down from the cart. She’s a quiet and unassuming woman, but despite appearances, she’s incredibly strong.
My legs wobbled slightly under the weight. Looking around, I noticed my friends’ legs wobbling too.
Heh. You too? Oh, too!
Sharing a strange sense of camaraderie, we hauled the mountains of goods piled in the market square. But among us was soone who didn’t share even an ounce of that camaraderie.
Ray. Carrying a load on each shoulder, he walked steadily without any trouble. See? That’s my fiancé over there.
The changes I ntioned earlier—they started with Ray. Around sumr, he began to change. A lot.
Ray and I were training in the backyard as usual. Then, out of nowhere, he took a small hand mirror from his pocket. Even if it sounds crazy, that mirror emitted a faint, soft light.
I swear, it did.
“What’s that?” I asked, but Ray looked into the mirror, seed startled, and then bolted away.
Of course, I chased after him.
“Hey! What’s that thing?!”
Ray ran to his room on the second floor and shut the door. He wasn’t the kind of guy to do that...
He even locked it. I figured he must have had so kind of reason he couldn’t share, so I tried to be understanding.
But then...
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Hey! Let see it too! Are you seriously going to be this unfair?”
I pounded on the door for quite so ti, but he didn’t seem like he’d open it. So, I decided to find another way.
Ray’s room had a window. I climbed onto the roof to sneak in through the window. While doing so, I had a thought.
No way... Did so girl secretly gift him that?
I couldn’t imagine anyone being bold enough to ss with my fiancé, but Ray was ridiculously attractive, so who knows?
If I searched all of Avril Castle, I might find soone bold enough to try.
If that really turned out to be the case, I’d have to prepare a grave for her before autumn.
The late sumr sun was scorching. I worked hard to suppress my rising anger and reached for the window. But, click—it was locked too.
Huh? What’s going on here?
Could it be... Ray?
A sudden fear crept over . His strange behavior and that overly delicate mirror, far too feminine for a guy...
No, that can’t be.
I firmly dismissed the thought, yet I pressed my ear against the locked window. I wasn’t trying to accuse him—it was just that... I heard Ray’s voice leaking through the wooden gap in the window.
“...Since it’s going according to plan, contact the saintess. This ti, Lena shouldn’t follow Rev. I could use my mirror to contact her, but... I don’t want to create unnecessary variables. Rev will act just like the last cycle and wake up when he ets ... Oh? No, that’s not right. Since you’re awake now, Rev will wake up when he ets you. That’s a relief. Rev doesn’t need to make a fool of himself this ti. Yeah. Yeah, this is the last ti. Lena, you should prepare to go to Orville...”
But I couldn’t hear clearly.
He was mumbling sothing to himself, but his pacing footsteps muffled the rest.
It was exactly the kind of behavior you’d expect from soone hiding an affair.
I barely held back a string of curses.
Get a grip, Rera Ainar. Always handle things with dignity, no matter the situation. Yeah, there might be a misunderstanding here...
Steeling myself, I gripped the edge of the roof firmly, ready to break through the window.
“Nuna! What are you doing up there? Co down and look at this.”
Just then, Leo called out to from below. In his hand was a mirror identical to the one Ray had earlier. The anger swelling inside instantly subsided.
Ahem. What a lovely window design.
Still, I needed to get to the bottom of this, so I jumped down and interrogated Leo.
“What is this? Your brother had one just like it.”
“I gave it to him! Look, see here? You can talk to him through this. Amazing, right?”
“Huh? Wh-what? Ray locked himself in! Give that to !”
“Hey!”
CRASH!
I might have been too forceful in snatching it, and the mirror shattered. I scread, but fortunately, Ray was unhard.
From the second floor, Ray opened the window and looked down.
“Hey! Why didn’t you answer when I called? And why did you lock the door?”
“Oh, co on, Nuna! Do you know how valuable that thing is? Now it’s ruined.”
“Humph! How valuable could it possibly be? I’ll get you a new one later, so hush. Ray, don’t you have sothing to say?”
“...Sorry. I’m sorry.”
His expression as he gazed down through the window was filled with such guilt that I felt sorry just looking at him.
...He doesn’t need to apologize so regretfully like that.
I decided to forgive him. Honestly, I wasn’t even angry to begin with.
But then again, why did it feel like he was looking at his little brother and not ?
When I turned around, Leo was standing with his hands behind his back, smiling innocently. A bit too maturely for a 12-year-old kid.
Odre fruits were incredibly versatile—everything from the leaves attached to the stems, the skins, and the flesh was usable. The leaves, when brewed into tea, gave a pleasant buzz; the flesh was a delicacy when roasted.
The skin, ground into powder and stored, was commonly used as a flavor enhancer. You could sprinkle it on at, add it to soups, or mix it into bread dough. There wasn’t a single part of it that went to waste.
But despite being so useful, there was one drawback.
The skin of the Odre fruit was notoriously difficult to peel.
It wasn’t hard like a rock but tough and leathery, making it impossible to crack open. The only way to deal with it was to score it with a knife and then tear it apart by hand.
“Ughhh,” I groaned dramatically as I straightened my back, letting out a half-hearted sigh of exhaustion. Seeing this, my mother popped a roasted Odre fruit flesh into my mouth.
“Always so dramatic when your mouth isn’t busy,” she teased.
“Hehe.”
In my defense, though, I wasn’t exaggerating that muChapter I’d been peeling the skins all day long, and there were still five full sacks of Odre fruits left in the corner of the kitchen. At this rate, it looked like we’d be peeling for another two days.
Munch, munch.
Chewing on the snack my mother had given , I resud my work. Nearby, my mother carefully selected unblemished fruit flesh, working with ticulous hands.
“You should feed your husband too. Here, say ‘ah.’”
Without a word of protest, Ray accepted the bite. Hmph, Mom only likes Ray. I glanced over at Ray’s mother.
“Rera, would you like another bite too? Here.”
“Oh, in-law! If we keep this up, there won’t be anything left!”
“Hmph. Mom never does this for !”
“Oh, co now,” Ray’s mother laughed. “It’s all for the kids in the end.”
“See?!”
One of these days, I’ll have to complain about this blatant favoritism, even if it gets smacked.
But my mother’s sharp glare convinced that today was not that day. I quietly returned to peeling Odre fruit skins alongside Ray, while our mothers chattered as they worked.
“By the way, where’s Leo? I haven’t seen him for a while,” my mom asked.
“I’m not sure. He’s been acting like this a lot lately,” Ray’s mom replied. “Ray, did your brother say where he was going?”
Ray shrugged. “No idea.”
Since last sumr—around the day I broke that mirror—both Ray and Leo had started to change.
Leo, who used to be all “Nuna, Nuna” and so affectionate, barely talked to anymore and spent most of his ti wandering outside. Strangely, Ray seed to be letting him do whatever he wanted.
Ray wasn’t normally like this...
I had a rough idea of where Leo might have gone, but I couldn’t be certain. Besides, Avril Castle wasn’t exactly a dangerous place for a child to roam, so I didn’t bother guessing out loud.
Our mothers seed to think he’d just gone off sowhere to play.
Ughhh. Now my back really hurts—not just for show. Thankfully, it was almost dinnerti, so the day’s work was wrapping up.
Ray’s mother swept the Odre fruit leaves into a basket while my mom stood up to start preparing dinner.
As for , I stretched my arms and groaned, “Ugh, my poor arms...” before flopping down for a mont. anwhile, Ray diligently helped his mom with her tasks.
“Go find your brother,” Ray’s mom said with a shake of her head. “Your father will be ho soon, and we should all eat together.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Hmm, if I stay here, I’ll probably get roped into kitchen work.
I couldn’t just sit idly by while Ray’s mother cleaned up. But I knew she’d insist I didn’t need to help, which ant I’d end up in the kitchen. And I hated working in the kitchen.
So, I decided to follow Ray instead. Not because I was shirking—I had a pretty good idea of where Leo might be. I just wanted to help. Really.
“Oh, I didn’t get to swing a sword even once today,” I muttered.
Ray seed to know where Leo might be too, as we naturally started walking in the sa direction. Casually, he looped his arm through mine.
“Well then, later, if it’s not too dark, how about we spar? Barehanded, if necessary.”
“Ugh, I’ll never beat you in hand-to-hand combat. You’re too strong.”
“Oh, co on. Didn’t you say I could co at you anyti?”
“That was then.”
When I first received the blessing of mana, there was nothing in the world that scared .
I had been so full of myself, thinking I’d surpassed Ray, only for him to receive the blessing of mana around the sa ti.
Unlike , whose body had beco noticeably more agile, Ray’s strength had grown monstrously powerful—to the point where even my father was left speechless.
When would I ever be able to beat this monstrous guy? Probably only if I kept sharpening my swordsmanship endlessly.
“Hey, look! It’s your dad over there. Sir! Over here! Thank you for your hard work today!”
Ray’s father was approaching from a distance, clad neatly in his crimson uniform.
Ray’s father was the chief knight of Avril Castle. The position was typically assigned to knights stationed in specific regions to oversee local defenses—often a role given to those whose skills were unremarkable or who had been forced out of the central knighthood due to political intrigue.
However, Ray’s father didn’t fit into any of those categories. He had been the youngest knight to join the order in the history of the Aslan Kingdom and remained a formidable figure whose full prowess was hard to gauge.
Even now, he frequently exchanged letters with the commander of the First Knights Order, hinting at the magnitude of his past accomplishnts.
So why was soone of his caliber living in this remote mountain fortress? Simply because he loved his wife too much to leave her hotown.
After Ray was born, the family moved to Avril Castle, where they later had Leo. With Ray’s mother being a mber of our Ainar tribe, adjusting to life here probably hadn’t been too difficult.
“Hmm? Where are you two headed? Surely not on a date at this hour?” asked Noel, Ray’s father, teasingly.
“Oh, co on, sir. We’re going to look for Leo. You should head ho first. The mothers are preparing dinner.”
“Alright then. What about your father?”
“Didn’t you et him? He went to the lord’s castle today. Apparently, the new lord keeps asking him all sorts of questions.”
“Ah, I see. I heard this is the young lord’s first ti managing an estate. He seems like a good person. Very well, I’ll head back first.”
With that, Noel went on his way.
We cut through the Ainar village and arrived at an old wooden house with a crumbling corner. The yard, overgrown with weeds, was eerily quiet.
“Excuse us,” I called out.
In the Ainar tribe, there was no reason for one of us to hesitate before entering another mber’s ho.
Since Ray was more accustod to the ways of civilization, I took the lead and opened the door. The interior was filled with the musty sll of dust.
“Rera! Co in. I was just talking about you,” greeted Boris, the elderly man who lived there.
Boris was visibly drunk—soone must have brought him alcohol again—and Leo was sitting in front of him. There wasn’t even any furniture, just a fire pit on the bare floor.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.
Boris had likely dragged Leo in, sat him down, and started rambling about his younger days. Lately, Leo’s eyes had been sparkling with interest whenever this senile old man spoke.
It was understandable for a 12-year-old boy, but still… He needed to be careful about whom he trusted.
Grabbing Leo by the arm, I pulled him up.
“Grandpa Boris, you need to stop. It doesn’t look good for you to just take a kid ho like this.”
“Huh? I didn’t drag him here. Besides, Rera, I was talking about you!”
“Oh, let guess—about my sword? I’ve heard it a hundred tis already.”
“Exactly! Do you know how extraordinary that sword of yours is? The first ti I saw it was in the mysterious temple of the Antaroph Grand Canyon. Did I tell you? I spent a night at that temple once. The sword you hold was embedded at the very center of the temple, but when I woke up…”
“Yeah, yeah. It was gone, and so was the temple. You said it must’ve been Rachard’s Hall, right? Got it. Let’s go.”
I tugged on Leo’s arm, ready to leave.
But behind , Boris continued his drunken ramblings.
“Rera, you’re destined for greatness. To wield a divine weapon—that’s what it ans. Truly, you’ll do sothing great! Sothing even I couldn’t achieve… Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I once returned a brass goblet to the central church in the Holy Kingdom. That church sat beneath the volcano Bomère, and under the volcano was the sanctuary of Vinar. I managed to cross the lava but couldn’t open the door. Then there was Nar’s Hall on an island in the southern sea, and Boar’s Shrine in the eastern swamps... Huh? Where did you go? Rera, you’re destined for greatness. To wield a divine weapon—”
Ugh, enough already.
Leaving the village’s nuisance behind, I exited the house. Concerned that Leo might have been swayed, I gave him a quick warning.
“Old stories can be fun, but don’t get too caught up in them. Especially from that old man. It’s all nonsense. Even about this sword—it’s not so divine weapon.”
And it wasn’t.
This sword was rely a keepsake my late grandfather left . Besides, my dreams were far too humble for any talk of greatness.
All I wanted was to beco a knight, marry Ray, and live peacefully here in Avril Castle—just like Noel.
Greatness? Not for soone like . Sure, when I was younger, I might have been excited by Boris’s ramblings, but those days were long gone. I wasn’t that naive anymore—I was about to co of age, after all.
Tsk, tsk. I just hope Leo doesn’t get any strange ideas…
Still holding my hand, Leo was staring off into the distance, lost in thought.
And just a few days later, disaster struck.
Leo disappeared. With Boris.
Witnesses claid they saw soone riding a massive horse heading toward the Holy Kingdom, but no trace of hoofprints was found anywhere.
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