Childhood Friend - Omen
The long winter was over.
Leo, carrying a heavy load, arrived at the city he had visited with Lena last time.
It was where he had bought the shoddy two-handed sword.
His backpack was overflowing with all sorts of weapons.
Axes, swords, bows... It was so heavy that his back felt like it was going to snap. He had to leave his shield and leather armor at the hideout because they were too much to handle.
He had raided three hideouts during the winter. Or should he say, he had raided bandits?
"I went through all the trouble of carrying horns and leather for nothing."
At first, he didn't have much to carry, so he got greedy, but later he had no choice but to pick out only the most expensive items.
Leo was tense as he passed through the city gates.
He wasn't worried about being chased as a murderer. Months had passed, so there was no way the city guards would remember his face, and this place was quite far from Torito Village.
What Leo was worried about was his luggage.
If they told him to unpack his bag full of weapons, it would be a big problem, but fortunately, this small city was not as strict as the capital, so he passed through safely.
He urged his tired legs toward the blacksmith where he had bought the weapon last time.
The blacksmith was not afraid of illegal work.
"You're going to sell all this? Permit? You don't have one?"
The young blacksmith looked at Leo suspiciously.
"You didn't steal weapons from your family and run away, did you?"
"If it was a family weapon, it would have the family crest on it."
"Not necessarily..."
He seemed to hesitate a little.
"How much do you want to sell it for?"
"Will you buy it?"
"Depends on the price."
"Two hundred silver coins."
"Are you crazy? Get out of here. Even if I sell all of this legally, I'd be lucky to get three hundred silver coins, and you think you're going to get that much? I wouldn't give you that much if you sold me your conscience."
The blacksmith flatly refused as if it wasn't even worth listening to, and eventually, Leo confessed that he wanted to buy a horse.
"A horse? You can't buy a horse without a permit either."
"That's why I'm asking you, would you buy me a horse instead?"
"You have no conscience and no shame. Why would I?"
"If you buy me a horse, I'll give you all of this."
Leo watched the blacksmith's reaction.
"And if you could just give me a two-handed sword and a few silver coins..."
"I've seen a lot of things in my life... No, wait a minute."
He patted his thighs and paced back and forth.
"It doesn't have to be a good horse, right?"
"...It can't be a completely useless horse. I have to ride it."
"Follow me."
The blacksmith closed the smithy and led Leo away.
The place he found was a stable. He spoke to a man in a rough tone.
And the horse he showed Leo... was unexpectedly young, but of course, it was lame.
The stable owner made excuses.
"He was born with one leg a little shorter, that's why he's like this, but he can run well. But who would buy a horse because he limps?"
Leo looked at the blacksmith with a dissatisfied expression, but he just shrugged.
"This guy only gives me defective products."
He was dissatisfied, but he had no choice.
"Can I ride it once?"
"Sure. I told you it's fine."
He mounted the horse.
It was Leo's first time riding a horse, but Minseo had ridden a few times in college. It was a college elective, and it was fun.
[Achievement: First Ride - Leo's horsemanship has increased slightly.]
As the achievement popped up, the restless horse calmed down.
Leo walked around the stable a little. One of its front legs was short, so it wobbled with every step, but it wasn't unrideable. He didn't know how it would be when it ran.
He dismounted and said,
"Okay. I'll take it."
"Good thinking. I told you, you don't even have a permit, right? Then he's more than you deserve. Haha. Thank goodness. I thought he was going to end up plowing fields."
The stable owner stroked the horse's mane as if he was relieved.
He decided to pickup the horse the next day, and Leo returned to the smithy. There was no point in getting the horse early, he would just have to pay more for lodging.
He received the shoddy two-handed sword he had gotten before and a dozen silver coins from the blacksmith. Even that was after he haggled, saying that a limping horse was a bit much.
"I'm going to look ridiculous riding around like this."
A limping horse and an unbalanced sword.
He was reminded of the prince of the Astin Kingdom he had seen in Orville, riding a black horse. Now that he was riding a horse himself, the comparison felt even more stark.
"Tsk. Don't compare yourself to a prince..."
He bitterly found lodging and went to bed. And the next day, Leo left the nameless city on horseback.
Limping.
***
Warm spring and news of war arrived at the Holy Cross Church.
Since communication in this world was handled by priests, the Holy Cross Church was the first to hear news from all over the continent.
The war between the Kingdom of Astin and the Kingdom of Bellita was foreseen. After the prince of the Astin Kingdom returned home after being treated so poorly that even commoners would have clicked their tongues, both countries had been tacitly preparing for war.
However, apart from that information, Saint Maryel was convinced that war would break out.
"I heard that the Holy Cross Church urged us not to participate in the war. Is that true?"
The diplomat of the Kingdom of Bellita, who had rushed in, asked with a hardened expression, but the saint did not deny it.
The saint sat on a small, white, low-set cathedra (a chair used for ceremonies), never losing her subtle smile. The diplomat, with due courtesy, protested to her.
"I have no intention of interfering in the politics of the Jerom Holy Kingdom, but isn't this going too far? The Jerom Holy Kingdom and our Kingdom of Bellita have always maintained a good relationship."
"The Jerom Holy Kingdom has also maintained amicable relations with the Kingdom of Astin."
The saint stated a fact.
"With that barbaric country... Ahem. Even so, why can't the priests be mobilized? Is the Holy Cross Church siding with the Kingdom of Astin?"
"No. The priests of the Kingdom of Astin will not participate in the war either."
"That's absurd! Our Kingdom of Bellita has many more churches and priests. This is not an equal playing field at all."
The saint frowned delicately at the predictably difficult claim, but the agitated diplomat did not stop.
"The Kingdom of Bellita has made many donations to the Church. And yet you're backing out like this. At least allow us to mobilize priests to treat our knights."
"That is not possible."
At the saint's resolute attitude, he tilted his head back and expressed his frustration.
"Why? We are being invaded right now. They are the ones who unilaterally declared war. Besides, when the civil war broke out in the north in the past, you allowed us to mobilize priests. Why are you forbidding priests from this war?"
He did not mention what the princess of his country had done.
It was not something the saint would have a problem with, but her answer was completely different.
"I am only following God's will."