eggar Siblings - Cassia
With the scene transitioning to the capital, Orville, the third scenario of the beggar siblings began.
The surreal floating sensation that had been tormenting Minseo disappeared, replaced by an urgent hunger and thirst that overwhelmed Leo. Next to him, a filthy young girl, Lena, was sitting with her back against the wall.
Seeing his sister brought a flood of memories. The image of his fallen sister surfaced, and he was still tormented by Lena's eyes in the photo, which seemed to tempt him from within.
"Brother, I'm hungry..."
"Lena!"
Leo held back his tears and hugged his sister tightly.
If Minseo's mind had been clearer than before, he might have wept.
[ Achievement: First Death - The player's synchronization with Leo slows down. ]
"Ugh, brother, why are you doing this? I'm weak."
As Lena squirmed as if to push him away, Leo finally came to his senses and let her go.
Lena, still covered in filth as before, had dry, cracked lips and a neck so thin it looked painful. Her dress, which resembled a rag, was unchanged.
"Lena, let's go get some food."
Leo checked the coins in his pocket and hurriedly led Lena away.
With the {Starting Funds}, they had eight silver coins and five copper coins. In the beggar siblings' scenario, this money was incredibly precious. In the engagement scenario, it was something that didn't matter much, but here, it was tearfully appreciated.
Even this wretched game seemed to have a shred of conscience.
At the restaurant they revisited, Leo bought his sister seasoned chicken.
Previously, he had bought unseasoned chicken to save money, but this time he didn't hold back.
Lena quickly became covered in seasoning as she devoured the chicken. Leo tried to moderate her pace to prevent her from choking and wiped her mouth intermittently, but Lena was too engrossed in tearing into the chicken like a starving person.
His heart ached.
Leo frowned at the pain surging from his chest, despite Minseo's clear mind.
‘I will make you happy this time. I will never leave you alone.’
He organized his thoughts while helping Lena with her meal.
‘Last time, I left Lena with Cassia for too long. This time, I have to keep her with me as much as possible.’
However, the situation was not favorable. They had nowhere to go immediately.
Lena and Leo had set up a residence next to a building, but the landlord was scheduled to come with servants to demolish it tomorrow morning.
The situation was dire with no home or shelter. He had to decide on their next steps while they were temporarily seated in this restaurant.
‘What should I do from now on? More importantly, where should we go right now?’
Being with Lena, he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t drag his sister around in this state, and exposing her pretty face would be a disaster.
It was also difficult to find a job that provided room and board. Lena’s appearance was an issue, but Leo’s lack of skills made job hunting extremely challenging.
What Leo had this time were his good looks and a few abilities he received as scenario rewards... {Swordsmanship.2v}, {Hunting}, {Starting Funds}, {Rules of Back Alley}, {Combined Attack}, {Arts of the Bedchamber}, and {Noble Society}.
There were quite a few achievements as well, but they didn’t directly help.
Then, something crossed his mind.
‘If I use {Arts of the Bedchamber}, {Noble Society}, and my good looks...’
Through the information from {Noble Society}, lewd and erotic methods began to surface.
It was a life of seducing and exploiting nobles to get what he wanted.
‘Disgusting.’
Leo grimaced heavily and dismissed that option, turning his attention back to the profitable skills of swordsmanship and hunting.
However, the hunting option was quickly ruled out. There were no mountains near Orville.
‘Should I just run away far with Lena? Build a small house deep in the mountains and live there?’
This scenario of a beggar sibling promised a tough life. He had to feed his sister and provide her with proper education.
In the midst of all this, he had to make her a princess.
He considered running away far as he felt suffocated, but Leo soon gave up, thinking even that would be difficult.
His sister Lena was excessively beautiful. They couldn't hide in the mountains forever, so eventually, they would have to come out. By then, Lena would have grown up to be stunningly beautiful.
Leo didn't have the confidence to protect such a beauty alone. Before his sister grew up like that, he had to lay the foundation for her to live.
After eliminating each option, the only thing left was swordsmanship.
There were many things he could do with swordsmanship... but it was best to avoid becoming a guard in Orville.
A guard was still a soldier, and there was a possibility of being dragged into the war that would break out next spring. No, this damned game would definitely drag him to the battlefield.
Becoming a mercenary was another option, but it required traveling with a merchant group, meaning he couldn't keep Lena by his side. Since he couldn't reveal his identity, he couldn't stay in Orville and work as a mansion guard either.
A knight? That was a bit regretful.
A knight was certainly an attractive profession. If he became a knight, Lena would be safe. There were hardly any fools brave enough to mess with a knight's sister.
It might be a bit troublesome if Lena caught the eye of a noble, but even they wouldn't resort to illegal methods.
Currently, the political scene of the Bellita Kingdom was dominated by the Swordmaster faction, and the knights were controlled by Count Hermann. If someone tried to exert pressure on a knight because his sister was pretty, they would be crushed.
Leo took a gulp of water in regret. He didn't meet the conditions to become a knight.
He had received {Swordsmanship.2v} as a reward from the last scenario.
Thanks to that, he felt he had slightly surpassed Deros, the knight who was with Katrina, but the problem was his physique.
The minimum requirement to become a knight was to be an 'Expert,' which meant having enough mana infused into the body and reaching a certain level of swordsmanship.
Although it was rare, there were cases where one could become a knight solely through swordsmanship. However, unless one's skills were overwhelmingly superior, it was impossible to ignore the physical capabilities required.
If it were Leo Dexter from the engagement scenario, his superior physique would have been sufficient to become a knight. But with this Leo's body, which was so small and emaciated that he looked like a boy, it was out of the question.
Still, it only took a sip of water to let go of the regret. Like soldiers, knights had to participate in the war that would take place next year.
In the end, what remained was.
'Another gangster, huh.'
It felt like the choices were being forced upon him, but asking the family to protect Lena was the most realistic option. With his abilities, it wouldn't be difficult to join the family, and the family never abandoned their own no matter what.
'Last time, it ended before I could even ask them to protect Lena.'
Previously, he had forcibly joined the Corolla Family. He had willingly stained his hands with blood and flaunted it.
It was something he did to quickly become a gangster, but because of that, it took a long time to gain the family's trust.
Having made up his mind, Leo counted on his fingers as he explored his options.
There were three major families in Orville. The Corolla Family, whose main business was drug and slave trafficking; the Verza Family, which focused on illegal weapon sales and had an eye on the slave business; and the Rauno Family, which managed commercial rights and earned money through contract killings.
Leo unfolded the finger he had bent. The Verza Family was out of the question.
[ Achievement: Long Live the Corolla Family - Gained slight favor from gangsters affiliated with the Corolla Family. Earned slight hostility from families hostile to the Corolla Family. ]
The achievement he gained from becoming an executive in the Corolla Family erased one of his options.
The Corolla family would view him favorably, but the Verza family would be just as hostile towards him.
As the fingers spread out under the table came together, Lena finished her meal. She gulped down water and alternated her gaze between the empty plate and Leo before asking.
"Why didn't you eat, brother?"
"Huh? No, I ate a lot too."
Lena seemed to feel guilty, thinking she had eaten too much, and glanced at her brother for his reaction. Leo patted her head and said,
"Let's go. We have somewhere to be."
"Home?"
"No. Somewhere else."