Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 9: Childhood Friends - Starting Funds

Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 9: Childhood Friends - Starting Funds

9. Childhood Friends - Starting Funds
Leo's vision fell from the vast sky. It was the same intro video he had seen before. It seemed he had come full circle.
The video zoomed in on a peaceful village and then focused on Lena in the forest. She was carrying an old leather bag over her shoulder, looking back at him.
As soon as Leo's consciousness took over, the new Leo pushed the dried-up Minseo into a corner. Leo was particularly sensitive to the memories of "his story."
"Leo! Are you listening to me?"
"Lena!"
She had returned.
Leo had met Lena from Demos Village again, the same Lena who had welcomed him when he first entered the game. They had parted ways after getting married.
Leo shouted in joy at seeing her again, but she looked at him in confusion.
"Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?"
Lena had no memory of the events that had transpired.
Leo felt a pang of loneliness as he realized that while he remembered their marriage, she only remembered him as a childhood friend.
He swallowed the sadness and the urge to tell her everything. It was painful, but perhaps it was better this way. He consoled himself with the thought that living in an endless loop was not only mentally exhausting but also something he couldn't put Lena through.
Ultimately, he had to make Lena a princess and end this cycle. If she remembered the past, they would never escape this place.
It was a relief that Lena didn’t remember. Leo gritted his teeth.
"Leo?"
When Lena approached him, puzzled, he forced a smile and made a joke to lighten the mood.
‘What should I do now...’
Leo fell into deep thought.
Lena, teasing him about his lame joke, needed to be taken out of the village and brought to the capital somehow. However, just as he had pondered before, it was not an easy task.
He thought of the event where a priest leaves for the capital churChapter Using that event could get Lena to the capital of the Holy Kingdom easily, but priests couldn’t marry.
Now it was clear he was stuck in a bind.
If he sent Lena away through the event, she would become a priest and couldn’t be a princess. If he didn’t send her, Leo would end up marrying her.
Either way, he couldn’t clear the game.
Scratching his head in frustration, he felt something heavy in his pocket.
When he took it out, he found eight silver coins and five copper coins. He remembered the scenario reward of {starting funds}.
The ending with his sister Lena tried to surface, but he quickly pushed it away and hid the money back in his pocket. Fortunately, Lena didn’t see it as she was busy picking wild berries.
‘With this money!’
Leo felt a rush of excitement as he touched the coins in his pocket.
It was a significant amount of money.
Although it wasn't enough to reach the Holy Kingdom, if used wisely, it could get them to the capital cities of either Nevis in the Orun Kingdom or Lutetia in the Conrad Kingdom.
‘Yes! We’ll leave the village with this. It will solve all the problems.’
The priest heading to the capital church would arrive in the fall, so they could leave for Nevis before then. Once in the capital, they could find the prince of the Orun Kingdom.
With a plausible plan forming in his mind, Leo felt at ease.
He started picking berries with a whistle, and Lena, who had been pouting, looked at him curiously as he suddenly became cheerful.
*
As soon as his father returned from hunting, Leo pestered him to go hunting again. His father, seeing his son's eagerness, agreed to leave sooner.
His father had always wanted to teach him the sacred art of hunting. Pleased by Leo’s enthusiasm, he smiled faintly and packed up to leave the next day.
The hunting ground was quite far, requiring them to cross two mountains to reach a small fortress-like hunting lodge.
The lodge was a small fortress in the forest.
The area around the lodge was filled with traps and warning signs telling intruders to stay away. These were meant to deter bandits from raiding the lodge when hunters were away.
To hunters, bandits were not much of a threat. They just had to be cautious about leaving the lodge unattended, as bandits often avoided confrontations with hunters.
The next day, Leo and his father checked and set new traps.
Leo was very proactive.
Using his {hunting} skills, he tracked game and predicted their movements, setting up appropriate traps.
They even successfully performed a drive hunt by setting traps for a herd of migas (a type of small omnivorous animal resembling a cross between ducks and pigs, with no gender distinction) and driving them towards the traps from the opposite side.
His father quietly followed Leo’s lead throughout the hunt.
As night fell, they returned to the lodge. As usual, his father made an offering to Lord Barbatos and started preparing the game for cooking.
The small lungs of the migas sizzled on the fire.
"Leo. You’ve improved a lot."
His father, cooking the meal, suddenly spoke. Impressed by Leo's skills, he broke his usual silence.
Leo seized the opportunity.
"Dad. I have something to tell you..."
He explained that he wanted to leave the village with Lena and showed him the {starting funds}. He lied, saying he had secretly saved up the money from hunting.
"Last time, I was lucky and caught a bear in a trap..."
While hunting could indeed be profitable, it was a bit too much money for a teenager, so he added to his lie.
He described how he had chased the wounded bear and caught it with traps, and his father, having been impressed by the day's hunt, silently nodded.
Leo continued.
"Lena wants to go to the capital church, but she can't afford it. If we use this money to get to Nevis, we can then gather enough funds to travel to Lutetia. I can't let her go alone... Can I go with her?"
His father stroked his rough beard, contemplating. After a moment, he stood up and went into the lodge.
Leo stayed outside, continuing to cook the lungs.
His father soon returned with a small pouch and handed it to Leo. The pouch jingled with coins.
That was all. His father silently sprinkled blood on the cooking lungs.
"Thank you, Dad."
Though his father said nothing, it was a sign of approval. For once, the silence between them didn’t feel awkward.
Father and son quietly ate the lungs together.
*
“Leo~”
“Yeah! Hold on. I’m almost done eating!”
Today was the weekend. Lena had come to him at the exact same time on this day during the previous scenario, confessing that she didn’t want to become a priest. Leo had been waiting for today on purpose. Although this world didn’t feel like a game, he thought it best to talk during such a critical point.
He winked at his father as he cleared the dishes, but his father pretended not to notice.
Outside, Lena was holding a large bag.
“Lena! What’s up so early? Did you stop by before going to church?”
He wanted to ask if she was going to suggest gathering mushrooms, but he held back.
“Leo, what are you doing today?”
“I’m free! Want to go somewhere together?”
“Yeah! I was planning to pick mushrooms in the forest. Want to come?”
“Sure. Just wait a moment.”
Everything proceeded exactly as it had before.
They reached the foot of the mountain, chatting while picking mushrooms, and then settled down for a break. Lena put some jerky in his mouth.
“Chew... chew...”
A brief silence followed. If things went as before, Lena would soon say she wanted to quit studying to be a priest.
Leo decided to speak first.
“Lena, would you come with me to Nevis?”
“Huh? Nevis? Why there?”
Leo couldn’t look at her directly and turned his head away. Now he had to start lying, so he just avoided her face, pretending to be shy.
“Just, well... It’s the capital of our kingdom. I’ve always wanted to visit. They say there are a lot of people, plenty of food, and lots of job opportunities.”
“I thought you wanted to become a hunter?”
“I can hunt anytime. And...”
“And?”
“The Holy Kingdom is closer from there... Since it’s the capital, there should be many merchants going to Lutetia. The capital church is in Lutetia, right?”
The only recognized church in this world was the Cross Church.
The Cross Church had played a crucial role in driving non-human races out of the continent, and since the Arcaea Empire, all seven kingdoms had established it as their national religion.
The main cathedral of the Cross Church was in Lutetia, the capital of the Holy Kingdom. That cathedral alone was referred to as the “capital church.”
For example, even though there was a church in the capital of the Orun Kingdom, it wasn’t called the “capital church.” It was just the Nevis Church.
Lena looked puzzled.
“But how will we get to Nevis? Isn’t it a two-month journey on foot? It’s too dangerous.”
In response to her concerned question, Leo pulled out ten silver coins from his pocket.
He actually had more. Including what his father had given him, they could reach the capital church.
However, Leo planned to stay in Nevis and make Lena a princess, so he didn’t show her everything.
He knew from the beggar sibling scenario how high the cost of living in the capital was. It was nothing like this rural village. Even with diligent work, they wouldn’t be able to save much money; they’d have to live day to day.
While Lena faced some hardships, Leo planned to go hunting and gather clues about meeting the prince. If this was a game that could be cleared, there must be a way to meet the prince.
‘If I show her a little bit of the money now and then, I can say it’s from hunting, and Lena won’t lose hope...’
As he thought about his plan, Lena’s eyes widened at the sight of the money.
“How did you get this much money? Did your father give it to you?”
“I borrowed some from Dad and saved up some myself. It’d be a bit lonely to go alone, so would you come with me?”
It was more of a plea than a suggestion, something Lena couldn’t refuse.
A journey to the church, a new world, and an adventure with Leo—everything she loved was in it.
“Yes! I’ll go! I’ll definitely go!”
Tears welled up in Lena’s eyes.
She was so happy that, despite her wide smile, tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Leo! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Leo felt a pang of guilt from her overwhelming joy. He had been scheming to keep her from going to the capital church, but she was crying and hugging him out of gratitude.
He patted her small back, hiding his discomfort, but her sobs didn’t stop easily.
High above, a cocorren that had been perched on a branch pulled its arm free and disappeared into the distance, seemingly disturbed by the noise.
*
A few days later, “Leo! I got permission!”
Lena came running, excited. Leo wondered how she had convinced her parents.
‘If she were my daughter, I’d never allow it...’
Maybe they expected that Lena and Leo would get into trouble and return, or perhaps they genuinely supported her dream.
It didn’t really matter.
Leo welcomed the news happily and asked,
“That’s great. Are you going to tell the church too?”
“Of course! Want to come with me?”
They went to the church and explained everything to the priest and the monks. The priest was delighted and gave them his blessing.
It wasn’t just kind words; it was an actual blessing using holy power.
As he waved his hand, a warm energy enveloped Lena and Leo. Lena, moved, spoke with a trembling voice.
“Priest, thank you so much!”
“Our Lena is finally heading to the capital churChapter I’m even happier. Stay strong.”
It was clear the priest cared deeply for Lena.
Blessings were expensive. The priests’ holy power was finite and would deplete with use.
Healing external injuries was relatively cheap because it required less power and could be controlled based on what was visible.
But curing illnesses or bestowing blessings consumed a lot of power. Healing an illness required a significant amount of power to be effective in one go, and blessings had to last a long time.
The priest had generously given such a blessing to both of them.
After thanking the priest and saying goodbye, they were about to leave the church when Brother Leslie, who had slipped away during the farewells, came running.
“Lena, take this.”
He handed her a pouch filled with copper coins. Lena tried to refuse, but he insisted.
“Brother, you don’t have to give me this. It’s okay...”
“Take it. We were saving it to send you to the capital church anyway. Everyone at the church contributed, so it’s not just mine. Hurry up and take it before anyone sees.”
“...Thank you. I’ll use it well.”
“Be careful on your journey.”
Lena cried, and the monk smiled awkwardly. It was a heartwarming scene, but Leo felt tense.
He worried that it might be enough to get to the capital church, but it wasn’t. Even with what she got from her parents, it was far from sufficient. Without the {starting funds} or the {priest} event, she would have never left this village.
That evening, the village held a small farewell party.
The village chief lit a bonfire in the square, and the villagers brought out snacks and drinks. They shared words of encouragement for Lena’s dream, and as the drinks flowed, the farewell party turned into a lively celebration.
In the midst of it, Hans, oblivious, joked, “Aren’t they eloping or something?” and got scolded by his mother.
The bonfire cast a red glow over the entire village, lighting up the night.

Chapter 9: Childhood Friends - Starting Funds