Raising the Princess to Overcome Death

Chapter 224: Childhood Friend - Initial Capital

224. Childhood Friend - Initial Capital

"Come one, come all!"

The cries of the merchants echoed, overlapping one another in succession.

Various vegetables and fruits were displayed on stalls lining the roadside, and the bustling marketplace was filled with the pungent scent of very cheap spices.

Passersby inspected the goods, picking them up to sniff or pressing them to check the quality, while the merchants chattered away, assuring them not to worry.

This was the colorful scenery of the market.

People wanting to sell, people wanting to buy, people simply enjoying the sights, children running around, beggars asking for alms, and residents just wandering aimlessly.

This was the marketplace in the village of Torito, where occasionally a pickpocket would cause a commotion. All sorts of people were entangled here for various reasons, including a young man wandering about.

In fact, he was a bit too young to be called a young man. He was tall but only in his mid-teens, trudging through the market with slumped, dejected shoulders.

"Please, isn't there any way?""I told you, no. We’re not taking some inexperienced rookie along. If you really want to come, then pay the proper fee. Then you can join the merchant caravan."

The boy clutched a pouch containing eight silver coins and five copper coins. It was a significant amount of money, but still far from enough to join the merchant group. He stomped his foot in frustration.

"I’ll work as a laborer. Isn’t that enough?"

"But you’re not from our village."

"But I’ve been..."

He pleaded, but the merchant turned his head away, ignoring him with a stiff face that seemed to say, "I can’t hear you."

The other merchants were the same.

He had tried his luck with merchants he thought he had some acquaintance with and even with those he barely knew, grasping at straws, but no one was willing to take him along.

After fuming for a while, the boy quickened his pace out of frustration.

Lena had left.

To the Holy Kingdom of Jerome.

The Holy Kingdom was far away. The money he had was certainly a large sum for a young boy, but it was nowhere near enough to get there. Moreover, it was supposed to be the seed money for the business he would start someday.

But what use was starting a business now? Lena was gone.

Torn with worry, he began to resent Lena. It was infuriating to think he had to go through this because of a girl. He was disgusted with himself for being so indecisive.

'A priestess, huh? How could a girl become a priestess? She must have just wanted to leave this backwater village.'

He began to belittle her, but then a dull ache of longing engulfed him once more.

He wandered aimlessly, and soon his steps led him to the darker parts of Torito Village.

"Welcome!"

Startled out of his thoughts, the boy looked up. A man greeted him as he entered the alleyway.

"Are you alone? Ah, you’re quite young. Is this your first time here?"

"What? Yes."

"Well, you’ve come to the right place. Come on in."

The man was a thug with a menacing appearance.

Though they were of similar height, the thug’s burly arms wrapped around the boy’s scrawny shoulders. After patting the boy’s pocket to confirm the presence of money, he led him into a shabby wooden building.

The boy, now terrified, darted his eyes around. Red lanterns hung from the ceiling, illuminating a long corridor leading to an unknown destination.

The boy panicked, frantically thinking of ways to escape, but froze when the thug opened a door and said, “Enjoy yourself!”

Right in front of him stood a scantily clad woman. She pulled him in with a sultry "Come here," her hand unhesitatingly reaching for his groin.

“Quite a bulge there. Well? Why aren’t you undressing?”

Almost in a trance, the boy began to undress. Feeling embarrassed only briefly, he lunged at the prostitute, wrapping his arms around her and tumbling onto the shabby bed.

“Oh dear. I need to get undressed too…”

“W-what’s your name?” he asked desperately, clutching her breast.

The boy clutched his chest and asked desperately. The prostitute laughed with a pfft and revealed her name. It was probably fake, but the boy murmured that name.

“What’s your name?”

The boy answered the prostitute, who somehow resembled Lena.

“I, I’m Hans.”

  *

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Alright. You said it was the Bizaine tribe, right? I heard it's quite far, so be careful on the way and don't trust people easily.”

“Yes, I will. Take care.”

Rev bowed deeply to the village elders as he greeted them.

After Lena left, he spent several days going around the village to say goodbye to everyone.

There were many people he had to meet before leaving. In previous cycles, he had just disappeared without a word, but now that he remembered the past, he couldn’t bring himself to do that.

Also, much of the past had changed.

Whether it was because his mother was alive or because his father, who used to be estranged from the villagers, had changed—or maybe both—Rev had many people to say goodbye to.

Last year, he had received pickles from Dino’s aunt. Mr. Hugo next door shared freshly squeezed milk every morning, and although Mr. Reuben was an outsider, he quickly settled into the village with his characteristic affability, often sharing compost for Rev's garden.

Thus, Rev gifted these people with well-tanned leather as a parting gift. For the village chief, he brought a special fox pelt.

He couldn’t forget the village elders either.

Rev brought them an armful of soft bread, and they clicked their tongues, watching him turn away with a look of regret.

“Lena, really, what’s so special about that priest? She should just marry this young man and settle down...”

The villagers all sympathized with Rev's situation. They reacted as if they knew he would be leaving for good, with one young woman even asking:

“Rev, you’re going for your coming-of-age ceremony, right? You... you’ll come back, won’t you?”

Rev honestly told her, “I don’t think I’ll be coming back,” dashing her futile hope. Thus, Rev began to tidy up the connections he had in the village.

Their suspicions were correct. He didn’t intend to return, in any way, shape, or form.

The next morning, Rev loaded a sack of jerky onto a cart. He pushed it along with the village youths towards the larger town and bid farewell at the village outskirts at sunset.

Finally alone, he was now free to do anything.

However, there was still one more connection to sort out. Following the direction indicated by his {tracking skill}, Rev walked to the market and found Hans.

“Hey, Rev. You’re here at just the right time. Come over here for a second.”

He knew where Hans wanted him to go. However, Rev didn’t understand why Hans, who wasn’t close to him and had no particular connection, was calling for him.

Of course, now…he knew.

Rev, burdened with the jerky, silently followed Hans. When they entered the alley leading to the brothel, Rev spoke up.

“Stop. I’m not going.”

“Huh? Ah~ So, you’ve been there too? I thought as much.”

Hans smirked.

“When did you go? I went for the first time the day before yesterday and, believe it or not, there was a girl just like Lena. She’s about the same height, and her chest is small enough to fit in one hand…”

“So, did you like it?”

“What?”

“I asked if you were happy.”

Rev looked at Hans with a calm, steady gaze. Hans flushed under Rev’s steady eyes.

“What business is it of yours?”

“You said you wanted to be a merchant, but I bet you spent all your money.”

“…Without Lena, what’s the point of making money? Besides, you always pretended to be so close to Lena. Hmph! You saw her, didn’t you? Waving her hand all happy as she left. Lena was never interested in guys like you or me.”

Rev took a deep breath. He and Hans were entangled in many ways.

When they were very young, the two of them fought over Lena as if they were male animals vying for a female.

Rev, who was always with Lena, disliked Hans trying to come between them. Hans also disliked Rev for blocking him.

So the two little brats got into a fistfight, and Rev was the victor. Hans, nose bleeding, ran to his mother, crying.

“You should get along. If not for anyone else, how can you two fight?”

Rev was scolded by both his mother and Hans’ aunt. It was inevitable because Hans was his cousin.

The only bakery in the village of Demos. Hans’ aunt was the eldest daughter of that household, and Rev’s mother was the younger daughter.

Hans’ aunt, who had been diligent since childhood, learned how to knead dough, while Rev’s lively mother would roam the fields gathering herbs for the bread. During one of her excursions, she met a barbarian boy and fell in love with him.

This was why Hans, despite not being close, always approached him.

Hans showed a similar attitude even when Rev’s mother was not around, and Rev’s family was somewhat isolated from the villagers. Unlike his mother.

Without knowing this…I beat up Hans. It would’ve been fine if I had only beaten him up, but I killed him twice. To be honest, while Hans was undoubtedly pathetic, when it came to being pathetic, I wasn’t much better.

Rev declared to Hans, who was grumbling.

“She’s not coming back to this backwater place. And what could Lena be studying? I heard the city is full of charming guys; she’ll probably fall for one and be all lovey-dovey with him. Ugh! Damn it…”

“I’m going to Lena.”

“What? Are you out of your mind? Lena went to the cathedral to become a priest…”

“I don’t care.”

“……Then, I’ll go with you…”

“You?”

Rev cut off Hans’ words mercilessly. Hans glanced back at the alley leading to the brothel and blushed. Perhaps he still had some conscience, as he didn’t say anything more.

“I came to give you a chance. I also felt bad for you. Take it.”

- Clink.

“What is this…”

Eight silver coins and five copper coins.

It was the same amount of money Hans had squandered in two days of debauchery. Rev tossed Hans the {initial funds} and gestured with his chin.

“You said you wanted to be a merchant, right? You wanted to leave this hole of a village and live large. Take it. Use it as seed money to rebuild your dream, or go and live with the prostitute who looks like Lena. Do whatever you want. It’s your choice.”

And then Rev turned away.

Hans stood frozen in place. Rev thought he heard sobbing, but he didn’t look back.

In any case, that bastard sold us out to the merchant guild. Rev thought that this was enough to pay the price for killing and beating him up.

After selling the jerky, Lev left Torito Village. He went in search of the Bizaine tribe, his father’s homeland, where they hadn’t been massacred.