24 Hearts

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Calypso’s Nightmare

Judah tilted his head at the gazes upon him. Why were they looking at him that way? He glanced at the wall they had broken down a moment ago, the sound of the rain splashing from it. No way, was it because of that? Did they want them to take responsibility?

“Do you have any problems? If you have anything to say, you can tell me. Anyone?” Judah broke the silence.

Among the crowd emerged an older man, who might be the village chief. Judah didn’t know why, but his gaze was filled with fear.

“Is it true that you defeated all those ghosts outside?”

“Yes. Why? Have you seen another ghost?”

“No. We haven’t. I’m just worried the ghosts were hiding around the corners, or maybe even in the houses.” He said, looking up at Judah, before glancing around carefully.

Judah couldn’t show them the quest notification to reassure them. Looking at the crowd, he could see the fear in every man and woman. They’ve been haunted for ten days, and their fear had grown into trauma.

Judah scratched his head, “Then, I can’t help it. We’ll stay here and stay on guard for a few days. Rest assured, the ghosts are gone and won’t come alive again. Would it be okay for you to trust me this one time? Go home and relax.”

If Judah and Jeanne failed to arrive when they did, the villagers would’ve been the ghosts’ dinner by now. Did they know that?

“I didn’t mean to upset you. Please don’t take it the wrong way. We know that the priest was unable to hold up any more, and we know that you are the one who saved us. I said my words out of worry. I don’t know what I would do if another ghost appears.”

He bowed and replied politely. Judah wasn’t used to seeing an older man, who was far older than he was, regard him so highly. Usually, the elderly tend to let go of the conversation when the other person was young, but this man didn’t.

“I apologize for introducing myself late. I am the mayor of Cherryu Village.”

“Oh, I’m Judah Arche, and this…”

“I’m Jeanne Art Loire.” The lancer who had been silent the entire time introduced herself, bowing her head lightly, “We are adventurers.”

“Thank you again for your help. If you have the time, we would like to seek more of it. Why don’t you stay in our village and watch over us?”

“I want to do it out of the goodness of our hearts, but we are also adventurers, so we have to fulfill our mission. There’s nothing more that we can do. It would be better to ask other adventurers out there.”

“Oh, I understand. Was my mindless rambling disrespectful? Did I bother you, our savior, with it? I’m worried..”

Judah smiled as gently as possible as if it didn’t matter, “It’s okay. But if you’re really sorry, I have something I’d like to ask. Can you enlighten me?”

“If we know of it, we will answer as much as we can.”

“I know that an adventurer the same age as I am named Edron stayed here. Can you tell where he last headed?”

A villager who overheard Judah’s question raised her hand. Her sudden movement caught Judah’s attention, and when he turned to the woman, she flinched.

She wasn’t cold, but why was she shivering?

“Hey… I know.” She stood up from her seat, gulping loudly, “Because that boy stayed in the inn I run. My inn is also the only one in this town, so… I know him.”

“Oh, thank God. When was the last time you saw him?”

“I’ll have to look at the lodging log at the inn to know the exact time, but roughly, it was a day before the rain started. About 11 days ago.”

“Where did he say he was going?”

“He helped my village in running errands, and that day was the last day of his contract. We tried to hold a party to thank him for solving the village’s troubles, but he said he had to go somewhere in the morning. He headed to the north woods. He said he’d be back in the evening. He left his luggage in my inn.” When the older woman’s story finished, the villagers who had been listening all groaned.

“Did he say he was looking for ‘Cherserian’?”

“That’s right. That would be around the northern woods.”

Judah nodded and thanked her for letting them know. Although Judah already knew this story. He only asked it so Jeanne would know about it.

But if he thought about it, the villagers should be dead. In the game, they were meant to end up as a ruin destroyed by the ghosts.

But there were some that he didn’t know the fates of, like the priest and foolish adventurers.

He didn’t want people to die, but now he doesn’t know how this would change the future.

“Then, we have to go to the north woods.”

Jeanne nodded, “Yes. He might still be alive in the woods, so we should go. If we can’t find him, we should take the luggage he left at the inn.”

“Is that all you’re curious about?” The chief asked.

“Yes, I have nothing else to ask.”

Judah and Jeanne wore their coats again, but before heading to the north forest, Judah turned to them once more.

“Ah, wait. What’s the name of the priest?”

“The priest? She calls herself ‘Arhil.’ I don’t know much about her nor her full name.”

Arhil?

At first, Judah was puzzled at the mention of her name, but then it sank in, and his eyes widened. Arhil.

‘How is she here?”

As far as Judah can remember, that name belonged to an apostle of Asmodeus, a symbol of lust among the seven sins of the monarch. But she was here, in a human form, and even as a priest.

‘But if I think about it, Arhil was a corrupt priest.’

His memory had faded. Even though he wrote the story and made the settings, he had forgotten about a few of the characters. It would be amazing if he could remember every little detail about it after all his years of being in this world.

Of course, there were some things that he shouldn’t forget, and I certainly remember the case of the monarchs, the kings, and other important characters who had fragments or are closely related to the story. He couldn’t even remember -Count Genuine de Lava-, but that was a problem because his appearance was completely different from the illustrations in the game. Even his aura was different.

In the case of Arhil, she was a sub-character that had little to do with the game’s story. Even the sub-characters that appeared in Continent 2 were merely a copy of the previous ones because he left the plot to those who helped him build the game.

He modified some of the skills, characteristics, and stats to adjust the balance, but the sub-characters didn’t affect the story much.

‘This is crazy. I didn’t remember her.’

It was natural. He knew some that he couldn’t recruit as a companion, but he can’t even remember this character’s settings.

‘I didn’t make her.’

He sighed. He truly could not remember the story setting for this, but perhaps if he looked at her harder, he would remember her skills and abilities. She was a priest with excellent skills, so he thought about recruiting her as a teammate, but should he do it when she’s an apostle of Asmodeus?

Asmodeus was under the command of the seventh monarch -Artemia-.

In addition to that, Artemia was a monarch who had a bad relationship with Pernen.

‘But she’s a human right now, so this might be before she became an apostle. She wouldn’t be protecting humans in this world if she was an apostle of the High Devil.’

Wasn’t Asmodeus sealed in a labyrinth somewhere? Maybe it wouldn’t be a big problem if he recruited her as a companion. No, shouldn’t he be considered lucky? This character had the potential to become an apostle and can be seen as a hidden character like Jeanne. If he led her with the power of fragments, then Asmodeus won’t be able to take her away as an apostle. He would also gain another trusted companion, like getting two sets of stones.

‘If I went to the dungeon and returned to the village, I’ll have to invite her.’

As Judah cleared his face and nodded his head, the chief who had been watching him asked, “Do you know her?”

“No, I don’t. I’m just surprised. She has the same name as another person I know. Then, we’ll go to the northern woods for a while before it gets dark. There’s no more danger, but if you’re anxious, Jeanne could stay with you. All of you should stay until I come back or the priest recovers to some extent. You’ve been waiting for more than ten days, but it’s not difficult to wait for one more day. Support will come from Kaora Castle as well.”

The villagers sighed in relief. Judah and Jeanne asked for directions for the northern forest and then came out through the wall they had broken down.