24 Hearts

Chapter 77

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Calypso’s Nightmare

「 Calypso’s Nightmare」

He pursued a forbidden power for the victory of his empire.

He used Bel-Therja, the Lord of the dead, and used his ghosts to lead the empire to victory in the war, and that he certainly did.

He killed many of his enemies, the enemy of the empire, and did it to bring them back to life.

Over and over again, he fought. For this, he gained fame, honor, and wealth.

To the empire, he was a hero, and to the enemy, he was the devil.

However, no matter how many enemies he killed in the name of his empire… No matter how much honor and wealth he gained… His wife, his son, and his allies who died during the war did not return.

Hesitation did not cross his mind in diminishing his enemies. Using Bel-Therja’s power to control the ghosts rid him of the guilt of the bloodbath he ensued.

His heart was nothing but a void of sadness and vain, rendering him numb from feeling anything.

He killed his enemies, revived them, and continued with his cycle as the memories of the past chewed on him.

One day, he could no longer bear the loneliness he endured. With the help of Bel-Therja’s power, they dug up the tomb of his beloved family, uncovering what was left of the bones of his wife and son. Their bones were nothing like the remains of those he had seen on the battlefield. The moment he saw it, his stomach churned, and nausea overcame his senses.

What was he trying to do?

The thought of reviving them disappeared from his desires.

After this heartbreaking resolution, the honor and wealth he had gained lost their worth in his eyes. Wandering with no sense of purpose, he left the battle. The empire did not force him to stay either. Rather, they said that he had suffered enough and gave him a lot of recognition for it. Just a few days ago, he stood on the battlefield where screams of agony and cries for mercy mixed in his ears. Now, he sat leisurely as he listened to the mellow blowing of the wind.

He drowned himself in booze, thinking about everything he had gone through.

He spent every day doing nothing. In the eyes of others, they were meaningless hours but to him, having the silence was important.

But then, his peace broke down.

Bel-Therja’s power, the ghosts, who acted as his slave in his many battles, broke through his mental barrier and began to invade it. At first, the ghosts could only mumble through the tiny hole they made, but as time passed, they came into his house and made themselves known louder and clearer than before.

Every second of every day.

In reality, in his dreams… they haunted him relentlessly.

Everything started to get out of control.

He was certain that he held the power of Lord Bel-Therja to control the ghosts, but now he wasn’t sure whether he controlled the ghosts or they controlled him.

The worst was yet to come, as every day he grew more dangerous as he hung on a thin thread.

Eventually, he lost control and killed the workers in his mansion.

When he woke up, he wandered the empty hallways of his mansion stained with the blood of his victims. Unfortunately, no one survived.

He then hired someone to clean the mansion.

Nobody said anything to him about it, and no one dared to. However, it was dangerous for him to keep living in this manner.

He used to control the ghosts with his own will. But now, he didn’t know how to move away from them. He lost his purpose and no longer knew the meaning of life. There was nothing left within him but regret.

For this reason, he decided to leave his mansion.

It was the land he swore to protect before his wife and son’s death and the place he promised to preserve while giving victory to the empire.

And although he tried, he just couldn’t find it within himself to take down the mansion with his own hands.

After tidying everything up little by little, he left the empire and moved to Calypso, where Langritsa’s tower was located.

Although he was a warlock seeking forbidden power, the members of the tower could not dare to touch him, who was being treated as an empire’s count and hero. He purchased a remote land from them and moved there once more.

He didn’t want to stand out. Since his purchased land included a small mountain, craftsmen were called on the hillside to construct buildings and caves to make tunnels and rooms. There, he built an altar for Bel-Therja, much like a priest would for a god.

However, at that moment, the ghosts used him to pillage the country against his conscious will.

He moved their corpses from an unknown village’s cemetery, and soon he attracted adventurers and then killed them to resurrect their beings into ghosts.

What made him do such a thing?

Did his actions have any meaning?

Right or wrong, the ghosts whispered to him that it didn’t matter.

‘This is the first stage into reviving your wife and son that your heart so greatly desired. If they are revived successfully, you will once again find the purpose and meaning of life you once lost.’ The ghosts continued to seduce him.

Was it really like that?

‘Your dead wife and son are only waiting for the day that you can resurrect them.’

He almost fell for the temptation the ghosts whispered into his ear. But how would he be able to revive his wife and son if they were rotten beyond saving? It made no sense to kill adventurers and gather their bodies. Even if he made new bones and tried to put them into what was left of his family, would they really come back as his wife and son?

Wouldn’t that be just another entity taking over their appearance? Was he doing anything meaningful at all?

Of course, the ghosts whispered to him again as if they can read his thoughts.

‘Yes… This might hold no profound meaning. But… if you wish to do something meaningful, you might be able to bring our eternal Lord Bel-Therja forth into this world. Wouldn’t it be possible somehow?’

Bel-Therja? Surely it would be possible with him, but… it would take too much blood and soul to summon him into this land. He was unsure if he could do such a thing.

They weren’t on a battlefield. They stood in a remote area.

‘If that’s the case, then you have no other choice but to find yourself knee-deep in bodies.’

They are innocent.

‘Oh? Since when did you decide who deserves to die, and who does not? When you killed those men from the Byron Empire, did you not murder them for the sole reason that they belonged to the Byron empire and swore to become their soldiers? We are grieving… Because it turns out, there are citizens of the Byron Empire among us!’

The ghosts giggled. Even with his ears covered, he could hear their voices loud and clear, like they came from his very head instead.

‘The same goes for those who lived here! And those who live in nearby towns, castles, and towers. You killed them all just because they lived in their places. Still, they’re much better than the men of the Byron Empire. And killing them all would be a noble sacrifice if it is to summon Lord Bel-Therja.’

…

‘What’s the problem? If he comes to this earth, he will bring the dead back to life. The same goes for your wife and your son. Our Lord will open the way to what we want. You need not think too critical of it. He will give you, and us, the answers that we want. He will. Trust us.’

…

The warlock fell into the whispers of the ghosts, and with him fell the strange land.

A quiet nightmare brewed in the remote land of Calypso.

+++

“I’m sorry, Judah.”

Jeanne’s apology was heard loud in clear inside the carriage. Knowing she had done something wrong, Jeanne ducked her head, and her eyes fell to the floor. Judah looked out of the window, pretending not to hear her.

Leaving the capital Aslan behind them, Judah and Jeanne turned to head for Calypso. Judah sighed as he watched the passer-by outside the carriage. Pretending to be angry eventually bored him, so Judah turned to Jeanne to talk.

“Do you know what’s wrong?”

“Yes…” Jeanne cowered as the wagon rattled. Soon, it became quiet.

It wasn’t wrong that she accepted the quest. He was willing to help anyway. After sharing his knowledge with them, he took a moment to decide regarding the quest. Of course, Judah thought of persuading Jeanne if she ever refused. However, the problem was that she did not ask Judah for his opinion and accepted without consulting him. Because of that, Judah found it right to act angry and bothered. Surprisingly, it affected Jeanne greatly. She saw that Judah was really angry and had apologized over and over again.

“Look, Jeanne. We don’t have a parent-child relationship, but we’re in the same party. Even if we felt sympathy, we have to ask about each other’s opinions, agree, and then accept it together. If you were the leader, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. And even though I’m the leader, I wouldn’t normally behave like this. I ask my party members for their opinions and coordinate with them regarding quests.”

“…”

“I know how to make the medicine, but what if the ingredients weren’t available? For example, if it’s an item that can only be found in the Dragon Valley, located in the far southeast region? Or if the material is insanely expensive? Maybe you should pay for it, hm?”

“What I did was unfair. I’ll be careful next time.”

Judah nodded at Jeanne’s respectful response. That was more than enough for him.

“Jeanne, raise your head.”

“Am I forgiven?” She carefully lifted her head and looked back at Judah.

Although his facial expressions were hard, Jeanne felt relieved to find it not as cold as before.

“… I’m still a little angry, but what can I do? We’re colleagues. Please, just pay attention next time.”

“Yes. Don’t worry. I won’t be doing this again… With that aside, do we really have to go to Calypso to get magic power?”

“It’s annoying, but I can’t help it if I want to get to Cherserian. It’s very tricky to keep it. The moment it leaves its native place, it will stop producing magic power and crumble as it is. It’s rare, and storing it will be hard. I have to do it, and I can’t simply hand it over. It’s much faster to go to Calypso to get it, then process it, and then bring it back.”

If they had the money, it wasn’t difficult to get a Cherserian. But Judah wanted to head for Calypso.

Making a cure for magic power deficit was the main focus of this quest, but there was another important thing to do. Edsen’s son left for Calypso to retrieve the magic herb and later went missing. He was last seen near a dungeon named – Calypso’s Nightmare-.

This dungeon was Judah’s real purpose in taking this quest. To break it, Judah headed to Calypso on the excuse of digging up the magic herb and finding the missing son.

But the heartbreaking truth was, the dungeon had already killed Edsel’s missing son. There was nothing else he could do. The quest was simply following the story of the game. However, he couldn’t tell him that his son was dead, especially with the sight of Edsel brought to tears of gratitude. He wouldn’t believe him, anyway.

‘I guess I have no choice but to go and find a memento.’

It would be nice if he could find one in the dungeon, but Judah sighed, knowing it was a little too late for that already.

“And we decided to find Edsen’s son too, right? We have no choice but to go.”

“Is that so…?”

“Oh, just a reminder, when we arrive at Calypso, you’ll have a hard time. Be prepared in advance.”

Jeanne tilted her head at his warning, but Judah said nothing more. When they arrive, Jeanne would realize why in no time.

Jeanne slowly lifted her head and looked up at the distant mountain outside the window. As if foretelling the future, dark clouds began to brew in the distance.