24 Hearts

Chapter 85

85====================

Calypso’s Nightmare

Rumble!

As soon as they stepped out, the thunder stopped them in their tracks. Even the pouring rain roared stronger than before. Jeanne groaned, dreading the idea of going back into the shower. The rain may be loud, but Judah heard her growl clearly. His conscience whispered to him that he was forcing Jeanne into this mission. Once they entered the dungeon, they wouldn’t be able to take a single break. Jeanne continued to hesitate, staring at Judah with a pitiful frown as she cooed his name.

“Judah…”

“No.”

He knew what she was going to say, and he stopped her from even continuing it. Of course, he wanted to stay in town and leave tomorrow instead, but he was a little bit nervous about doing so.

A lot had twisted.

The village they were in should be empty, with not a single survivor, and yet here they were alive and well. On top of that, Ahril, whom he never even expected to meet, was right here… And this gave him hope that Edron might be alive. Above all, he thought that the owner of -Calypso’s Nightmare- might have succeeded already in the ritual he should be doing.

“Do you want to rest today? If you took a break today, you still have to go into the rain tomorrow. Isn’t going now much better?”

“…Yes.” She replied, out of anything to say.

Despite looking discouraged, Jeanne still followed him. Fortunately, the road in the northern forest had thick branches and leaves, covering them from the pouring rain. They traversed the forest silently, with Judah checking the -Map- often on their way to the dungeon. The forest grew darker as they came closer. It wasn’t a natural phenomenon, but the doing of artificial magic. Whether he was aware of such facts or not, Judah watched every step he made.

“Are we not getting too deep into the forest? I’ve been told you learned your hunting skills from Gentia, but in this situation… I don’t think there will be any traces of him.”

It was her way of saying they should go back. They had been walking for two hours with no sign of success, and Judah was aware it seemed like they were wasting their time. It was natural to worry; Judah would feel the same way since their surroundings grew darker by the second. However, the timing of her worries couldn’t be more ironic, as Judah spotted a trace in the distance.

“Look over there.”

In the direction Judah pointed, a sword was impaled on a tree trunk as if someone had thrown it at it. If it were simply pinned on the floor, it wouldn’t be so alarming. Judah and Jeanne walked up to it cautiously before pulling it out. The blade was sharp, free from bents and chipping as if it had been well maintained.

“There’s more.”

Jeanne said as she picked up a sheath that was sticking its head up from a bush. She looked down at the scabbard and back to the sword before nodding to herself.

“This seems to be Edron’s alright. Take a look at this.”

She handed everything to Judah. He noticed that the letters ‘Aslan – Edsen’ were engraved on the edge of the sword. The grip of the sword fitted perfectly in his hands.

“That’s right. Edsen’s sword can’t end up here by chance, so it’s okay to assume this belongs to Edron.”

Judah’s voice seemed like a facade, but Jeanne didn’t care much.

“Then, if his sword is dumped here…”

“He’s probably dead, right?”

Judah replied, unfazed, as he put everything they found into the -Bag-. He thought to return it when they went back to Aslan. She turned to Jeanne, seeing her standing with eyes wide open. Judah figured that he shocked her by how calm he was in thinking Edron might be dead.

“Why? Don’t you think so too?”

“I do, but…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t have to say it because it was obvious at this point. She was shocked by how easy it was for Judah to speak of death. Judah, of course, didn’t say anything more about it.

‘Well, he could be alive.’

The village survived, and seeing that the priest named Ahril was here, Edron could be alive as well, twisting the future like a butterfly effect. If that happened, going into the dungeon with Jeanne might end up differently as he knew. The enemies might even be using Edron’s death as bait, but that didn’t matter.

“Since we found his sword, maybe we can go around and look further? Then, we can go back.”

Judah decided to follow the player’s path in the game. After finding Edron’s sword, they should see his body, and there was a high probability that it could be somewhere near.

“Ah! There.”

As they went farther into the woods, Jeanne reached out her finger and shouted as if she had found something. A white skeleton was lying on the wet ground, dressed. Perhaps because of the rain, the white bones were halfway buried by the mud. The moment they approached, the skeleton broke down. The dust was washed away by the rainwater, not even giving them the chance to get a hold of it.

“…”

Only its leather clothes remained. He pulled out the buried clothes, rummaged through its pockets, and soon found a bronze plaque. The name -Edron- was engraved on the front of the copper plate. It was the name of the person they were looking for, and this was what’s left of his remains. Jeanne, who came to his side before he could even say anything, sighed and scanned the area.

“Judah, something is strange.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not hot, but he decayed so fast his skeleton was the only thing that was left of him. Rather, his body should be swollen because of the rain. It would make more sense if a beast or a monster ate him, but if so, there’s no way he could stay propped up like that. Also, I have never heard of a death like this; turning into dust, and then being washed away by rain only to disappear without a trace.”

She touched the tree right in front of her. As soon as she felt the bark, something like powder melted in the rain and fell into her hand. She squeezed her hand and watched it bloom and wash away. There was no life to the bark, nor was the tree any special, but everything around them was.

“And it’s raining like this, but the plants are dying. Isn’t it very suspicious?”

She read the situation perfectly, despite the little clues they had. Her gaze intensified as she took off her coat before summoning her armor, shield, and lance. Her silver armor gleamed brightly in the darkness of the forest.

“We should look around a little more.”

Jeanne, who had been eager to go back in town, nodded vigorously at Judah’s instruction. As they went further down the road, they could see the leaves turning purple. It was exactly a sign of dying. Jeanne led the way while Judah checked the -Map- for the exact location of the dungeon. Jeanne led them into invisible pathways, and Judah began to suspect that she knew of the dungeon’s existence. Then finally, they arrived.

Before them was a lone building, an antique mansion.

Looking at it from afar showed them nothing, but the house appeared out of thin air the moment they got closer.

“That is beyond suspicious,” Jeanne muttered as she looked up at the mansion.

What she said was true to life. Despite having it in front of them, a purple veil protected the entire mansion, much like the veil the priest had conjured back in the village. But here, every plant and tree was dead.

“In Calypso, the wizards seek refuge in hidden places such as mountains and valleys to conduct peculiar experiments… What should we do, Judah? Should we go back to the village and come back later? Or should we go in now?”

Judah thought for a moment. Should they go back to the village and bring the priest named Ahril?

His original plan was to go into the dungeon with Jeanne without thinking about anything else, but as they stood at the entrance of the dungeon, Judah figured three was better than two. He was worried because the monsters coming out of the inside were ghouls and ghosts, an undead race. But soon, his worries died.

“No, let’s go in now.”

Judah walked up to the barrier. He watched as the rain collided off of the purple veil, blocking any external force from getting inside. He summoned Altemia and struck the veil a few times, causing it to crack and collapse instantly. The rain fell onto the once dry land in a quick flash.

“Aren’t you a little anxious? I’m worried about what the mage might have done…” Jeanne muttered, thinking about the possible traps or enchantment that the mage might’ve placed in the mansion.

“Then, I’ll take the lead. And if we need to battle, you can be the front.”

“No, I’ll take the lead. I have a shield, so it’s safer. Even if we trigger some sort of trap, I can stop it.”

Before Judah can even retort, Jeanne already opened the door and stepped inside. A magic light illuminated the interiors, so it wasn’t as dark as they expected it to be.

“Are these… footprints?”

As soon as they stepped inside, what they first thought as scattered mud were actually footprints leading further into the mansion. Seeing that the mud had solidified, it could mean that a group of people had stumbled into the mansion not long ago. However, seeing that the footsteps only led inside and not a single one went out, Judah believed they might have died inside.

“Let’s go this way.”

They figured to follow the footprints instead of scouting the mansion in its entirety. Following the shoe prints on the floor, they turned to a corridor and found a staircase leading to the basement. They checked for traps and whatnot, and to their relief, they found nothing. The stairs were wide, and the ceiling was high enough, giving Jeanne and her weapons enough space to descend. The magic lamp embedded in the ceiling gave them enough light as they went down to the basement.

As they descended, a spacious room connected to the threshold appeared. It was a study room, with luxurious carpets and bright lights, far cozier than the first floor.

‘What is that smell?’ Judah sniffed, tilting his head as he tried to figure out the scent.

“Coffee?”

As soon as Judah blurted out his guess, the door on the left opened, and a scruffy man emerged. He had a shabby face and a shaggy beard that seemed a shave was long overdue. From behind his square glasses, he looked up at Jeanne and Judah, who were standing on the stairs. He stood there with a white mug of steaming coffee. Jeanne, fully armed, put up her shield.

“You’re here.”

He mumbled over a sip of coffee. His glasses fogged before the fumes evaporated into the air. Despite the presence of intruders, he didn’t seem to be surprised. Rather, it was Judah who found himself gaping.

‘Count Jinmu!’

He was the owner of this dungeon named -Calypso’s Nightmare-.