Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Serenia, the Land of Adventurers
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Judah.
It is the name of one of the twelve apostles handpicked by Jesus during the New Testament era, as we commonly know.
However, he betrayed the one he believed in for a mere pittance, lost his honor, and earned the disgrace of being branded a "traitor." I took that anecdote and used his name.
Judah Arshel.
Having a family name meant he was nobility, but he was from a fallen house without any power.
His parents were descendants of an imperial family that had perished 150 years ago. They struggled to revive the family, but lacking any notable talents, they failed. In the end, they wandered as ordinary adventurers, made a big score somewhere, and settled in the city of "Serenia," known as the homeland of adventurers.
After settling in the city, they lived ordinary lives and had Judah. But one day, old comrades came sneaking in at night and killed them.
The reason was the family legacy his parents possessed: the [Black Claw Secret Art], which they couldn't master due to their lack of talent and kept only as a manual.
His old comrades came to steal this manual, which could fetch a high price if sold to an empire or a specific family. They let their guard down because they were old comrades, but ultimately, they died because they were weak. If they had the talent to learn the manual, they wouldn't have died so easily to an unexpected ambush.
Up to this point, it matched the backstory I had set.
But there was one difference from what I knew.
Judah's father was supposed to fight desperately against his old comrades to protect his young son and perish together with them. However, here—perhaps because of the tutorial—Judah himself killed them directly. The real problem came next.
Having lost both parents, Judah was left alone, and at that moment, the grandfather of the game's protagonist, Cain Sabrak, took him in. Thanks to that, he was able to spend his childhood relatively smoothly.
From then on, he became rivals with Cain Sabrak, who would later become a hero. Upon reaching adulthood, he realized that his parents died because of human greed and avarice, and that without power, he could do nothing.
Afterward, to gain power and live happily, he set out to obtain a Fragment. But amid repeated betrayals, he came to despise humanity and sought to betray mankind himself by inheriting a Lord's power—searching for Fragments in a different sense from the protagonist.
But since he wasn't the protagonist, his path was never smooth.
To emphasize his innate combat talent, I gave him the [War God] skill, Rank S. Yet even with this cheat skill, he always lost to the protagonist in fights.
It wasn't because Judah was stupid or careless.
In a 1-on-1, he had specs monstrous enough to crush even the protagonist easily. But was this a game where the protagonist wandered alone?
Due to the companion system, Judah always appeared alone like a boss and had to fight multiple enemies.
He had several chances to get the Fragment first, but at crucial moments, the protagonist Cain Sabrak and his companions showed up and snatched it away.
'Did I have sadistic tendencies or something?'
I did give Judah companions a few times, but made them betray him every time. Players enjoying the game even called him "Eternal Anguish, Forever Suffering Judah" and loved it whenever he got betrayed.
I'm not sure if that's why, or because I named him "Judah," meaning traitor. I just kept making him suffer betrayals and pitiful simply because he was a character with a "lonely" trait. I say it again, but he was a character I had mixed feelings about, so I put a lot of care into him.
'...And now I've become Judah.'
Not as a somewhat self-sufficient adult, but as a child.
Sure, the soul of a twenty-five-year-old was inside, but all that soul had were values and superficial modern knowledge that seemed useless here.
Plus, his only skills were a third dan in Taekwondo for health, not combat, and basic cooking.
If the high level of knowledge accumulated in the modern world could help him adapt here, he could wield influence easily. But with only vague knowledge, it was nearly impossible.
On top of that, this child's body was just seven years old, on the cusp of rapid growth. His level was predictably single digits, with no answers. His parents, who could teach him about this world and aid his growth, were murdered last night.
Could he really survive this harsh world without his parents' help?
The only sliver of hope—really, the only faint hope—was that he was a [Black Claw], an advanced class of Magic Swordsman, with high potential and starting stats that were decent in Luck, Mana, and Magic Resistance. It was obvious they'd grow significantly by mid-to-late game.
Especially what he anticipated most was Luck.
In the game, it only showed item drop rates or critical hit success. But this place—
Since it was a world hard to think of as a mere game, it would surely influence things positively in some way.
And through that, he would return to his original world.
According to Xian, the only way to escape this world was to become the successor of the Fourth Lord, Perlnen.
Otherwise, he'd be trapped here forever, repeating the same moments. Like when he first died to that mercenary. There was no pain, but he didn't want to rewind like a video tape.
He sighed, scratching his head with still-awkward, small, twig-like hands.
'Ah, someone's coming.'
He saw the doorknob on the antique-colored door turn smoothly without a sound.
He straightened his slouched posture in the chair and looked at the person entering.
An elderly man in deep black priestly robes entered.
For a priest, the bulging muscles visible over his clothes were anything but ordinary.
He was Seron, a high-ranking paladin from the temple that had brought Judah here.
Whether due to a resident reporting the corpses he had dragged out front last night, from morning onward, soldiers including the paladin before him "burst" into the house.
After kicking down the firmly shut door, they drew swords and entered. The door had the honor of serving as the paladin's footrest.
The paladin's entrance was truly imposing.
Led by the paladin in thick plate armor, several soldiers entered, quickly searched the house, and took away his parents' bodies on the floor. He didn't know where they took them. When he tried to ask, the paladin approached the bewildered, standing Judah and brought him here to the temple. Upon arrival, he let him wash and brought food.
Since he was hungry, the soup and two pieces of bread were delicious.
After finishing the meal and pondering alone, Seron entered.
He sat at the opposite side of the table, let out a "hmph" with a troubled expression, and fell silent.
'Yeah, he'd be troubled.'
He seemed to want to ask about the mercenary corpses, but the only survivor was a child not even weaned yet.
"......"
The paladin stared at Judah in silence. It wasn't an oppressive atmosphere; he seemed restless, agonizing over how to start the conversation.
He was kind and gentle.
Even though this was a world based on a game, it was a medieval era with a strict class system.
It wouldn't be strange at all to interrogate a child harshly—threaten to beat him if he didn't tell the truth straight. No, that might actually be the norm here.
But he didn't. Perhaps because he served Yophiel, the Second Holy King who loved peace and life, as a temple priest. Or maybe because Judah, though fallen, bore noble blood, so he treated him with respect.
"Little one."
"It's Judah."
"My name is Seron. Alright, Judah. Do you... remember anything about last night?"
He asked cautiously. The answer was, of course, no. When he said he didn't remember, Seron panicked instead. He must have thought the shock of seeing his parents murdered before his eyes caused memory loss. New to such questioning, he seemed very troubled and decided to change the subject.
"You ate it all without leaving any. Was it good?"
He said, looking at the neatly stacked dishes on one side of the table.
The soup was nicely salty and tasty, and the bread was softer than expected.
Surprisingly, compared to modern bread and soup, it was just as good.
He hadn't noticed while eating, but since this world was from a game, spices must be widely available. Or maybe it was possible because this was <Serenia>.
He nodded belatedly to the question.
"Yes."
Another brief silence followed.
"Hmm... Your parents' passing is truly regrettable. Do you really remember nothing? Even the smallest thing would help. I know it's painful, but for the sake of those who passed, won't you tell me what you recall?"
He remembered it clearly. He didn't see how his parents died, but he himself killed the two mercenaries.
But slowly making a pained face, he let his eyes well up with tears.
"Yes. I just... remember dragging the dead bodies outside. Nothing else."
"I see. I'm sorry. I-it's okay. Don't cry."
Perhaps because of the child's body, even light sad thoughts brought tears trickling out.
He held back from bursting into sobs, and Seron looked at him with eyes full of admiration.
He reached out and grasped Judah's small hand.
"Fortunately, someone has stepped up to be your guardian. Ah, I mean, there's someone who will support you until you come of age."
So this is how the game's flow proceeds.
The one offering to be guardian is probably Cain Sabrak's grandfather, the protagonist of this game.
In the past, Judah's father had helped Cain Sabrak's family settle here.
In the game's lore, to repay that favor, he said he'd take responsibility until Judah became an adult—so it seems he's doing the same here.
"His name is Kaseun Sabrak. Do you remember him?"
Yes! If he hadn't appeared as guardian, he would've been at a loss on how to survive. Things were resolving smoothly. To avoid seeming overly pleased, Judah slowly nodded.
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