Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Calypso's Nightmare
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Receiving stares from the villagers, Judah tilted his head in confusion. Why were they all looking at him so blankly? He glanced at the hole-riddled wall where the rain was seeping through. Could that be the reason? Did they want him to take responsibility? Seeing they couldn't speak up first, Judah asked.
"Any problems? If you have something to say, go ahead. Anyone."
At that, an elderly man who seemed to be the village chief rose from among the crowd. For some reason, he looked at Judah with fearful eyes.
"Um, did you really defeat all those specters outside?"
"Yes. Why? Did you see them?"
In response to Judah's question, the man cautiously gauged the mood, bowing his head at a 45-degree angle and peeking up at him.
"No, not that. It's just... we're worried they might be hiding in houses or dark corners..."
Hm. He couldn't tell them about the quest, and there was no way to give them certainty. Judah scanned the crowd—regardless of gender, everyone looked terrified. It made sense; after being tormented for ten days, trauma was expected. Judah scratched his head.
"Can't be helped, then. Stay here and keep watch outside for a few days. But you all nearly died and survived—don't you think it's fine to trust me once and go home to rest comfortably?"
If Judah and Jeanne hadn't arrived at the right time, these people would have become specter fodder right there. Did they even realize that?
"Th-that's not meant to anger you. Please don't misunderstand. We knew the priest couldn't hold out much longer, and we know that person over there is our benefactor. But since we're powerless, we're just worried about what to do if specters are still in the village."
He bowed deeply and politely. It felt burdensome seeing someone so much older acting overly formal. Elders usually dropped formalities with anyone who looked young, but not him.
"Pardon the late introduction. I am the chief of Cheriu Village."
"Ah. I'm Judah Arsher. This is—"
"Jeanne d'Artroar."
She, who had been silently keeping her mouth shut, gave a slight bow as she introduced herself.
"We're both adventurers."
"We sincerely thank you again for your help. If you have time, we'd like to reward you—would you stay in our village a bit longer to watch over things?"
"I'd like to, but we're adventurers with missions to complete. No choice. Better to ask those adventurers over there."
"Ah, yes. In that case... I hope I haven't said anything unnecessary to displease our benefactor."
Judah smiled as softly as possible to show it was fine.
"It's okay. But if you feel bad, I have a question. Can you answer?"
"If it's something we can answer, of course."
"I heard an adventurer named Edron from the East Pact stayed here. Do you know where he headed last?"
Then, a middle-aged woman among the villagers listening in raised her hand high. The sudden movement caught everyone's eye. When their gazes met, she flinched.
He wasn't going to eat her or anything—why was she trembling?
"Over here. I know."
She gulped loudly and stood up.
"That man stayed at my inn. It's the village's only one, so I know well."
"Ah, lucky. When was the last time you saw him?"
"I'd need to check the lodging ledger, but roughly... it was the day before the rain started. About eleven days ago."
"Did he say where he was going?"
"Yes. He usually helped with village chores, and that day was the end of his contract. We were going to throw a party to thank him for handling our headaches over the past days, but he said he had somewhere to go in the morning and headed to the northern forest. He said he'd be back by evening, and if no one stole it, his luggage should still be at the inn."
As the middle-aged woman finished, the gathered villagers buzzed.
"Come to think of it, didn't that young man say he was looking for 'Cherse rian'?"
"Yeah, I told him the northern forest was where they grew wild."
Judah nodded in thanks for the info. He already knew it anyway. He only asked to let Jeanne hear.
But thinking about it, these people were supposed to be dead originally. In the game, this village was just a haunted ruin with specters.
Yet the ones who should have died were alive, and there was a priest whose identity he didn't know and clueless adventurers.
He didn't want people dying, but he also didn't want the future he knew to change.
"Then we need to head to the northern forest."
"Yeah. Maybe he's still alive in the forest—let's check. If not, we'll grab the luggage he left at the inn."
Jeanne nodded at Judah's words.
"Um, is that all you're curious about?"
"Yeah, pretty much... nothing else."
As she gathered her robe and coat to put them back on, Judah, about to head to the northern forest before it got too late, suddenly remembered something.
"Ah, wait. What's the priest's name?"
"The priest? He just called himself 'Arhil.' Not sure about a full name."
Arhil?
Judah puzzled at first—who was that?—but his eyes widened in shock soon after. Arhil.
'What the hell?'
The Arhil in Judah's memory was the apostle of Asmodeus, symbolizing Lust among the Seven Deadly Sins under the Overlord. For her to be here as a human priest?
'No, thinking about it, Arhil's class was Fallen Priest, I think.'
Memory fuzzy. Even though he created the game's story and settings, he didn't remember every character perfectly. Years had passed since coming to this world—remembering every detail of that vast material would be weirder.
Of course, he had notes, and he clearly remembered Overlords, Holy Kings, Fragment holders, or key story-related characters. He once forgot Count [Genauer de Lava], but that was because his appearance and vibe differed completely from the game illustrations.
But Arhil was a sub-character unrelated to the main story. Especially late-game ones on the second continent—he often delegated settings to helpful people and copy-pasted them.
He tweaked skills, traits, and stats for balance, but if the lore seemed fine on a quick read, he left it.
'Crazy, can't remember.'
Natural. Dozens of recruitable companions—not all settings memorized. But this total blank...
'Not one I made.'
He sighed involuntarily. Lore forgotten, but seeing traits and skills might jog memory. She seemed skilled as a priest—considered recruiting, but if really Asmodeus's apostle?
Asmodeus served the seventh Overlord, <Artemia>.
And Artemia had bad blood with Perl Nern.
'No. Her being human means before becoming an apostle. No high devil's apostle idles in the mortal realm protecting humans.'
Plus, Asmodeus was sealed in a labyrinth? Recruiting her shouldn't be an issue. A blessing, even. Apostle-potentials had high talent—like hidden characters like Jeanne. Subjugating with Fragment power... sealed Asmodeus couldn't steal her. Reliable ally gained. Two birds, one stone.
'After the dungeon, if she's still in the village, I'll propose.'
As Judah composed himself and nodded, the watching chief asked.
"Did you know her?"
"No way. Just same name as someone I knew—shocked me. Anyway, we'll check the northern forest before it gets darker. No big dangers, but if worried, wait for Jeanne and me to return or until the priest recovers. You've waited over ten days—a single day more isn't hard, right? And Kaora Castle will probably send support soon. Back to normal life in no time."
Seeing them sigh in relief, Judah and Jeanne asked for the northern forest direction and exited through the hole they made.
========== Author's Note ==========
Lost Ark afterthoughts.
Fun. Especially the cinematics— I'd give 100/100.
But still plenty of shortcomings.
Hunting felt oddly better in MULEgend, weirdly.
Lost Ark is fun, but after 8 non-stop hours, I'm exhausted and can't write... Gotta sleep. Sleep, fix typos, answer phone questions.
Good night!