24 Hearts

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Calypso’s Nightmare

Arhil rocked her head and touched her forehead. She had no recollection of what had just happened, but she frowned at Judah after feeling some discomfort sink in. With her doubts about what had happened, she glanced at him and began to grumble.

“Ugh, what did you do?”

Her last memory was the moment Judah’s palm covered her hands. When she blinked and opened her eyes again, she realized she had been bowing her head. She knew a part of her memory had then been cut off. Arhil conjured her magic and checked herself for any injuries and whatnot, but found nothing. Judah looked at her and did his best to sound sympathetic.

He then spoke, “I put a spell on you so you can’t betray me. It’s like a one-sided contract rather than a two-way deal, but understand that I couldn’t help it to keep the fragment a secret.”

“No matter how it is, isn’t it too unfair to make me betray myself…?”

Arhil complained, but he pretended not to hear it. She had no choice anyway. The deed had already been done. Instead of answering, Judah studied her with a glance. He stared at her forehead, pupils, lips, and tongue. From there, he went down further to the nape of her neck and the tips of her hand. On the outside, she showed no signs of being under subordination. Did it work on her, or not? He wanted to be sure, but if the trusted system of this world told him that she was under subordination, he just needed to believe it and not investigate further.

“We’ll know in the future, Arhil. I’ll introduce you to Jeanne later.”

“Is this Jeanne the person beside you from earlier?”

“Yeah.”

Judah got up from his seat and grabbed the empty bowls.

“How would you like me to call you? Leader? Sir Judah? Judah?”

“You can call me whatever you’re comfortable with. I don’t really care about honorifics.”

“Then…”

As long as he had the body of a fifteen-year-old boy, his titles were limited. She seemed to think for a moment, and then she nodded her head as if she had made up her mind.

“How about my owner?”

“…!”

Judah’s fingertips shuddered at what she said. Arhil chuckled at his reaction.

“I’m kidding! Are you surprised, Judah?”

“If other people heard you, they would misunderstand it, so please refrain from joking around.”

“Ah. You’re blunt. That’s no fun. Okay. Don’t worry about that. As a leader, I will respect you.”

Judah gathered all the dinnerware she used for her ramen and fruits and then stood up from his chair. “Well, I’ll come back later. In the meantime, you should inform your former companions about this.”

“Yes, don’t worry. But how can you accept me as a companion so easily? It’s been less than an hour since we met and talked.”

Judah, heading to the closed door, stopped and looked behind him. There was curiosity in her expression, waiting for an answer.

“When I saw you protect this hall for more than ten days, I didn’t need to see anything else. That alone proves everything.”

He couldn’t say that he saw her capabilities through the info window. That was the best he could come up with.

“Oh.” Taken aback by his answer, she stuck out her tongue playfully, “Thank you for appreciating that. It’s nothing, really.”

Her potential was an S in the most important stats for a priest, but it still needed more work. Judah no longer answered, and with one hand holding the tray, the other opened the door. Outside stood Jeanne like a gatekeeper, while the adventurers stalled from a distance.

“Jeanne? Why are you standing here?”

“Oh, you’re back. I’m just giving you some privacy because they tried to eavesdrop on you two.”

She was truly a sensible woman. He wondered why, despite the room’s poor soundproofing, no one reacted when Arhil said she would be leaving her team. All thanks to Jeanne, no one stepped into their conversation. If so, they wouldn’t have heard the moment they talked about the fragments. Judah looked at Jeanne and smiled.

“Thank you, Jeanne. Our conversation went smoothly because of you. Now that that’s all over, we should go. I think they need to have a long chat.”

“Oh? Okay.”

She followed him, responding like a loyal servant. Passing by the adventurers, Judah glanced at them.

“She’s still up, so go in and talk to her.”

“Oh, yes, thank you.”

Thank you? Can they say thank you even after talking to Arhil? In a way, he robbed them of a team member.

He shrugged and walked past them, heading for the kitchen. He started washing the dishes as if nothing happened. He turned on the water, Jeanne walking over to him.

“I can help.”

“No. It’s okay. These are just a few. You should take a seat and rest. You must be tired from standing in front of the door.”

Jeanne glanced at the pile of dishes. There was a set of chopsticks and spoons, a plate, a bowl, a pot. That was all. There was nothing else to wash. As Jeanne tried to stretch out her hand awkwardly, they heard footsteps running from behind.

“Hey, you bastard!”

“Wait! Mark!”

“Shut up!”

“Mark!”

Their heads turned to the sound, and a man ran into the kitchen like an angry bison with another man behind him. It was the adventurers. Judah, who was cleaning the pot with a scrubber drenched in detergent made by alchemists, stared at them.

“What is it?”

He already knew what it was, but he asked anyway. They named Mark exhaled slowly as he stepped closer, cackling at him. He looked down at Judah, trying to intimidate him.

“Hah, what’s going on? You’re really asking like you don’t know! Is your job as an adventurer to blackmail someone else’s companion to steal them?”

“…blackmail? People might get the wrong idea if you say it like that. Did you have a good conversation with Arhil?”

“Of course!”

“Then why use such a strong word against me? Why are you upset with me?”

“That’s…!” Embarrassed, his words trailed off. The man frowned, “Even so, why would you take her away from us without even consulting with us! She’s not the leader. This man behind me, Lien, is!”

“He’s not my leader, nor is he Arhil’s. But I understand, it’s also my fault I didn’t tell your team beforehand. I apologize for that.”

“What?”

“I heard she could leave anytime she wants, as a condition of joining your team. Either way, the result would have been the same. Oh, let me correct one thing. She wanted to join my team first. You should be telling all of this to Miss Arhil. You’re angry at the wrong person.”

Mark couldn’t say anything in return. His face flushed red in anger. In a blink, he growled and raised his fist. The man was big because of his muscles, and as his fist trembled, he charged at Judah threateningly.

“Let’s listen here, you cheeky kid!”

“Mark!”

The man he referred to as the leader called out in surprise, but Mark’s fist was already going straight for Judah’s face. Judah raised his hand, still holding the scrubber, and tried to block it, but Jeanne was faster.

Smack!

Mark’s fist landed. However, instead of punching Judah, his fist met Jeanne’s palm. Her body and hands were small compared to him, but she didn’t budge against his strength. Her hand was too small to hold enough of the fist he swung roughly, but she managed to stop it.

“I understand you are mad, but acting out like this is unacceptable. I haven’t heard the details yet, so I don’t know what’s going on, but I know you have to calm down.”

She said bluntly, throwing away his fist. It looked like a simple act, but Mark was taken aback, stumbling out in a few steps. His eyes switched between Judah and Jeanne, resentment adamant in his gaze.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Mark, you have to calm down.”

Lien, who was only watching from behind, stepped forward. Mark bit his teeth as he stepped back behind Lien.

“You’re lucky. If Lien weren’t there, my ax would’ve gone through your head already.”

“Mark!”

“Fine.”

Surprisingly, he seemed to listen well to his leader, shutting his mouth at the call of his name.

“I won’t let this go easily. I almost got beaten.”

“I’m sorry. He’s not one to do something like that… I think he’s just very upset this time about Miss Arhil leaving. That guy liked her.”

In the background, the man cried out, asking what bullshit he was talking about.

‘He likes her…’

Even so, he can’t justify the confrontation and his attempt to beat him up.

“I see. Does she know about it?”

“Maybe… I think she knows. He used to show favor to Miss Arhil from time to time, although she seemed to disregard it.”

“Then there’s nothing else to speak about. Instead of arguing with me about useless things, why don’t you leave her your regrets and confess before she leaves?” Judah looked at Mark and gave his heart some vain hope, “Maybe if you touched her heart, she might stay in your team?”

“…Is that so?”

It was foolish to hope, but he seemed genuine. With a heavy heart, he scratched his chin deep in thought.

“Are you done?”

“Yes? Oh, yes.”

“Then, will you take that man out? I’m going to do the dishes. I don’t like him around.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Lien left the kitchen while leading Mark. Judah finished washing the dishes as if nothing had happened, and Jeanne sat down, looking at Judah’s back. He finished the dishes quickly, wiping them off and putting them in the bag.

“Okay, I’m done.”

“Good job, Judah.”

“No, that wasn’t much. I want to take a break now, but I have something to tell you before I lay off. I tried to surprise you, but that man ruined it.”

“Is that priest acting with us in the future?”

“Yes, we can discuss this and see if that guy really confesses. Shall we go?”

“…”

She looked tired. Nevertheless, she nodded.