Chapter 207

For days and nights, I repeatedly struck the Apostle named Hadaesu, who was my training target. He took the hits without flinching, occasionally firing back with a gun. Though his counterattacks were nothing more than lightly grazing my cheek or shoulder.

Seriously, it felt like he was a compressed mountain. No matter how much I hit him or poured magic into him, he didn’t budge an inch.

“Young Master, no matter what method you use, if you can make me move even a single step, you pass. But it’s taken this long…”

This damn bastard was scratching at my patience while not moving a muscle no matter what I did.

Gradually, even casting magic became exhausting, and I slumped down.

“It took Damian about half a month to pass, so it’s not unreasonable.”

“Sigh… By the way, let me ask you something. That gem you took… I heard it was a keepsake of your daughter. How did it end up embedded in that damn sword?”

“…She wasn’t my biological daughter. She was my adopted daughter. She was also a caretaker who looked after and protected you, Young Master… and she was my friend too.”

“Friend?”

“I’m still an unmarried bachelor. But being called ‘Father’ by the kids felt off, so I had them call me differently. Some call me ‘Oppa,’ some ‘Hyungnim,’ some ‘Captain,’ some even cheekily call me by my name… and there was one who called me ‘Friend,’ like that child.”

Hadaesu’s face looked truly sorrowful as he spoke.

“Then, what happened to her…?”

“She was killed. By that woman named Media, whom you also know. Her body was torn to shreds, and we couldn’t even find a piece larger than a palm. She couldn’t avoid that tragedy while trying to protect you from that damn woman.”

It was a complicated story. I vaguely remembered having a caretaker during my early childhood, but I had no idea she died protecting me.

“It’s alright, Young Master. It’s not your fault. Though… I did resent you once. Not anymore, though… It’s all in the past now. Anyway, after that, various things happened… and as you can see, most of my power has been sealed. Come to think of it, the fundamental responsibility for all this might lie with me.”

“Fundamental responsibility?”

“Originally, if a Spirit King or humans on a planet caused trouble, it was the rule for an Apostle to handle it directly. But I couldn’t control my power, and even if that child, your caretaker, died… do you know why the others, even the God of Ura, couldn’t act?”

Hadaesu clenched his fist and continued.

“Most of them were severely injured. While fighting me, the other Apostles, even your mother, were gravely wounded. They might look fine on the outside, but they’ll need thousands of years to recover.”

“Wait, hold on… You fought? What do you mean…?”

“Ah, I rebelled. I started a war with the other children under my command.”

Come to think of it, I vaguely remember seeing a setting in a game where one of God’s Apostles rebelled. I thought it was just some random lore from pressing the A button in the village library, but it turns out it actually happened.

“Well, I lost, and as a result, most of my power was sealed, and I’m left alive, unable to die. Not that it matters much.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

If his adopted daughter died because of me, I owed him an apology.

“No, it’s not something you need to apologize for… But, do you remember the magic that child often showed you?”

Dude, how am I supposed to remember things from my infancy?

“Hmm, for example… ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᚲᚺᚨᚾᚷᛖᛋ ᛗᚤ ᚠᛟᚱᛗ (Magic that changes my form).”

With that, Hadaesu’s form transformed into a giant bear.

Then it hit me. That strange language. It was the same magic I unconsciously used when fighting Ares.

“Ah, shall I use one more… ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛏᚢᚱᚾᛋ ᛗᚤᛋᛖᛚᚠ ᛁᚾᛏᛟ ᛗᚤ ᛚᛟᚡᛖᛚᚤ ᛞᚨᚢᚷᚺᛏᛖᚱ (Magic that turns myself into my beloved daughter).”

With that, Hadaesu transformed into a woman with orange and golden hair. She was dazzlingly beautiful.

“This form is my beloved adopted daughter, your caretaker, and one of the former Apostles, Sabriel. Do you remember anything?”

Even her voice had transformed into that of the woman I vaguely remembered. Slowly, memories seemed to resurface.

My consciousness sank into the past like it was being pulled underwater.

—

In his baby days, Werner was giggling and drooling all over the pile of documents on the desk. Even if those documents were something someone had spent nights preparing, a baby wouldn’t know that.

Of course, Hadaesu’s perspective was entirely different.

“Gaaah! Damn it! My documents! They’re all soaked in drool! What kind of waterfall drool is this…?!”

At that moment, a beautiful voice came from behind them.

“ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛋᛏᚱᛁᚴᛖᛋ ᚺᛖᚨᛞ ᛟᚠ ᛗᚤ ᚠᚨᛏᚺᛖᚱ (Magic that strikes the head of my father).”

A dull, heavy impact struck Hadaesu’s head. A lump the size of a baseball formed as he rubbed it, glaring at Sabriel.

“What the hell kind of bastard…?”

“Who, me? And I told you not to swear in front of the Young Master, didn’t I?”

Sabriel, Werner’s caretaker and Hadaesu’s adopted daughter, gently picked up Werner.

“Who’s the one being violent here…? This is filial impiety, you know? Who was it that changed your diapers and raised you…?”

“You’re the one who said not to call you ‘Dad,’ so I suggested being friends instead, remember?”

“Your mouth is as sharp as ever.”

“I told you not to use harsh language. What’s with all the complaints after just three hours of babysitting?”

“In those three hours, the esteemed Young Master destroyed half my office, soaked my documents, and wiped out all the life-and-death records of humans?”

Even as a baby, Werner, being the child of a god, had immense inherent power. Only a select few could take care of him. Since God was busy, the Apostles had to look after him, but they were also busy, so Hadaesu and Sabriel ended up being the main caretakers.

“Well, overtime is part of the job, so just work a few more days to fix it, right?”

“Haha, you damn… No, you’re really trying to kill me, aren’t you? Honestly, if this brat wasn’t our boss’s kid, I’d have thrown him into hellfire…”

“ᛗᚨᚷᛁᚲ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛋᛏᚱᛁᚴᛖᛋ ᛒᚨᛚᛚ ᛟᚠ ᛗᚤ ᚠᚨᛏᚺᛖᚱ (Magic that strikes the balls of my father).”

“Gaaaah…!”

Hadaesu, clutching his lower half and screaming, was further humiliated as Werner grabbed his hair and started pulling. The caretaker angel, instead of stopping him, cheered him on.

“Hey, let go! Let go, you little brat! You’re just like your mother, with that nasty temper!”

“I told you not to use harsh language.”

With the continuous pain in his lower half, his hair being pulled by Werner, and his adopted daughter Sabriel grabbing his collar, Hadaesu was on the verge of losing his mind. He just wanted to work and relax, but his adopted daughter had dropped the baby on him, and now the baby had destroyed his office and wiped out days of work.

Anyone could see he was the victim, but just because he swore a little, he had to endure this.

“Hey, hey! Let go! Let go! No, let me go! I’m losing my hair here!”

Werner, laughing, kept pulling Hadaesu’s hair. If it weren’t for Hadaesu’s superhuman durability, his head would have been ripped off.

Finally, after Hadaesu pulled out some candy to calm him down, his hair was freed.

“Ah, I thought I was going bald.”

“Ah… You work in the underworld, and you’re worried about going bald?”

“Baldness is scarier than death, and being bald is worse than being a corpse. Do you know why death is scary? Because after you die, time passes, and only bones remain while your hair disappears.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“So, because of this damn brat… No, because of our boss’s son, I almost went bald. Why do I have to babysit on top of everything else?”

Despite his words, Hadaesu had raised thousands, no, tens of thousands of children.

“You say that, but you can’t even ignore a stray cat you pass by.”

“Well, of course. It’s irresponsible to feed cats in someone else’s neighborhood if you’re not going to take care of them, you damn…”

At that moment, Werner laughed and spoke his first word.

“Damn…?”

Both Hadaesu and Sabriel were shocked, their mouths hanging open.

“Hey… you crazy bastard! How much did you swear in front of the kid for him to say something so vulgar…!”

But kids are like sponges, right? Werner, quick to learn, absorbed new knowledge without filtering.

“Crazy bastard…?”

Hadaesu looked at Werner and foresaw his future—a future of being beaten mercilessly by his boss.

“Hey, I think we’re screwed.”

“Screwed…?”

“Holy Fucking…”

And just like that, Werner learned 30 new swear words.