Hero's Coffin Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Suddenly his mind grew distant. Perhaps because it hurt so much, because it was painful enough that his whole body was damp with cold sweat. Or perhaps because even though he only felt half the pain of the person his soul was connected to, it made him gauge how much pain he must be experiencing.

"Wh-where is he? I need to find him..."

He started looking for Haren while muttering like a madman. He moved driven by fear that he just had to check his condition. Though he couldn't track location through the collar like Haren could, he headed towards him relying on a vague sense.

Though he seemed to walk frantically, he felt certain he was getting closer to him. His instinct knew where the person connected to his soul was. He walked following his intuition as if tied by a rope.

"Urgh, shit..."

Though he had to stop occasionally because his stomach hurt too much, he wiped away cold sweat and trudged forward stubbornly. He moved even faster than before, as if out of spite.

And finally, he found Haren.

"Ugh..."

Haren was leaning against the cave wall, clutching his abdomen and groaning. His white shirt was soaked with blood and his face had turned pale white. However, as soon as he heard footsteps approaching around the corner, he reflexively straightened his posture and stood up.

He quickly covered and tidied his clothes with his robe, and composed his expression to even form a faint smile.

"This Encroachment Zone is really strange..."

Haren perfectly acted to keep even his tone from trembling as he checked who it was, and their eyes met directly. Various emotions churned in his blue eyes before what finally arose was... relief.

Staggering, Haren leaned against the wall as if collapsing.

"Ah, it's you..."

As soon as he confirmed it was him, that is, as soon as he realized it was someone he couldn't hide his injury from, he smiled as if tension had drained away.

In fact, until just before, he had harbored a strange anger towards Haren. Even while frantically searching for him out of worry, he wanted to question him for the very absurd reason of why he got hurt. Even though he had warned him to be careful, and even though he knew their souls were connected and he would share the pain, why did he get hurt so badly.

But as soon as he saw Haren here, all those thoughts cut off.

He had known for a while that Haren tried to show only a perfect appearance. After all, he had pretended to be fine even when pierced in several places by the Dium's arrows in the western Encroachment Zone. He had even felt disgusted admiration that his acting deserved an award.

But was he receiving a different kind of shock because it was his first time directly witnessing the moment Haren put on his mask? No, perhaps more than that...

"Haha, showing such a pathetic sight..."

The sight of Haren relaxing with relief upon seeing him created a very strange churning feeling. The fact that he who showed only a perfect mask to everyone else revealed his true self in front of him made him dizzy.

What was this? As his heart suddenly started hurting too, he fumbled before belatedly gathering his wits. The abdominal pain must have broken his head too. He quickly shook his head and approached Haren.

"Potion, where's a potion quickly."

"There isn't any. Haah, used almost all of them last time, and the last one just broke..."

"What? Last time means..."

As he was trying to guess when Haren might have recently used potions, he was shocked to recall when he had vomited blood from the incubus's curse. He hurriedly felt inside his robe.

Actually, he had secretly swiped some potions on his way out of Lara Workshop. Since he had already been forced to buy and incur debt anyway, he had taken a few potions too, and it had been a really good choice. Feeling repeatedly relieved, he started treatment.

After making Haren sit leaning against the wall, some strength surged from somewhere and he spread open his shirt as if tearing it to check the wound. As the pain he had felt indicated, his stomach was completely pierced through. Around the wound that was almost the size of a hand, golden light flickered and died repeatedly.

The hero's self-healing ability was said to be able to heal half of even fatal wounds if not completely. But he seemed unable to concentrate, probably because he was too dazed. They say when you're seriously injured enough, your mind temporarily blanks out.

It would be a big problem if he fainted. He carefully poured the potion on the wound while speaking.

"Concentrate quickly. You acted well just now."

"I saved some mental strength in case someone came..."

"You don't need to hide from me, so just focus on recovery quickly."

His chest grew cold as it was the first time he had heard Haren's tone so powerless. Could this already be after healing? Like this was after recovering half? Fear struck him and even his body started trembling.

His head spun, chased by irrational fear. Haren closed his eyes as if tired, and the golden light flickering around the wound gradually weakened.

"You, you can't die here. Ugh, Haren, please..."

He trembled, bending his upper body as if collapsing. Was it anger that the standard for quest success that he had worked so hard for couldn't go like this, or sadness that the hero couldn't die so meaninglessly in a place like this, or...

Had that emotion he hadn't even named yet, that thing that endlessly rolled inside him making him stagger, finally made him fall? Not even knowing where he was falling to, he just buried his face in Haren's chest and shook as if crying. He clutched his shirt like a lifeline and sobbed.

"..."

Pat pat, a very careful touch reached his shoulder. Gentle and tender, as if soothing him who had been swept up in a torrent. Only then did he startle and raise his head.

Haren's wound had already almost healed.

Looking closely, it had healed about halfway with his holy power, and the potion had also taken effect, covering it thinly as if coating it with skin. Though this still wasn't a good condition, it was surprising to see his stomach that had been gaping open as if it would never heal now closed up. Was Lara Workshop's potion this effective, or...

"...It wasn't, enough to die from."

Haren's quiet murmur brought him to his senses as if hit with cold water. Still clutching his shirt, now probably more like grabbing his collar, he questioned him.

"What? You were dying just before. Your voice was really strange too!"

"I was dizzy from losing a lot of blood. I was going to rest a bit and then recover..."

His voice was supremely calm and composed. Though he briefly suspected that Haren might be acting deliberately because he had been too startled, an even greater embarrassment washed over him like a tidal wave. Even if it was acting, didn't that mean his reaction had seemed quite excessive to warrant such acting?

Come to think of it, if it had been a serious wound enough to die immediately, he probably couldn't have pretended to be fine earlier. Since he said he had deliberately saved some mental strength, it meant the injury was at a level where such judgment was possible. From his perspective, that is.

The embarrassment that suddenly rushed in turned to indignation and made him glare at Haren. At that gaze, Haren subtly rolled his eyes to the side and spoke.

"...I guess I just relaxed from relief at seeing you."

His tone had a somewhat subtle quality. It was full of awkwardness as if this experience was a first for him too, and he remained silent, infected by that atmosphere. The churning he had felt upon seeing Haren smile as soon as he saw him returned again.

A very subtle silence settled.

They had avoided each other and not exchanged a single word all day until now, and this had continued even until entering the Encroachment Zone. After acting in a way that even their companions noticed they were uncomfortable with each other, they had just shot a melodrama scene as if they were the closest of companions.

Tremendous awkwardness washed over him as he recalled why he had distanced himself from Haren during that time. Just as he was sheepishly releasing his collar, no, his shirt collar and about to withdraw his hand, Haren spoke.

"...You must have been very startled by the sudden pain."

It was a strange statement. Setting aside how it felt like he had blurted out any topic as if chased by the awkward atmosphere, it was odd that he was concerned about him being startled when he was the injured one. As he stood there bewildered, Haren even added that he hadn't had time to dodge the falling pile of rocks then.

"Since you're not used to pain, no, I was trying to be careful not to get hurt until the Dium's curse was resolved..."

Blink blink, after just blankly opening and closing his eyes, he soon burst out with an "Ah!" The answer miraculously came to the worry that had occupied his mind for days.

"Right! If you get hurt like this, the curse resolution gets delayed too! We have to stay soul-connected for much longer! Because of you!"