Hero's Coffin Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Soon, Haren lightly shook his head and invited Beatrice to take a seat. As she moved towards the seat he had been sitting in earlier, he retreated even further. Her sun-like eyes followed him as he slowly backed away against the wall, sparkling with interest.

"So, did you come all this way just to see us?"

Thankfully, Haren stood in front of Beatrice, blocking her line of sight. She made a "Hmm" sound while resting her chin on her hand.

"'Just'? How rare an opportunity is it to see the missing hero? And do you know how surprised I was when I first received your contact? I never believed the story that you had died in the first place, but I didn't expect to hear that you were suddenly searching Encroachment Zones."

Beatrice let out a dry laugh as if recalling that day's memory. It seemed she hadn't known Haren's plan from the beginning but had grasped the situation only after receiving his contact in Rus. Her eyes flew to Haren with a reproachful look, asking if he knew how chaotic the holy city had been until then.

"So, you said your purpose in going to Rus was the sky island, right? How did that turn out? Did you really enter the first emperor's tomb? Seeing that you've been to the western Encroachment Zone since then, I think you must have obtained the small sun."

"We succeeded in figuring out how to enter the tomb using Isaph's ability. We summoned the soul of the aide who had served the first emperor."

"Oho, that's tempting indeed."

Beatrice's gaze turned to him again. It seemed that Isaph's necromancy, pointed at as unrighteous in the Holy Empire, had unfortunately piqued the imperial princess's interest.

"How could I stay in the boring imperial palace when there are so many interesting things happening here? But every time you contact me, you just tell the main point and cut off, do you know how crazy with curiosity I've been?"

Beatrice pounded on the desk, saying Haren bore a large responsibility for her coming here. At this, Noi muttered quietly from behind.

"But to come alone again, leaving your guards behind, Sir Asil must be panicking..."

"...Again? Has she often gone out alone like this before?"

"Yes, since Her Highness the Imperial Princess is a mage, it's advantageous for covert movements. A master of disguise! Sir Asil often grabs the back of his neck because she uses her amazing magic skills to secretly leave the castle, but she's a great mage."

Noi nodded and answered his question. Was it because of magic that he hadn't noticed her presence right next to him last night until she offered the water flask? Perhaps her magical skills had also helped her enter the city easily despite the heightened security.

The "research" Beatrice had mentioned earlier now seemed even more terrifying, and the distance in his heart grew larger. It seemed both En and he should stay far away from her.

Just then, a document appeared in Beatrice's hand. He was startled to see a rolled-up paper appear with just a light wave of her hand. It was amazing enough when Noi occasionally took things out of his magic bag, but for objects to appear out of thin air like this...

"I came to talk about this too, while I was at it."

Beatrice handed the document to Haren. He sat down opposite her, checked the contents, and tilted his head with a strange expression.

"The number of missing persons hasn't decreased."

"Right, even though we've blocked most of the entry points to the Encroachment Zones, people are still going missing. When we investigated in detail, it turns out the number has actually increased compared to before."

It was an unexpected topic. One of the initial reasons for searching the Encroachment Zones was the increase in missing persons. So after confirming the Dium's survival in the southern Encroachment Zone, Haren must have contacted the imperial princess out of concern for potential additional missing persons, and now that they had blocked the paths to other Encroachment Zones, the number of people going missing due to being captured by Dium should have decreased.

"We blocked the paths, and you've purified and eliminated two Encroachment Zones, so naturally, the number of missing persons should have decreased..."

"Perhaps the Dium in other Encroachment Zones, feeling their territories shrinking, have started hunting in earnest?"

"Well, if that were the case, there should be at least some eyewitness accounts, but there are none so far."

Beatrice shook her head at Haren's speculation.

"When Dedium was alive, its subordinate Dium could roam freely even outside the contaminated areas, but after it disappeared, they couldn't do that anymore. That's why we were able to easily eliminate the Dium. They can't even use their powers properly when they leave their territory..."

It seemed to be information revealed when the previous Holy Knight Commander sealed Dedium in the past. He had thought Dium could only move around within Encroachment Zones, but it seemed the range restriction was lifted when Dedium awoke. He could understand why they had tried to resurrect their god even by offering their hearts.

Until now, it had been assumed that the missing people had been captured by Dium after accidentally approaching Encroachment Zones. That they were caught by hidden Dium as soon as they took a step or two inside. Could it be that people blinded by curiosity had somehow found ways to enter the Encroachment Zones again? But...

"It's strange. We didn't find any missing persons in the western Encroachment Zone... We might have missed some due to the complex canyon, but even the thieves we encountered nearby said no one had come recently."

The southern one had been purified, and they had directly confirmed there were no missing persons in the western one. Yet the fact that the number of missing persons hadn't decreased but rather increased was quite puzzling, and Haren seemed to be caught on that point too as he tapped the desk with his index finger and said,

"We'll have to search more thoroughly for missing persons in the next Encroachment Zone."

He could guess what the glance directed at him meant. Now he would probably be instructed to search not only for the core but also for corpses more thoroughly inside the Encroachment Zone. Ah, the Encroachment Zones were getting larger, and the quest was becoming more demanding along with it. He nodded his head dejectedly.

Mela, Kalterik, and Noi also discussed searching the nearby villages in detail and moving next time. As the future response direction was naturally being set at the scene, Beatrice suddenly roared.

"Yes, this is how it should be!"

"...?"

"When missing persons occur, of course this is how we should respond! Those snake-like old men just say they'll look into it but don't move!"

Bang! Her eyes flickered with anger as she slammed her fist on the table. The sun seemed to be blazing fiercely.

"When there's a vacancy in the hero's position, huh?! They should be seizing this opportunity to raise the imperial palace's power, but they're all just playing around! Supporting the Holy Festival events saying we should continue to build friendly relations with the temple! It's not even friendly, but the pathetic appearance of a servant!"

The power struggle between the imperial palace and the temple had ended with the temple's overwhelming victory after the Great Catastrophe. It was thanks to the previous Holy Knight Commander's sacrifice and the grace received by the current Holy Knight Commander. So the empire's citizens were worried that the hero's absence might cause another power conflict, but it seemed the imperial palace had settled for the tilted balance.

So he could understand why the imperial princess was angry, but... was it okay to say that in front of the symbol of the temple? He looked at her dryly.

"That stupid guy took the crown prince position over me, so he should at least do his job properly! Someday in the future, the Dium's survival will be revealed, and at that time, shouldn't the imperial palace say they had already noticed suspicious points and were investigating to avoid looking foolish! But that guy just laughs heheheh!"

Had a different imperial descendant become the successor instead of Beatrice? Just looking at this imperial princess's aura, she seemed fit to be a general, no, an emperor. Moreover, she was saying she had made such calculations in her head as soon as she received Haren's contact. She had magical skills and a sharp mind...

To this, Haren reacted calmly.

"I see you told the imperial palace about the missing persons first."

"Of course. Though I'm working with you, that's just because I joined hands with you out of frustration with those old men, I have no intention of bowing my head to the temple."

"Well, that's welcome news."

Though it was a rather sharp statement, Haren smiled, and in response, Beatrice said, "You strange fellow," but still curled up the corners of her mouth in a smile.

He couldn't understand at all how the relationship between those two was established. They weren't rivals following the conflict between the temple and the imperial palace, nor did they seem to be purely cooperative allies on each other's side.

Perhaps that was why Haren had contacted Beatrice. For him, who suspected traitors within the temple, a being who wanted to strengthen the imperial palace's power might be preferable.

Beatrice swept her hair back and let out a sigh.

"Well, so I came to participate in the subjugation to vent the frustration built up in the imperial palace too."

It seemed she had come to strike the monsters here since she couldn't strike the old men in the imperial palace.