Hero's Coffin Chapter 75

Chapter 75

He understood the intention was to prevent his identity from being discovered, but the arm that came close enough to touch his body made him very uncomfortable.

Just then, someone slipped away from the other side. The person wearing the splendid golden robe instantly turned around the corner of the building and disappeared from view. As he looked at that retreating figure quizzically, he decided to get out of this position first and tapped Harenir's arm with his index finger.

"Hey, your arm..."

But he didn't react at all and just stared at Jade. Interpreting this scene of communication breakdown, Serena said, turning pale,

"I told you many times. That person might be someone who has sealed 'real' power...! Look at how they came to find him!"

"Oh, so is that mercenary behind him guarding Saiph?"

"That's right! No, that entire mercenary group is protecting that person!"

"Ooh, is this the secret society feeling my brother likes!"

No...

Listening to Serena's delusions made him feel drained. Of this pair, one was cruelly trying to understand sincerely, while the other truly believed and tormented him. He'd rather they just be disgusted.

As he pressed his brow, his head aching, Jade shouted,

"Then we'll be going now, Saiph! Manage your seal well!"

"Yeah..."

"Oh, right. Be careful because they say those holy knights will be in charge of leading the subjugation team tomorrow! What if there's another clash!"

"Thanks, Jade..."

"See you again tomorrow!"

"Uh-huh..."

He wanted to answer halfheartedly and end it, feeling tired. As Jade waved his arms vigorously in greeting, he lazily waved back, and the guy grinned and moved away. In reality, he was being dragged away by Serena.

Only after Jade had completely disappeared from view did Harenir remove his arm. And as that arm withdrew, En slipped out of his arms and quickly moved away. What, was the business over now?

As he watched En's retreating figure in bewilderment, he felt a gaze fixed intently on his face. Guessing why Harenir was looking at him, he spoke first.

"I was about to go back too. I just came down to rescue En because he was surrounded by mercenaries, but Jade caught me saying he wanted to talk..."

He had thought he could return quickly, but he ended up spending more time than expected. Thinking the gaze was pointing out that he had acted alone in a crowded place, he explained, but Harenir didn't say anything.

He just looked at him silently for a while, then said something out of the blue.

"You get friendly with other mercenaries quickly."

"...What are you saying?"

"Laughing while talking, calling names familiarly."

He was saying they had become friendly after hearing that parade of nonsense they had spouted? He was so dumbfounded that he didn't even answer, when suddenly Harenir's lips moved. As if one word from what he had just said had caught on something, he blurted it out again.

"...Name."

As if he had realized something, he looked at him with surprised eyes.

"You've never called me by name. Even just now, you called me 'hey'."

Why did the topic suddenly jump there? No, and had he ignored everything else he had said after hearing it all? He looked him up and down, bewildered.

Anyway, when he said "Commander" to his companions, they knew who he was referring to, and when talking to him, he just gestured with his eyes, so there was no need to call his name. Sometimes when he had to call him from afar, well, he really did only use expressions like 'hey', 'there', 'you.'

"You don't happen to not know my name, do you? You could have used my alias."

"I know. I know, but..."

It was an absurd interrogation. He had memorized his long real name, and of course he knew his alias as a mercenary. Haren. He remembered the aliases of the other companions too. Kalterik was Derik, Mela was Mel, and Noi was just Noi because it was common. Just before registering for this subjugation team, Noi had warned him again to memorize them thoroughly.

But even without that reason, the name Haren was very familiar. He had heard it was a name commonly used as an alias by those who wanted to imitate the hero, and he also knew it was Harenir's actual nickname. Noi always used it affectionately, and in his dream, his mother had called him that too.

So there was an enormous sense of distance for him to call that name. Feeling somehow uncomfortable, he fiddled with his nape and turned his gaze away.

"There's no need to call you by name specifically."

"...Yet you call the mercenary you just met, and even your familiar, so affectionately."

Though his voice muttering as if to himself was very quiet, its content was too strange to ignore. By mercenary, did he mean Jade? But why did the familiar suddenly come up? Moreover, his tone was somewhat disgruntled, which made it even more confusing.

Soon, Harenir looked at him directly and said,

"Call me by name from now on."

"What?"

"It would be good to make it a habit. Many mercenaries have gathered for this subjugation, so we don't know what variables might occur, and not only do we need to be especially careful because of the holy knights, but also because you might have a tail following you due to the commotion you caused at the festival venue last time."

He just blinked at the fluently continuing words. He agreed that Harenir's argument was reasonable, and it was hard to refute since he had pointed out the commotion at the venue at the end... But really? Must he? His hesitation must have shown outwardly, as Harenir immediately tried to drive the point home.

"Let's practice right now."

"..."

"Come on."

As the urging fell like an order, he reluctantly opened his lips.

"...Haren."

Thud, not wanting to pronounce it awkwardly, he blurted it out at once. In a way, it was just a name, and it might seem strange to avoid it saying he didn't like it, so he blurted it out, not wanting to appear conscious of him.

But after actually saying it, he felt a very strange feeling. As he tried to mull it over inwardly, his mouth tingled, and he ended up saying his name once more. Haren.

"...Your name, it comes out very softly."

Though it was a name he had heard many times, it felt very new when he said it himself. As if he was encountering this name for the first time, he repeated it over and over, as if enchanted by its sound. He tried pronouncing Harenir, the seven letters, then returned to Haren, repeating this. He preferred the five letters.

Haren, Haren, Haren...

As he muttered that name, he only realized he was doing something incredible when he heard a subtle sigh from right in front of him.

"...I didn't expect you to practice so passionately."

"Ah."

He was startled. He had forgotten the other person was right in front of him and had become absorbed in calling his name. He seemed to have called it well over thirty times.

Wasn't this a terrifying thing from the listener's perspective? A gloomy person suddenly muttering a name dozens of times might seem crazy. It might even have looked like an act of defiance.

"You always do things that exceed my expectations."

"I, I was just practicing to get used to it..."

"Still, well, it wasn't bad."

He stopped mid-explanation, embarrassed that he had just been practicing as told, when he heard this evaluation. Not simply because of its content, but... because the smile he encountered right in front of him caught his gaze.

Harenir, no, Haren smiled and said,

"Keep practicing hard from now on."

His soft voice, falling as if encouraging him, even held a hint of playfulness. Moreover, Haren had been in a strangely subdued mood all day after encountering the holy knights' misconduct earlier, but now he seemed quite cheerful.

As he looked at the blue eyes sparkling with joy, something stirred inside him again. Since when had Haren started smiling so well in front of him, and even acting as if he was joking?

"..."

And why did he keep suffering from this churning sensation when he looked at him?

Though he hadn't seen ghosts since visiting the night market, dizziness kept coming suddenly. Vertigo was a very familiar symptom to him, but this dizzying loss of balance was worrying because it seemed to tilt in one direction.

Perhaps this was a phenomenon caused by sharing Dedium's curse. No, it must be that. He shook his head, trying hard to shake off these strange sensations.

It seemed he should quickly break the soul connection as the curse was resolved.