Hero's Coffin Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Since they had been dragged here anyway, there was no choice but to write the letter and leave. The believers who had brought him and Harenir were standing by the door, watching as if guarding.

"Hah..."

Harenir seemed to have made the same judgment, as he just let out a small sigh and moved. His interest waned at the sight of him obediently looking for a pen. It was no fun since he hadn't responded at all since entering this place. Perhaps he was being cautious in case there were believers who knew the hero's voice...

Still, with lingering resentment, he deliberately headed towards the inner part of the venue. Since he had entered such an elaborately decorated space, he thought he might as well look around.

This place was like an exhibition hall.

Various objects were on display with a guide saying "Things touched by Harenir, the Empire's fifth hero." He skimmed over items like the wooden sword he used as a child and books he reportedly enjoyed reading, but his mouth fell open at the parchment displayed in the center.

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Wishing for the peace of Nadael, another heart of Solares.

–Harenir von Luchete

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The handwritten letter with an elegantly written greeting revealed that Harenir had come to this city during last year's Holy Festival. His action of walking around this place so nonchalantly was so brave it was bewildering.

Next to the parchment were displayed the quill and ink he had used at the time, and even the tableware he had used for meals at the temple here that day. Oh, this was a bit... He involuntarily grimaced, but it made him keenly feel the empire citizens' intense passion for the hero.

On the wall next to the exhibition, pieces of writing wishing for the hero's return were densely written. It seemed people shared their longing not only through submitted letters but also here. There were heartfelt letters saying how grateful they were for help received from the hero in the past, and also words saying they prayed for him every day.

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Please return quickly so that Solares does not waver.

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He became puzzled seeing an old man writing this next to him. If the empire would waver due to the hero's absence, wasn't that dependence too severe? Above all, wasn't there a separate emperor? Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked,

"Wouldn't the imperial palace dislike it if you write like that?"

The old man who turned to look at him flinched. He was instinctively wary of his appearance, but after looking around the space, he let out a sigh of relief. It was obvious what thought process had followed. Being in this venue, he would naturally believe he wasn't Isaph. Moreover, he had carefully chosen a polite tone.

The old man shook his head and answered,

"What does it matter! It's well known that the relationship between the imperial palace and the temple isn't good anyway!"

"...That's the first I've heard of it."

"Young man, you might not know, but until about 20 years ago, the conflict was very intense. Even during the Human-Demon War, how those two groups were at odds, tsk tsk..."

He remembered that the first emperor had been a hero blessed by God. So at first, the leaders of the imperial palace and the temple were one, but problems arose as they gradually split? Thankfully, the old man seemed to have a great passion for teaching young people about the empire's history, and he went on at length.

"You must at least know the story of how the imperial family and the temple fought over moving the empire's capital in the past? The temple argued that Rus should be kept as the center of the empire since God's hand had touched it and the emperor's tomb had risen, but the imperial family pushed for relocation, saying it was difficult to utilize a place with a huge hole in the ground."

He didn't know, but he nodded calmly. In the end, they decided to respect Rus as a holy place instead of just moving the capital, but the temple must have already been offended. Now he understood why his companions knew the streets of that city so well, as he heard that the temple had been blatantly sending priests and holy knights on pilgrimages to Rus every year.

"From then on, they engaged in psychological warfare at every turn, saying things like 'I achieved more in the Human-Demon War' or 'I was more amazing.' They say they joined forces in the final battle, but it's no exaggeration to say they waged an underground war after peace came. Then when the Great Catastrophe occurred... true peace arrived with the noble sacrifice of the previous Holy Knight Commander!"

"Ah, and after that, with the appearance of a new hero for the first time in hundreds of years, it was completely settled."

"That's right!"

The old man, who had succeeded in giving a crash course, exclaimed proudly. So with the appearance of a being blessed by God from the temple, the long-standing power struggle had ended in a complete victory for one side.

Suddenly, he recalled a conversation he had heard in the village near the southern Encroachment Zone.

'What if the hero disappears? Not just other countries, but perhaps even the empire's imperial family immediately...'

He had dismissed it at the time, but now it suddenly connected as evidence. While all people of the Holy Empire would believe in Solnium, it seemed conflicts due to interest groups existed even among the same believers. It wasn't surprising, as he had frequently encountered groups within the same religion fighting each other on Earth.

He just felt that the empire was relying on the hero for quite a lot.

It seemed Harenir existed not just as a hero, but also as a symbol suppressing conflicts and clashes between factions within the empire. He understood more clearly why the temple had insisted on treating the hero as missing.

"The hero must return safely soon... Of course, there couldn't be any problem for the hero, the son of 'that person' and beloved by Solnium! There are even absurd rumors circulating that that evil trash, Isaph Dina, harmed the hero, but I think it's completely nonsense! How could such a lowlife possibly harm the hero?"

"...Hmm."

"And since they say the temple has sent holy knights to start searching, won't good news come soon?"

The old man, who had burst out in anger, judged that he too was a young person longing for the hero since he had come to the venue, and spoke gently as if to comfort him. He didn't answer and just lowered his head, trying to naturally retreat, but the old man called out one last time.

"By the way, young man, why don't you take off that dark robe? On a day like today, to be so covered up, tsk tsk. I'm saying this for your sake!"

"Ah, yes..."

I'm not taking it off for your sake. Though he thought this indifferently, influenced by growing up in a Confucian culture country, he bowed his head once more in greeting. It had been a long time since he heard someone say they were speaking for his sake.

When he returned to the entrance of the venue, he could quickly find Harenir. He seemed to have known which direction he had moved in, but unable to follow him inside, he was standing still against the wall. Even though he was deeply covered by his robe, glances kept darting towards him.

As soon as he approached, Harenir quietly urged,

"What on earth were you doing? We need to leave this place quickly..."

"Investigating your background."

"...?"

"And now I'm going to do some foreground investigation."

This was an action close to impulse. From the moment they entered this place, Harenir's strangely stiffened expression suddenly looked different, or perhaps he had unexpectedly felt that Harenir's back view as he walked around villages in the guise of a mercenary looked comfortable.

Harenir gave a look saying to just leave the flower and get out quickly, but he had a question he wanted to resolve here. He quietly asked him,

"Did you deliberately make your death disguise sloppy?"

It was something he had always found strange. 'That' Harenir couldn't have been unaware of the empire's obsession with him. If he knew the attention focused on him, it would have been insufficient even if he had disguised his death more meticulously, yet he had only gone as far as his subordinates' false testimony and temporarily severing the connection with the holy sword.

Moreover, afterwards, not only the holy sword and the testifying subordinates, but even the aide known to be closest to him had disappeared from the holy city, so he had been practically inviting suspicion. Although he planned to return someday, it had been too sloppy from the start, and so even the temple's search had been welcomed. No one believed in his death. Was there really a need to do this?

At his question, Harenir tilted his head. After remaining silent as if it was a topic he had never considered, he answered slowly,

"Hmm... Yes. I didn't want to cause too much confusion in the empire."

"Why on earth?"

"Because that's how I was taught."

He pressed his lips shut at the calm answer. The subject Harenir would say he "learned" from, that is, the being who could give him teachings, was only one person.

...He had thought the hero would have a grand cause.

Isn't that usually the image given by the word hero? A being who sets out to save the world in danger, carrying a great mission.

Although Harenir's personality couldn't be considered good, that would be limited only to those he disliked, so setting that aside. Anyway, he had thought that the kind and merciful hero was striving to protect all the empire's citizens from the threat of the Dium. That he was rolling through difficult battlefields for the peace and happiness of humanity.

But looking at it now, it seemed Harenir was just stepping up because he didn't want to make his mother's sacrifice worthless. With just the heart that couldn't let the land that being had protected turn to ruins again, he worked for the Holy Empire while being cynical towards God.

'The hero always tried to prove it, didn't he? That he was different from 'that human'.'

Perhaps he was doing this to cut off all elements that could remind others of that traitor in himself. So for him, who wanted to exist as a perfect hero and leave only the name of the previous Holy Knight Commander, wounds that hadn't fully healed and old nightmares were things that shouldn't be known to the outside.

"Have you finished writing your reflection, no, letter now?"

Just then, a believer approached from the side and smiled brightly. The believer was holding a box as if to put the flower in, and the flowers already piled up there were emitting a thick fragrance. The scent filling the large venue felt heavy.

As he was gauging the weight of that suffocating scent...

"Move."

Thud, he threw the flower and letter on the floor. The pure white paper that he hadn't written a single letter on rolled on the ground. He stepped on it and walked past the bewildered believer towards the outside of the venue.