Hero's Coffin Chapter 64

Chapter 64

It might be that this problem was caused because all his energy was focused on Harenir to remove the Dium's curse. In other words, by concentrating his power on one side, the other side became vulnerable.

Hah, he sighed involuntarily. He didn't feel like chasing after Harenir, who had already gone far away. He had been keeping his distance again because of what he had done that night, and it was embarrassing to get closer for this reason. Moreover, after acting so confidently as if he could solve everything...

As if it wasn't enough that he was forcibly feeling physical pain together, now he was suffering from mental fatigue too. The fact that even necromancy, which he had been good at, was in jeopardy made him even more frustrated.

This had happened sometimes in his previous life too. On particularly tiring days, he would see more ghosts than usual. They would keenly sense that he had weakened and persistently torment him. No matter how much he tried to avoid them, it would only end after he got hurt, and as those memories surfaced, he felt even more stifled.

The only thing he had been happy about after entering this body was that he was no longer tormented by ghosts.

[Uh, uhh...]

"Get lost."

Just then, a minor spirit suddenly popped out beside him and tried to grab him. Without even removing the hand that was half-covering his face, he glared at it and told it to get lost, and fortunately, it shrank back and retreated quickly, but...

Behind the relief that he could still fend them off with Isaph's ability, he sighed at the strange looks his companions were giving him.

"W-what...?"

It was understandable that they would be flustered when he suddenly cursed at thin air. It was familiar. In his previous life too, people would give him unpleasant looks every time this happened, so he didn't want to see their faces and turned his head away abruptly.

He spoke quickly. After all, the only reason they were keeping him with them now was to monitor a high-profile criminal.

"I'm not running away. I'm just tired and want to rest, and I have this collar on anyway..."

"..."

"...I'll really just stay in the lodgings. This time I won't wander around alone doing foolish things."

He quickly added words, feeling like he knew why they were silent. Every time he had been alone, he had caused too many incidents. Still, he hoped they would believe him, as they had seen how pathetic this body was many times, but there was still no answer, so he raised his head, feeling discouraged.

To think his credibility was this low.

...Well, it deserved to be this low.

However, there were no negative emotions on the faces of the three he met. There was no sense that they thought he was pretending to be weak or treating his claim as nonsense. Rather, they looked very slightly... worried.

But then Kalterik shook his head vigorously.

"Remember that no matter how much you try to run away, you're in the palm of the Commander's hand!"

There wasn't a speck of worry on his face as he warned him fiercely. I guess I saw wrong after all. Thinking that he was seeing all sorts of things he shouldn't because he wasn't feeling well, he nodded. The red collar really did appear in Harenir's palm, so it was an accurate expression both figuratively and literally.

He turned away, thinking it was fortunate that he could be alone for that reason.

***

Thud, thud, thud.

"..."

Thud, thud thud, thud thud thud.

"..."

Creeeeeak―

"Please stop it and go away..."

At his tired voice, there was a rustling sound of retreat from beyond the door. Hah, he sighed involuntarily. What he was doing now was engaging in an endless battle of wills with ghosts.

He had thought he'd found peace after coming to the inn, but the ghosts had followed him here too. They persistently knocked on the door from outside, grating on his nerves. It seemed like they were waiting for him to tire out. He could hear dozens of overlapping "Kihit, kihihit" laughing sounds, not knowing how many had gathered outside the door.

It seemed like he could sweep them away with Isaph's ability. The thought that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by those things naturally settled in his mind. The problem was, he felt he couldn't control the ability.

In other words, he had a terrifying intuition that if he tried to get rid of them, he might turn this whole area into a wasteland. It was an incredibly absurd self-confidence. Here he was, hiding in an inn to avoid minor spirits, yet hesitating to act for fear of harming all souls in the area, including the living.

But right now, he felt like some kind of error had occurred and only the ultimate skill remained. It felt like he would become a character launching a meteor to kill small fry.

'Always be careful not to draw unnecessary attention.'

Harenir's past warning also weighed on his mind, and moreover, this was the middle of a city where countless people had gathered to enjoy the Holy Festival. It was truly sad how perfectly located this inn was. Shouldn't they have stayed somewhere more secluded since they needed to hide?

It was already late at night.

They say festivals shine brighter as it gets darker. Just from the cheers and laughter of people coming from outside the window, he could tell how many people were enjoying the festival in the streets now.

Were Noi, Kalterik, and Mela also having fun out there? Maybe Harenir had joined them by now too. Curled up on the bed, quietly listening to those sounds, he felt like he was part of the festival one moment, and infinitely distant from it the next.

From the moment he heard the name of the festival, he had a feeling he wouldn't belong, but to be exiled like this... He chuckled dryly and pulled the blanket up over his shoulders.

–Meow.

Just then, he heard a cat's meow from outside the window. He jumped up from his seat and looked over to see the black cat, En. The player is suffering from a strange bug and the NPC only comes now!

Feeling indignant, he roughly opened the window and grabbed the cat.

"Hey, quickly chase away the ghosts outside."

–...

"This happened because you showed that weird mission to go to the hero in the middle of the night last time. You forcibly connected me to the hero without my consent!"

He poured out words while shaking the cat's body. This evil NPC, only exploiting without giving proper rewards!

"Why do I have to suffer from ghosts even here! I've already suffered enough in the past. This is really sickening...!"

–Meow.

En placed its front paw on his hand. It was probably just trying to stop his action, but perhaps because of the careful contact that didn't use its claws, he felt drained. It felt like a movement to soothe him.

Despite being grabbed and shaken by him for a while, there was no hostility in the purple eyes looking at him. Rather, the action of calmly facing him and slowly blinking its eyes only made him laugh dryly in the end.

"What am I doing, grabbing a cat..."

Since there had been little communication with the NPC to begin with, his action became meaningless, and the small size of the cat in his hands also calmed his anger. Maybe placing its front paw was a surprise jelly attack? Now making even silly thoughts, he brought En into the room.

He sat crouched on the bed and hugged the cat. Surprisingly, En curled up quietly in his arms, and he could feel its small warmth fully. Now it really seemed to be comforting him, so he poked it gently while asking,

"En. Are you an NPC, or an operator? Ah, are you a guide inhabited by an operator?"

–Meow.

"I know you understand what I'm saying, you know? Quickly compensate me for this bug situation."

...Swish, En buried its head in his chest. It was like performing a cat headbutt on him. Somehow it felt reluctant, but was this possibly meant to be compensation? He laughed dryly, feeling dumbfounded, and grabbed En's front paws.

"Go and defeat the ghosts. One-two, one-two."

He alternately extended the cat's paws as if it were boxing. Even without checking in a mirror, he could tell his face had completely relaxed. It couldn't be helped. He liked cats, and among them, he had a special affection for black cats.

In his previous life, only black cats had been by his side when he was always alone. When he couldn't get along with the children at the orphanage and was alone in the backyard, a cat would come, and he often met cats at school too. When everyone was uncomfortable with him and avoided him, only cats would approach him and rub their heads against his hand.

So he wondered if perhaps he could get along with animals even if he wasn't welcomed by people. He approached other animals with hope, but they all moved away, having seizures. The sight of them running away as if they had seen an evil spirit was a bit hurtful.

Among cats, only black cats approached him. Naturally, he opened up and shared various stories with the only being that shared warmth by his side. After becoming an adult, the frequency of encounters decreased sharply, but whenever he was troubled by difficult customers at his part-time job or feeling upset after being suddenly fired, he always encountered a cat.

Appearing as if it knew his state and comforting him, black cats were just like family to him. Even though the NPC now was probably just a familiar subjugated to Isaph, old memories surfaced needlessly. It was one of the few precious memories from his previous life.

Come to think of it... what color were the eyes of the black cats he met in the past?