Hero's Coffin Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Though he had told him he couldn't see anything, unfortunately, he had fully shared the dream. He had seen everything, from the image of his father leading the young Harenir, to what had happened to his mother who had come to save him.

At first, he thought it was a mistake, but as it went on, the dream became clearer, and even intensified, so he eventually moved to wake Harenir up. The darkness of dawn had made it easy to hide his expression, and he could lie using his tired state as an excuse, but facing him in the bright light made him feel very uneasy.

Hah, it's not like he had wanted to peek into the other's past in this way...

He had always wished to stay away from complicated matters, but now he had come to know the truth like this. This alone was enough to give him a headache, but to have fallen asleep here of all places. As he grabbed his hair with both hands as if about to tear it out, a small "Pft" sound was heard from the other side.

...Did he just laugh?

He raised his head abruptly to look at Harenir. As if he had been interestedly watching the scene of him writhing in embarrassment as soon as he woke up, a faint trace of a smile remained on his face. The chuckle seemed to have escaped without him realizing it. He covered his mouth with his hand and then turned his head away.

"Come out when you're ready."

Somehow, even his voice seemed tinged with amusement.

Is he laughing at me? He felt indignant, but in truth, he found himself ridiculous too, so he couldn't argue. After saying several times that he would wake him if he had nightmares so he could sleep comfortably, he had sprawled out sleeping until the other woke up.

After confirming that Harenir had left, he slapped the innocent floor hard with his palm. If he didn't do at least this much, he felt like he might start shouting and thrashing about.

"...But it seems you did sleep."

In the dawn, he had suffered from a feeling of his whole body being constricted as if grabbed by Dedium, even breaking out in a cold sweat, but now he was fine. There was an aching sensation due to the injuries, but his overall condition wasn't bad.

The feeling of being connected to another person was still unfamiliar, so he rubbed his arm several times. He was newly amazed at Harenir who moved nonchalantly with a body in twice as much pain, but that again made him ashamed of his behavior of falling asleep first in front of that patient. Harenir's laughter echoed in his ears.

Only after barely calming himself did he step outside. The companions were all gathered at the edge of the hill.

"It seems the purification is happening faster this time, perhaps because we used the small sun too!"

Noi said in an excited tone, looking at the Encroachment Zone. The changes in the Encroachment Zone were clear under the clear sky. Until yesterday, the canyon that had faded to monochrome had looked eerie, but now the sight of it slowly regaining color from the center was mysterious.

Just then, the morning sunlight poured brightly onto that place, making it look as if sunlight had pooled in the canyon. It was a sight worthy of being counted among the world's landmarks.

Moreover, knowing that this change was a miracle brought about by the hero's grace, the companions' faces were very moved. They offered prayers to Solnium, and then warmly welcomed Harenir as he approached.

"Commander, are you alright?!"

"Of course. Thank you for your concern."

Harenir responded to Kalterik's loud question with a picture-perfect smile.

The subordinates' faces showed concern about the curse Harenir had received last night, but seeing his truly fine condition, their eyes shone. He was the image of a perfectly intact hero without a trace of illness, so the glances they exchanged were filled with joyful exclamations of "As expected!"

He sadly decided to ignore the "As expected..." glances that were also exchanged at the sight of him walking up tiredly behind. I'm in this state because of that hero who's the subject of their acting, he inwardly protested, but then gave up, realizing that he wouldn't have been in a fine state even if it weren't for him.

"We might purify this place even faster than the southern Encroachment Zone!"

"Oh, it's going to be quite a commotion again, isn't it?"

Noi and Kalterik conversed proudly. They said that even though the Encroachment Zone in the western desert was much larger than the southern forest, the purification was progressing faster due to the great assistance of the holy relic. Mela also muttered with a slightly flushed face.

"In the past, half the continent was contaminated, but now only two Encroachment Zones remain..."

It seemed that before Dedium was sealed, this land had helplessly lost its color in the face of the Great Catastrophe. But since the previous Holy Knight Commander, Harenir's mother, had sealed the leader and the world had returned to normal with all the Dium disappearing, it was certainly believable that everyone had thought it was 'perfectly' dealt with until now.

Even if parts of Encroachment Zones remained in the east, west, south, and north of the empire, it was such a small area compared to the past that they probably considered it just a trace of the Great Catastrophe. Recalling yesterday's events, he also asked a question.

"So, are we returning to the holy city now?"

He had been told that the purpose of searching the Encroachment Zone was to confirm the Dium's survival, and ultimately to grasp any signs of Dedium's revival. So having witnessed even the Dium's ritual, he thought they might return to the Order, but at his question, Harenir turned to him with a gentle smile.

"Why? Are you eager to go to the uninhabited island?"

"...?"

What's with that unpleasant tone? Behind the indignation that his question had been such an absurd content, he felt a bewildered doubt towards Harenir whose thoughts had leapt so far. The other companions also reacted with confusion, saying "Uninhabited island?"

Not wanting to reveal the conversation from dawn, he spoke before their curiosity could become more specific.

"You're going to drag me to the remaining two Encroachment Zones anyway, right? I just asked because I thought the Order might need to respond now. It's certain that they're trying to revive Dedium..."

He had sensed that the quest wouldn't end until all the Encroachment Zones were resolved, from the moment he learned the truth of the quest. Even if they returned to the holy city and joined other holy knights, the usefulness of surveying the Encroachment Zones with necromancy would remain, so it was obvious he would still be held by Harenir's collar then.

He didn't know why he had to explain this in detail, but only then did Harenir make an "Ah" sound. His muttering of "Two..." somehow felt more like he was considering the number of remaining journeys together rather than the reason he had given, but in the end, he shook his head.

"No. For now, since we've bought time by destroying the priest's staff, I thought we might investigate Dedium's revival in more detail."

"What? Shouldn't you report with the time you've gained?"

"I'm wondering if there might be a traitor in the Order."

At the word he said with a gentle smile, the companions drew in their breath. Their faces were shocked at the suspicion towards the most devout group, and though they seemed to inwardly think 'Surely that can't be', they couldn't bring themselves to say it in front of Harenir.

Everyone must know that Harenir's father was a traitor who had sided with the Dium. He felt somewhat uneasy as he was newly reminded of the slip of the tongue he had made to him in the past.

Harenir calmly said while quietly looking down at the Encroachment Zone.

"The more I think about it, the more questions I have. How the Dium managed to hide and survive for the past 20 years..."

He was doubting whether it was possible for them to hide only in that place for such a long time, even though ordinary humans couldn't approach the Encroachment Zone. Also, despite reports of recent strange movements in the Encroachment Zones, the temple had not allowed Harenir to go out and search.

Though there were complex reasons behind this, including consideration of the hero's influence, it made him feel even more that Harenir wouldn't return now. He must have faked his death on purpose in consideration of that aspect. Moreover, having raided the prison and brought out the death row inmate Isaph, he probably wouldn't be satisfied with just examining half.

Although there seemed to be some reckless aspect to Harenir that couldn't be understood by this alone... this might be a worry arising from knowing that his recovery ability wasn't complete.

...Worry?

He shuddered, retracing his own thoughts. The idea that he was worrying about Harenir seemed like such an absurd sentence that he felt wronged, but he tried hard to attach a plausible reason internally. Doesn't it hurt me too if he gets hurt? Yes, believing it was because of that, he asked,

"So are you thinking of going straight to the next Encroachment Zone now?"

"No, I'm planning to rest for a while before going."

He heard a word he hadn't expected at all. After moving without rest until now, rest? It didn't seem like he would call just resting for a day or two as rest. In fact, these knights would likely think that such rest could be sufficiently had during the time spent in the carriage while moving.

Looking at him with a surprised face, Harenir shrugged.

"Since this battle was quite big, I'm thinking of resting for at least ten days before going. Everyone used a lot of energy, and although Mela safely returned to human form, we should be careful for a while. It's the Holy Festival season anyway..."

He felt strange about the quite long period of ten days. Could this be... because he had told him to focus on recovery? He had thought he wouldn't listen at all.