Hero's Coffin Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The thieves treated him like prey they had found after a long time. And they had said they were hungry because no one to rob had come for a while, which meant they had been operating with this place as their base for quite some time.

In other words, they were valuable sources of information that could shorten his camping period.

"W-what?"

"What kind of conversation are you having?"

The thieves, belatedly sensing something was off, warily looked around. One of them, apparently deciding to take him hostage, rushed towards him.

Oh, what a useless action. How did they always manage to target the person with zero value as a hostage? As he was making this detached observation internally, a thud! sounded and the thief who had approached within arm's reach collapsed.

Harenir had thrown a small stone from far away, and despite the considerable distance, it had hit the thief's head precisely. He looked at him and said,

"Why don't you at least pretend to dodge?"

"Well, you can just pull me out like last time, can't you?"

"Your neck is so thin, I'm afraid it might break if I pull it again."

"..."

The muscles of his mouth, which had been answering indifferently, stiffened. Considering this paper-thin body, Harenir's expression about breaking wasn't an exaggeration but something that could actually happen... The moment he heard the comment about his thin neck, an unwelcome memory surfaced.

The sensation of large hands enveloping his neck, and the feeling of the collar rattling and brushing against his skin. It all vividly came back, and without realizing it, he covered his neck with his hand as if to protect it.

Meanwhile, Harenir calmly turned his gaze. He ordered his subordinates who had been on standby, having sensed the presence of the thieves even before they approached.

"Subdue them moderately. Enough so we can talk."

"Yes!"

"Understood."

From the moment Kalterik's resounding shout and Mela's calm response ended, it took less than 5 minutes for all the thieves to be subdued. It happened in an instant.

All except the leader of the thieves were knocked unconscious. Kalterik, finding them too noisy, had struck the back of their necks, saying it was annoying. They could get enough information from just one person anyway.

The leader, subjected to the punishment of being tied to a cactus, glared at him.

"You bastard, you tricked us...!"

"I didn't lie."

Even thinking back on it, he hadn't lied. He had just omitted the information that they wouldn't be able to subdue his companions. The hooded leader trembled as if indignant, but then was pricked by the cactus spines, making him even more frustrated. Of course, it wasn't something he needed to care about.

Kalterik asked curiously,

"You managed to bring such guys. How did you find them?"

"...En helped me."

Looking at the result, it was a special event triggered by following the NPC to meet the thieves, but while he was grateful for the information obtained through them, he couldn't be entirely thankful since a knife had been held to his neck for a moment. Well, if it had really become dangerous, would a status window telling him to summon undead have appeared?

–Meow.

Just then, En meowed nearby, and he chuckled as he reached out his hand. Right, these guys wouldn't be a match for Isaph, so that's why it had led him here. Interpreting it as positively as possible, he tried to pat the cat's head with a sense of gratitude, but it dodged swiftly!

He let out a dry laugh at the sight of it coldly distancing itself after making such a cute meow. What, it makes cat sounds but doesn't want to be treated like a pet cat? Well, in a way, even this was very cat-like.

After shrugging, he searched through the belongings of the collapsed thieves. He found a water bottle by feeling around their waist pouches, and also found biscuits and pieces of jerky. He heard Kalterik saying incredulously from behind, "So this is why you didn't prepare separately..." but he ignored it with familiarity.

Just then, a thick cloth was suddenly thrust in front of him.

"The desert nights are cold, so prepare properly."

It was a yellow cape that had been covering one of the thieves' shoulders, and the person offering it was Harenir. It was large enough to be used as a blanket.

He stiffened and slowly tilted his head up to look at him. He was originally sensitive to cold, and this weak body made the desert wind even more challenging... Had he noticed he was cold? Had he been watching him? As he stood there bewildered, Harenir smiled freshly.

"It would be a hindrance if you got sick."

...Well, he might have obviously anticipated his situation of not bringing any supplies while coming to this desert. This was probably the correct answer.

Just then, the leader stomped his feet. He glared, seemingly very upset at the scene of him rummaging through his subordinates' belongings and taking them. Having probably extorted other passersby through threats until now, he seemed genuinely indignant at being in the reverse position.

"We were starving because there have been strangely few travelers recently, so we were happy when you came alone...!"

"How much could you get from robbing adventurers anyway."

"It wasn't just adventurers, but also archaeologists and researchers who came!"

The leader responded in an agitated tone to his indifferent reaction. Since this place had been a village of desert tribes that had now disappeared, it made sense that scholars from various fields would come to investigate, but to him listening, it still felt like a "so what?" kind of statement.

Ah, was this perhaps why Noi had said there would be few zombies in the western Encroachment Zone rather than none at all? But since there had been no travelers recently, it was even more welcome news.

Noi showed interest in the leader's story.

"Has there really been no one coming here recently?"

"That's right! Usually, groups of researchers would come at least twice a month, but their visits suddenly stopped...!"

"Hmm, somehow we also had difficulty finding a carriage to come to this desert and had to take a roundabout route..."

He hadn't paid any attention to the travel arrangements, so he didn't know, but Noi said he had particularly struggled this time. All the most common entrances to the western desert were blocked, and carriage drivers refused strangely, so they had to pay extra to finally find another entry point.

Harenir smiled softly at this series of stories.

"It seems they're doing their job well."

"What? Could it be that you contacted them...?"

Even with the vague pronoun, Noi's eyes widened as if he had someone in mind. Harenir just patted Noi's shoulder as if to say he had worked hard, without answering.

A few days ago, when they arrived in Rus, Harenir had moved separately saying he had business to attend to... Had he contacted them then? To block the routes to the Encroachment Zone since it was confirmed that the Dium were alive? While thinking it was a good precautionary measure, he wondered who on earth a hero reported to be dead could contact. It wasn't like he could send messages from the afterlife.

As he was becoming puzzled, Harenir began the main interrogation.

"Has anything strange happened in the Encroachment Zone recently? Have you heard any sounds or seen anything?"

"Hmph! Why should I answer...!"

"You. You seem to really care for your subordinates."

The leader shouted irritably, but Harenir spoke gently without even showing annoyance. However, the content was so unexpected that the leader tilted his head.

"W-what? What's this all of a sudden..."

"The desert is a cold place, but your subordinate was wearing thicker clothes than you. Though it seems those were also stolen items, still, your subordinate had them."

The leader wore old and shabby clothes that exposed his upper body, while his subordinate had worn a thick cape. Although it was now in his hands, Harenir mentioned this point and praised him as if it was admirable.

"And when you heard there was a traveler with money and food here, you brought all your subordinates. If you had brought just a few people separately, you could have claimed more supplies for yourself, since there were only four opponents."

"W-we were all hungry..."

"You didn't prioritize just your own hunger, did you? You're a true leader. That's why no one ran away during the fight just now, but stayed with you, right?"

The leader's eyes trembled. He looked surprised, as if it was the first time someone had praised him and recognized the special bond of the group he led. Moreover, Harenir's gentle voice resonated so kindly that tears even welled up in his eyes as if he was moved.

Seeing this reaction, a smile spread across Harenir's lips.

"So, if you want to save your subordinates, answer."

Swish, right on cue, Kalterik pointed his sword at a subordinate who had collapsed right next to the leader.