Hero's Coffin Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The next day.

He woke up to the sound of Noi actively running around the field from the morning. His laughter, bursting out like a child's, was incredibly bright. As he got up dazedly and unconsciously moved towards the sound, the bright scenery of the sky island came into view.

It was a completely different landscape from what he had seen in the deep night.

The verdant field boasted fresh vitality under the sunlight, and the wildflowers blooming here and there swayed in the gentle breeze, releasing a fresh fragrance. Occasionally, white butterflies fluttered by, and in the distance, the foam created by the falling waterfall sparkled like jewels.

Everywhere his gaze touched was dazzling. Was it so beautiful because it was a space created by nature after being abandoned for a thousand years, or was such an amazing view spread out because it had truly been touched by God's hand?

It was a space that received the sun's light first and fully. Even when he saw it last night, he thought it looked like heaven, but seeing it in the bright daylight reinforced that thought even more. It was enough to make even non-existent faith arise.

Noi was lightly jumping around, his ears fully exposed.

"Noi, at this rate, aren't you really going to grow wings?!"

"The fairy race lost their wings over a hundred or two hundred years ago. But... somehow, I feel like they might really grow if we stay here long enough!"

Noi answered Kalterik's shout innocently. At first, he pointed out the error as if Kalterik's words weren't reasonable at all, but then he nodded with a broad smile. Over there, Mela was also crouching down, observing the wildflowers.

It was such a peaceful scene that he stood in the shadow of a building, blankly watching. He was calming his mind and body while listening to the field ASMR.

Kalterik stood in the middle of the field with his arms spread wide, as if photosynthesizing.

"Ah, just being here feels like being purified..."

At that moment, his eyes met Kalterik's. Kalterik's shoulders flinched, perhaps because he looked like an evil spirit, stubbornly standing in the shadows even in this sun-filled space. Ugh, an exclamation almost escaped, but Kalterik quickly closed his mouth.

Somehow, he seemed embarrassed by his own reaction.

"Y-you're awake."

...Was that question directed at him? Since they had never exchanged morning greetings even once during their journey together, he pointed at himself quizzically with his index finger, and Kalterik reacted with a "Wah!"

"Yes! You slept so long I thought you were dead, so I was surprised to see you standing there and asked. Why!"

He had just been puzzled, but the response came back surprisingly long. It sounded like he was making excuses out of embarrassment for his greeting, but while he was bewildered by Kalterik's fuss, he was more curious about something else.

"...Did I sleep that long?"

"Yes. It's already midday now."

He was surprised by Noi's answer. He had naturally thought it was morning, but he had slept until midday? As he blinked in bewilderment, Noi spoke in a worried tone.

"I suppose it's because you received the succubus's curse at the end yesterday..."

"..."

"Are you feeling alright? Yesterday, Haren said he would take care of—"

"There's no need to worry about it."

He cut off Noi's words abruptly. It was surprising that Noi's attitude, which had been subtly wary of him until now, had become much more docile, and that even Kalterik had waited for him to wake up, but it wasn't the situation to react to that. His voice was very cold as he prevented any mention of 'yesterday's curse'.

It probably sounded like he was saying their concern wasn't necessary. Or it might have come across as if he was offended, implying he wouldn't succumb to such a thing.

Noi sighed with an "Ah..." but he turned his back completely.

"Now we can go down. I'll get ready."

It might seem unfriendly, but it couldn't be helped. He quickly moved his steps while inwardly resolving. He needed to get away from this cursed space quickly. His companions liked this place, and in fact, he had also been admiring its beauty until just now, but as soon as he came to his senses, he only thought about leaving as soon as possible.

Moreover, he felt determined to play an active role in figuring out how to get down from the sky island. Although the soul of the first emperor seemed to have disappeared yesterday, he needed to find a way, either by finding traces of it or by pouring out all his energy.

This might have been an unconscious resolve to stay true to last night's 'purpose'.

However...

[Kigik, kik. Noble guests, to go down... this way...]

[Follow, us, kiik...]

As soon as they entered the temple, the soldiers in white armor guided the way.

Noi had apparently pulled out the doll soldiers who had fallen into the pit yesterday. After he had dealt with the succubus, Noi had lowered tree trunks to pull out the soldiers, with Kalterik and Mela assisting. As if in return for that, the soldiers led them as if escorting them.

[Arux, kik, the being with the sun. The hero who will, brighten the world...]

Moreover, perhaps because they had taken the holy relic that the temple had been protecting, they seemed to be treating them even more reverently. Even Noi's eyes widened in amazement, as if he hadn't expected this.

"Wow, the problem of going down was solved so easily!"

...Fuck.

He hurriedly covered his mouth as a curse almost burst out unexpectedly. It was clearly a situation he should be happy about, but why did he feel this way?

At that moment, his eyes met Harenir's.

"..."

"..."

He hadn't looked at him once the entire way here, nor had he walked close to him. But the moment it was revealed that the way down was unexpectedly easy, he unconsciously looked at him, and it seemed Harenir was looking at him too, as their gazes met squarely in mid-air.

He quickly turned his head away. Although it wasn't helpful now, he had still worked hard until he collapsed yesterday, so it was a fair deal... Damn it, why was he making such calculations when nothing had happened yesterday?

I didn't know. I didn't know anything.

While endlessly repeating this to himself internally, he unconsciously touched his left arm. It no longer hurt.

[This, way, kigigik...]

The place the doll soldiers guided them to was a small room in the corner of the temple. It looked like an ordinary storage room, but when they lifted the carpet on the floor, a hidden magic circle was revealed underneath. Noi tried to observe it curiously, showing his investigative spirit, but he quickly stepped onto it and stood. He needed to leave this island as soon as possible.

He felt that he was acting like a mismatched puzzle piece among his companions today especially, but it couldn't be helped. He had never particularly tried to fit in anyway, so he just pulled his robe's hood down deeply.

Whoosh...

As all the companions stood on the magic circle, light spread from the floor, filling the room. By the time the bright light faded, chirp chirp— the sound of birds rang in their ears. The thick scent of grass tickled their noses, and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind was also heard.

It gave a completely different feeling, though similar to the scenery they had encountered on the sky island. He slowly checked his surroundings. This place was...

"It's the central forest of Rus! I heard the first emperor liked to look down at the scenery of Rus from here, so it must have been connected to this place!"

Noi exclaimed with sparkling eyes. He had been inwardly curious about where they would end up if they returned, and worried that they might suddenly appear in a crowded place and draw attention. But this forest seemed to be closed off for protection, as there was no one around.

They had finally left the sky island.

Just as he was about to exhale in relief as the tension dissipated, a familiar sound was heard from the distance. The sound echoing through the densely standing trees was the meow of a cat.

–Meow.

"...En?"

It was a very leisurely meow, as if it had been waiting here for a long time. The player had just gone through a lot of trouble, but the NPC had been taking a nap here? Just as anger was about to surge up, En got up from its spot and sauntered over to him.

Then it lightly rubbed its head against his leg, and behind the annoyance of trying to win him over with cuteness, relief spread. Though he thought he hadn't cared much, it seemed he had subtly felt the absence of the NPC.

He knelt down and hugged En to his chest. Unexpectedly, it didn't avoid him and obediently let itself be held, so he rested his forehead against the cat's small head with a tired gesture. Somehow, he felt like he might cry.

NPC, I've been through a lot...

...No, fuck, nothing happened.

His ego split in real-time, but he tried to regain his composure by stroking the cat's back. He heard Kalterik mutter "To treat a familiar like that..." from behind, but of course, he didn't pay any attention. And it seemed Kalterik stopped mid-sentence and sheepishly closed his mouth on his own.

"En. Why didn't you follow... No, it's good that you didn't come along."

As soon as resentment towards the NPC that hadn't accompanied them this time welled up, it quickly subsided. He had wanted to complain about whether the tutorial was already over, but thinking about what had happened on the sky island, he was just glad the NPC hadn't been there. If he had had to show such a sight to the NPC, it would have been truly shameful.

...No, could it be that the NPC already knows everything? Feeling a chill run down his nape from anxiety, he looked at En, and it met his gaze. Its purple eyes stared at him intently, as if reading everything about him.

Ding— A status window popped up in front of his eyes.

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Don't show off.

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*Don't get involved.

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Your body is close to garbage.

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...Wait a minute, the status window was criticizing him. There was even a diss pretending to be a typo in the middle.

His mouth fell open as this was the first time he had received a message cautioning his behavior in this way. The shock took precedence over worrying whether the NPC had also seen yesterday's events.

Whoosh, before he could react, En escaped from his arms. He let out a dry laugh as he blankly watched its very graceful movement. Was this a method of covering shock with more shock? Thinking that it had worked quite well, he tilted his head back to look at the sky.

The day was unnecessarily nice.