Hero's Coffin Chapter 25

Chapter 25

But of course, that surprise attack didn't work on Kalterik. Thwack! He easily blocked it by raising his arm, then in a linked motion, he threw the attacker over his shoulder. Boom! The man who fell with his back slamming into the floor convulsed for a moment before finally passing out.

"Who the hell are these guys!"

"A-attack them all at once! There are only four of them!"

Thankfully, the triangle gang rushed in all together, regardless of Kalterik's bewilderment. About 10 people swarmed towards Kalterik like a flood, but thud! boom! bang! It didn't even take a full minute for all of them to be knocked down.

He took them down one by one, and even when they tried to exploit the openings created, they were just caught together. Kalterik grabbed two at a time, lifting and throwing them.

At this point, shouldn't he be considered a bear rather than a human...

While he was blankly observing, the man holding the back of his neck screamed "Eek!" and ran away. In an instant, only that man was left. It was wise of him to retreat after realizing these newcomers were not to be trifled with, but unfortunately, he dragged him along.

The man pressed a knife to his neck and shouted.

"If, if you move, this guy dies!"

"Using me as a hostage probably won't be very effective..."

He seemed to have figured out that he and the others were companions from their earlier conversation, but this was not just ineffective, it was close to a meaningless threat.

You know what? They're the original ones who held a knife to me...

As he was slumped there, too tired and annoyed to react, unexpectedly, Harenir stopped. He raised his hand to stop Kalterik, who was about to step forward, and carefully scanned the space.

"Hmm. Then let's make a deal. We'll stay still, but in exchange, let the other people go."

"What?"

"Even if you escape with that person, we won't move from here."

The man was bewildered, but Harenir nodded, pointing at the people trembling against the wall. It was as if he was saying it was a good deal. As if mesmerized by his incredibly persuasive voice, the man looked back and forth between him and the people behind.

With all the gang members knocked down, the only hostage he could subdue now was just one person anyway. Also, his usefulness was proven the moment Harenir proposed the deal. As if to help the hesitating man's deliberation, Harenir raised the corners of his mouth and said kindly,

"We knocked out someone we encountered on the way here. That person also had a triangle tattoo, probably your comrade?"

Ah, could that be the fake Isaph who had communicated with Bart using the artifact earlier? The fake Isaph must have been pacing around worrying about the commotion in the warehouse when he encountered them. The man trembled and shouted,

"...Th-then put down your swords first!"

He had somehow spotted the swords hidden in their robes. Kalterik hesitated with an "Ugh," but Harenir calmly moved his hand. He was the first to unfasten the scabbard at his waist and throw it to the floor.

The holy sword hidden in an ordinary scabbard rolled on the floor. Thud, thud, Kalterik and Mela's swords followed.

"Ha. Everyone get out!"

After carefully checking, the man shouted irritably at the people behind. They moved, trembling and shrinking. They left through the door, hunching their upper bodies like criminals and covering their heads with both hands.

"You, you..."

Sile, who had been sitting next to him, looked back at him anxiously. Was it a grateful look, or an apologetic expression? Maybe he was just scared, shocked by the recent situation. He just gestured with his chin for him to leave quickly.

Don't follow strange bastards anymore and live a good life. Otherwise, you'll get hit with the karma beam like this body.

Finally, when everyone had left, the space became quiet. The man seemed satisfied that the companions remained still even as he dragged him towards the podium. As if intending to leave through the path Bart had entered, he pressed the knife closer to his neck and shouted,

"All of you stay here! It'd be better if you don't think about following me after I leave...!"

"Why didn't you resolve it yourself?"

Harenir's question, disconnected from the man's warning, was directed at him. It was such an out-of-place question, and the fact that it came from him made it even more bewildering. He answered in a tired tone,

"You told me to stay put..."

Harenir stared at him blankly. After gazing at him intently with his blue eyes as if piercing through him, he glanced to the side. He pressed his lips together at Harenir's gaze directed at Bart lying on the floor. That guy had been having a fit until just now before completely passing out.

Was he trying to point out the contradictory part to mock him? Or...

"Don't talk! I'm leaving now...!"

Whoosh! At that moment, a red light flickered in his vision, and his body was suddenly pulled. It happened just as the man holding him hostage was turning to open the door.

A red line appeared on the collar fastened around his neck, and his body was pulled towards Harenir. Urgh, even he hadn't expected the timing, so he staggered and fell. He had half-expected this from the moment Harenir proposed that absurd deal, but he didn't know he'd be pulled so suddenly.

Thud. Of all places, he collapsed onto Harenir's chest. Perhaps out of the kindness ingrained in the hero's body, he wrapped his arm around his waist. A warm, sun-like scent wafted to his nose, and frustratingly, a sense of relief spread.

"W-what?! You guys...!"

"We stayed still."

Harenir smiled gently at the man who was screaming and pointing at them.

"Mel."

With that light call, a clear order was given. Mela shot out like a bullet and thwack! kicked the man's chin. Whoosh, her motion of striking down his rising body was as natural and clean as flowing water.

Splat, blood burst from the man's mouth, splattering on the floor, and three teeth fell out and rolled on the ground. The situation was resolved with just two kicks. The fact that they had unfastened their swords earlier hadn't been a problem at all. Their bodies themselves were all weapons.

As soon as he confirmed that the situation was clearly resolved, he wriggled out of Harenir's arms. As he hurriedly moved away and staggered, he heard Harenir let out a chuckle. He seemed to find it amusing that he was stubbornly trying to move away in this state.

Regardless, he steadfastly moved and collapsed into a chair at the back. Phew— As he let out a long breath, Noi asked in a very puzzled tone,

"Why on earth did you come to a place like this? An Isaph follower meeting..."

"Ha! Did you want to see if there were really people who worshipped you?! Or were you trying to plot something?!"

"I was mistaken for one of them and dragged here..."

Kalterik's loud voice echoed in his head. He had expected him to mock him, so it didn't have any impact. In fact, even he thought it was ridiculous. To think that Isaph, attending an Isaph follower meeting, would end up getting beaten by scammers.

"Do you know how much we...when we realized you were gone!"

"That's enough. We found him anyway."

Harenir cut off the atmosphere that was about to become noisy again. He quietly looked down at him and then grabbed his chin to lift his face. His gaze towards his mouth was calm. Judging by the stinging sensation there, it seemed he had been injured when he was shoved against the door earlier.

Swish, he pulled off his hood.

"Gasp!"

Noi was startled. Since his face had been punched too, he could roughly guess his condition even without looking in a mirror. Actually showing his beaten face to his companions made him feel awkward, so he just touched his mouth without saying anything. Harenir let out a soft sigh.

"At this rate... we won't be able to move at dawn today."

"...I can use my ability. I have that much energy left."

"We need to hand over these scammers to the guards anyway. There are probably guys like this committing fraud not just in Rus but in many other places, so we need to issue a warning quickly."

With the recent incident in the holy city, Isaph's notoriety had increased, and moreover, with rumors of the hero's death circulating, it was speculated that many would try to take advantage of the confusion caused by that vacancy.

"If you were going to end up like this anyway, why did you bother to act?"

Harenir's suddenly dropped question was unfriendly but not difficult to understand. Was he wondering why he had knocked out Bart, the ringleader, while getting beaten by the gang? After all, if he had intended to stay put as Harenir had warned earlier, he shouldn't have acted in the first place.

He moved his lips. If he said he got angry at the undead Bart was controlling, he'd probably just get scolded. Wouldn't that be almost like the pot calling the kettle black?

So, the most plausible reason would be...

"Just, that guy lied about learning necromancy from me. But he was so bad at it, I just showed him a bit of what real necromancy is."

"..."

"I tend to get angry when I see shoddy necromancy."

...Th-this is the best I can do.

Although it was an answer steeped in the sentiment of "Ah, 'this' is what real necromancy is," there was no helping it. Noi shuddered as if he had goosebumps, Kalterik grimaced with an "Ugh," and even Mela shot him a very disgruntled look.

Only after a very long silence did Harenir say one thing.

"You know, sometimes... you're really weird, right?"

Sometimes, he says. That's a relief.

...Yeah, it's a relief.