Hero's Coffin Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Just then, someone approached the table.

"Oho! So you are them! The heroes of this subjugation team!"

His clothes, engraved with elaborate patterns, were adorned with abundant frills. He was a man whose hair was styled with as much volume as his thickly puffed clothes. The number of ornaments dangling from his neck, arms, wrists, ears, and hair seemed to exceed forty easily. His entire body sparkled.

The man who gave the impression of a peacock was none other than the lord of this city. He learned this when Noi jumped up from his seat exclaiming "Lord!" He had specially made time to come from the main castle in the city center to the northern annex.

The long-nosed peacock, no, the lord, fiddled with his necklace and spoke.

"I heard in detail through my aide about the achievements you've made. That you all worked together to take down the evil incubus!"

They had figured out the technique while dealing with the twin succubus on the sky island earlier, and this incubus had two horns, making it relatively easier to handle than the succubus. Their stats had also steadily increased while traveling through Encroachment Zones.

Still, since the general belief that only holy knights could face demons was strong, this incident seemed even more surprising. The lord asked with a face full of curiosity.

"Are you... the commander of this mercenary group? The one named 'Haren'?"

Haren greeted him with an appropriate smile worn like a mask, and the lord offered a handshake as if to commend him. Usually, if a mere mercenary shook hands with someone who was clearly a noble and the owner of the city, they would typically bow and scrape. As if just the touch of hands was an immense honor.

But naturally, Haren shook hands with a concise attitude and withdrew his hand, which rather surprised the lord. He stared at Haren and exclaimed in admiration.

"Hooh, as one who took his name out of respect for the hero, you even try to emulate his dignity..."

Beside them, Beatrice let out a "pfft" laugh. He almost burst out laughing too and barely held it back by biting his lower lip. Though Haren currently appeared with a different appearance to others, it seemed an aura he couldn't hide still emanated from him.

While he had been the only one receiving looks of 'someone imitating Isaph' until now, it was amusing that Haren was also receiving such misunderstandings. Of course, there was a difference in that he received looks saying he was drunk on darkness of darkness, while Haren received looks saying he was a true knight trying to follow the hero's will... hmm, this difference was unfairly large.

The lord burst into hearty laughter.

"Then you probably know this, but as it happens, the hero visited this city last year. I think such a miracle came because it's a city for which he wished peace!"

The real hero had come and directly brought peace. Direct delivery of miracles.

The lord kept marveling as if finding it fascinating that a mercenary named 'Haren' had appeared, then glanced over the companions too. As he carefully examined Kalterik, Mela, and Noi, he muttered "Somehow even the members have a similar atmosphere to his closest aides..."

Though he seemed to think they had matched even the members to be similar after imitating the hero, when he finally checked him, he nodded "Hmm!" He seemed to have found evidence to the contrary, and it was obvious what thoughts had formed in his head.

Upon seeing the being in black robes, the lord spoke as if remembering something.

"Ah! Then you must also be very interested in the commotion that occurred during this Holy Festival. Because a suspicious being dared to cause trouble at the venue longing for the hero. It was truly terrible. After all the effort I put into preparing that event! They say someone was with him beside the one in black robes, perhaps a follower of that death row inmate or something."

"Hmm."

Though it seemed he had picked a common topic they would likely be interested in, unfortunately, the lord's statement ended up making the hero into a death row inmate's follower.

Though Haren showed no particular change in expression, beside him Kalterik let out a loud "Kuluk kuluk!" cough. Noi hurriedly whispered to him that he needed to be quiet, and Mela patted his back. Thud thud, that sound was quite loud.

Meanwhile, the lord's story had steadily heated up.

"We will surely catch and execute that fellow, so don't worry. We will offer his head on the day the hero returns!"

It seemed he wanted to offer the death row inmate's head instead of flowers from the venue. As he talked about strengthening the city's security further, Haren responded with appropriate smiles before changing the subject first.

"I heard you said you would give us a reward, is that right?"

"Ah, yes. Since you achieved great merit in this subjugation, I naturally plan to give a reward. Is there something you want? You can ask for anything! Money, mansion, jewels, whatever you like, speak freely."

"We would like warp passes. For warps that can take us directly to Arent, the eastern city."

"Hmm? Well, that's not difficult, but..."

The lord seemed to feel he had received a very unexpected request. When the owner of a city called the empire's second heart, that is, a major city, offered a reward, one would normally ask for something greater, but suddenly they asked for warp passes. Though those passes were expensive too, it seemed far below what the lord had expected.

But in reality, this was equivalent to asking for a booster to escape the surveillance network right under their noses.

"I'll have them prepared by tomorrow morning."

The lord, unaware of the truth, promised readily, and relieved smiles spread across the companions' faces.

After briefly exchanging some simple conversation, the lord left the table. The weight of having the city's lord come personally to commend them seemed quite significant, as looks of envy and jealousy flew from all around the banquet hall.

The latter came from the holy knights. Though they seemed to manage their expressions, unable to openly show irritation in the lord's presence, they put on bright smiles towards the lord who came to them next. As they threw looks this way full of pride about being such important figures, he had a very random thought while watching their amusing behavior.

"Is that necklace the most expensive one? He keeps touching it..."

Throughout the conversation, the lord had kept stroking one particular necklace. He had done so since first greeting them, touching just one out of five or six necklaces. The reason this action caught his eye was not only because he touched it so repeatedly, but because it looked the simplest compared to the other necklaces.

A necklace with a small golden ball pendant.

As the lord of a major city, it would be real gold rather than plating, so while not cheap, the jewels on the other necklaces looked far more splendid. Was the engraved sign some kind of special mark? At his muttered wondering, Beatrice answered in an indifferent tone.

"It's a necklace given only to those who are well-regarded by the temple. Since it's a gift bestowed directly by the Pope, nobles line up wanting to receive it."

"They've been giving them since after the Great Catastrophe, and at first it started as a way to express gratitude to people who greatly contributed to stabilizing the chaotic continent! Now they also give them to those who achieve various merits at temple events and holy days..."

Noi quickly added an explanation, perhaps worried there might be room for misunderstanding in the imperial princess's statement. He seemed to be clarifying in case it might be misinterpreted as inducing donations, but he nodded slowly. He hadn't thought from the start that the Holy Empire's Order would try to extort sponsorship money because they lacked funds.

He just felt admiration for how subtly strategic the temple's method of raising authority was. Both the potion monopoly and these necklaces. Wasn't this a kind of mark showing one was in the Pope's line? Moreover, a limited edition directly bestowed by the Pope? No wonder everyone would go crazy for it. Made by Pope. The empire's it item.

So the lord had kept stroking his necklace to show it off. Seeing how extremely pleased he looked when the holy knights over there recognized the necklace, perhaps he had felt a bit disappointed that no one here had shown interest.

Though he should have turned away now that he understood the background, his gaze kept getting caught. Why? He kept getting a subtle sense of déjà vu. Had he... seen that necklace somewhere before?

As he was puzzling over his memories, Beatrice suddenly tilted her head.

"Do you covet that fellow's necklace? Shall I gift you something far more splendid than that?"

"...?"

When he looked at her strangely at her sudden statement, she smiled elegantly. Her golden eyes sparkled as if she had discovered a new approach strategy.

"Won't you come to my castle? I'll shower you with all sorts of treasures. Thinking of your adorable actions in this subjugation, I'm really tempted."