Chapter 54
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Requiem for Me
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"That's not just any vine."
Not just any vine? What, some kind of poison ivy?
I stared blankly at the spot Erakins was pointing to.
'It's dense, sure, but it looks like regular vines.'
If that's not vines, then what the hell is it?
The thick vines had completely entwined a small hut.
"Ah, I meant inside there—"
"Yeah. I see the house. No need to explain."
"Right. It looks like no one's lived here in a long time."
"Sure does."
A thick vine snaked in through the slightly ajar door, then climbed the wall from a window and covered the roof.
They were so tightly intertwined that on a cloudy day like this, no one would've spotted the house hidden within the vine forest.
'Might be worth checking out.'
Silver Star agrees!
It was a gut instinct.
Well, not quite a warning—more like advice or a nudge.
Times like this, the Insight Ability sends a chill down my spine.
"Taking a short break."
I gave them some unexpected free time and approached the hut.
Anyone with even a passing interest in plants would know why the vines had wrapped around the house like they were trying to crush it.
The soil would've been fertile from human habitation, and a wide, low hut like this was easier to climb than the occasional straight trees sprouting up.
'Wonder who lived here.'
We'll find out when we look!
'Why's the Insight Ability telling me to check it out?'
Silver Star didn't say anything! I was just sitting here!
Up close, the stems were as thick as an adult's forearm.
I poked around from different angles, but the inside was completely blocked from view.
I slipped my hand through the vines blocking the door.
'Hm?'
Something weird was happening.
My hand went in, but a chill crawled up from my chest to my cheeks.
'What is this? Bad vibes. Should I just bail?'
Let's just go!
I activated Blue Eye, but there were no signs of life inside—no vital signs, no mana reactions.
But something else was there.
'It's so sad... and angry.'
Sob sob sob...
The Insight Ability had latched onto it—Silver Star was so overwhelmed by the empathy that it nearly lost its mind and started bawling.
What the hell happened here to leave such raw passion lingering?
'You okay?'
Silver Star went quiet. It had burrowed deep into my heart.
I recalled how Silver Star had reconstructed events back in the sanctuary.
'I command you: reveal your memories.'
Ah, no dice.
Even with all my growth, restoring memories only went back about a month for me.
Nothing appeared. Nothing happened.
The change was in me.
'Emotions strong enough to pierce Luke's temperament...'
I was the guy who'd flipped off the Ruler of Frost with a grin.
But now tears were streaming down my face, and my fists were clenched tight.
'Whoever they were, they must've suffered some injustice and abandoned their home.'
That was as far as I could guess.
I couldn't just walk away.
My instincts were screaming that I shouldn't.
Maybe Silver Star was over-immersed and subtly influencing me, begging to make the pain go away.
"Lend me your sword."
"Here you go, Captain."
Kruk handed it over with a toothy grin.
"'Cause I'm your vice-captain now. Heh heh."
When did you chip that tooth?
Did you fall fighting that snake or something?
The ugly bastard had gotten even uglier.
"My sword's better. Here, take it."
Yuderg had snuck up and offered his sheathed blade.
Having clashed with him before, I knew his sword was top-notch.
"Made by the Grevare blacksmiths in the high mountains."
"Nah. Put away the fancy one."
This was just following the Insight Ability's quiet advice.
Even while sobbing, Silver Star was telling me not to use the Red Dragon sword.
It didn't know why either.
Insight is like sudden inspiration—it doesn't always rely on clear, factual evidence.
'No choice but to trust it. It's the ability that keeps me alive.'
I took Kruk's sword and hacked away at the vines.
As I started working, the others wandered over.
But I didn't turn around and shooed them all off.
"Stay back. Keep your distance."
If this was tough on me, it could wreck the bandits' fragile minds—they had no idea.
Like a demon's curse.
'Yeah. This feels like a curse.'
If the emotional torrent pouring from the hut cursed them, it could damage their bodies and souls.
The E'ar continent has all sorts of magic and curses.
I didn't know a damn thing about any of it.
Ignorant, uneducated, powerless—that's me.
Best to tread carefully with the unknown.
'Being ignorant and brave is a recipe for disaster. Just begging to get your thread cut.'
Right now, I was trusting the Insight Ability and Luke's temperament to push forward.
My feet wouldn't budge otherwise.
Dull sword swings dragged on for dozens of strikes.
Finally, enough vines were cleared to open the door.
I returned Kruk's sword and entered the hut alone.
"Light—"
The rundown hut was empty of bugs. The fireplace was next to the kitchen, with stairs to the second floor beside it.
But neither caught my eye.
It was the bed against the opposite wall, and the human bones neatly laid atop it.
The remains of two people, side by side, draped in tattered clothes. They'd rotted right there on the bed.
Pale hair neatly spread under the skulls hinted at their age at death.
Creeeak—
The wooden floor groaned under my weight, so I lightened my body with mana.
Bones peeked through the crumbling clothes.
'Stabbed with a spear? That's a sword wound... And the ribs are crushed like they were stomped.'
Ribs shattered, skulls marked with sword gashes and dents from blunt force.
Fingers and the backs of hands broken—maybe from fighting back.
I carefully brushed them with my fingertips to keep the remains intact.
'The sadness and anger aren't theirs. The emotions are swirling in the air.'
Who killed them in rage and left grieving?
It was possible, but not convincing.
'Too peaceful a pose for people who fought back.'
Time to revise the hypothesis.
The old folks were moved to the bed after death.
Someone laid them out respectfully, then left. That made more sense.
'Must be that person's emotions. Such intense grief and fury.'
The Insight Ability didn't contradict my reasoning.
'Sigh... What story led to them being left like this for so long?'
I could've just passed by.
But now that I'd stepped inside, I couldn't leave empty-handed.
Even without the Insight Ability's nudge, abandoning the dead went against my nature.
The old me was gone, but this beating heart was still a firefighter's.
I stepped out and called for Erakins.
"Erakins, can you make a coffin?"
"Yes. Just need wood and nails."
"No nails around."
"No problem. We can notch and fit them."
"Then make one."
I beckoned a few nose-picking bandits nearby.
"Sergei, Edinson, Philaf, and you—what's your name again?"
"This guy's Cirgraf. He can't talk, Captain."
"Right. Cirgraf too. Follow Erakins's orders and gather wood."
Whatever. They'll figure it out. Plenty of hands.
While Erakins led the bandits to fetch wood, I scrounged for kindling around.
The others pitched in without being asked.
I stacked firewood in the hearth and lit it.
"We're camping here tonight."
"Hut's too small for everyone."
Kruk scratched his shiny, bug-attracting bald head.
"Everyone camps outside. No one approaches the hut. Spread the word."
"Got it."
The firewood in the hearth crackled to life. I tossed in some thick logs.
Then I started digging a pit.
I didn't know this world's funeral rites or attitudes toward corpses and remains.
Didn't matter. My way.
Once a firefighter sees the dead, his identity demands he do what he can.
Grooo—
"Don't interfere."
The hippo kept jumping in while I dug, messing things up.
Seemed to like the damp earth smell.
"No eating dirt."
Grooo—
Dirt tastes good! Good for the body!
"Sigh—"
After digging the pit, I picked out charred logs and lined the bottom. No clue why—instinct, I guess. Graves are the dead's final home, so charcoal to keep bugs away.
I rummaged the hut for a relatively clean sack, tore it open, and spread it out.
Then carefully arranged the bones in order.
By dusk, Erakins finished the coffin.
"I'll help."
"Me too."
Fred, Requiya, and Yuderg—who'd been silently watching—grabbed the sack's edges and transferred the remains intact into the coffin.
We each took a corner to seal the lid and lower it into the pit.
Requiya recited a prayer for the dead.
"Merciful Demon God, light the way so their souls do not lose their path, grant them strength to resist the temptations of evil when weary..."
We filled the pit with shovels, swords, axes—whatever we had—and mounded the grave.
Then drove in a marker.
I didn't know whose it was.
So the marker stayed blank.
A thought struck me.
Maybe they had no children left to remember their names.
'At least I left my name behind.'
Proof that some Kim once lived somewhere.
Record of how he died.
Having someone to remember you means so much.
'Can't avenge you, but I'll remember you.'
I snapped a salute.
The awkwardly standing crew followed suit.
Like devotees witnessing a holy knight's rite, their faces solemn.
"Spring flowers bloomed, so I picked some."
Yuderg held unnamed wildflowers, roots and all.
Small blooms like mistflowers, lush with leaves.
Good idea. I nodded.
We exchanged looks and transplanted nearby flowers, dirt and all, onto the grave and around it.
"Anyone know a dirge or requiem?"
Fred shook his head at my question.
"No songs at funerals in Brad."
"I see."
This was Brad's borderlands. Best to follow local customs, I thought.
But Requiya disagreed.
"Why not have the captain sing one he knows? It's Brad territory, sure, but they don't even tend bodies until only bones remain. Do we need to stick to their ways?"
Sounded reasonable, but I didn't know this world's songs.
My old world wasn't much different.
Memorials were just instrumental tracks and eulogies.
Silver Star perked up, emerging from its grief.
Jingle bells, jingle bells! Our sleigh goes super duper fast!
Ah, that song.
"Jingle bells... Jingle bells..."
I hummed the requiem I knew in the lowest, most solemn tone I could muster.
The hesitant bandits joined in.
"Jingle bells... Jingle bells..."
Wooo—
Erakins and Kruk added harmonies.
Deep voices lending power and wings to the song—it sounded damn good.
A requiem for the nameless.
Jingle bells echoed through the forest for a while.
The grandest, slowest, most harmonious version I'd ever heard.
'Eh. For them?'
Felt more like a requiem for me.