Chapter 218 – A Bloody Funeral

Varian’s body has been returned from Coromo.
His body had been kept in a dark-brown coffin, and the funeral arrangements had long since been completed, so he decided to hold the ceremony immediately.

The place is a large white brick building right next to the castle.
According to Orca, it was originally a place for burials of knights and blood relatives of the marquis family, but the marquis family specially rented it out.
It was a part that showed how special the Marquis family valued the Red Heart Adventure Corps.

The funeral was held in the morning, so Seris and Kara set off as soon as we were ready.

Ariel and Maria guarded the house, as non-members of the adventure party were not allowed to attend.

“It is very big.”

Seeing the building where the burial will take place, Celis let out an exclamation. It was only because this one building was bigger than the building our adventure party used.
It was a building owned by the marquis family, so it was understandable.

“Let’s go in.”

We entered the building.
Inside the building, those who came before us were sitting in the funeral chairs. Not too many. Orca, Siegfried, and Varian’s subordinates.

Orca found me, said a few words to Siegfried, and came over.

“Are you here early?”

“It’s a job, isn’t it? You should come early.”

I said that and looked inside the building. Spacious inside. The white walls were painted with images of the gods seen in the temple. The windows, which look like church windows, are carved with angels spreading their wings and blowing horns.
In addition, there is even a large purple jewel floating in the center of the building.

It was a dazzling interior, as if wishing for the dead to go to heaven.

I didn’t think this look was bad.
Funerals are usually gloomy, but the place where they take place should be bright.
I can’t let the last one go gloomy.

“By the way, did Juana not come? I thought she would come first.”

Juana was told that she had a special relationship with Varian. It was strange that she wasn’t at the funeral home.

“It must be difficult to organize your mind. I will be back soon.”

As Orca said, after a while, Juana entered the building. Her eyes were swollen as if she had been crying all night, and Lauren, who had come with her, was patting her on the back.

Following that, the other adventurers arrived one by one. As the interior of the spacious building filled up and I thought we had arrived, Siegfried said.

“Are you all here? Is there anyone who hasn’t come yet?”

At that, the adventurers looked at each other and started counting. Soon someone raised their hand and said.

“Allen-nim hasn’t come yet.”

“Allen told me that she was not attending due to personal reasons.”

What kind of urgent business could she even miss her colleague’s funeral?
It would be nice to see it for a while.

“Is there anyone else who hasn’t come? Good night. Then I will hold a funeral. Father.”

The young priest next to Siegfried nodded his head. As he beckoned, the sound of trudging footsteps came from outside the building.
A plain dark brown coffin in which Varian’s body was kept.
Eight men carrying it were walking along the red carpet in the center of the ceremony hall.

The adventurers stood on both sides of the red carpet and looked at it.

The men who moved to the end of the red carpet gently put down the coffin. The young priest put his hands in front of the coffin and closed his eyes.

“Under the brilliant sky, we are all blackened sinners. Once a sinner, always a sinner. However, since Yurmia-sama and the nine gods, led by her, take good care of us, they give us a chance to confess and forgive our sins.
Tyr, the warrior god.
Here’s a warrior.
His bravery makes even orcs tremble, and his ax cuts even the scales of dragons.
Although he has committed many deaths, it was all to please you.
So do you have mercy on this valiant warrior and have pity on your land,
A paradise for warriors who fight during the day and drink wine to their heart’s content at night.
Grant us access to the land of warriors.
Then your mercy will spread throughout the continent and increase the faith and valor of the warriors…”

The long funeral mass of the priest followed.
It might be boring, but no one yawned or did anything else in this place.
That’s because a solemn atmosphere reigned in the dining room.

I suddenly thought that it was fortunate that Ariel wasn’t here. It was obvious that the ignorant guy would be in trouble if he messed around here.

“Then, before he leaves, I will proceed to say my last goodbyes to the deceased.”

The long funeral mass was over, and it was time to say goodbye to Varian.

The first was, of course, Siegfried.

He said quietly as he placed a white flower in the coffin.

“You were a brave and strong warrior. I could trust him with any difficult task. My heart aches a lot at the loss of a talented person like you. I hope you are happy in the land of warriors.”

After his goodbye as the adventure captain, Orca was next.

Her farewell was not much different from Siegfried’s. It’s just a formal greeting and a short ending.

After that, Cohen and Lauren said goodbye, and now it was my turn.

I went forward and picked up a white flower placed right in front of the coffin.
If you look down, you can see Varian’s body, which has cooled down. He said his throat was cut, but he’s stuck well now. It’s probably because Coromo got it right.

‘What should I say…’

I closed my eyes for a moment.

Her first meeting with Varian was not so good.
I met him for the first time when I was still a newbie, when I was subduing bandits who were blocking the way up the valley near the valley.
He said it when we were skeptical about how to respond to the arrows raining down from the bandits’ living quarters.

-You can avoid it with your guts!

What was the chilly atmosphere of the conference hall at that time?
Even thinking about it now makes me laugh.

A strange person who always talked about his guts.
But he wasn’t a bad person.
I gently set the flower down next to Varian’s body.

“You had a debt. That day, keeping Kara safe. I am still grateful. I tried to pay it back someday, but in the end I couldn’t.”

Large wolves with red manes rush at them, and Seris is in a desperate situation without knowing where he is.
If Varian hadn’t listened to her request to protect Kara, I might not have been able to go find Seris with peace of mind.
In a way, it was good to see him as the lifesaver of Seris and Kara.
And the lifesavers of the two are also my lifesavers.

“I heard that you care about the adventurers under your direct control, calling them brothers. I’ll make sure to pay them off someday for the debts I can’t pay. So please feel free to leave.”

I bowed once and turned around.
I see Varian’s men shedding tears with moved faces. After giving them a gentle smile, they returned to their original positions.

After that, the goodbyes continued.
After the greetings of almost all the adventurers, there was only one person left.
She trudged and walked in front of Varian’s coffin.

“I’m here… You idiot…”

Juana bowed her head and looked at Varian.

Her expression was not visible from where I was.

“You said you wanted to become the best warrior…? Wasn’t that why you kicked me? But what is this… What is it…”

She sat down on her knees. She grabbed the coffin and stared blankly at Varian.

“You should have kicked me. I should have become the best warrior you said!! Why did I end up like this without knowing the subject…”

Juana’s voice was wet with crying.

“You stupid bastard. Asshole pup. Stupid bastard. Guts is a piece of shit…”

She spewed her wild swear words at her deceased, but no one tried to stop her. I was just looking at it with sad eyes.

“If you’re going to search like this, I’d rather… I’d rather… Just live with me… You asshole…”

Tears flowed down Juana’s cheeks. She grabbed her coffin and began to sob, and Lauren, her younger brother, approached and calmed her down and brought her behind her.

Juana’s sobbing seemed lighter than anyone else in the adventure party.
Because of that, the already heavy atmosphere at the funeral hall became even heavier.

Breaking through the atmosphere, the bride stepped out, she said.

“Then let’s sing a hymn to bless the end of the deceased.”

The nuns stood up and put their hands on their navels.
After the priest sang the first verse, the nuns also sang along.

We stayed still

I didn’t even know what a hymn was, and I wasn’t in the mood to sing right now.
After the funeral, I thought I would just go home and rest.

…It would have been if it hadn’t been for the purple jewel floating in the center of the ceremony hall.

It was while the priests and nuns were singing hymns. The purple jewel in the center of the ceremony hall began to glow brightly.

“What is that? Orca, is that really like that?”

“I don’t know either. Because this is the first time. Wouldn’t the priest know?”

“I don’t know either. It’s the first time I’ve been here, too.”

“What? Why are you here first? Didn’t he come every time the marquis went to the funeral?”

“That is Father Hirhan. I just became a priest, so this funeral mass is my first funeral mass.”

“What…”

Damn

The purple jewel cracked and shattered as it were. I drew my dagger and slashed the flying shards of jewels. Seris and Kara also blocked well in their own way.

Are other people okay?

I turned around and saw people who couldn’t avoid or block them. They were holding on to their limbs to stop the bleeding, and the unlucky ones died with shrapnel stuck in places like their heads or hearts.

“What’s this?! Father, do you really not know what this is?!”

Orca grabbed the bride by the collar. The frightened young priest just shook his head and said, “I really don’t know.”

“Orca.”

A low-pitched voice called her name.

At Siegfried’s name, Orca turned her head.

“Why?”

“Get ready. Something is coming.”

He said that and loosened her shoulders.
I also drew a dagger in both hands. Because I felt a bad sensation that made my hair stand on end.

“What? What’s coming…”

It was before Orca finished speaking.

The place where the jewel had been cracked and cracked like a window, leaving a black crack.
Something came out of that black crack.
A red demon with horns and a tail holding a spear.
He was a guy who could express that.
Starting with him, all sorts of guys came out of the cracks.