Hello Scrolls and Followers of Justice, Mr. Bones with chapter 25 of my fanfic, The One Who Came Back.
Néia listens to ghost stories.
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With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 28: Memories
"Miss Neia, I understand the urgent nature of our quest, but wouldn't this be a somewhat reckless way to obtain information?"
"NEXT! Do you recognize this person? No? Thank you! Why do you say that, Mr. Ecleir?"
"Well, it seems to me that there are at least a few hundred people in this line who will know things that we would prefer not to be divulged any more than necessary."
"NEXT! Do you know this person? No? Thank you! I don't think you need to worry about that, the faithful would never speak about it."
"How can you be so sure, Miss Neia?"
"Well, because I asked them not to tell anyone, Mr. Ecleir. NEXT!"
After months of witnessing how the faithful followed her instructions to the letter, Neia began to imagine that it was merely a high level of devotion they possessed, rather than the strong mental control she unknowingly exerted.
"Do you know this person?"
"Yes, Miss, I think I do," said an elderly man.
"Please, sir, come with me to the other room. Bertrand, keep checking to see if anyone else recognizes the drawing."
"Very well, sir...?"
"Frogus Enói, but you can call me Frog."
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Frog. How do you know this person, and are you sure it's him?"
"Well, I can't guarantee it, but I have a good memory for faces, and I really think I know who he is," said the elderly man, who seemed to want to create some suspense.
"So, who is he?"
"The Ghooost of the Cemeteeryyy!" the man said, gesturing with his hands as if it were something to be scared of.
"Eh!?" said Neia, not understanding.
"Sorry for the joke, Miss, but that's what I call him because I've seen him visit the main cemetery for many years, always at the beginning of the night. He comes every five or ten years. He may come more frequently, and I may not have seen him, but I know it's the same person."
"Have you ever talked to him before and asked for his name?"
"Yes, we talked the first time I saw him, and the other times I just greeted him. He told me his name was Connor, and I'll never forget the scare he gave me, hehehe!"
"Could you tell us more about that encounter?"
"Well, I was running away from my father. I didn't want to do the chores he had for me. My father was the gravedigger at the time, but now it's my job. So, I was hiding next to one of the crypts when he suddenly appeared behind me and said 'Hi!' I felt like my soul was coming out of my mouth, and other things too, but I managed to hold on, hehehe!"
The man seemed to enjoy telling the story, and Neia was very interested. Ecleir was attentive, but as usual, CZ's thoughts were unknown.
"Continuing, he scared me a lot and asked what I was doing there. My father always told me not to talk to strangers, but he seemed different, like an old friend. I told him I didn't want to work there, and he asked me why. 'Who wants to work in a cemetery?' I said. He said it was a very important job and asked me what the problem was with working there. 'The dead,' I said. 'The problem is the dead.' He said, 'What's the problem with the dead? They're dead, they can't hurt you.'"
"But what about when they go around attacking people and biting them?" I said. "Ah, the undead, you're afraid of the undead," he said. He said I didn't need to be afraid of the undead, just careful, like with any species. If I was careful, I might never see one in my life. I said I didn't understand because undead appear in cemeteries. How could I never see one? My father had seen many arise, and it was a lot of work when it was just one. But if many appeared at the same time, adventurers had to be called."
"The undead arise from the accumulation of negative energy, bringing the dead back without memories and very irritated. They can be dangerous. To avoid this accumulation, it's necessary to bless these places," he said.
" So, I said that the church charged a lot to bless the place frequently. Then he said that even simple things could help, like lighting candles, praying for the dead, or leaving mementos to eliminate such energies. I had never heard of this before. I didn't know how it was in other places, but we just buried the dead and left them there. We didn't have this habit of visiting cemeteries, leaving gifts, and positive things. Today, this habit has become common in Horburn."
"That's strange. I've always done these things since I was a kid," Neia said.
"Well, after we started doing that, people kind of saw that it appeased the dead and started to join in," he said. "I then wanted to know about the other undead, like the Linchs, and he told me that it was rare for superior undead to arise. The Linchs were like dams breaking, a huge accumulation of negative energy being released all at once. But sometimes, the Linchs were just humans who transcended their form using magic, relinquishing their humanity to become immortal."
"As I was very young, I asked if there were more powerful undead, and he said yes, ancestral Linchs, Linch Kings. I mentioned Shusharna, and he said that Shusharna was worshipped like a god, but he wasn't at the top of the pyramid. There was a more powerful being than him, and it was extremely rare. Only one could exist in the world at a time, the personification of death itself. If I were to encounter such a creature, the only option would be to kneel and submit. Perhaps, he said, I might survive if I pledged loyalty. This being had not yet appeared in this world, but I would know when one arose. So when I was rescued from the fields of Jadabaoth, I saw this being and did as I was taught."
"But it was His Majesty, the Sorcerer King, who liberated most of the fields during the war," he continued.
"Yes, when I saw the Sorcerer King, I was sure he was the greatest of the non-living beings, the Overlord."
" Yes, Ainz-sama is an Overlord, the Supreme Being who decides on life and death," CZ said with her customary neutrality, but Neia could sense the pride in her words.
"That's exactly what I thought. Today I am alive thanks to His Majesty. Mr. Connor asked me if I was still afraid of the dead after we talked, and I said no, now I was terrified of them, and we laughed. He said goodbye and left. I only saw him again years later when I was already taking care of the cemetery alone."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Frog, but I'm confused. You said you've been seeing him for years, and your story seems to be old. How old were you when you met him?"
"Aah! You noticed, didn't you? My story didn't make much sense. I was ten years old when I met him, and now I'm seventy. So I've been seeing him for at least sixty years, and he hardly aged. After seeing him not change for thirty years, I began to think he was a ghost, hence the nickname."
"Did you see him recently?"
"Yes yes, a few months ago, as always, visiting the same grave."
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Frog."
"I thank you for the opportunity to help my God and you, miss."
After the gravedigger left, Neia and CZ went over what they had discovered.
"It seems like a very strange story, isn't it? But I don't think Mr. Frog would lie."
"I didn't detect any changes in his voice that would indicate lying, but mental manipulation cannot be ruled out."
"I know, CZ, but they would need to know about this search in advance, a very high level of preparation and access to information that only you would have. I don't think that's the case."
"Affirmative, only Ainz-sama could predict such movements. I need to check the cemetery, look for evidence."
"Okay, CZ, I'll go with you. Bertrand can continue to see if anyone else recognizes this Connor, a strange name."
"I'll stay here, I'd like to help by tidying up a few things if you don't mind" - actually, Ecleir was about to have a heart attack seeing the state of Neia's improvised home.
"But Mr. Ecleir, you are my guest. I couldn't let you do something like that."
"Stop that, miss. I believe that all help should be welcome, and my duty as the number one butler can be extended to help such a faithful servant of His Majesty the Sorcerer King."
"Thank you, Mr. Ecleir. CZ, I think we can go. The cemetery is on the other side of town, we'll only get there when it's very dark."
"No problem, Neia Baraja, I can see in the dark, and your visor has night vision. We'll be fine. I'll protect you."
During the journey, each of them mounted a horse. Although CZ was the same size as Neia, her mount seemed to be tiring faster, as expected since CZ, with her metal interior, was much heavier, but Neia didn't know that. They passed through several neighborhoods where they could see how the city was rebuilding, some places faster than others. The neighborhood where their congregation's church was located seemed to have the least investment. Perhaps when the church was ready, the neighborhood would be reborn, Neia thought.
When they arrived at the cemetery, they noticed several lights around the area, candles lit in tribute to the dead, a tradition rarely seen outside Horbur. Following Mr. Frog's guidance, they arrived at a little-visited area.
"There are many gravestones, CZ. How will we know which one it is?"
"Mr. Frog gave a description of the place, a square gravestone with a carved crow on top."
"Hmm, let's see. This is the block, so it should be this one. Found it, CZ."
"Good job, Neia Baraja."
The grave belonged to an adventurer, Misutä Bönzu, with a somewhat faded phrase, "The greatest of all heroes." Neia had never heard of him.
They could research it tomorrow in the records with Mr. Frog. Neia stopped in the middle of her sentence. She had been walking and talking until she noticed a newly dug, simple grave, without the coffin that should be inside. On the gravestone, there was only one name.
"For His Majesty's sake, it can't be... they stole the body of Remédios Custódio.