Reborn as shield hero with Garps Template

Motoyasu held the holy spear tightly in his hand, walking side by side with Myne as they slowly approached the restaurant they had left earlier.

What had happened earlier seemed truly bizarre in their eyes.

The soul-returning night, the faceless villagers, and the ones who vanished altogether.

All of it seemed impossible to explain with any logical reasoning.

If there was any explanation, there could only be one: supernatural events.

"Could it be that the souls of the dead villagers really came back? Were the things we saw earlier actually ghosts?"

Motoyasu, a bit too nervous, kept muttering under his breath.

"Enough. Let's go back and check things out first," Myne replied.

In the past, Myne would have flattered Motoyasu, but now, she really wasn't in the mood.

Motoyasu was momentarily stunned by her sharp tone but, given the situation, he let it go, shut his mouth, and said nothing more.

Myne's eyes kept scanning the surroundings. She couldn't spot a single figure in the village, as if everyone in Lute Village had truly vanished in an instant.

Originally, she thought all of this was a trick of the villagers, but reality had surpassed her own imagination, making her question everything.

That's how people are—once they have a doubt, the question keeps growing until they find an answer.

This was Myne's situation now. As her doubts grew, she began to question herself.

"Does the soul-returning night really exist? But if it does, it means the dead returned here, not that the villagers disappeared!"

Myne muttered to herself. Despite her often annoying personality, her courage and intelligence were certainly beyond average.

Motoyasu, standing beside her, suddenly froze in place when he heard her, his already pale face growing even more ashen. Sweat beaded like pearls on his forehead.

"Master Motoyasu, what's wrong?" Myne noticed his odd behavior and turned to ask.

"You said… could it be possible that Lute Village was a ghost village all along? That the villagers were ghosts? And because of the soul-returning night, they went to reunite with their families, disappearing in an instant!"

Motoyasu gulped nervously, his facial muscles twitching unnaturally as he spoke.

"That... that seems impossible," Myne trembled.

If that were true, it would mean she had been interacting with the dead all along.

And what about the taxes they'd collected?

Panicking, Myne quickly took off her purse and opened it. Inside, there were gold coins, silver coins, copper coins—and some strange coins.

The moment she saw those ghostly coins, Myne was so terrified she threw the bag away.

"What's wrong?" Motoyasu bent down to pick up the purse, letting out a small gasp of surprise. "What kind of coins are these? I've never seen them before!"

Motoyasu, unfamiliar with the otherworldly currency, looked confused.

"Master Motoyasu… those are ghost coins. This purse originally held the support money from the king and the taxes collected from Lute Village. There shouldn't be any ghost coins. That means…"

"Maybe those villagers really aren't alive."

Under this terrifying assumption, Myne's complexion alternated between red and white, looking extremely unsettled.

"We need to find them quickly and leave this ghostly place," Motoyasu said, trembling. If he had the choice, he would never set foot in Lute Village again, even as a hero.

"Mm…"

Myne nodded, agreeing with Motoyasu. As soon as they found the two female adventurers, they would leave immediately.

In truth, Myne thought the adventurers had already fled, but she had to keep up appearances in front of Motoyasu, so she reluctantly agreed.

The two of them walked through the desolate Lute Village, accompanied only by gusts of wind, further dampening their spirits.

Luckily, Lute Village wasn't too large, and before long, they found themselves back at the restaurant they had left earlier.

"Could they have come back here?"

Motoyasu didn't actually know where the adventurers had gone, but he figured that if they returned anywhere, it might be the restaurant.

"I'm not sure. Let's go inside and check," Myne suggested.

The lights in the restaurant were still on, providing a sense of comfort, so Myne didn't hesitate.

They stepped inside, finding everything exactly as it had been. The tables were still set with the dishes left by the villagers, and even their own table remained untouched.

But on closer inspection, the meat pie on their plate had turned into a pile of dirt, and the soup bowl was now filled with pitch-black water, with remnants of ghost coins scattered within. It looked like the ashes of burned offerings mixed with water...

The most unnerving part was the bowl of noodles, now crawling with long, wriggling worms.

"Did I really… eat all of that?" Myne thought, and immediately felt something rise in her throat.

The next second, she rushed outside, leaning against the wall and vomiting.

Motoyasu, having eaten nothing earlier, felt no nausea. He was about to check on Myne when a voice suddenly called out from the restaurant's second floor: "Master Motoyasu, help me!"

The voice was hoarse, suffocating, but unmistakably that of a girl.

"I'm coming!"

Obviously, the two female adventurers were in danger and trapped on the second floor of the restaurant.

Motoyasu didn't hesitate, rushing up the stairs with the holy spear firmly in hand.

The second floor was a stark contrast to the bright first floor; it was pitch black, with only a long corridor connecting the rooms on either side.

"Where are you?"

In the darkness, Motoyasu found himself slowing down, his voice echoing down the empty hall.

"Master Motoyasu, I'm here!"

The voice rang out again, prompting Motoyasu to move toward the sound. He soon reached a half-closed door along the corridor.

"Are you in here?"

Motoyasu asked, his wariness evident.

"Master Motoyasu, come and save me!"

As soon as the voice called out, Motoyasu was certain the female adventurers were in that room.

"I'm coming!"

Taking a deep breath, Motoyasu rushed inside.

To his surprise, there was no enemy waiting for him; only a girl squatting on the ground, her hands seemingly clawing at her own face.

Though her face was obscured, Motoyasu recognized her as one of the two adventurers from her gear.

He let out a sigh of relief and strode over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"Yeah?"

The girl's hoarse voice carried an eerie tone as she slowly turned her head toward him.

What he saw sent a chill down his spine: her face was grotesquely decayed, one eyeball completely missing, with insects crawling in the empty socket. Her skin was marred with numerous scratches, as if she had clawed at it herself.

Motoyasu's heart raced as he beheld her horrific visage, and he froze in place, his eyes rolling back in shock. He collapsed backward, hitting the floor with a thud.

As he lay there, Motoyasu twitched uncontrollably, and a puddle of hot liquid began to spread beneath him.