Reborn as shield hero with Garps Template

"We're in danger?"

Hearing what the soldiers said, although he understood that there were no monsters or people near Lute Village who could pose a threat to him, Motoyasu still felt his heart tighten, and his face frowned accordingly.

And he always had a feeling that something was wrong with the soldier in front of him, but when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't pinpoint what.

"Okay, what exactly is it? make it clear!"

Myne also frowned, folding her arms across her chest, and asked in a domineering manner.

"Reporting to Master Myne, the situation is like this. Tonight is the soul-returning night in Lute Village, so..."

The soldier kept his head lowered, making it difficult to see his expression, but his tone sounded extremely weak, as if a chill was constantly seeping into the bone marrow.

"What...what is Soul-Returning Night?"

Motoyasu seemed to be recalling something horrible. His expression became a little abnormal, and he stuttered as he spoke.

"According to the tradition of Lute Village, today is a day for offering sacrifices. It is rumored that on this day, some souls who have died a long time ago will return to the village to reunite with their relatives."

The soldier explained slowly, in a calm tone. When he said this, he suddenly changed his subject: "But due to changes in the past, many villagers left Lute Village, causing some souls to find no relatives. When the time comes..."

"What happens then?" Motoyasu swallowed involuntarily.

"At that time, those souls will turn into evil spirits. The villagers in Lute Village will be protected by the souls of their relatives, so nothing will happen to them. But if they are outsiders, they may not be so lucky."

As the soldier said this, he paused purposefully and continued in a more serious tone: "The light ones will be frightened by those evil spirits and lose their minds, while the severe cases may be possessed by the spirits, ultimately losing themselves completely. So, I said, Master Motoyasu, you'd better not enter Lute Village, at least not today."

Just as the soldier finished speaking, a cold wind suddenly blew through the village, carrying a biting chill.

Motoyasu shivered involuntarily. At that moment, he even felt that there seemed to be a faint smell of blood in the air, and the whole village began to feel strange.

"It must be an illusion."

Motoyasu shook his head, but suddenly noticed a white figure floating from one roof to another in the village in the distance.

Motoyasu immediately wiped his eyes vigorously and looked again—the white figure had disappeared.

"Could it be that the souls of the deceased have returned? Probably not, the sky isn't fully dark yet."

The more Motoyasu thought about it, the more frightened he became. He turned to Myne and the others and said, "Since that's the case, let's return to the capital today."

However, Myne ignored him, her cold eyes fixed on the soldier standing with his head bowed in front of them.

Before Motoyasu could understand what was happening, Myne suddenly shouted loudly, "Say... who are you and what is your purpose?"

"Master Myne, what do you mean?" the soldier asked calmly, unfazed by her imposing manner.

"First of all, there are supposed to be ten soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the village, but now only five of you are left. And I've lived in this country long enough to know that there's no such thing as Soul-Returning Night. So, tell me... what's your purpose for keeping us from entering the village?"

Although Myne's character wasn't the best, she was undoubtedly smarter than the average person, which was why Motoyasu often ended up being manipulated by her.

"Master Myne, you misunderstand me. We only heard about it from the villagers' chatter earlier today, which is how we learned about Soul-Returning Night. As for the other five, I don't know. They were supposed to switch shifts, but they haven't returned."

The soldier immediately knelt on the ground, shouting his innocence.

"Oh?" Myne frowned, clearly unconvinced by his explanation.

"If Master Myne doesn't believe me, you can go into the village and ask the villagers yourself."

The soldier stepped aside, allowing Motoyasu and Myne enough room to enter.

"Uh... Myne, I think we should just leave it for today. Sometimes it's better to believe than not to, and I don't think this soldier is lying."

Just as Myne was about to head inside, Motoyasu hastily pulled her back and whispered.

"Master Motoyasu... I see. Someone's playing tricks."

Myne turned her head, lightly brushing her fingers across her bright red lips, revealing a playful smile.

"Playing ghost?"

Motoyasu still didn't quite understand.

"Alright, Master Motoyasu, you promised to treat us to a big meal. With your current strength, even if we encounter evil spirits, you can easily deal with them, right?"

In an instant, Myne, like an energetic girl, dragged Motoyasu toward the village.

Hearing this, Motoyasu immediately felt a bit more confident.

That's right—I'm no ordinary person now. I'm a hero! Evil spirits? There's nothing to fear at all.

Besides, Myne, being a girl, didn't show the slightest fear. She was a hero, after all. If she were too frightened to enter the village, it would be too embarrassing.

Thinking of this, Motoyasu regained his high-spirited demeanor and strode toward the village.

...

After their figures had completely disappeared from sight, the soldier who had been talking to Motoyasu and Myne slowly raised his head.

Upon closer inspection, that soldier was none other than you.

As for the other four soldiers, they were naturally all members of the Ten Blades.

"Just as Lord Jason expected, they didn't recognize that we were pretending to be soldiers."

"Of course. The hero of the spear was focused entirely on Myne and the two female adventurers. And Myne, being an arrogant person with her head held high, would never pay attention to mere soldiers. I'm sure they still have no clue what the real soldiers even looked like."

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. If we had been too relaxed earlier and looked up at them, Myne would have definitely recognized us. After all, Myne is no simple character."

"However, while the spear hero somewhat believed the story about Soul-Returning Night, Myne didn't seem to buy it at all. Could that pose a problem?"

"No problem at all. This was also anticipated by Lord Shield Hero. On Irene's side, though, I'm not sure if the magic image crystal is ready."

The magic image crystal was something Jason had discovered during his travels. With a bit of magic power, it could record scenes from the surroundings. In Jason's eyes, it was quite similar to a video recorder from his original world, so he had collected a few.

"Don't worry. Irene won't have any issues with it. Now, let's prepare for the next step."

After Jack glanced in the direction of the hotel, he led the others out of the village.