Burial

"Wow, you have a talent for treasure hunting, dog!"

James picked up a dry twig and poked at a pile of debris on the ground.

They included a black glove, several weathered ancient metal coins, a ring, a badge, and other ornaments.

These are all the spoils that the Erha dug out of the ground.

"This badge..."

Diana crouched down, gazing at the patterns on it. "A shield and a sword were used, along with a bauhinia flower... This is the style of the Chris Empire. Its owner was perhaps a nobleman from the Chris Empire... Hmm, the kind from three hundred years ago!"

She looked at the skull with a strange expression.

'This woman... seems to have a strong yearning for the aristocratic lifestyle...'

Sulu thought to himself.

"Hey... stop looking at that badge, look at this!"

John, undeterred by the dirt, picked up the ancient coins, wiped away the grime and grime, revealing a gleaming shine. "Gold! These are gold coins, and they're also antiques... We're about to strike it rich!"

"Make a payment?"

Elizabeth hesitated, then said, "Shouldn't we... return it to its owners and give them a proper burial?"

"Don't be silly..."

John stared at the small tomb-raiding hole, his eyes gleaming. "There might be... another treasure inside! I suggest we thoroughly excavate this place, perhaps even giving its original owner a proper burial. The rest of these things are our rightful reward!"

'That fool, blinded by Greed... The real treasures in the grave should already belong to Harlock...'

Sulu glanced at the Erha.

The dog was found sitting there, its face serious, watching its owner argue with his friends.

'Hmm... Isaac is a good kid, insisting on being buried with the funerary objects, his family must be quite well-off... Diana is reluctant to part with that badge... James's attitude is ambiguous, but if he really becomes rich, he'll definitely demand his share... As for Elizabeth...'

Sulu also watched coldly from the sidelines.

Suddenly, Elizabeth noticed his gaze and asked, "Sean, what's your opinion?"

"My opinion... is to return all the burial goods to their rightful owner... You see, the owner of this tomb was probably a short-tempered, stingy, and jealous fellow..."

Sulu glanced at the dark forest, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Neuropathy..."

John cursed, "If you don't want it, give it all to me!"

He crouched down in front of the rather narrow hole, seemingly trying to see if he could squeeze in.

Suddenly, John screamed and fell backward.

He was deathly pale, trembling all over, and there were damp patches on the crotch of his trousers.

"What happened?"

"You..."

This unusual occurrence immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Elizabeth and Diana blushed and turned their heads away when they saw John's disgraceful behavior.

"Ah! There... there's a face in that hole!"

John stammered as he revealed his discovery, "He... he just stared at me! Stared at me!"

"No!"

James, holding a logging axe, crouched slightly and stared into the cave. "Harlock hadn't noticed this either..."

"Perhaps... that is the lingering spirit of the tomb's owner!"

Sulu interjected at this point.

"The dead? An interesting concept... You believe in the existence of souls?" Elizabeth countered.

"Perhaps... but if I were the owner of the tomb, I probably wouldn't want anyone to take my burial goods."

Sulu insisted on his opinion.

He discovered that these people were being targeted by a Wraith, and that the best course of action was to resolve the issue peacefully.

Although... the source of all this was a dog.

'It must be that Harlock dug up the other person's grave last night and ingested some special item or potion that caused the 'mutation'! Wraith is truly seeking is that extraordinary wealth, but unfortunately... it's already gone.'

Sulu can only try to bury the remains and see if that can appease the other party.

Because his condition was so bad, he didn't want to do anything.

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

James pursed his lips, as if he wanted to say something.

"Ah!!!"

Just then, Diana pointed to a spot in the forest and screamed, "There... someone's there!"

"Who?"

James rushed over, only to find no one there, and no trace of anyone walking on the ground.

"I saw it... It was a very strange person, dressed in an ancient style, wearing a hunter's uniform and that medal, with a pale face and blood streaming from their eyes..."

Diana knelt down, arms crossed, and said, "He... he doesn't seem alive!"

"No way? Could there really be ghosts?"

With his friends encountering ghosts one after another, even Isaac became suspicious.

"Just to be on the safe side... let's bury him properly and not take any of the burial goods, shall we?"

The group, who had been taken aback, quickly reached a consensus.

They spent a day digging a hole in the mound and clearing out the other party's remains.

It was a very ordinary skeleton, its clothes tattered and torn, making it difficult to recognize its original appearance.

They must have been caught in an earthquake or other mountain disaster and were accidentally buried here. It's a pity there were no diaries or other items containing information.

Beside the original mound, Isaac and others built a new grave for him, with an epitaph inscribed beside it. "May the soul of an unknown traveler rest in peace!"

In the end, they buried all the other party's belongings intact around the grave, offered wildflowers they had gathered, and held a collective prayer.

During this period, the Wraith truly did not reappear.

This calmed John and Diana down, while James and the others were very excited, finding the camping trip thrilling and something to talk about back home.

Night fell quickly.

Isaac and the others were enjoying dinner around the campfire.

"I've made up my mind... I'm going to write about this in my travelogue."

Elizabeth was the first to announce this.

"This is so cool... a trip deep in the mountains, the skeleton of an unknown man... and Wraith ..." James seemed excited, yet also a little regretful. "I want to meet him too..."

"No, you wouldn't want that..."

John, who had been silent all along, finally spoke, "That was a nightmare!"

"Right!"

Diana nodded in agreement.

They believed that after performing these rituals to appease the Evil Spirit, the spirits would stop bothering them.

Sulu, holding a bowl of meat soup, watched silently from the side: 'It's a pity... some Wraith act without any reason, not to mention...'

He glanced at Harlock beside him.

This dead dog had no idea that it had caused a big problem, and was still acting cute, begging for meat.

Only those deep blue eyes seemed even more profound.