The gravekeeper was named Carter Slade, the previous Ghost Rider. Ordered by Mephisto to retrieve the San Venganza Contract, he had feared that the power within would destroy the world if the devil obtained it. So he quit overnight and ran, without even collecting his pay.
Obviously, as a devil, Mephisto was the finest capitalist in the world. Exploiting employees was in his nature, so the wages here meant something else.
Power!
Mephisto had reclaimed Slade's power, leaving him unable to transform into Ghost Rider, and cursed him to live in pain for the rest of his life, until death.
Of course, that was only what Slade believed. He did not know where Ghost Rider's power truly came from and genuinely thought it had been granted by Mephisto.
He carried the contract while hiding from place to place, eventually settling down in a cemetery as an utterly ordinary gravekeeper.
He had done that for a hundred and fifty years!
Honestly, choosing to hide his identity as a gravekeeper had not been a very suitable choice.
His looks gave him away. What ordinary old man was this handsome?
Especially those sharp, narrowed eyes—deep, restrained, and somehow able to draw in the light.
Forget Russell. As long as an ordinary person was not blind, they could tell this was an old man with a story. He must have been extraordinary in his youth.
And the San Venganza Contract...
The more important a treasure was, the more carefully it had to be kept. Most people would think that way.
Slade had done the opposite, hiding it inside an iron shovel. It was reverse thinking, and no one had noticed it to this day.
To keep the shovel from attracting the attention of anyone observant, Slade used it to dig holes and bury dirt