Chapter 300: Ch 299: An Apology to the Dead

Kael relaxed in his chair and swirled it around in his greenhouse. It was quiet and serene, just as he liked it.

But for some reason, he was not able to focus on anything. His head kept throbbing, and he had not been getting regular sleep for the past few days. This was all making him feel light-headed.

Sigh

"What a mess. I guess I do feel guilty for what happened after all."

Kael knew in his mind that none of what happened was his fault. But it was still a hard pill to swallow.

But worrying like this was not going to change anything for him. Instead, he decided to focus on what he could do in the present.

"Alright, time to get to work."

Kael pulled his chair back, only to have the door to his greenhouse open. Officer Tyson walked inside with a blank look on his face.

"Can I help you with anything?"

Kael decided to ask in a suspicious voice, not liking the looks he was getting. But the officer just sighed and dropped himself into Kael’s empty chair.

"We are about to hold funeral ceremonies for those who died in the corruption’s attack yesterday. While investigating, we found out that those people were your acquaintances. Would you like to come with me as well?"

This was the last thing Kael expected to hear from his superior’s mouth, but it made him pause.

Did he want to go to the funerals of his dead ex-coworkers? He had cut ties with them in his mind once he died. Moreover, they had hardly been what Kael would call friends.

And yet, why did Kael feel like he owed it to them to show up?

Was it because his instincts told him that the only reason that building got targeted was because of him?

’Man, my ego must be really huge if I am thinking that a tragedy like this is my fault. But still...’

Kael could not rule out Goddess Aria’s involvement, especially after sensing Seraphina’s essence in the air.

His silence was taken as a rejection, and Officer Tyson sighed before standing up.

"I see. So that’s a no, huh? I guess that had to be expected. I did hear about what kind of place it was after it went down. It must have been difficult working there."

There was a hint of sympathy in Tyson’s eyes when he said these words, and Kael felt a little defensive.

"It was not that difficult. We all understood each other because we were in a similarly shitty situation. Also... would you mind if I take you up on that offer of yours? I feel like I should at least offer my condolences, even as practical strangers."

Kael tried to make light of the situation, but the look in Tyson’s eyes told him that he was not successful.

But at least he did not try to ask Kael to reconsider.

"I see. In that case, come with me. You are already wearing black, so you don’t even need to change for this occasion. Just come with me."

Kael was wearing home clothes, which were not suitable for a funeral. But he felt too mentally exhausted to change right now either.

In the end, he went to the funeral in his current clothes without caring about what others would say to him.

...

The walk to the funeral was quiet, with Kael following Tyson through the streets without saying much, his hands buried inside the pockets of his clothes.

The city had already returned to its usual rhythm on the surface, with shops open and people moving through the streets as if nothing had happened, but there was a strange heaviness hanging over everything that Kael could not quite ignore.

There were fewer people outside than usual, and even those who were walking around seemed to be speaking in hushed voices, as though they were afraid that raising their voices too much would somehow attract the corruption back to them.

Kael could not blame them. Yesterday, an entire building had been swallowed by corruption without warning, and no one knew why it had happened.

The news about this had been suppressed but the feeling of something being ’wrong’ still lingered, making people uncomfortable.

What really bothered him was the fact that there was no rhythm to the corruption’s attacks.

He had checked on his end as well, but had came to the same end conclusion- that this was all a coincidence.

’But is there any coincidence when it comes to corruption? All we have is certanity.’

If the corruption had simply spread randomly, then he could have accepted it as another tragedy caused by an unpredictable phenomenon, but it had specifically targeted that building, and Kael had been there.

More importantly, he had sensed Seraphina’s essence within the corruption.

That was not something he could simply ignore.

"Did you find anything else during your investigation?"

Tyson shook his head.

"Nothing useful. The corruption disappeared before we could properly analyze it, and most of the evidence was destroyed."

"Isn’t that just too convenient?"

"You think someone did it deliberately?"

"I think it is too early to rule anything out."

Tyson gave him a sideways glance before letting out a quiet sigh.

"You really don’t know how to reassure people, do you?"

Kael shrugged, not borhtering to hide the sharpness in his words.

"I am not trying to reassure you."

"Yeah, I noticed."

A faint smile appeared on Tyson’s face before disappearing almost immediately, and the two of them continued walking until they finally reached the funeral grounds.

The place was already crowded, with several rows of chairs arranged in front of a large memorial platform and black cloth hanging from the surrounding walls. At the center of the platform were several empty coffins, each one representing someone who had died in the attack.

Kael stopped walking when he saw them.

He stared at the coffins for several seconds without saying anything.

The coffins were empty since there was nothing left to bury. For some reason, that thought made everything feel even worse.

The famly members of the dead were crying their hearts out. They had likely been told that their relatives died in a fire and even their bodies could not be retrived.

It sounded suspisious for sure, but what could these people even do when the law would not allow them to even come near the dangerous place?

Tyson noticed his expression but did not say anything, instead quietly walking ahead and leaving Kael to follow him at his own pace.

Eventually, Kael entered the funeral grounds and found an empty seat near the back, where he sat down without paying much attention to the people around him.

Several familiar faces turned toward him as soon as they noticed his presence. A few likely thought he looked familiar, but just as he had never seen them, they had never seen him beyond their family’s background shots at work either.

Kael could understand why they were acting like that.

To them, he was practically a stranger who had suddenly appeared at the funeral of people he had supposedly worked with, despite having barely interacted with most of them.

He did not particularly care since he had not come here to explain himself to anyone.

Tyson sat beside him, and for several minutes, neither of them spoke as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

Eventually, a priest stepped onto the platform and began speaking about the people who had died.

Kael listened quietly as their names were read one after another, recognizing some of them while barely remembering others.

But every name still reminded him that these people had once been alive.

They had complained about work, laughed with each other, argued over stupid things, and gone home expecting to wake up the next morning.

Now, all of them were gone.

Kael lowered his gaze as an uncomfortable heaviness settled in his chest.

He clenched his hands slightly.

’This is ridiculous.’

He had already died once.

He had experienced death firsthand and had long since accepted that it was something that could happen to him at any moment.

So why was this affecting him so much?

Perhaps it was because this time, he had survived and they had not.

Kael closed his eyes for a moment, quietly listening to the priest continue speaking.

’I’m sorry.’

He did not even know who he was apologizing to.

Maybe it was them.

Maybe it was himself.

Or perhaps it was the part of him that still believed he could have prevented what happened.

Then, without warning, Kael felt something.

It was faint at first, almost like a slight pressure against his skin, but his instincts immediately reacted to it.

His eyes opened.

Kael slowly turned his head toward the far end of the funeral grounds, his gaze moving across the crowd as he tried to determine where the sensation was coming from.

There was nothing unusual.

Just mourners sitting quietly and listening to the ceremony.

Yet the feeling did not disappear.

Someone was watching him.