The items in the Hyperspace pouch had their time frozen the moment they entered, so it would have been nice to bring food. Eddie had squandered the opportunity by excitedly stuffing in things like bedding, fascinated by how large objects could fit inside.
He should have brought plenty of food from the convenience store. Not thinking of this before departure was a mistake.
Come to think of it, while the convenience store was clearly an incredible benefit, Eddie wondered what would happen if he moved or if the inn became successful enough to open a second location.
Would it naturally disappear if the building was demolished or the basement filled in?
Since he had no immediate plans to move, he hadn’t deeply considered this issue, but it was something to think about eventually.
The room’s condition was neither particularly good nor bad, though slightly worn, and the bed wasn’t very large.
Cleanliness was questionable, but given how fortunate they were to find any room at all, Eddie deliberately ignored the visible stains.
From a modern person’s perspective, this world’s standards of cleanliness left much to be desired anyway.
“I’m going to the bathroom!”
Leaving the strangely quiet Ketron in the room, Eddie stepped out and looked around.
Unlike Eddie’s inn, where rooms had private bathrooms, this place had shared facilities in the hallway.
Eddie’s inn really was nice. The building was modern, clean, spacious, and well-located.
How Eddie had acquired such a property in such a location remained one of the biggest mysteries about “Eddie.” His inn was exceptionally good; this place was likely just average for this world.
Of course, Eddie wasn’t particularly pleased with this average.
While nervously exploring the hallway and dreading the bathroom’s likely terrible condition, Eddie noticed a room in the corner of the corridor bathed in intense light.
…What’s this familiar feeling?
The intense lighting felt strangely familiar. Eddie hesitated, then slowly walked toward the brightly lit room. It was almost instinctual.
And at the end, what he saw was—
Blink.
Eddie blinked repeatedly and rubbed his eyes. Of course, no amount of rubbing made the room, or rather, the space, before him disappear.
The intense lighting, the humming refrigerator operating without electricity, the gleaming tiled floor, the pleasant coffee aroma from the machine near the entrance.
Everything was so familiar it seemed unbelievable. Especially since he had just been thinking about this very space.
…Why is my convenience store here?
Eddie could only blink in astonishment.
The convenience store, of course, offered no answer to his question.
* * *
Ketron silently surveyed the room.
Though vastly inferior to Eddie’s inn, it was decent enough, an acceptable place to stay.
It was certainly better than inns where one had to sleep with just a dirty, worn blanket with stuffing poking out, or cramped spaces barely large enough for two adults that passed as “rooms.”
Having traveled the continent for years, Ketron was accustomed to sleeping outdoors, but he wondered if Eddie, who seemed quite particular about cleanliness, could sleep comfortably in such a space.
No, it wasn’t Eddie whose ability to sleep should be in question, it was Ketron’s.
“…Sigh.”
Looking at the bed, smaller and narrower than the one at Eddie’s inn, Ketron felt conflicted. The creaking sound it made when he just sat on it wasn’t the issue. Neither was the tattered blanket.
The problem was having to share it with Eddie.
But if he chose to sleep on the floor…
“Huh? Why?”
Eddie would likely ask with wide eyes.
“Why sleep uncomfortably on the floor? We can just sleep close together. Come on, get up here.”
Ketron rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
Yes, why sleep uncomfortably on the floor? Sleeping close together wasn’t such a big deal. They were both men, after all.
Previously, when traveling, he had slept in cramped quarters with companions without any discomfort. So why now, suddenly…
Suddenly…
Yes, quite suddenly, Ketron found this difficult.
Just imagining lying next to Eddie on that bed made his stomach churn for some reason.
He certainly wouldn’t sleep properly until morning. He’d spend the night wide awake, acutely aware of Eddie’s breathing, the feel of his breath on his neck, just struggling to breathe until dawn broke.
Why?
Ketron couldn’t understand the reason himself.
Distracted by these thoughts, he sat leaning against the bed, not even feeling hungry despite not having eaten properly, when the holy sword propped against the wall made a “hmph” sound.
“Feeling troubled, aren’t you?”
“…”
Ketron didn’t respond. While not much of a conversationalist due to his taciturn nature, he was the holy sword’s only option, so it continued speaking.
“Is the innkeeper bothering you?”
“…No.”
It wasn’t about discomfort, at least not in that sense. Perhaps that was partly true, but certainly not in the way the sword meant.
“Then why?”
The holy sword asked as if it couldn’t understand Ketron’s behavior at all. Being non-human, it often struggled to fully comprehend human emotions.
But Ketron couldn’t answer. That was his problem too, he didn’t know the reason himself.
“Don’t ask.”
“Hmph.”
The sword fell silent after his curt reply, making a snorting sound. Though they appeared to have a poor relationship, they actually got along reasonably well. After all, they had crossed death’s door together, and at this point, they were the only ones who remembered each other.
It’s just that neither had a particularly kind personality, so they never engaged in friendly chatter.
As the room grew quiet, Ketron could hear the distant noise of people talking boisterously on the first floor. He closed his eyes.
How much time passed before the creaking sound of the old wooden corridor floor announced the door swinging open?
“Ket! Let’s eat!”
Eddie returned with a bright face, looking like someone who’d had good news.
“Shall we go downstairs?”
Ketron naturally assumed they would order something on the first floor, but Eddie shook his head.
“No, no, stay here.”
Saying this, Eddie opened the spatial pocket and began taking out food.
The spatial magic, being high-level, was incredibly convenient. Since time stopped inside the pocket, the food Eddie brought out was still warm.
Microwave-heated kimbap, triangle kimbap, sandwiches, ramen, water, drinks, and disposable tableware emerged endlessly from the small bag.
“Tada!”
In an instant, he had prepared a proper meal. Ketron stared at the now-familiar foods before speaking.
“Did you bring these from the inn?”
“Uh…”
Eddie hesitated briefly before smiling as if nothing was amiss.
“Yeah, of course! I figured we’d need this.”
Here, take these chopsticks.
Ketron accepted the chopsticks and spoon Eddie offered, noticed Eddie’s somewhat awkward expression, then quietly began eating.
At the inn, Eddie occasionally served special meals from unknown sources, but he generally preferred home-cooked food, claiming it was healthier.
But now, it seemed he preferred brought food over the greasy offerings available in this place of questionable hygiene. Eddie’s expression hadn’t been particularly cheerful when checking the menu downstairs earlier.
As for Ketron, in his youth he had gratefully eaten even others’ leftovers. During his adventuring days with companions, the principle was to minimize luggage, so rather than preparing elaborate meals, they ate as much as possible whenever food was available.
He was far from being a gourmand.
But Eddie believed in eating well, if not luxuriously, so Ketron tried his best to follow Eddie’s wishes.
Having someone care about his meals felt unfamiliar yet not unpleasant.
After eating, Eddie cleaned up meticulously. Though casual in some aspects, Eddie was particularly serious about cleanliness.
While eating, listening to Eddie’s incessant chatter and occasionally responding, Ketron felt the pressure of sharing a bed somewhat fading.
If something was unavoidable, it was better to accept it. Just as Ketron’s expression relaxed with this thought—
“Well then.”
Eddie pulled out some transparent pack from the spatial pocket and smiled brightly at Ketron.
“Let’s go get cleaned up, Ket.”
Since this inn had public bathrooms and baths, going to “get cleaned up” meant heading to the public bath.
But the issue was: why was he calling Ketron to join him?
“…Pardon?”
Ketron belatedly realized Eddie’s expression meant “Let’s go bathe together.”
“We’ve been outside all day. We need to bathe.”
Hmm?
His expression held a strangely stern look, like someone watching a child or cat that disliked bathing.
What Ketron had overlooked was that Eddie cared about health, cleanliness, as much as he cared about Ketron’s meals.
Ketron felt as if the meal he’d just eaten was suddenly sitting heavily in his stomach.