Eddie hadn’t spent much absolute time in Sandern, but perhaps because so much had happened in that short period, he slept almost all day for two days.
Of course, the inn ran perfectly well without him, so his absence for a few days as the innkeeper didn’t cause any problems. Rather, most of the work was done by the time he opened his eyes.
A pile of kimchi boxes in front of Eddie was the proof.
“Huua.”
Eddie involuntarily let out a blissful breath, then hurriedly wiped under his chin, wondering if he was drooling. Fortunately, there was nothing on the back of his hand.
He never imagined he would see kimchi in the Reneva Empire. If he had woken up in a farm or mine instead of an inn with a convenience store, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of this.
Eddie’s inn was truly amazing.
The small hiccup was that Sebastian, who had single-handedly finished making this kimchi, didn’t boast to Eddie about his excellent results, nor did he try to appeal to him about how hard he had worked.
That was because he was being held by Gerold every day to study, and today was no different.
Sebastian, who had become a living, breathing garlic diffuser, declared a strike as soon as he finished making the kimchi, but Gerold dragged him away as if that was out of the question.
“Just let me work instead!”
Sebastian even shouted those words while crying, but Gerold didn’t listen at all.
Rather, Gerold said with a cold face.
“Sebastian, are you not concentrating?”
That was what it meant to be sharp as a razor. Eddie, who didn’t have the power to save Sebastian from that abyss, even though Gerold was someone he devoted all his loyalty to, just waved his hand at Sebastian to cheer him on.
I’m glad I got the language patch.
He thought inwardly.
“Hmm.”
Eddie looked at the reassuring kimchi and fell into thought. Unfortunately, there was no kimchi refrigerator, but since there was Sorcery in this world, he didn’t have to worry about kimchi storage, and now he had to think about how to use this kimchi.
Business plans popped into Eddie’s head one after another.
Aside from facing the complicated truth after returning from Sandern, Eddie still wanted to live a long and comfortable life here, so his business plans were quite serious and long-term.
If someone realized that they were just a pawn with a fixed role on the board, they might give up everything when faced with such a huge truth, but Eddie couldn’t be that kind of person.
Of course, even if he now hoped to live a long and comfortable life, there was no guarantee that it would happen, but still.
Perhaps even after the ending, the story of the world would continue regardless of the end of the text, and Eddie might too.
He intended to do his best in the time given to him.
Anyway, since there’s kimchi, I can add a lot of new menu items now.
“Uuum…”
Rather, there were so many things he could do with kimchi that there were too many ideas coming to mind, which was the problem.
Since it was an inn, he first thought of things that could be both meals and snacks.
Kimchi stew, kimchi pancakes, kimchi fried rice with a fried egg on top.
These were dishes that Koreans would salivate over just thinking about them, guaranteed to be delicious. Eddie himself wanted to make them and eat them right away.
The problem was the taste and smell of kimchi, which would be unfamiliar to the people of the Reneva Empire.
Sebastian, even though he made it himself, looked at Eddie with a face that said he wanted to stop him, asking if he was really going to make food with this.
But Eddie was confident that he could prove Sebastian’s worries were unfounded.
So, what would be the best way to get acquainted with kimchi?
After thinking about it, Eddie easily came up with an answer. It was kimchi pancakes, no matter what. Among the various kimchi dishes, kimchi was just a side ingredient, and it was a dish that foreigners liked, wasn’t it?
Having finished his worries, Eddie excitedly ran to the convenience store in the basement.
Eddie didn’t hesitate and swept up the kimchi pancake ingredients. Kimchi pancakes were something Eddie often made for himself, so he didn’t have to try to remember the ingredients; they quickly came to mind.
Pancake mix, sugar, cooking oil… As he put things into the basket as he reached for them, Ketron’s favorite chocolate-flavored soy milk caught his eye.
Come to think of it, it was almost that time.
The time when Ketron exercised every day.
Ketron ate a lot at once like a glutton, but he didn’t eat anything unfamiliar unless Eddie gave it to him. Selective picky eating, you could say?
Thanks to that, it had become a habit for Eddie to worry about what Ketron would like and feed him various things, and now Eddie was quite enjoying it, so if he found something good at the convenience store, he would immediately grab it to give to Ketron.
Besides, chocolate-flavored soy milk was a so-called steady seller in this field. Ketron ate it well like a baby bird.
“A baby bird?”
Of course, if Sebastian heard this thought, he would frown and ask back in this way, but unfortunately, Sebastian didn’t have the ability to read Eddie’s mind.
He must be exercising around this time.
Eddie, who knew Ketron’s daily routine, put the chocolate-flavored soy milk in the basket and left the convenience store with light steps.
***
Since some time ago, Ketron had been warming up in the backyard of the inn every morning.
His daily routine was simple. In the morning, he trained his body, took a shower, and after lunch, he helped Eddie with his work.
As that was repeated several times, it had become a routine between the two of them for Eddie to worry about new menu items inside the convenience store in the morning when Ketron was training, and then bring Ketron things that he would like one by one.
As expected, Eddie smiled involuntarily when he found Ketron warming up in the backyard today.
Seeing him lightly wielding the Holy Sword with one hand as if it wasn’t heavy, Eddie suddenly remembered one resolution he had made in the past.
Come to think of it, I decided to exercise a bit too.
Eddie scratched his cheek. He had made that decision when he felt his life was threatened, but once his body was comfortable and safe again, he had completely forgotten about it.
“Ket!”
Eddie called Ketron and approached him.
Having already started exercising for quite some time, Ketron’s handsome upper body was glistening with sweat.
It wasn’t like Eddie was seeing Ketron’s naked body for the first time or second time; he had seen it when he first treated his wounds, every day when he exercised, and last time when he took a bath… so it shouldn’t be unfamiliar at all.
“…”
Sensing his presence, Ketron raised his head and looked at Eddie approaching. The moment their eyes met, Eddie somehow felt embarrassed to look at Ketron’s sweaty upper body any longer.
The bulging, clear muscles, and the sweat droplets flowing over them.
If he was just looking, it might be one thing, but he had touched that chest with his hands before, and he had unintentionally touched it several times when he took a bath…
Thwack.
Thinking that far, Eddie unknowingly, habitually stuck the straw of the chocolate-flavored soy milk into the soy milk pack, and jumped in surprise at the sensation.
“Ah.”
His cheeks were somehow burning hot, so Eddie hurriedly shook his head. What am I thinking?
Eddie approached Ketron and naturally handed him the soy milk with the straw stuck in it, and Ketron also naturally lowered his head and bit the end of the straw with his lips. It wasn’t the first or second time this had happened, so it was familiar to Ketron.
The sight of his shapely lips sucking on the thin straw, and the scent of his skin wafting over him thanks to getting closer, somehow made Eddie very conscious, and he hesitated, unable to find a place to look.
Slightly lowered eyes, an extremely docile attitude, and a face that shines today too… He had seen it all often.
But why am I suddenly so conscious of it?
It’s strange, I see it every day, why is this happening suddenly?
He was puzzled that he was suddenly conscious of that body. I really see it every day. Why is this happening suddenly?
The only thing that had happened in the meantime was watching the tournament a bit, nothing had changed, but for some reason, Eddie frowned at the strange feeling that he himself had changed in accepting that sight.
After hesitating for a moment, Eddie asked with a deliberately light attitude when he made eye contact with Ketron.
“Ket, should I exercise with you too?”
It was a somewhat impulsive remark, but it was also sincere. He had felt it during the carriage attack last time. It was better to exercise.
During his Lee Jeong-hoon days, he used to exercise after work even when he was tired to take care of his health, but after he died young despite exercising to live a long life, he had given up on exercising.
But in the end, he wanted to live here for a long time too. Preferably healthy.
Eddie’s body wasn’t basically bad, but if he continued to stay away from exercise, even his faint abs would disappear, so if he was going to exercise anyway, whether for his health or to protect his body, it would be better to manage it in advance.
But Ketron, who he thought would immediately give him an okay sign, made a very ambiguous expression.
“…Eddie, you mean?”
Ketron had a look on his face as if he had misheard something.
Eddie felt a little hurt in his pride at that reaction. What about me? I can exercise too! Of course, I’ve only been doing breathing exercises here.
“I used to exercise quite a bit too, you know?”
In my past life.