HRB 90

It was a face he hadn’t seen in a long time since the Tournament. It was the first time he’d seen him this close since that day’s betrayal. Then and now, that handsome face was still set with its innate stoicism, and the stubbornly closed lips and indifferent eyes that seemed to look down on everything in the world were, damn it, familiar to Arthur.

However, it was completely unfamiliar to see him naturally taking the broom from someone else’s hand.

Ketron’s touch, caressing Eddie’s startled hand, was quite natural. Although he couldn’t hear their voices, it wasn’t hard to guess what they were talking about from the way Ketron’s hand caressed Eddie’s cheeks, which were red from the cold weather outside.

Arthur watched the scene without blinking.

Eddie, looking utterly flustered, seemed to have lost an argument and eventually handed the broom to Ketron. He waited beside Ketron, intending to go inside with him, only to start another squabble with Ketron.

Anyone could see that they were having a lovers’ quarrel, with Ketron telling Eddie to go inside first because it was cold, and Eddie refusing, wanting to go in together.

And at the end of it, Arthur saw Ketron smile at Eddie as if he couldn’t help himself.

It was a comfortable, bright smile that Arthur had never seen before.

It was an expression Arthur couldn’t even imagine Ketron making.

It was also the moment when Arthur’s assumption, that Ketron would live his whole life without knowing love and with a face that said there was nothing interesting in this world, was shattered, an assumption that had given Arthur a subtle sense of superiority.

A crooked smile formed on Arthur’s lips without him realizing it.

“…I see.”

Arthur muttered.

“I don’t know if it’s all true, but it seems the rumors aren’t entirely unfounded.”

Unless that’s someone else in Ketron’s skin.

Arthur drew the curtain on the carriage window. Seeing that he didn’t seem to want to look outside anymore, Boram stared at him and asked.

“Did you confirm what you wanted to?”

“Not everything… but it’s enough.”

He had confirmed the existence of the other person. Moreover, the other person wasn’t a troublesome opponent who moved their location every day, but someone who had taken root in one place and lived peacefully, making it easy to find them.

What did that mean?

Arthur felt the stiffness inside him ease a little, having directly confirmed Ketron’s living existence.

The main reasons for Ketron’s strength were his martial prowess and strong spirit, but the biggest reason was that he had no weaknesses. He had no parents, and the only people he cherished were his comrades.

However, even if they hadn’t betrayed him, neither Arthur nor Boram nor Augustine would have been able to draw such a smile from Ketron.

But he had just seen it. He had seen that there was now someone who could make that happen.

He also knew that Ketron wouldn’t be able to endure losing that.

Having confirmed that fact with his own eyes, it was only natural that Arthur would feel a sense of ease he hadn’t had before.

That fact filled Arthur up, even though he hadn’t eaten anything.

“Let’s go back.”

Arthur’s eyes gleamed dangerously as he said that. Boram, seeing that, moved her lips as if to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.

In the silence, the carriage moved. Neither Ketron nor Eddie paid attention as the inconspicuous carriage left and disappeared.

***

In the past few days, several changes had occurred at Eddie’s Inn.

The biggest change was Ebon.

“Ed~die!”

Ebon, with his exceptionally cheerful personality, was particularly fond of Eddie. Considering the title “Eddie Master” that sometimes slipped out like a mistake, it seemed he was another who claimed to be Eddie’s servant, just like Gerold, but compared to Gerold, the distance between Ebon and Eddie was different.

Fortunately, Ebon also didn’t bring up the differences between Eddie’s actions and the original Eddie, as Gerold had done, so Eddie inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

In addition, Ebon didn’t mention the gift he had brought as if it were taboo. Perhaps thinking that Eddie had been cooped up in his room and depressed because he didn’t like the gift very much, he bought a lot of things that Eddie might like every time he went out.

When Eddie declined, saying he didn’t have to, Ebon would say something even more horrifying to Eddie: “It’s okay, it’s Gerold’s money anyway.”

Eventually, only after Eddie sincerely said he was happy and grateful several times did Ebon’s gift rush finally subside.

If it weren’t for his almost obsessive goal of wanting to make Eddie happy, Ebon was a fairly cheerful young man, bustling around the inn and going back and forth between Gerold and Eddie. It was a little distracting, but once he got used to it, it wasn’t bad that the inn became more lively.

In addition, there was one more change that was particularly noticeable: Sebastian.

“…”

Since Ebon’s appearance, Sebastian had been particularly quiet. The mouth that always grumbled even while doing his job well was tightly shut, and his face was full of gloom.

Eddie had shaken it off after a few days for various reasons, but even after Eddie had jumped out of the sea of gloom, Sebastian’s face remained as if he were still sinking in its depths.

“Um, Sebastian. Is something wrong?”

Sadly, there was no one at Eddie’s Inn who would care about Sebastian’s feelings, so only Eddie, who had shaken it off first, took care of Sebastian.

Sebastian shook his head without saying anything. He didn’t want to talk about it.

However, even without saying anything, he sometimes looked at Gerold and Ebon with sunken eyes, so even Eddie could easily tell that the reason was Gerold.

Ah, so that’s the direction he was getting into Gerold?

Eddie, who had vaguely known that Sebastian cared about Gerold but didn’t know it was in that direction, looked embarrassed. This was a field Eddie couldn’t help with. Rather, he would have received help.

It was because Sebastian didn’t seem to have a chance in Eddie’s eyes. There was something unknown and strong between Gerold and Eddie, and between Ebon and Eddie, but there wasn’t even that distance between Gerold and Ebon.

Gerold, who usually didn’t keep people by his side and always had a cold face, was the only one who loosened his face in front of Ebon, gave him his side without hesitation, and didn’t care at all even when Ebon openly treated him like a wallet.

In other words, Ebon was an exceptional existence for Gerold in many ways.

But what about Sebastian? If Sebastian did something like Ebon, Gerold would tolerate it once, but from the second time on, he would have a cold face, and from the third time on, he would be kicked out of the inn altogether.

He had clearly realized the difference between his position and Ebon’s through the results derived from that imagination alone. That was why Sebastian was depressed.

Ah, this is difficult…

And that was a part that Eddie couldn’t help with no matter what. Emotions can’t be forced, and human relationships are extremely complicated.

“Hmm.”

There wasn’t much Eddie could do. Eddie, who was busy gathering the items that were running out at the convenience store, put a few sweet snacks in for Sebastian. He thought that eating something sweet might make him feel a little better.

Eddie, who knew that this method was quite effective through Ketron, swept up a few chocolates without hesitation.

Ketron.

Eddie, who suddenly thought of Ketron’s existence while looking at the sweets, sighed softly.

The third major change at Eddie’s Inn. That was Ketron.

Eddie had decided to stop wallowing in depression in his room, but that didn’t mean he was really okay.

He was still confused. Why were traces of his childhood in this world? Why didn’t Gerold, let alone Ebon, mention the gap between the original Eddie and him, who had clearly changed?

But wallowing in depression wouldn’t change anything, and Ebon had said that a ‘welcome guest’ would be coming soon, so he secretly guessed that he would learn a lot then, so he decided to wait until then and just try to hide his complicated feelings.

However, Eddie hadn’t been able to think about such complicated things lately. To be exact, he didn’t have time to. These days, Eddie’s head was full of thoughts about Ketron.

Confession.

That was the word that was making Eddie uneasy now. It had had a similar effect to shock therapy, getting him out of his depressed state by chance, but it was still shocking and unsettling.

He had received a confession from Ketron. From his Hero! From the protagonist!

Of course, he hadn’t said a single word like ‘I like you’ or ‘I love you’ directly, but it was such a heartfelt confession that it would have been better if he had said ‘I love you’ explicitly.

And Eddie had responded to that confession, albeit passively. Of course, it was a modest response, saying that he didn’t want to leave his side, so it felt ambiguous, neither positive nor negative.

In any case, that ‘confession’ was a shocking event on the level of a genre change in this world.

Fortunately, the dark space where 〈The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well Part 2〉 had been since that day hadn’t appeared in front of Eddie’s eyes, but that didn’t mean he could rest assured.

He didn’t know when, at what moment, that book might appear again.

In many ways, he felt like his insides were being gnawed at, but Eddie was somehow overcoming it and spending each day. In any case, this world was chugging along, so it would eventually reach its ending, and that couldn’t be avoided.

So, instead of having unnecessary thoughts, it would be better to calmly prepare for that day and seek peace of mind.

…These days, that was completely impossible for him.

No, to be exact, Ketron wasn’t giving Eddie a chance to do that.