HRB 92

On the day a ‘welcome guest’ came to visit, there were a few minor incidents at Eddie’s Inn before that guest arrived.

It was about two weeks after Eddie and Ketron had their drinking session. It was a day when Eddie had kissed Ketron so many times that he couldn’t even count them on both hands.

It was a morning when Eddie was busy filling things here and there with a complicated mind, organizing the ledger.

“What exactly is the Holy Sword?”

That day, as Augustine and Laila, who had arrived early in the morning, were finishing their meal, Laila brought up the story.

Eddie’s ears perked up, as he had become accustomed to hearing various stories from his guests while running the inn.

Saint Laila was talking about the Holy Sword, and it wasn’t the story of the tsundere Holy Sword that Eddie knew well, but the Holy Sword that Arthur was rumored to have recently obtained.

“Um, are you talking about Arthur’s sword?”

Augustine asked, scratching his cheek, as if he didn’t expect Laila to bring up that story.

If there was a common acquaintance between the Hero’s companion and the Hero’s fiancée, it was Arthur. However, as if they had planned it, even when they had a chance to hang out, they rarely brought up Arthur’s story.

There were many other things to talk about anyway, and both of them seemed close to Arthur on the surface, but in reality, the distance was quite large, so there was nothing to say about him.

So, in a way, it was the first time in a long time that Arthur’s story had come up between them.

More precisely, it was about the Holy Sword he had recently obtained.

“Yes, when I visited him a few days ago, Count Demays showed it to me. He said it was the Holy Sword.”

“Ah, I saw it when I visited him a few days ago too. He seemed very happy to have it back.”

There were few guests eating breakfast that day, so Eddie couldn’t help but hear their conversation better.

When the news spread that Arthur had obtained the Holy Sword, Eddie was digging a tunnel, so he didn’t have time to think deeply about it. But thinking about it again, he wondered what was going on.

The Hero has retrieved the Holy Sword? It was an absurd rumor to Eddie, who knew better than anyone that the real Hero was in this inn and that the sword he was holding was the real Holy Sword. Of course, this one was real, so that one was fake.

A fake Hero and a fake Holy Sword.

Ketron didn’t seem to think much about it. Eddie couldn’t tell if it was because he knew that what he had was real, or if he was also distracted by something else. Maybe it was both.

These days, whenever Eddie thought of Ketron, the kisses they shared came to mind first, and Eddie unconsciously fanned his face to cool down his flushed cheeks.

Come to think of it, does the Holy Sword… I mean, does Mr. Holy Sword know about this? That he has a fake?

The Holy Sword, who was still waiting in Eddie’s room every day for exorcism, was always chatting with Eddie before going to bed, and he was subtly interested in the stories circulating among the guests. So, he must have heard about the fake Holy Sword, even though he had never mentioned it to Eddie.

Even as Eddie was thinking about that, Laila and Augustine’s conversation continued.

“Augustine, what do you think of that sword?”

“Well, it was nice. The appearance is quite excellent? However, Arthur usually handles a long sword that is shorter and thinner than that, so I don’t think it’s a perfect sword for Arthur. And the Divinity is a bit…”

Augustine, thinking that he was crossing the line, glossed over it with a smile, saying, “It’s nothing.” But Laila didn’t easily pass over that part, as if something was bothering her.

“Divinity is, what?”

Augustine waved his hand with a troubled face.

“Saintess, I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about that here.”

At those words, Laila belatedly realized that this place was an open space and closed her mouth with a sigh. Laila and Eddie’s eyes met as they reflexively looked around.

Eddie smiled awkwardly. He had inadvertently become an inappropriate eavesdropper.

It was a bit embarrassing, but as someone who knew well that the sword was fake, he was secretly curious about the Saintess’s opinion, so Eddie clicked his tongue, thinking it was a pity.

“Oh, Ketron!”

Just as the atmosphere was about to become a bit awkward, Ketron appeared at a good time. Ketron, who naturally turned his gaze to Eddie, looked at Augustine at the sound of his voice calling him.

“What, if you saw me, you should at least say hello.”

Ketron naturally ignored Augustine’s words. Still, he lightly nodded his head towards Laila.

Eddie felt strange watching that.

He’s just closer to Augustine, it’s not that he’s just respecting Laila in particular. He’s close to Augustine because they’ve always been close, and he’s being polite to Laila as he always has been.

As Eddie justified Ketron’s actions in that way, he realized that he was unconsciously making excuses for Ketron’s attitude and sighed.

He had to admit it. Eddie was still uncomfortable with the harmony between Ketron and Laila, which had been subtly bothering him since the Demon King’s visit. And that was probably quite similar to the feeling of jealousy.

And he says it’s better to wait patiently until the ending comes. He has no intention of doing that at all, Eddie.

As Eddie scolded himself and sighed, Augustine, who had been chatting with Ketron, suddenly looked at Eddie as if he had remembered something and exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Come to think of it, Eddie, I have something to ask you.”

“Yes? To me?”

Eddie, who had maintained a good relationship with the friendly Augustine since the Count Demays incident, but not a particularly close one, pointed at himself and asked back without realizing it. Augustine nodded as if he was right.

“Can you spare some time?”

Eddie nodded, as there was no reason to deny it. As if it wasn’t something he could ask so openly, Augustine winked at Eddie, saying sorry to Ketron for some reason, and asked Eddie if there was a place where they could talk alone for a moment.

Eddie led Augustine to an empty room. As the door closed with a thud, Augustine scratched his cheek, as if he was hesitating.

“Um… I don’t know where to start.”

He was suddenly using polite language. Eddie was puzzled by the sudden polite language of the large priest, who had been using friendly informal language as soon as he had broken down Eddie’s wall a little.

Eddie was inwardly worried about Ketron and Laila being left alone, but thanks to Augustine’s polite language, he was able to focus on the conversation with a shock therapy.

“I found out by chance…”

Augustine cleared his throat.

“I don’t think you’re planning to show it off, but I’m uncomfortable if I act as usual.”

At that moment, Eddie’s heart sank.

Show it off? What?

The first thing that came to Eddie’s mind was his relationship with Ketron. Could Augustine have accidentally seen them kissing? If he was uncomfortable enough to say that, it might have been too stimulating for him as a clergyman.

These days, Ketron’s kisses were so intense that Eddie couldn’t tell if he was kissing him or trying to devour him.

As he thought about it, Eddie’s face flushed and he avoided eye contact without saying a word, and Augustine sighed as if he understood.

Had they kissed so intensely that it was difficult to act as usual? Eddie wondered if they had done it when someone was watching, but he flinched at the sigh and thought he had to make an excuse, and so did Augustine.

The two of them, completely unaware that they were thinking different things, opened their mouths at the same time.

“Kissing Ketron was just…”

“Even if I know your identity, I’ll act as usual…”

And then they stopped talking at the same time.

For a while, there was silence.

They both blinked, with faces that seemed to say, “What is this?”

And they both asked back at the same time.

“My identity?”

“Kiss?”

Realizing that they were thinking about completely different things was quite embarrassing. To be exact, Eddie was much more embarrassed! Augustine didn’t even try to hide his twitching lips.

As if he had never had a serious face, Augustine’s face, barely holding back his laughter, seemed to find Eddie’s big mistake quite amusing.

Ah, damn it. Eddie groaned belatedly.

Augustine couldn’t help but burst out laughing. The giggling sound was loud for a while.

“No, well, it’s rumored that you two are passionate.”

Augustine finally calmed down after a long time. In the meantime, Eddie’s face had turned as red as a beet.

“No…!”

“I guess I was the only one who was serious. Right?”

I didn’t know you hadn’t made that much progress, Augustine teased Eddie for a long time after that.

In the meantime, the story about identity that Augustine had brought up had disappeared. Augustine forgot because he was laughing, and Eddie forgot because he was flustered.