By Zephyria 
Eddie, who had washed first and therefore lay down in bed first, briefly wondered if he should pretend to sleep, but no matter how tired his body was, perhaps because too many things had happened, he found himself unable to sleep.
And his companion was Ketron. Perhaps the strongest man in this world, and in some ways, a very sensitive one. He would certainly not mistake Eddie, who was awake, for someone asleep.
Ultimately, Eddie could only lie in bed, staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, lost in thought.
A world where memories returned, the Demon King, the destroyed inn, Boram, Augustine, the convenience store, Arthur, the Imperial Palace…
— Creak, creak, creak
“Ugh.”
Eddie scowled, as if a deafening grinding of gears was happening right by his ear.
Though the sound had stopped now, Eddie wasn’t so naive as to believe the sound had disappeared because all problems were resolved.
The current silence was like the eve of a storm. A brief moment of calm before a great tempest.
The quiet now was actually more frightening. Because he didn’t know what would happen. Fortunately or unfortunately, unlike during the Tournament, the story hadn’t forcibly twisted itself to set the world right…
Or perhaps, it wasn’t that it hadn’t twisted, but that it couldn’t.
No matter how he thought about it, the Demon King was a being who shouldn’t have existed in Part 2. Perhaps matters related to the Demon King were an anomaly, something that even the story of Part 2 couldn’t control.
So, what should I do?
Not only the unexpected resurrection of the Demon King, but Eddie, who had changed Ketron, was now closer to the axis of evil that ruins the protagonist than a mere helper in Part 2, wasn’t he?
It wasn’t unreasonable for Eddie to think this. In fact, he had been having these thoughts for quite some time.
If he had remained a helpful supporter, as originally planned, by saving Ketron and providing him with a place to stay, perhaps Eddie would have had a place in the ending of Part 2.
But ultimately, the ending of Part 2 he had confirmed that day had no place for Eddie.
He had briefly considered the possibility that he existed at the moment of the ending, but simply didn’t appear.
As a mere supporting character, unmentioned but not appearing, living well somewhere. After all, many novels don’t meticulously describe even such minor characters.
But somehow, Eddie had a strong premonition that he wouldn’t exist in this story at the moment of the ending. Because for Ketron, Eddie was no longer just a minor supporting character.
Therefore, it was inevitable that he would feel anxious, fearing that the story might erase Eddie’s existence before the ending of Part 2 arrived.
He couldn’t not know. At some point, this story had begun to show open hostility towards Eddie.
As if he were a filthy bug that ruined the protagonist.
“What are you thinking about?”
While Eddie, unable to sleep due to his thoughts spiraling endlessly, could only stare blankly at the ceiling, Ketron emerged from the bathroom, shirtless. As his perfectly wet upper body caught the edge of his vision, Eddie hastily averted his gaze.
The vague future was a problem, but their current situation was also incredibly frustrating.
The inn building was destroyed. Naturally, Ketron’s clothes, which he had diligently carried, and his own clothes, couldn’t be salvaged, and all the small items inside the inn were gone. For example, the music box Ebon had gifted him. Thinking about it made him depressed, and Eddie let out a deep sigh.
Although this mansion was one of the Imperial Palace’s properties, it wasn’t a place where people lived, so there were no spare clothes.
The clothes stained by the black rain had been adequately washed by Gerold using sorcery, but today he had to rely on the one set of clothes he was wearing, and it seemed he would have to buy new clothes starting tomorrow.
He wasn’t sure if any merchants would be open for business with the Demon King resurrected.
“Well… I guess I need to buy clothes first?”
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“It would be good to have at least clothes to change into comfortably, wouldn’t it? Unless you plan to go around naked.”
Eddie wasn’t fundamentally picky, but he was of the opinion that comfortable clothes were best for sleeping.
So, even now, it would be reasonable to take off his uncomfortable clothes and sleep. But Eddie, who usually slept in pajamas or, if he didn’t have any, chose to sleep naked, was currently fully dressed, both top and bottom.
Why was that? Eddie now knew that being scantily clad in front of Ketron was tantamount to inviting him to devour him.
But unlike Eddie, who was anxious about being devoured, Ketron, who had no such worries, or rather, would undoubtedly welcome it with open arms if Eddie tried to pounce and devour him, exposed his magnificent body without a care, whether Eddie watched or not.
No, at this point, it wasn’t about whether he watched or not, but rather a feeling of “please look.”
His body was indeed magnificent. No, beyond magnificent, that body was clearly not something one could achieve with just a year or two of dedicated bodybuilding.
Eddie, who had been staring blankly at Ketron’s body, met Ketron’s gaze.
Eddie couldn’t find a place to look, his eyes rolling around, and finally fixed his gaze on a spot in the empty air.
“You can look a little longer, you know.”
“Look at what….”
Eddie mumbled a denial. Ketron, who had clearly felt Eddie’s gaze, didn’t point out Eddie’s pathetic lie but said,
“It’s yours anyway.”
Ketron shook his still-damp hair and naturally sat down on the bed where Eddie was lying.
The bed dipped on one side, and Eddie belatedly fixed his gaze on Ketron.
Ketron naturally reached out and stroked Eddie’s cheek. The touch was now quite familiar.
What was he thinking? Eddie, whose thoughts had been completely erased by Ketron’s remark, blinked several times.
Ah, right. He had been thinking rather serious thoughts. There were many things he wanted to ask Ketron, even if they didn’t come to mind immediately due to various concerns.
How did he feel now that the world had finally remembered you, whom it had forgotten? Was he okay? What did he plan to do now that the Demon King had been resurrected? Many things came to mind, but in the end, what Eddie said was this:
“Ket, what do you want to do from now on?”
Actually, if not for the grinding sound, Eddie wouldn’t have felt greatly confused by the current situation. He hadn’t actually lived in this world during the Demon King’s reign, so the Demon King’s resurrection didn’t feel tangible to him.
But Ketron, one of the world’s long-time victims and the one who had actually defeated the Demon King, must have had a complex mix of emotions.
“Well…”
However, Ketron didn’t look as confused as expected.
“What I have to do is the same as before. Defeat the Demon King. So, there’s nothing much to ponder.”
The young man who once chased glory seemed to have no interest in such things anymore. He spoke of his duty with a calm demeanor and then turned off the magic lantern illuminating the room.
Ketron, who naturally lay down next to Eddie, exuded a strong scent of human skin.
The room, a single occupancy, was meant for one person, so the bed wasn’t very large, and the two of them were pressed close together on the bed, just as they had been at Eddie’s Inn.
It was natural for them to feel uncomfortable, as neither Ketron nor Eddie was small, yet neither felt particularly bothered.
They were quite used to this situation now, and they knew how pleasant the warmth of their bodies pressed together felt.
Eddie could now tell just by meeting their eyes. How much Ketron liked him, how much he held him in his heart.
How much he was holding back.
The younger man, who was only just experiencing his twentieth winter, seemed to be growing in patience every day.
Ketron, naturally lying face-to-face with Eddie, moved his lips closer to Eddie’s, and as soon as their lips touched, Eddie naturally parted his.
The tongue probing inside his mouth was thick. It moved freely within Eddie’s mouth as if it were its home ground, so skillful that it was hard to believe it belonged to the man who had been so stiff during their first kiss, making Eddie’s insides unnecessarily complicated.
He’d become a kissing fiend. Since kissing was the only act Eddie had permitted Ketron, it was natural that his skill had improved solely through constant kissing. But Ketron, as he had promised, was good at anything involving physical exertion, and his kissing skills improved in an instant.
He would probably become skilled quickly in anything else, too, once he got past the initial awkwardness.
That night, too, his hip movements had been awkward at first, but he had quickly become accustomed and practically toyed with Eddie as he pleased.
As memories he had forgotten for a while resurfaced, Eddie felt his face grow hot.
He felt like he had fallen into his own trap, stepping in to save Gerold, who looked flustered—though, in fact, Gerold’s expression seemed more like “What is this guy doing?” than flustered, so it wasn’t certain if he was truly flustered.
Ketron, somehow understanding Eddie’s flustered expression and rolling eyes, after biting and kissing Eddie’s lips for a long time, opened his mouth with a sigh.
“I won’t. You don’t intend to sleep with me, do you?”
Of course, that was a ridiculous misunderstanding.