While Ketron went to wash up, Eddie placed clothes he could wear—just underwear and pants, as they couldn’t find tops that would fit his large frame—right in front of the bathroom and began cleaning the room.

Although Ketron hadn’t touched or used anything during his 3-day stay, dust tends to settle silently anyway.

Even though Gerold handled most of the work, Eddie hadn’t completely abandoned his inn duties, and he had always been an innkeeper who excelled at cleanliness.

He opened the windows for ventilation and dusted them off. As Eddie began sweeping and cleaning the room with a broom, he soon encountered a major obstacle.

“Hmm.”

The holy sword that Ketron had casually propped against the head of the bed was preventing him from completing his cleaning.

The holy sword Albatross.

It was a legendary holy sword that could only be lifted by a warrior deemed worthy by the sword itself.

From a modern perspective, one could say it borrowed some elements from King Arthur’s Excalibur.

But who cares about the lore? It was magnificent regardless.

“It’s really amazing,” Eddie muttered unconsciously.

Though wrapped in cloth to hide its splendid appearance, the extraordinary sword handle remained exposed.

Although it was currently an impediment to his cleaning, it was impressive nonetheless.

“The blade is thin but the hilt is thick, and it seems incredibly sturdy. Oh, there’s even a decoration at the end of the handle? My goodness, it’s extremely intricate.”

Eddie unconsciously fingered the ornament. Clearly handcrafted by a master artisan, the decoration boasted remarkably detailed designs despite its modest size.

The two strands of thread attached to it were adorned with delicate and elaborate gold-embossed patterns.

‘If I sold just this decoration and thread alone, they could fetch an enormous price as art pieces.’

Such a materialistic thought crossed his mind, but Eddie shook his head. No, the thought of selling ornaments from a holy sword was unacceptable.

“It’s really, really incredible.”

Eddie murmured in awe as he gently caressed the Albatross. Since it was a holy sword, he touched it very timidly, afraid something terrible might happen.

With the sound of running water from the bathroom as background, Eddie fondled the holy sword for quite some time. Then, belatedly pulling his hand away, he sighed.

“Hmm, but still.”

What to do about this?

The cleaning couldn’t be finished because the holy sword was standing prominently in the middle of the room.

It would be fine to move it slightly to the side or place it on the bed.

Of course, he had tried to lift it with much effort, but the sword was too heavy to begin with, and Albatross was a sword that wouldn’t allow even its handle to be grasped by anyone it hadn’t approved. Albatross didn’t move even a speck.

Even though this ‘Eddie’s’ body, while not as large and solid as trained swordsmen like Ketron, was quite decent—yet it wouldn’t budge even a speck. Truly befitting a holy sword.

After struggling for a long time, Eddie finally gave up.

“Ugh, it’s heavy. I guess there’s no choice.”

Just as Eddie sighed and began to clean the floor around the Albatross—thinking he’d have to clean everything except that part, which wouldn’t be perfect but would look fairly neat—it happened.

With a “tick” sound, Albatross’s heavy body suddenly tilted toward Eddie.

Huh?

What Eddie didn’t know was that Albatross’s heavy body had been pressing down on the same spot for nearly 3 days.

Eddie’s inn floor was quite sturdy, but no matter how strong, the wooden floor couldn’t withstand the weight of Albatross for so long, and being right below the bed, this part of the floor was more worn than other areas.

In short, it was bad luck. Just as Eddie was cleaning nearby, the wooden floor that had been supporting Albatross could no longer bear the weight and broke.

Albatross’s heavy body came crashing down toward Eddie at tremendous speed.

Eddie instinctively squeezed his eyes shut. Though wrapped in cloth, Albatross’s blade contained tremendous sharpness, and if it crushed Eddie with its enormous weight, he could be seriously injured.

However.

“…?”

No matter how tightly he squeezed his eyes shut and waited, the expected impact never came.

Eddie opened his eyes slightly.

There was Albatross, frozen mid-fall as if fixed in midair, standing perfectly still.

Eddie blinked several times at the sight that seemed to completely defy the laws of gravity.

Although there had never been a scene in the novel where the holy sword directly spoke to Ketron, in “The Hero Who Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well,” there were clearly several scenes where Ketron asked the sword for its opinion.

While the sword’s responses were never shown, this became a minor comedic point as surrounding characters developed the misconception that Ketron talked to himself too much.

This had to be the sentient holy sword stopping itself to prevent him from getting hurt. There was no other explanation.

“…You’re a… good sword.”

As he said this, Eddie unconsciously stroked the ornate handle gently. Of course, the holy sword didn’t say anything in response, and anyone watching would think Eddie was crazy.

And this seemingly crazy behavior was directly witnessed by Ketron.

“…What are you doing?”

Perhaps because he had no change of clothes, he had come out wearing the same clothes he’d worn before. He seemed to have noticed the underwear and pants Eddie had brought belatedly, but he’d already left the bathroom and strode over to roughly snatch the half-fallen holy sword.

Had that incredibly heavy sword fallen completely, Eddie would certainly have been seriously injured. Whether aware of this or not, Eddie’s innocent face showed no sign of recognizing any threat.

The holy sword that hadn’t budged when Eddie touched it was easily lifted when Ketron grabbed it, as if it were a child’s toy.

“Ah, I was cleaning and…”

“Cleaning?”

Ketron’s gaze shifted to the wet cloth Eddie was holding. He noticed the cloth covered in dust and the floor that was sparkling clean except for the area around the holy sword.

Ketron sighed. This man was simply doing his job.

“I’ll put this thing in the corner, so don’t touch it. Didn’t you realize you were in danger just now?”

If the holy sword hadn’t stopped itself midway, the cloth wrapping wouldn’t have been enough protection, and Eddie could have been seriously injured.

But Eddie just smiled brightly. Ketron didn’t seem to notice, but his mouth, which until now had rarely opened except when absolutely necessary and even then spoke briefly, was now speaking naturally.

“Well, it was being nice, though.”

“…?”

“It stopped in the middle for me.”

Anyone hearing this would think he was crazy. But both people present knew that the holy sword had a will of its own. Of course, one of them didn’t know that the other knew.

“…It must have been coincidence.”

In the end, Ketron made this excuse and moved the holy sword to a corner. Inwardly, he was extremely perplexed.

This ill-tempered holy sword stopped itself to prevent someone else from getting hurt? Judging by the angle, it certainly couldn’t have stopped falling on its own, so the sword must have indeed stopped itself by its own will. But since when did this sword care about such things?

To call it “nice” was absurd.

“This sword has a terrible temp…”

He was about to say “terrible temper,” but Ketron flinched. A sword couldn’t possibly have a personality. Not ordinarily, anyway.

So he smoothly changed his words.

“No, it’s just dirty. Don’t touch it.”

「What?」

Albatross, suddenly demoted from a great holy sword to just a dirty sword, protested vigorously to Ketron, but he pretended not to hear anything.

“Ah, I see.”

Eddie, who couldn’t pretend to know about the holy sword, smiled as if he understood.

“Oh, right. I brought you some clothes to change into over there.”

Eddie pointed with a smiling face to the underwear and pants he had placed right in front of the bathroom. Ketron, who had already changed into his original clothes, shook his head.

“I’ve already put on…”

Eddie’s lips moved slowly.

They.smell.bad.

“…”

In the end, Ketron had no choice but to change back into the clothes Eddie had brought. The pants barely fit despite being a bit short, but it was impossible to find a top that would fit, so he remained bare-chested.

This suited Eddie’s purposes well, and he smiled as he brought over medical supplies he had placed in a corner.

“Now, let’s treat those wounds.”

Ketron thought that perhaps not bringing a top was part of the man’s scheme. Regardless, the man’s face was beaming with innocence as he patted the floor as if saying “sit here.”

Ketron pressed his lips tightly together.

This was the third time. The third time this man had attempted to treat Ketron’s wounds.

Each time, he had refused or ignored him, but the man paid no attention and tried again and again. At this rate, it seemed he would keep trying until the wounds healed naturally.

“Haah.”

Finally, Ketron sighed and sat down in the spot the man had been patting. The man openly smiled with delight.

Being led around by others’ wishes was always something Ketron detested, but somehow, being mildly manipulated by the man before him didn’t feel so bad.

Because he knew it came from completely pure goodwill.

“Medicine from the East! A remedy that heals any wound, sheets to put on it, and a cure for all diseases! Well, not all diseases, maybe a hundred? No, maybe ten kinds of diseases…”

…Of course, the man still sounded a bit like a con artist, but that was beside the point.

By Zephyria

Hello, I'm Zephyria, an avid BL reader^^ I post AI/Machine assisted translation. Mostly BL. Check my Ko-fi for more HSA chapters~

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