A makeshift dueling arena appeared in front of the inn.
Though they called it a dueling arena, it was essentially just the middle of the street where someone had crudely drawn a rectangular line in the dirt to keep spectators from entering.
Eddie’s inn was famous for its excellent location. The central plaza with its famous mermaid statue fountain was one of the Empire’s tourist attractions. The streets, which had recently hosted parades and festivals, were always crowded with people, but now they were completely saturated with tourists.
A stage was set up in an instant, and spectators flocked to it.
As people gathered around, even passersby couldn’t resist their curiosity and peered inside, cheering at the sight of the famous hero, ‘Augustine of Divine Power.’
Moreover, the man standing on the opposite side, though unknown, was dressed in black with a visibly well-trained physique.
People grew more excited at this curious scene that resembled a battle between black and white.
“Hmph.”
Augustine pulled out the wooden staff he carried on his back. With a cleric’s resolve to never take a life, he used a wooden staff as his primary weapon instead of a blade.
Of course, one might wonder how he managed to join the hero’s party if he was unable to take lives…
THUD!
The immense weight of the staff hitting the ground created a tremendous sound, sending up a cloud of dust.
Though they called it a staff, it was essentially a giant club, making the distinction between blade and non-blade meaningless at that point.
Besides, the enemies they typically faced on their adventures were demons, so he had no reservations about wielding his weapon.
Augustine smiled and asked, “By the way, how old are you?”
He had switched to informal speech. But Augustine’s casual manner of speaking seemed more comfortable and familiar to Ketron, who stood on the opposite side, and after a brief silence, he replied.
“…Twenty.”
“Hmm.”
Augustine scrutinized Ketron’s face. Well, now that he mentioned it, his face did have that fresh, youthful quality. However, he was younger than Augustine had imagined.
He had thought Ketron would be older. It wasn’t that Ketron’s appearance made him look old.
It was those eyes—those deeply sunken eyes. For a twenty-year-old to possess such eyes seemed somewhat tragic.
Augustine didn’t hide his sympathy. He clicked his tongue, “Tsk.”
“Life’s been pretty hard on you, huh? Those eyes aren’t those of a youngster.”
“…”
“Well, it’s not really my business anyway.”
With those words, he casually swung the massive wooden staff onto his shoulder. Then he wiggled his finger.
“As your elder, I’ll tell you this: come at me.”
It was clearly a provocation.
Ironically, both the intention and the action were all too familiar to Ketron. He was the one who had seen that gesture the most.
Whether from the opposite side or standing behind him.
Ketron, who had been quietly watching the provocation, picked up a stick of a suitable length, just like him.
Of course, unlike Augustine’s thick and massive weapon, his was just an ordinary stick one might find on the street, the kind young boys would be delighted to pick up.
A stick?
For a moment, Augustine wondered if he was being mocked, but he quickly raised his staff when he saw his opponent charging toward him at tremendous speed.
CRASH!
“Whoa!” Exclamations of amazement erupted from the spectators.
Augustine stepped back a few paces. It happened so quickly it was almost an ambush, but since Augustine was the one who had invited the attack, and they weren’t knights who lived and died by formality and honor, there was nothing to criticize Ketron for.
Still, he hadn’t expected him to charge in so quickly. And how could he generate such power with just a wooden stick picked up from the street?
“…Well, well, this is beyond my expectations.”
Augustine shook his hand, which was tingling from the impact, and grinned.
He had expected something, but this strength and speed perfectly met his expectations.
No, it overwhelmed him.
It had been a long time since he’d felt this way.
Augustine didn’t realize his error in not being able to recall any opponent who had given him such a feeling in the past.
This time, Augustine rushed forward. Ketron skillfully deflected the staff that surged from below to above, coming from an unexpected direction. With a loud crash, both men simultaneously jumped far away from each other.
“Oh?”
Augustine opened his eyes wide in genuine surprise and burst into laughter.
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone block that attack in one go. It was meant to be an unpredictable strike.”
Of course, no matter how good Ketron’s combat sense was, it should have been impossible to perfectly block a surprise attack from an unexpected direction.
It was just familiar to him. After all, he had seen Augustine test people like this more than once.
The two men clashed several more times.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy, large objects colliding reverberated throughout the central plaza.
Yet despite his seemingly effortless movements, Ketron gradually felt his strength waning.
The longer the sparring went on, the more they clashed… the more difficult it became.
Because of his injury?
Had his stamina decreased in the past month?
No, his body wasn’t that weak.
What was being eroded was his spirit.
“Amazing!”
The opponent who collided with him as if genuinely impressed.
His comrade who had crossed the line of death with him several times.
Had forgotten him.
Completely forgotten him, treating him as if they were meeting for the first time.
Ketron hadn’t accepted Augustine’s request for a duel thinking it would be fine. He simply couldn’t refuse.
Ketron knew well that while his body might be strong, his mind was weaker than ever before.
Had it been a mistake to accept this sparring in that state?
“Haha, it’s been so long since I’ve felt this way! Been so long? No, is this the first time?”
With each clash, each impact, it felt like his heart was breaking.
His closest friend, who had always been reliable in times of crisis, someone he never hesitated to entrust his back to, the only person he believed he could entrust Albatross to if anything happened to him.
Had forgotten him.
So completely.
As this reality—which he had only understood intellectually—now touched his skin, breathing became increasingly difficult.
He already knew.
Everyone had forgotten everything.
So why…
Before he knew it, Ketron was gasping for breath like a fish thrown onto land, beyond his control.
“…? Hey?”
Augustine, who had been about to attack after spotting an opening, flinched and froze. Something was wrong with his opponent.
With his energy completely drained and his arms limp, his opponent looked as if he had lost all will to fight.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong with you?”
Augustine stared at Ketron with a bewildered expression, as if he had no idea why his opponent was suddenly acting this way.
That made Ketron feel even more sorrowful.
Augustine, you shouldn’t be like this.
Even if everyone else forgot, you shouldn’t be like this.
Not you of all people.
Ketron felt his vision blurring. Even gritting his teeth couldn’t stop the surge of sorrow that had been building up inside.
His spirit, which had never broken through any trial or pain, revealed its vulnerable core and showed incredible weakness after the day he lost everything and fell.
Everyone had forgotten.
Even his closest friend had forgotten him.
What meaning was left in this life?
Just as the dark thoughts he had been trying to avoid since that day began to surface—
“What are you doing!”
Ketron heard a voice that had become familiar to him over the past few days without him realizing it.
* * *
“Well, perfect. The meal set is complete.”
Eddie was sitting in a chair inside the convenience store. He had finally finished creating the perfect meal composition. Trying to strip away the small details and create a simple meal turned out to be harder than expected.
“If only I could add kimchi, it would be perfect.”
Being a fermented food, it seemed difficult to establish it in the Reneva Empire through conventional means.
I’ll have to devise a solution for this.
Although Eddie was now a citizen of the Reneva Empire, his roots were Korean, and he simply couldn’t choose to give up kimchi.
After pondering for a moment, Eddie decided to set aside the kimchi issue since he had already decided to exclude it from this morning’s menu, and stretched his stiff shoulders.
Out of habit, Eddie looked around and picked up a round-packaged chocolate from the display near the convenience store entrance.
It was something he rarely bought in his previous life because it was expensive, but now that supplies were unlimited, there was no burden. It was also the perfect size to give a bite to “the kid” at home who loved sweets.
If they enjoy this, I’ll bring Dubai chocolates next time.
Eddie put the chocolate in his pocket and happily left the basement.
Then he widened his eyes seeing the empty first floor.
There wasn’t a single customer.
“Oh no.”
Even for a failing inn with terrible menu items that couldn’t attract business for breakfast or lunch, zero people was a bit much.
As Eddie was about to ask Gerold if something had happened, he noticed Gerold standing by the window, looking outside.
“Gerold, what’s going on?”
Gerold, who had been watching outside with his arms crossed, turned his gaze to Eddie, and Eddie saw him shrug.
“The uninvited guests are fighting each other.”
“…Huh?”
For Eddie, this statement was completely incomprehensible.