By the time Isaac and Oliver returned to Eddie’s inn after completing their tour, it was evening with the sun starting to set beyond the western mountains.
Isaac, in good spirits after finishing a fairly successful tour despite their terrible condition in the morning, expressed his only regret about the trip.
“I heard the Hero himself will be participating in the tournament this time. It’s too bad we’ll miss it.”
“Yeah… if we had known, we should have planned a longer stay.”
The two had just recently heard news about a warriors’ tournament where the Hero would personally participate in about two weeks. The timing was quite unfortunate. The two would soon be leaving the Empire to return home.
Still, if they had to choose between the parade and the tournament, it would be the parade, and they had enjoyed that magnificent parade to the fullest, so there wasn’t much to regret. With souvenir-filled hands, the two arrived at Eddie’s inn without delay.
When they arrived, unlike the morning, the inn was quite full of guests.
Among the many people clinking glasses here and there, about half seemed to be tourists like themselves.
One peculiar thing was the unusually long line in front of the bathroom. Looking curiously at people crossing their legs and sweating profusely, Isaac and Oliver found empty seats and sat down.
“Those breakfast menu items must have been morning-only.”
“Yeah, they’re not selling them now.”
The menu on the wall included potatoes, fried fish, fruit, beer, and an unfamiliar item called Fire Chicken Noodles.
The others made sense, but what was Fire Chicken Noodles?
Wondering, Isaac looked around and spotted red food on some tables.
‘Is that the noodle dish?’
“Ah,” Oliver said as if remembering something. “Come to think of it, I’ve heard of it. Fire Chicken Noodles is supposedly a specialty here.”
“A specialty?”
“Yeah, but I heard it’s incredibly spicy.”
Isaac snickered. While the Empire didn’t have many spicy foods, those that were supposedly spicy were all about the same level. He boldly declared:
“Oh please, how spicy could it be?”
Those words sealed their fate.
The two raised their hands to order, and just as Isaac had predicted in the morning, the cold-looking man seemed busy, so the innkeeper approached to take their order. Oliver secretly rejoiced.
“Are you two feeling better?”
The innkeeper was friendly. Remembering them and kindly asking about their condition, Oliver responded enthusiastically with a slightly flushed face.
“Yes, that hangover remedy you gave us worked wonderfully!”
“Ah, good.”
Looking at the gently smiling face, Oliver gathered all his non-existent courage and asked,
“Are you Eddie by any chance?”
It wasn’t a difficult deduction, considering the inn was called “Eddie’s Inn.” The innkeeper, Eddie, nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. Not very creative, is it?”
Honestly, it wasn’t.
But he couldn’t say that out loud. Oliver exaggeratedly waved his hands, insisting it wasn’t so.
They ordered beer along with snacks including the Fire Chicken Noodles. Eager to speak more with Eddie, Oliver fidgeted anxiously and ended up ordering additional fried fish and assorted fruits.
Eddie smiled brightly at the generous order, said “Please wait a moment,” and walked away.
As Oliver was gazing at the departing Eddie with deep eyes, and Isaac was looking curiously at nearby people who screamed “ARGHH!” while eating their snacks, Oliver noticed Eddie, who had been checking the ledger, suddenly looked toward the stairs and smiled radiantly.
The innkeeper’s face, which Oliver had observed over the past few days, always had a subtle smile, but this was the first time he had seen such a bright, blooming smile.
“Ket.”
Hearing what was unmistakably a nickname, Oliver’s gaze quickly turned to the direction Eddie was looking.
He saw a large figure coming down the stairs.
Oliver noticed that the moment the man reached the first floor, the noisy chatter briefly went silent.
Although it quickly became loud again, that short silence was felt by everyone in the inn.
The man who appeared was not only large but also possessed a strange, intimidating presence that raised goosebumps on one’s skin.
With black hair and eyes, and dressed in black to match, he couldn’t fully conceal his well-trained, massive physique.
A knight? No, with such a rough impression, he seemed closer to a mercenary.
“That guy’s quite handsome…” muttered Isaac, sipping beer in the seat next to Oliver. But Oliver was too distracted to agree with Isaac’s comment because the man immediately approached Eddie.
However, Eddie seemed completely unaffected by the man’s intimidating presence. He looked affectionately at the approaching man and reached out to brush back his disheveled bangs.
With an extremely tender touch.
“Are you feeling better?”
The man, briefly receiving Eddie’s touch, nodded obediently and replied,
“Yes.”
His voice was incredibly deep. Even though he wasn’t saying anything threatening, Oliver felt goosebumps rise and moved closer to Isaac.
At that moment, food came out from the kitchen. Plates of snacks and two glasses of beer.
After looking at the plates and beer glasses for a moment, Eddie smiled and suggested to the man,
“Since you’re here, could you help with serving just once?”
As the menu was identical to what he had ordered, Oliver repeatedly thought ‘No way’ to himself. But Eddie pointed toward Oliver and Isaac, indicating that’s where they should be served.
Oliver and Isaac screamed internally.
The man’s gaze naturally turned toward Isaac and Oliver.
The two involuntarily flinched. His eyes were too frightening.
“Ah, take this to them too.”
Eddie rummaged through a box near the entrance and pulled out the same hangover remedy from before.
Noticing Isaac and Oliver’s gaze, he explained with a smile,
“It’s good to drink this before drinking alcohol too.”
“Ah, haha. Yes…”
Isaac forced a smile, raising the corners of his mouth.
Eddie’s kindness was deeply appreciated, but having that man serve them was a bit…!
However, unaware of their concerns, Eddie handed the tray to the man, who casually took it and approached the two.
Despite the tray being quite heavy with two substantial beer glasses and several plates, the man effortlessly carried it with one hand and set down the beer glasses, plates of snacks, and the hangover remedy in front of Isaac and Oliver.
During this time, the two could barely breathe properly. As he came closer, his unique presence and intimidating aura made their flesh tremble.
What is he, exactly? Is he an employee too? Why is someone like this working at an inn? What kind of place is this anyway?
Oliver’s mind whirled in cognitive dissonance.
The man’s gaze lingered briefly on the complimentary hangover remedy, and he clicked his tongue.
It was clear he disapproved of something, causing the two to freeze completely.
However, the man didn’t seem inclined to say anything to them and simply returned to Eddie after serving the items.
Only then did the two finally breathe deeply and slump in their seats.
“Well done!”
Strictly speaking, he had only completed a basic serving task, and it was a terrible service without even the common greeting of “Enjoy your meal,” but Eddie praised the man generously. He even reached out and stroked his hair.
“Urgh.”
Oliver bit his lips, overcome with jealousy, while Isaac shook his head with a sigh.
As if his insides were burning, Oliver gulped down the cool beer. Of course, even in the midst of that, his ears were wide open towards Eddie.
They heard the man who had returned to Eddie speak in a low voice. Despite the noisy inn, his deep voice stood out clearly.
“Are you planning to pick them up too?”
Eddie’s eyes widened at those words, as if asking what he meant. When the man mumbled “Service,” Eddie seemed to understand and smiled with curved eyes.
“Ahaha.”
Eddie laughed as if genuinely amused. Seeing those beautiful purple eyes curve pleasantly, Oliver unconsciously lost himself.
“No? I think the only big cat I’ll ever pick up in my life is you.”
Big cat? Wait a minute.
Looking at the man with such an affectionate gaze while saying those words, Oliver realized something he had missed.
That the name “Ket” Eddie had called earlier was this man’s nickname.
Oliver unconsciously turned to Isaac beside him. Isaac, also belatedly understanding the nickname, had his mouth open in shock before meeting Oliver’s eyes.
Ket?
Ket?
Both were so flabbergasted by the nickname that they could only mouth their disbelief without making a sound.
How could such a cute nickname like “Ket” suit that man!
Whether the two were shocked or not, the conversation between Eddie and “Ket” continued to reach their attentive ears.
It was then that they heard something shocking.
“I called you baby, baby, but you’re really becoming a baby these days. A few days ago, you even came to my bed.”
Gasp!
Oliver unconsciously raised his hand to cover his mouth. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“That’s…”
“Hmm? Am I wrong?”
‘Ket’ briefly opened his mouth as if to deny it but couldn’t refute when asked if it was wrong.
Oliver, a pure bachelor, turned bright red.
How could they have such embarrassing conversations in broad daylight—well, evening, but still! In a place where everyone could hear!
Oblivious to Oliver’s inner turmoil, the two continued their conversation.
“Even though I told you to sleep in my bed, you refused.”
Goodness! Apparently, Oliver’s ideal type was someone rather forward.
The man, who had been quietly listening to Eddie’s words, answered with a small sigh,
“If I did that, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for you?”
It was so narrow.
At that point, Oliver unknowingly raised his hands to cover his ears tightly. Goodness, goodness, how could they have such an explicit conversation so casually in such a public place…!
Isaac, who had unintentionally been listening intently to their conversation like Oliver, sighed deeply.
“Hey, Oliver…”
He was about to say “you need to give up,” but when he turned to look, Oliver was already covering his mouth and tearing up like the protagonist of a tragedy.
“Why does my love always turn out like this…!”
“…”
I told you he was out of your league.
With another sigh, Isaac picked up his beer glass. Despite his teary state, Oliver couldn’t miss the toast and raised his glass, and the two immediately downed their beers in one shot.
Feeling empty inside, Isaac was about to reach for the snacks when he unconsciously frowned at the spicy scent that hit his nose.
“Hey, are these snacks really okay?”
The spicy smell had been present since they entered the inn, so his nose had become accustomed to it, but now he noticed the noodle dish they ordered was emanating an intense spicy aroma.
It was an insanely spicy smell, as if mocking Isaac who had said, “How spicy could it be?”
“Sniff.”
But perhaps deaf to Isaac’s voice due to the shock of his heartbreak, Oliver was seen twirling the noodles with his fork while tears streamed down his face.
Before Isaac could stop him with a “Wait,” Oliver had lifted a thick bundle of noodles and put the Fire Chicken Noodles in his mouth without noticing how spicy it was, and soon after, like others around them, he was breathing fire with a loud “ARGHH!”
Oliver joined the people queuing in front of the bathroom, crossing their legs, immediately afterward.
The next day.
As the two were packing to leave, Eddie handed them a jar of yellow milk.
“This is a service from our inn.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Before Oliver could do something impulsive with his deep gaze, Isaac quickly accepted the milk and dragged Oliver out.
“Come again.”
After glancing at Eddie’s farewell, they stepped outside and noticed a flyer posted on the inn’s door that they hadn’t paid attention to before.
[Eddie’s Inn, Now Hiring!]
“Looks like they’re… recruiting staff.”
Oliver gazed wistfully at the flyer posted on Eddie’s Inn, with a face like someone who had been dumped by a boyfriend just the day before yesterday.
Isaac looked at Oliver with uneasy eyes and said firmly,
“Hey, you know that’s not possible, right?”
They were tourists. Legally, to stay in the Empire for more than a month, they needed permission from the Empire.
Fortunately, Oliver didn’t seem to have lost his mind to that extent. He just murmured wistfully:
“Whoever it is, I really envy the person who’ll become the new employee.”
Isaac made a weary face. He couldn’t tell how long the aftereffects of this unrequited love would torment him.
And that ‘really enviable person’ came to Eddie’s Inn after another week had passed.