HRB 104

The Hero killed Marquis Rodrigo.

Everyone was talking about that story.

The Hero killed Marquis Rodrigo with the Holy Sword. Marquis Rodrigo died instantly on the spot, and the Hero is imprisoned in the Imperial Palace, awaiting trial. The temple strongly condemned the Hero, and the Emperor will not let this pass easily either.

With noble figures already being assassinated one after another, another fierce storm was brewing in the already chaotic political landscape of the Empire. A storm with a very thick scent of blood.

Everyone had the same question.

Why?

Why did the Hero do it?

Because no one knew the reason, rumors ran rampant.

“I heard there was something wrong with the Holy Sword.”

Unlike Gerold, who assists Eddie, Ebon, who contributes to information gathering and direct operations, brought some information.

“It seems like no one really knows. There’s very little information leaking out. It seems like we’ll only know anything once the trial begins.”

“I see.”

Eddie reflexively received the report, but there wasn’t much he could do. No, almost nothing.

As the Emperor said, there wasn’t much for Eddie to do anymore.

As it approached evening, about 80% of the noise from the guests filling the inn was about that story. The Hero, Marquis Rodrigo, the trial…

When Eddie first transmigrated into this world, people toasted to the Hero, but now they talk about the Hero’s crimes.

Eddie wasn’t particularly sorry about what happened to Arthur, but he couldn’t help but wonder how things had turned out this way.

Actually, Arthur aside, Ketron was what mattered to Eddie.

But Ketron didn’t seem to have much regret about it either. Ketron, who was in the inn’s backyard with the Holy Sword as if it were his designated spot, opened his mouth in a nonchalant voice.

“The Holy Sword was right.”

“What did the Holy Sword say?”

“That he might be brought down before I could bring Arthur down.”

「I told you I looked into it, didn’t I?」

The Holy Sword added from the side, as if excited. If the Holy Sword had feet, wouldn’t it be jumping up and down?

Eddie shook his head, imagining the handsome man with white hair he had seen once jumping up and down.

The Holy Sword, which had no feet, instead flapped the string attached to the end of its hilt to express its excitement.

“But why did Arthur do that?”

No matter how he looked at it, Arthur didn’t seem like the kind of character who would do such a thing. Although he only knew the character through text, Eddie couldn’t help but know that Arthur wasn’t that kind of person.

“I don’t know either, but…”

Ketron paused, choosing his words carefully.

“Arthur is greedy, but he’s not stupid. He knows exactly what benefits him. Even so, his greed is excessive, and he sometimes causes accidents.”

Eddie knew that very well. Arthur, the super-troll of 〈The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well〉. Of course, from the author’s point of view, such a character was necessary to create incidents and continue the story, so he was a necessary evil, but to the readers, he was nothing but a frustrating element.

Moreover, considering the ending of this novel, Arthur wasn’t even a necessary evil. He was just the axis of evil itself.

That greedy character blocked his own path like that? Without even an escape route?

“He must have fallen into a trap. While being greedy.”

That was Ketron’s conclusion. In the end, they both didn’t know the truth, so it was just speculation, but Ketron thought his guess wouldn’t be wrong.

「He was a greedy bastard with too much desire for what he had.」

The Holy Sword agreed.

Eddie felt uneasy, but he had no choice but to wait for Ebon to bring new information. When you think about it, this was no different from Eddie and Ketron getting rid of Arthur without suffering any losses.

The problem was that the whole incident didn’t feel natural, but artificial.

Eddie rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought for a moment. Ketron stared at him intently.

Ketron was often seized by the feeling that Eddie looked like a very, very, very well-made, splendid sculpture when he closed his mouth and was lost in thought.

Of course, he was very lively for a sculpture. Especially his lips, which were slightly smudged whenever he rested his chin on his hand, were lively and pretty.

In the end, unable to resist, Ketron naturally brought his face closer as if to kiss Eddie. It was quite a bold action because it was the deserted backyard, but Eddie reflexively raised his hand and blocked Ketron’s lips.

Seeing Ketron’s handsome face instantly become dissatisfied, Eddie awkwardly turned his head.

“The Holy Sword is watching.”

“What does it matter now?”

It wasn’t the first time they had kissed in front of the Holy Sword, but that was when they weren’t even aware that the Holy Sword was nearby, and now it felt a bit strange to kiss when they clearly knew it was there.

In the end, Eddie quietly whispered.

“I’ll do it tonight.”

“……”

Ketron’s expression softened at those words.

…But at this point, isn’t pushing Ketron away meaningless? It’s as if we’re dating. Whenever we’re alone like this, he’s constantly trying to kiss me.

Eddie’s expression changed strangely at the belated realization.

This is very… if there’s a bed nearby and the opportunity arises…

「What? You guys were trying to do ‘that’ again!」

Just as Eddie was thinking that wouldn’t do, the Holy Sword jumped up and shouted in a different sense.

“No, we didn’t.”

「You were going to!」

I said no, didn’t we? Eddie denied once again and moved inside the inn with Ketron. Ketron briefly left to put the Holy Sword back in the room, the Holy Sword jumped up, saying, “Are you daring to silence me?” and Eddie, who had returned to the counter and was looking around to see if there was anything to do, suddenly saw a guest opening the door of the inn and entering.

“Welcome.”

Eddie greeted with a smiling face as always, and his eyes met with that person.

A woman with short black hair and green eyes.

…She’s pretty, definitely noticeably so.

She was a person whose strikingly pretty appearance naturally drew attention. In contrast, her cold-looking face was distinctive, and her appearance didn’t feel like that of a commoner.

But she wasn’t wearing a dress like a typical noble lady, nor did she have attendants, so Eddie tilted his head. It wasn’t that there were no noble guests at the inn at all, so it wasn’t surprising that a noble lady had come, but somehow her eyes and such felt hazy, which felt strange.

In front of Eddie, who was staring intently, she slowly raised her hand and snapped her fingers!

Then a strange thing happened.

The inn guests, who had been chatting and eating busily, all stood up from their seats. The sound of chairs scraping and banging echoed loudly inside the inn.

Then suddenly, all those people started running out of the inn.

“Huh?”

Sebastian, who had been serving busily during the busy dinner hours, made a dumbfounded sound.

“What’s going on?”

Eddie also looked around in surprise. Whether those people had paid or not wasn’t important. He couldn’t understand what was happening at all.

What was even more frightening was that all the lodgers on the second floor, without exception, had also run out of the inn.

The sight looked quite grotesque.

As people suddenly poured out of the inn, people strolling through the central square screamed in surprise, causing a commotion.

Eddie felt goosebumps all over his body for some reason.

In an instant, the inn was empty. Except for the people who had settled down and lived here.

“Eddie!”

“Eddie!”

Gerold and Ebon, who had been in the kitchen, rushed out, sensing something was wrong, and Ketron, who had gone up to the second floor to put the Holy Sword back, came down to the first floor again with the Holy Sword still in his hand.

“Boram?”

Eddie belatedly realized that her appearance was exactly the same as Boram Evans, who was described in the novel, at Ketron’s surprised murmur after confirming the woman’s face.

Boram Evans.

The precious daughter of Marquis Evans’ family.

She was born with outstanding mana even in the Evans family, a powerful family of Magicians, and she was the most outstanding genius among combat Magicians, learning Sorcery focused on powerful destruction Sorcery.

She was a noble lady from a great noble family, but she joined the Hero’s party in the early to mid-stages to test her limits.

If Augustine was a good companion to Ketron as a warrior, Boram created a good synergy effect with Ketron through Sorcery.

She was also one of the two major heroines in 〈The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well〉, who was called a fake heroine. That was in the past, but now she is a traitor who betrayed Ketron along with Arthur.

That Boram had finally come to Eddie’s Inn.

In an unexpected way.

Ketron stood in front of Eddie.

Ebon stood right next to Eddie, and surprisingly, Gerold immediately took care of Sebastian first and hid him behind him.

“Huh?”

Sebastian, who was staring at Boram with a dumbfounded face, looked surprised as he saw Gerold blocking his way, but Gerold didn’t even look back.

“Why did Boram Evans come here?”

Gerold, who knew Boram’s face to some extent as a member of the same family of Magicians, asked Ketron with his eyes what was going on, but Ketron had no words to answer. Because even he couldn’t figure out why Boram had suddenly come.

No, even if she did come, he never thought it would be like this.

In the midst of Ketron and Boram facing each other, Boram did not react at all to Ketron looking at her and folded her hands.

As he had spent a long time with Boram, Ketron knew very well what that signal meant.

That was the hand gesture she made when she used the mana she had accumulated inside for years.

That was a very ominous sign.