HRB 111

111 .

For a while, Eddie spent his time in peace.

Since the inn had completely collapsed, he naturally had nothing to do and had unintentionally become unemployed.

Gerold, whose domain had merely shifted from the inn to the mansion, was still handling all sorts of household chores on his own, but Eddie no longer had any ledgers to organize, nor did he need to fetch items from the convenience store.

The problematic creaking sound was also no longer audible, so on the surface, it could be said to appear quite peaceful.

Even though the outside of the mansion they were staying in seemed to have turned into a hellscape, as if the end of humanity had arrived.

But Eddie’s world was peaceful, like a world perfectly sealed off from the hellscape outside. There was nothing particularly special happening.

Or was there?

He was a little bothered by the atmosphere between Sebastian and Gerold, which had become quite peculiar since that day.

In fact, since the inn was gone, Sebastian also had nothing to do, and Eddie had intended to let him stay at his family’s home if he wished, even offering him paid leave until the inn was rebuilt, but Sebastian shook his head.

“What kind of things would those two get up to without me?”

With words like that.

What was the probability that ‘those two’ were Gerold and Ebon?

After that, Sebastian began to follow Gerold around conspicuously. Ostensibly, he claimed he was there to help Gerold with his work, but in reality, how much physical assistance could he offer Gerold, who handled all matters, big or small, with sorcery?

In essence, he was just sticking to him like a remora.

“Are you crazy?”

Gerold, who had initially tolerated Sebastian’s behavior, eventually uttered such harsh words after it continued for several days.

“I’m not crazy.”

As they stared intently at each other, their appearance… it might sound a bit odd to say, but it made one crave popcorn. And cola.

While thinking if he should go fetch them from the convenience store, Eddie chose to disappear from the spot with a moonwalk whenever the two exuded a strange aura.

He wasn’t so shameless as to eavesdrop on someone else’s romance.

Besides, his own situation in that regard was dire.

It was because of Ketron, who now openly expressed his affection without regard for onlookers.

When Marquis Rivalt offered to send servants from the mansion, Eddie thought it was fortunate he had refused, as they would have been more of a nuisance than anything, given that Gerold’s sorcery had made them unnecessary even when they were at the inn. Ketron, in particular, no longer cared about appearances.

It was as if he wondered how he had held back for so long.

Of course, thinking back, he hadn’t really held back that much before either, but while there were many people at the inn, he couldn’t cling to someone so carelessly, so there was a certain boundary. The problem here was that such boundaries had cleanly disappeared.

Unlike the inn, there were fewer eyes on them here, and even when eyes did fall upon them, everyone seemed to know what kind of relationship they had, leading to bolder displays of affection.

No, more than that, setting Sebastian aside, when did Gerold and Ebon even meet? Why aren’t they surprised? Was I the only one who was oblivious?

Of course, that didn’t mean Eddie was dissatisfied with the situation.

Dissatisfied? If anything, he was pleased.

“Eddie.”

Seeing the famously stoic Hero melt away as he called his name was a pleasant sight, even setting aside Eddie’s infatuation with Ketron.

After all, how could one dislike such a handsome man looking at him with an expression of utter adoration?

Kissing, sleeping in the same bed, they gradually crossed lines, and so, day by day, time passed.

The outside seemed chaotic, but Gerold and Ebon, who were busy moving about, didn’t bother to relay news to Eddie.

Of course, if he asked, they were people who would tell him everything without hiding it, but Eddie himself didn’t particularly inquire about the outside situation. He felt it would only lead to frustrating stories.

Yet, even so, the stories that reached Eddie were these:

The voices of people insisting that the Hero must step forward again and defeat the Demon King.

“Hah.”

Naturally, as soon as he heard those words, Eddie couldn’t suppress his rising irritation.

They had forgotten everything, and now they wanted him to fulfill his duty as the Hero?

After already suffering severe injuries and ultimately losing everything during his previous campaign with his companions, was Ketron now expected to fight for humanity again?

For humanity that had forgotten him all this time?

Of course, even setting aside such reasons, Eddie wished for Ketron not to step forward to defeat the Demon King.

Eddie knew it wasn’t the fault of the people of this world, but everyone would feel the same way about wanting to sacrifice the person they loved on a path that could lead to death.

The person they loved.

“…….”

Recalling the feelings he had now fully acknowledged, Eddie’s heart thumped pleasantly.

My Hero, my protagonist.

The person I love.

If it weren’t for the awareness that this was a moment requiring caution due to the current situation, which was far from safe and had deviated greatly from the desired second-part ending of the story, he probably wouldn’t have been able to resist broadcasting it to the entire neighborhood.

“Haaah.”

Lost in thought, Eddie leaned back against the wall with a deep sigh and slumped down.

With nothing to do, he found himself thinking constantly. And thoughts alone in such a situation tended to drift towards the negative.

How would this ‘story’ unfold? The terrifying creaking sound that had seemed on the verge of causing something to happen at any moment no longer bothered Eddie… but perhaps that was even more ominous.

The world had become completely quiet, the Demon King had returned contrary to the planned ending, and the world’s memories had returned along with him.

Considering the ending of the second part, he might have returned in a different way or not at all, but if it turned out like this…

What would happen to this world now?

How would the story unfold?

Although no noise related to the story had bothered Eddie lately, it was by no means a stage where he could feel at ease, so Eddie found himself unable to sleep many nights, lost in various thoughts.

Of course, the problem was that nothing changed even if he thought about it. That was the biggest problem. The inability to do anything.

The world urged the Hero to return, time dragged on, and he was powerless to do anything.

All he possessed was the convenience store that kept following him.

“Is this like a barnacle or something?”

As if Eddie’s location was its own, a convenience store naturally appeared in the basement of the newly settled mansion.

Originally, the mansion’s basement was said to have an empty wine cellar, but from the moment Eddie stayed there, that space had naturally transformed into a convenience store.

As Eddie calmly began to retrieve items from inside again, Gerold watched him with a peculiar expression, while Ebon’s eyes sparkled like a crow that had discovered a jewel.

Eddie had deferred explaining the existence of the convenience store, saying ‘I’ll explain later,’ but Ebon, whenever he saw Eddie, would sparkle his eyes and pester him to take him to the convenience store again.

He had already visited the basement of Eddie’s collapsed inn but couldn’t find it.

Ebon, who loved novelties, apparently had a hobby of collecting various things. To him, the convenience store must have felt like an amusement park.

‘It will take some time.’

Eddie had no choice but to appease Ebon with those words.

The flow of the story had already become complicated due to deviating entirely from the plan, and if he tried to explain and make others understand the existence of the convenience store, he didn’t know what kind of retribution from the story he might face.

Even though Eddie’s refusal to explain anything might have seemed unreasonable, Gerold and Ebon didn’t show any hint of disappointment.

Perhaps it was because they were characters he had created, acting as if Eddie’s existence was absolute.

They seemed to remember his words about getting along well with Ketron, as they were making efforts to improve their relationship with Ketron, albeit with some creaking, which was a relief.

In that regard, he felt quite pleased.

Thus, the mansion in the capital where Eddie resided was functioning, albeit with some minor creaks, reasonably well.

But it was not so outside the mansion.

“The words ‘What is the Hero doing?’ have finally come up in the National Assembly meeting.”

Marquis Rivalt arrived, looking as if he had aged several years in just a few days.

“There were also calls to release Boram and form a party to defeat the Demon King. Of course, that is a preposterous idea that even Marquis Evans cannot agree with.”

The empire’s political situation seemed to be deteriorating day by day.

In fact, it wasn’t just the empire’s problem, but it was said that only the empire possessed the national strength to handle the Demon King.

Perhaps that was a matter of the novel’s setting. 〈The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power〉 was, after all, a novel set in the empire with characters from the empire, so other countries were not highlighted.

In fact, in the case of fictional worlds, settings that were not focused on often didn’t exist at all, didn’t they?

The reason the history page of the empire was filled in real-time when Eddie first visited the National Library was probably for this reason.

For the same reason, there were no great figures among the characters outside the empire. Naturally, there was no way for great figures to appear in a background that was not highlighted, so it was difficult to expect other individuals to replace the Hero’s party at this point.

“So, in the end, is it a situation where Ketron must step forward?”

When Eddie asked, Marquis Rivalt hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“I know it’s an impudent thing to say, but yes.”