HRB 16

“What’s this, Innkeeper? A hidden lover?”

These were the first words from the vegetable vendor at the market upon seeing them. Eddie blinked for a moment, not immediately understanding.

Then he belatedly realized that “innkeeper” meant the vendor recognized Eddie as the proprietor of the inn, and “hidden lover” referred to Ketron, whose sleeve Eddie had been holding onto the entire time.

Though inwardly flustered, Eddie replied with a composed smile.

“If he were my lover, why would I hide him? He’s so handsome.”

“Well, he is handsome, but that fella’s got a scary aura. Isn’t that why?”

“Come on, that’s not it.”

Eddie denied it first.

“He’s incredibly kind.”

Indeed, what a righteous and kind protagonist he is.

Ketron, who had become the main subject of their conversation while standing right there, looked incredulously at the casual banter between the two people, but neither paid any attention to his reaction. They both knew it was just a joke anyway.

Of course, even as a joke, it had some truth to it. The nickname of Irena, the capital of the Reneba Empire, was “City of Pleasure.” Here, no one cared about such boundaries. Even nobles openly kept male lovers, according to the setting.

In fact, wasn’t there an episode related to a nobleman’s male lover in the original “The Hero Who Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well”?

It wasn’t directly shown, but there was an episode where the hero’s party rescued a handsome commoner whom an arrogant noble had tried to forcibly take to his castle simply because he liked him.

It was a memorable episode where Augustine of Divine Power, who was particularly devout, shed his usual jovial demeanor and transformed into a demon of justice to punish that nobleman.

Well, anyway.

“Could you give me a little discount on the cabbage?”

“Hey now, this premium cabbage at that price is already a steal!”

The vegetable vendor firmly refused to give a discount, but when Eddie leaned in close and whispered something, the vendor was instantly disarmed.

“Mister, you took two banana milks last time, didn’t you?”

“…H-how did you know that!”

“I know everything.”

In truth, Eddie had simply asked Gerold to quietly report anyone who took more than two, but he played it quietly.

The vendor cleared his throat.

“I wanted to give one each to my daughter and son…”

“Oh, I understand. You want to give the tasty things to your kids first. …So about that cabbage?”

How could the vendor not yield to that? He slumped in defeat.

“I’ll give you a discount…”

After that, Eddie moved freely throughout the market.

Once he got over the initial difficulty of going out, Eddie skillfully negotiated prices and bought whatever caught his interest.

Since it was a market, most food items were inexpensive, making this behavior possible even with his still lightweight purse.

“Huh?”

Just then, Eddie spotted a snack stall. In particular, where many children had gathered, they were selling fluffy candy on sticks that reminded him of cotton candy from where he used to live.

Eddie approached as if entranced.

“Welcome!”

“Mister, what flavors do you have?”

“Hmm, we have almost all fruit flavors!”

But I don’t know the fruits here well.

In this world, there were fruits that actually existed in the world he lived in, fruits that existed in reality but didn’t exist here—like bananas—and fruits that only existed here, so it wasn’t easy to choose.

Unfortunately, all the ones being sold were fruits Eddie didn’t know. Reluctantly, he chose the most appetizing-looking yellow stick candy.

“Then I’ll take this one. Tatatiti?”

“Great~ Just wait a moment!”

The vendor skillfully took a stick and began creating the fluffy candy. In an instant, the swollen yellow candy grew larger than Eddie’s face.

After paying, Eddie returned to Ketron with a confident stride and extended the stick candy to him with a bright face.

“…?”

Perhaps due to a communication error, Ketron frowned as if wondering why this was being given to him.

Geez, this guy doesn’t seem very perceptive either.

Unaware that he was being assessed this way by Eddie, the self-proclaimed embodiment of obliviousness, Ketron looked puzzled as Eddie said:

“Eat it.”

“…Why should I?”

“Ket, you like sweet things, don’t you?”

As if doing him a favor, as if it were obvious, Eddie pushed the candy almost into Ketron’s face, causing him to reluctantly take it.

When Eddie was holding it, it looked somewhat normal, but in Ketron’s hands, it really looked like a children’s toy.

“I don’t like this sort of thing.”

Ketron said seriously, trying to hand the candy back to Eddie, but Eddie had no intention of taking it. Instead, he opened his eyes wide as if he’d heard something absurd.

“Ket, stop pretending when you’re crazy about sweets. Are you embarrassed?”

“No, really—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Adults can like sweets too.”

Eddie looked at Ketron with an affectionate gaze as if telling him not to be embarrassed, and gently patted his head.

Ketron froze like a stone. Not only was Eddie’s attitude problematic, acting as if he knew everything, but being patted on the head like this was something he couldn’t get used to. Especially while holding a fluffy stick candy he had never eaten in his life.

“Mom, buy me one of those too!”

He heard a passing child whining to their mother, pointing at the stick candy in Ketron’s hand.

Ketron realized he had only two options: throw away what he was holding, or quickly eat it.

He chose the latter. He practically inhaled the candy, gulping it down in one go, while Eddie watched him with an extremely pleased expression.

“…”

Ketron felt as if he really were a child. It wasn’t just his imagination. Next to him was a man who treated him in a way he had never experienced in his entire life.

As if he were truly nothing but an ordinary child.

Ketron suddenly became curious about the man’s age. In fact, besides knowing that his name was Eddie and that he was the owner of Eddie’s Inn, he didn’t know much else about him.

“…You.”

“Hmm?”

Ketron hesitated for a moment before asking Eddie, who was busy scanning their surroundings for his next target.

“How old are you?”

“Huh?”

Eddie turned his head, looking surprised, as if he had heard something completely unexpected.

It was the first personal question Ketron had ever asked him. Eddie felt as if he had just witnessed a tightly closed door opening ever so slightly.

After a moment of blank staring, Eddie’s face brightened.

“Twenty-four.”

Huh? How do I know that I’m 24?

Despite answering reflexively, Eddie wondered about this to himself.

His original age was twenty-eight, much older than Ketron, who was only twenty. However, in this world, Eddie was twenty-four, unlike the former Jung-hoon.

From his perspective, this body was also fresh and young… but as a character who had never appeared in the original work, there wasn’t much information he knew about himself. The fact that he had blurted out the answer reflexively suggested it was information instinctively imprinted in his mind.

Eddie nodded to himself, understanding on his own.

Unlike Eddie’s self-acceptance, Ketron’s face wrinkled in displeasure.

“…There’s barely an age difference. But treating me like a child.”

Eddie tilted his head at the mumbled complaint.

“Huh? What did you say?”

Though Eddie asked because he hadn’t heard clearly, Ketron didn’t respond to the question. Instead, he quietly reached out and took the packages Eddie had been carrying.

“I’ll carry these.”

Since his arms were starting to get heavy, Eddie didn’t refuse the offer.

What a truly kind and gentle guy.

“Would you? Thanks.”

Eddie barely restrained himself from patting Ketron’s head again. Even for him, twice in one day would be too much. With the intention of doing it someday, Eddie endured the moment.

Although Ketron had also come along as a bodyguard, Eddie was glad he could go out with him.

Neither of them could stay cooped up in the inn forever.

Well, now that we’re out, it’s not such a big deal after all.

Eddie privately boasted to himself. Although he claimed it wasn’t a big deal, if another opportunity arose, he doubted he could confidently go out without Ketron.

In other words, he could be this bold right now only because reliable Ketron was by his side. He felt like a herbivore with a tiger on his back.

As their shopping continued, the load in Ketron’s hands grew. Eventually, even with Eddie carrying some of it, there wasn’t enough hand space, and he was considering whether to buy a cart to load their purchases.

Suddenly, the surroundings became noisy.

“…?”

People around them began to murmur, and there seemed to be a crowd gathering in one direction.

From what people were saying, Eddie soon realized the reason.

“I heard Saint Laila is visiting the hospital ward for relief activities!”

“Do you think we could receive her blessing if we got close?”

At that sound, Eddie froze on the spot without realizing it, and then glanced at Ketron.

Ketron, who must have heard the sound more clearly than Eddie, had an expressionless face that made it impossible to know what he was thinking.