“…”
After briefly watching the man who had buried his face in his shoulder, Eddie looked at Ketron’s ears, still cold from being outside for so long, and reached out to touch them.
Ketron, who had been quietly resting his head on Eddie’s shoulder, flinched.
“Your ears are cold.”
The tips of his ears were cold, probably because he had been outside for too long in the cold. When Eddie took Ketron’s cold ears in his hands and gently massaged them, Ketron lifted his head from Eddie’s shoulder.
The crying had completely stopped, but his face was even more expressionless than usual. Eddie quietly looked at that face and asked what must have been the umpteenth time:
“Ket, are you okay?”
Ketron silently rested his cheek on Eddie’s shoulder. Since the tears had stopped, he seemed to be feeling at least somewhat better than before.
After watching him quietly for a moment, Eddie asked:
“Why did you suddenly agree to the duel?”
“…”
“Never mind, don’t say anything.”
What did the reason for the duel matter anyway? What was important now was that Ketron had been hurt again in Eddie’s absence.
Although anger welled up inside him again, Eddie managed to suppress the emotion, thinking that wasn’t what was important right now. This wasn’t the time to get angry or irritated over personal feelings.
“…”
Eddie quietly looked at the face right in front of him.
The eyelashes visible up close were still moist. The tips of his ears were red, his cheeks flushed…
Eddie belatedly realized that they were much too close to each other. If he could count the water droplets on his eyelashes, they were definitely too close. Startled by feeling Ketron’s breath right in front of his face, Eddie hastily got up.
Fortunately, this time Ketron willingly released Eddie from his embrace.
“I, I brought something for our Ket.”
Trying to change the subject as naturally as possible, Eddie retrieved the plate he had placed on the bedside table.
Fortunately, the food was still warm. It was a round, purplish bread-like snack.
Sweet potato steamed bun.
Among various steamed buns, it was Eddie’s favorite. And it was also a snack that Ketron, who liked sweet things, wouldn’t dislike.
Normally, Eddie would have made a fuss about what kind of food this was, how sweet it was, and how our Ket who loves sweet things would enjoy it, but somehow that felt difficult unlike usual, so Eddie just held the plate and looked at Ketron.
Looking at Ketron sitting quietly on the bed watching him, Eddie belatedly realized there wasn’t really a suitable place for him to sit.
I should bring a table and chairs to this room too.
Having gained this small insight, Eddie deliberately ignored the position he had just been sitting in and cut the warm steamed bun in half.
“Ah, I was planning to save this for winter.”
He had taken it out in this ambiguous weather, not quite winter yet.
Red bean steamed bun, vegetable steamed bun, milk steamed bun, pizza steamed bun… sweet potato steamed bun. The variations were so diverse.
If Eddie had realized anything while taking out this steamed bun, it was that his convenience store also added seasonal items automatically.
If that’s the case, would cold noodles be added in summer?
With a slight smile, Eddie naturally offered the halved steamed bun to Ketron and, after wondering where to sit, crouched down in front of him. Ketron reflexively accepted the half of the sweet potato bun offered to him.
The rich, sweet aroma filling the room wasn’t unpleasant.
“Feeling a bit better?”
Nod, nod. Ketron nodded his head. At least he seemed able to express himself to that extent.
Realizing that he hadn’t regressed to the silent protest level of the first day, Eddie finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
“Let’s rest a bit after eating that.”
Nod, nod.
“You can even take a nap if you want.”
With those words, Eddie naturally put his portion of the sweet potato bun in his mouth. The familiar sweetness spreading throughout his mouth was blissful.
However, the problem was that foods containing sweet potato tend to make your throat feel clogged as you eat them. After briefly checking on Ketron and seeing that although his mood was still somewhat down, he seemed to be calming down, Eddie decided to get something to drink.
“Hmm, I’ll get some milk, wait a moment.”
As Eddie tried to stand up from his crouched position by pushing off Ketron’s thigh, he suddenly pulled his hand away in alarm.
He had remembered the solid presence that had been beneath his buttocks earlier. He had almost pressed his hand against it.
…That size definitely isn’t a child’s.
Eddie, who finally understood to some extent what Ketron usually claimed, got up on his own by supporting himself on his knees and went out the door.
“Phew.”
His heart was racing as if he’d just run a hundred meters.
Of course, it wasn’t because of Ketron’s private parts, but because of the shocking events that had occurred during that brief time he had been away.
After stepping outside the door, Eddie stood for a moment trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
Although he’d been too preoccupied with Ketron’s condition to think clearly, the visitor had been none other than Augustine.
The person who could be called Ketron’s only true friend in the original story, and who might still maintain a close relationship with the traitor Arthur and his group.
Who would have thought Augustine would come here. …Does he know about Arthur and Boram?
No, the probability of Augustine being used by the two was low. So Ketron probably hadn’t been discovered yet.
Although Augustine was a character who laughed easily, was generous, and sometimes acted as if he didn’t think too deeply, he was quite the strategist.
A man whose thoughts behind his smile were unknowable. That was Augustine’s character.
If Augustine became interested in this place, perhaps Arthur or Boram might notice as well. A chaotic scenario flashed through Eddie’s mind where Arthur, Boram, and Augustine all visited the inn at the same time.
Eddie shook his head with a shudder as if unable to forgive himself for such a terrible imagination.
“Sigh.”
Though he was worried, it wasn’t something that Eddie, a mere innkeeper, could prevent, and it was hard to imagine those three people visiting the inn at the same time.
While having a convenience store was an amazing possession benefit, it would have been nice to have something else too. If his status had at least been that of nobility, he might not have felt this vague sense of helplessness.
“…”
Eddie quietly brushed up his bangs.
No, this ‘Eddie’s’ face was surely noble enough. If someone with such a splendid face was a commoner, then the nobles who left such a face alone would be even stranger. In this world, social class was everything.
Since that wasn’t the most important thing right now, Eddie sighed deeply, patted his shoulder, and headed down the stairs.
Or rather, he tried to.
Eddie came face to face with Gerold, who was standing in the middle of the staircase.
It looked as if Gerold had been waiting for Eddie. Eddie reflexively smiled.
“Ah, Gerold. Thanks for bringing the towel so quickly despite my sudden request.”
Eddie greeted him with a smile. But Gerold didn’t just nod and move on as usual.
“…?”
Something about Gerold’s demeanor seemed unusual. As Eddie looked at him quizzically, Gerold approached him closely.
His indifferent, cold face was the same as always, but somehow it felt different from usual.
Until then, Eddie had thought Gerold was going to express his dissatisfaction with Ketron because of the commotion outside.
Gerold leaned close to Eddie’s ear and whispered in a small voice. And his words were something Eddie could never have imagined.
“A message has arrived from E.”
Eddie’s expression hardened.
E?
An unknown name. No, it wasn’t even a name to begin with. If anything, it might be a code name or something like that.
It seemed that while Eddie was bringing Ketron into the inn amid the chaos and comforting him, something had arrived for Gerold.
Things are moving so quickly. Eddie unconsciously gulped.
“…What did they say?”
Eddie asked, trying his best not to show his agitation outwardly. As he had felt with the previous note, if Eddie acted suspicious about these naturally occurring events, he might become the subject of suspicion.
However, the words that came from Gerold’s mouth immediately afterward were so shocking that Eddie almost wished he had pretended not to understand their meaning.
“They are trying to bring down the sky.”
“…”
Eddie’s expression hardened as he immediately understood those words.
As if that was all he needed to convey, Gerold pulled his head back and bowed slightly.
Then he immediately turned around and naturally headed toward the kitchen. As if there was no need to observe Eddie’s reaction to those words.
As if that had been his only task.
But Eddie stood frozen like stone, unable to move.
I need to get milk. Ket will be waiting.
Although such thoughts crossed his mind, he couldn’t move. The words he had just heard weren’t something he could simply ignore.
They are trying to bring down the sky.
They.
Who were “they”?
But one thing was certain: what “sky” meant.
This world was a damn fantasy world with magic and dragons. And there was an emperor ruling the empire.
And in the Reneva Empire where he was, the emperor was called this: [The Sky.]
So those words meant:
“They are targeting the emperor.”
“…”
Of course, the emperor was the supreme ruler, the sky of the empire. Everyone knew this. But the problem was who “they” were…
And why “Eddie” had to receive such a secretive report—that was the issue.
Eddie couldn’t hide his confused expression.
Augustine, Arthur, Boram, Ketron’s condition—everything was already mentally taxing, and now another heavy, inescapable matter had been added.
Eddie briefly opened his mouth blankly, then closed it again. Various thoughts overlapped and fell away repeatedly across his still-confused face.
The emperor, they, Augustine, Gerold…
[Eight, complete]
And that letter he had erased from his mind. That mysterious letter still neatly tucked inside the drawer in Eddie’s room also came to mind.
At that time, he had vaguely thought that this character “Eddie” might have some special attributes and moved on with that light thought, but after hearing this, it wasn’t so easy to dismiss.
“Ha.”
What exactly is this day? No, not even a day. He couldn’t understand what was happening in just half a day.
With his stomach churning and his mind so complicated that he felt like throwing up, Eddie unconsciously clutched his chin.
Of course, doing so didn’t suddenly make his queasy stomach feel better.
Eddie unconsciously muttered to himself,
‘Eddie’… what kind of person were you?
Of course, it was an empty question with no one to answer.