HRB 5

5.

Eddie stared blankly at Ketron’s face with a dumbfounded expression before belatedly shaking his head and snapping out of it.

Now wasn’t the time for this.

He didn’t know how long Ketron had been like this, but he would probably become corrupted with blue rage in his eyes like the last scene in the novel before long. If he could stop it, wouldn’t it be right to do so? That was why he had rushed out into the streets since morning in the first place.

Of course, he didn’t have any grand plan to prevent the corruption.

What could an ordinary person like him do in a world overflowing with superhuman beings who used Mana, flew around, and split rocks in one blow?

He had simply moved because he couldn’t stand still, but here Ketron was, collapsed right in front of him.

“…Ha.”

Anyway, he was incredibly beautiful.

Eddie, in whose body he was possessing, was also such a dazzlingly handsome man that he still felt awkward whenever he looked in the mirror, but Ketron was even more beautiful than that.

How could someone have such a strange destructive power that made people lose their minds just by seeing him cry? Seeing him in such pain, with tears streaming down his face, naturally aroused a sense of pity.

“Um.”

Eddie tentatively spoke to Ketron in a very small voice.

Eddie wasn’t usually this timid, even though he was an ordinary citizen. It was just that the person he was dealing with was the problem.

It was hard to imagine from the descriptions in the novel, but Ketron was huge. Tremendously so.

Just look at the size of that Holy Sword hanging on his back. To wield that without difficulty, his muscles must be no joke, but his basic, natural frame seemed superior.

If he set his mind to it, he could probably kill Eddie with just one hand. He actually would. That fact unintentionally made Eddie timid.

But there was no time to delay. He didn’t know when Ketron would become corrupted, and because he was so dark and large, he was attracting people’s attention even in the midst of the lively parade.

It seemed best to take him inside as quickly and quietly as possible, so Eddie mustered his courage.

“Um, Ket… No, ahem.”

Even though he was inwardly convinced that it was Ketron, it would be implausible for an innkeeper to know and call out the name of a Hero forgotten by the world, so Eddie held back from calling his name.

“Um, young man?”

Ketron showed no reaction. If it weren’t for the tears streaming down his face, he would have seemed as still as if he had been petrified in that spot.

Hesitating for a moment, Eddie cautiously reached out his hand. He was incredibly nervous that Ketron would grab his arm and break it or immediately throw him over his shoulder as soon as he sensed someone trying to touch him, as often happened in creative works, but Ketron didn’t react even to Eddie’s timid taps.

Eddie’s touch gradually became bolder. Eventually, he grabbed Ketron’s shoulders and shook him, but he still didn’t open his eyes. Eddie wondered if he was dead.

“Hey.”

Eddie tried calling out to him once more, just in case.

Staring at the still body, Eddie belatedly realized something.

He hadn’t noticed because Ketron was wearing dark clothes, but his cloak was soaked with blood. It wasn’t flowing and pooling on the ground, but Eddie’s palm, which had carelessly grabbed the cloak, was stained red.

“…Ah.”

Right, he remembered.

Ketron had collapsed in tears, suffering from injuries that hadn’t fully healed and the pain of betrayal.

Injuries.

He hadn’t fully healed from the fatal wounds he had sustained in the battle with the Demon King. Unable to bear the betrayal of his comrades and unable to wait until his body had fully recovered, he had stubbornly come to the Empire…

And finally, he had seen it with his own eyes.

The betrayal of his former comrades. The face of the traitor who stole his glory and smiled brightly.

And the people who cheered and blessed those traitors as Heroes.

He really couldn’t bear to watch him suffer.

Eddie steeled his heart. It was all or nothing anyway. If this guy became corrupted, Eddie’s peaceful retirement would be as good as gone.

“Hey!”

Eddie resolutely grabbed the man’s shoulders with both arms and shook him violently. Even someone who was one step away from the afterlife wouldn’t be able to keep their eyes closed if someone woke them up this aggressively.

Sure enough, such violent movements couldn’t be ignored, and the eyelids of Ketron, who had been like a tearful corpse, twitched and slowly lifted.

His eyes were fierce. But perhaps because they were filled with tears, pity was felt more strongly than ferocity.

Eddie couldn’t help but stare into those eyes. He wondered if they were burning with revenge, as described in the novel.

But there was no way he could tell. However, there was still no venom in those tearful eyes filled with bewilderment.

Good, it didn’t seem too late yet.

“No, um.”

Ahem, Eddie cleared his throat. He had shaken him awake before it was too late, but he didn’t have any plans after that.

He should probably take him inside the inn, but what should he say?

‘You look hurt, do you want to come into our inn?’

…That sounds a bit suspicious.

‘This is our inn, if you stay here like this, all the customers will run away?’

That sounds like he’s blaming someone who’s already having a hard time.

‘Do you want to come to my place and eat ramen?’

…Fire Chicken Noodle?

As his thoughts grew longer, Eddie felt Ketron’s expression gradually turning colder. He was already having a hard time and in pain, so he wouldn’t welcome the interference of others who were trying to make him organize his emotions.

Besides, he had just witnessed the betrayal of his former comrades. With all the patience he had burned away, leaving only traces, there was no way he could feel favorably toward a stranger.

Eddie felt the turmoil in his heart subside at the sight of those wounded eyes.

Grand rhetoric? Would it even resonate in this situation? That wasn’t what Ketron needed right now.

Understanding the customer’s needs was the basis of self-employment, so Eddie decided to give Ketron what he wanted right away. Fortunately, it was one of the things he could give.

“This is my shop.”

Eddie pointed to Eddie’s Inn with one hand. Ketron, who didn’t even know he was leaning against an inn, frowned only after seeing the inn sign, following Eddie’s gesture.

“If you need a quiet place, do you want to come in?”

Eddie didn’t expect his recklessness to work.

No, rather than it working, it was more like… it was such an unexpected remark that he dragged the man in before he could come to his senses.

In any case, if this heavy body had resisted, Eddie would never have been able to drag him in, no matter how hard he tried. After thinking for a moment, he surprisingly followed Eddie’s lead and entered the inn.

“…Eddie, what is this?”

Gerold asked, on high alert, as Eddie suddenly brought a threatening man into the inn.

Ketron and Gerold’s eyes met. Surprisingly, Gerold showed no signs of backing down, even when facing Ketron, who looked endlessly cold and fierce.

Gerold, who was just a humble inn employee.

But there was no time to dwell on such impressions, so Eddie hurriedly stepped between the two.

“Ah, this guy was collapsed in front of our inn! I brought him in to give him something to eat.”

“Is he a homeless man? Since when have you been doing charity work…”

“Anyway!”

How did he manage to coax him in! Eddie, who forcibly cut off Gerold’s words, which were about to ruin everything, smiled awkwardly.

“Please get him something to eat.”

“…”

Gerold momentarily made a dissatisfied expression, but true to his loyalty to Eddie, he eventually sighed and headed to the kitchen. Eddie grabbed Ketron’s arm, which he had been holding onto, and sat him down at the table closest to the door.

Ketron was easily dragged along by Eddie’s light touch, like a toy in the hands of a child.

It wasn’t so much that he was moved by Eddie’s warm touch and willingly cooperating, but more like he was a person without any motivation.

That was probably the case.

The table where the two sat facing each other was extremely awkward. A savory smell wafted from inside the kitchen, where Gerold seemed to be showing off his skills, but it seemed like it would take quite some time to finish.

Eddie glanced at Ketron.

He had stopped crying for the time being, but his cheeks with tear stains, his reddish eyes, and his pale complexion due to injuries that he was trying not to show were revealing that Ketron’s condition was not normal.

You too, how did you come to trust such comrades?

No, how did you get caught up in such a twist-obsessed writer?

Eddie clicked his tongue inwardly and couldn’t help but feel sorry for Ketron.

When he had read the ending scene, he had only been annoyed because he didn’t like the ending of the novel he had been enjoying, but after being dragged into this world and actually facing it, Ketron’s situation was more desperate than he had imagined.

The difference between seeing it in text and seeing it in person was too great.

At the young age of twenty, not only was he forgotten by everyone in the world, but he was also betrayed and his glory was stolen… It was a setup where even the most righteous person couldn’t help but become corrupted.

Besides, he seemed a bit thin, perhaps because he had suffered so much physically and mentally.

“Sigh.”

Poor guy.

Eddie, who had unknowingly sighed deeply, now openly scrutinized Ketron. Ketron showed no reaction even though someone was staring at him.

Tears dangling from his long eyelashes, his cheeks still soaked, his youthful appearance proving that he was only twenty years old, and his face that seemed a bit thin compared to his size, as if he had suffered a lot…

Eddie then realized one thing.

Thin. This guy wasn’t just ‘seeming thin,’ he was definitely thin. He must have been thin because he was injured and had forced himself to come to the Empire.

When he realized that someone who was still so young probably hadn’t been eating properly, Eddie couldn’t help but pull out his chair and stand up, heading towards the inn entrance.

Gerold was currently cooking enthusiastically inside, but he thought he should give him something before that.

[Please take only one per person! Promise!]

Eddie took out a Banana Jar Milk from the refrigerator set up at the inn entrance. In fact, the refrigerator was just a bag filled with ice, but it was designed for guests leaving the inn to take freely.

The phrase attached to the wall was put up because many people were secretly taking two or three.

Self-employment isn’t easy.

Eddie neatly tore open a thin straw that was piled up next to the refrigerator and stuck it into the opening before handing it to Ketron, who was sitting blankly.

“Kid.”

“…?”

Ketron’s bewildered gaze turned to the man who was calling him by an absurd title, and then to the banana milk that was handed to him.

“Do you like sweet things?”

An absurd title and an absurd question. Ketron’s expression momentarily contorted in bewilderment.