So that’s how it was.
Eddie gained another realization.
The story doesn’t care about the minor personal narratives at all. But it wants the major, main events to be choices that lead to the ending.
In the case of this tournament, there was some compelling reason why Ketron had to participate and win.
That’s why when Eddie had suggested just watching instead of participating, he heard that grinding sound of gears misaligning. At the time, he’d dismissed it as his imagination and ignored it, but the story had already given him a warning.
A warning that incorrect storylines would be corrected.
Thump, thump.
Like a human heartbeat, the gears of the story meshed and turned powerfully. As someone who had become a character in the story, his heart should be racing.
“…”
Yet somehow, Eddie could only feel terror hearing that sound. As a being belonging to this world, as a tiny, insignificant existence… it was the fear of an absolute power that he couldn’t help but feel.
What would happen to him once this story reached its end?
If this story concluded according to the ending he had seen, his role as a helper would be finished.
Considering the fate of a hunting dog whose purpose is complete, it would be strange not to feel fear.
But Eddie’s fear soon faded amid the still unceasing cheers.
“…Phew.”
Eddie clenched his fist and tapped it against his heart, trying to calm it down from its frantic beating. Of course, it didn’t help much…
His heart was beating.
He was alive.
He was alive right now.
But Lee Jeong-hoon, his past self, was already dead and gone.
Just as life comes only once, so does one’s allotment of breath. So this current life was a bonus stage for Eddie, or rather, for Lee Jeong-hoon.
If with this bonus life he could make Ketron, the protagonist of the story, happy, then that would be good in its own way.
No, even if Ketron weren’t the protagonist of the story.
Eddie now wanted Ketron to be happy regardless of such considerations.
“…When did I become so attached?”
Eddie smiled bitterly. The story thoroughly wanted Eddie to be a helper for Ketron, and Eddie wanted that too.
If their interests aligned, Eddie and this ‘story’ could form a rather good cooperative relationship.
He resolved to do what he could.
To ensure Ketron received a perfect happy ending.
* * *
The next day, Eddie and Ketron headed for the capital Irena without hesitation.
Even though he was the tournament winner, Ketron had no ties to Sandern, and neither he nor Eddie was in a state to savor or enjoy the afterglow of victory, each for their own reasons.
Eddie’s mind was complicated, and Ketron felt no particular excitement about winning, but in any case, neither had any objection to returning immediately to the inn.
The return journey was leisurely.
Perhaps because Sandern had become almost a festival-like scene to milk the tourists, and because tourists mainly chose the route of traveling to the capital and then going to see the tournament, carriages heading toward the capital were relatively uncrowded.
Still, despite expecting something more befitting a champion, no one detained them, so the two were able to head comfortably to the capital Irena.
Winning the tournament didn’t confer any great honor or reward.
It wasn’t a particularly traditional competition, but rather one created purely for entertainment.
The honor of being the winner of the emperor sponsored tournament and the prize of a gold nugget were all that was given to the winner.
Officially, at least.
Thump!
“Ugh.”
The carriage jolted heavily as if it had hit a rock. Eddie let out a groan at the terrible ride. Just as on the way there, on the way back they had to hitch a ride.
Eddie was, if anything, not a particularly wealthy innkeeper, and Ketron was a commoner whose only valuable possession was the holy sword.
Oh, of course, now there was the gold nugget received as the prize money, but a gold nugget that hadn’t been converted to cash was just a heavy burden for now.
Fortunately, it was in a spatial pocket, so at least it didn’t weigh them down.
In any case, the two couldn’t afford an expensive carriage with plush comfort, and they didn’t own horses, so naturally they had to borrow a carriage or horse, the problem being that Eddie didn’t know how to ride a horse.
That’s why they had to hire a carriage both coming to Sandern and leaving.
On the way there, they had managed to catch a regular transit carriage that traveled between cities, but now they were riding a rather large merchant caravan’s cargo carriage.
When they went to hire a carriage, the caravan leader recognized Ketron as the previous day’s winner and said, “If you serve as our escort, I won’t charge you for the carriage!”
Eddie had readily accepted the offer, saving them the carriage fare.
Originally, the capital Irena and Sandern, where the tournament was held, were neighboring cities with an extremely well-paved road between them.
Of course, sometimes you could hit a rock, as just now, but considering it was the medieval era without asphalt, this qualified as a well-maintained road.
Since it is a connection point between major cities, there are naturally many people, horses, and carriages on the road, so it is difficult for anything to happen.
That’s why Eddie readily took on the escort duty for a road where bandits would rarely appear. Ketron, of course, made no particular comment.
“Come to think of it, Ket.”
Eddie spoke to Ketron, who was sitting quietly next to him, cradling the holy sword. When Ketron turned to look at him, his face showed no trace of excitement or joy despite having won the tournament that was the talk of the town.
Well, he was a hero who had once been renowned worldwide, even if now forgotten. Moreover, since Ketron’s specialty was fighting as a magic swordsman who actively utilized battle magic, it made sense that he wouldn’t be particularly impressed by winning a tournament where magic was sealed and there were no formidable opponents.
“Did you see the emperor in person?”
“I did see him, but couldn’t get close due to security concerns.”
“I see.”
Since it was a tournament sponsored by the emperor, the emperor himself had come to watch. Eddie had been too far away and too shaken to see what the emperor of this world looked like.
He’d been curious because the emperor was a character who was occasionally mentioned in 〈The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well〉 but had never directly appeared.
Just like this ‘Eddie’ who had never been directly shaped by the author, Eddie wondered how characters like the emperor, who had almost no presence in the story, had been created.
He was also curious about what kind of person this ‘Eddie’ originally was. Not just a simple innkeeper, but someone who seemed incredibly important in this second part, he worried anew whether he could properly fulfill this ‘protagonist’s helper’ position.
Ugh, being an extra is definitely more comfortable. Being in a lead role isn’t easy.
Eddie rested his head on Ketron’s shoulder with a thud. His mind was still a jumble. What was supposed to be a casual outing had turned into an unexpected encounter with heavy truths.
Ketron adjusted his posture to allow Eddie to rest more comfortably on his shoulder.
After a long silence, Ketron whispered in a low voice, speaking softly in case Eddie was falling asleep.
“When I was winning, I saw a familiar face.”
Although Ketron was being considerate in case Eddie was falling asleep, Eddie showed no signs of drowsiness. With his eyes half-open, he asked,
“A familiar face?”
“Yes.”
A familiar face. What could he have seen?
For a moment, Eddie leaned on Ketron’s shoulder, mulling over what he’d said, then suddenly jumped up.
“A-a familiar face? Who?”
For some reason, Eddie felt he could guess who Ketron had seen, and he had a suspicion… Hoping he was wrong, he urgently asked, causing Ketron to tilt his head curiously at Eddie’s reaction.
“A former traveling companion.”
The confirmation hit like a bullet.
Argh. Eddie ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. As if his mind wasn’t complicated enough, another complexity had been added!
Ketron had seen Arthur. That meant Arthur must have seen Ketron too. With all those people enthusiastically chanting Ketron’s name yesterday, there’s no way he missed it.
Come to think of it, this tournament had been widely promoted as one where the winner could have a friendly match with the hero, Arthur.
Although Arthur had declined to participate, citing health issues, he could still have come to watch.
Eddie glanced cautiously at Ketron.
He had wondered how Ketron would react upon seeing Arthur, but surprisingly, Ketron didn’t seem to have any particular feelings about it.
He should want to tear him to pieces and be angry.
In reality, the Ketron of the original work, no, of Part 1, had turned to darkness dreaming of revenge, hadn’t he?
But the current Ketron wasn’t in a state of burning rage. Paradoxically, to Eddie, such composure revealed even more anger.
“So… how was it?”
Eddie asked, unconsciously swallowing hard. Ketron looked at Eddie for a moment before responding in a matter-of-fact voice.
“He seemed to be doing well.”