By Zephyria 
As dawn approaches, Eddie’s Inn quiets down.
Unlike other inns that operate almost 24 hours or stay open late into the night, Eddie’s Inn strictly sends guests away or directs lodgers to the second floor around 9 PM.
Of course, the inn staff couldn’t rest just because the guests left. Rather, that was when the real work began. Cleaning, washing dishes, preparing ingredients for the tavern the next day, there was always plenty to do.
Especially these days, with a capable employee absent, they were even busier.
Originally, Gerold had handled most of these tasks with Sorcery. Now, the Magical Spirit he left behind was taking over serving and even cooking, but it couldn’t completely replace him.
Thanks to that, Eddie and Sebastian had to move more busily than usual, and even Ketron had to lend a hand.
“Ugh.”
Around 10 PM, when most of the work was done, Eddie unconsciously sprawled on an open seat, groaning.
His whole body ached.
He had confidently told Gerold to take a long, long break, but now he was struggling without him.
Sebastian also seemed tired, so Eddie sent him upstairs as soon as his shift ended, and Eddie took care of the remaining tasks. After finishing the work by moving frantically, his whole body really ached.
To survive, he really needed to exercise with Ketron…
He was lying there groaning, making the same resolution he’d made countless times before, when a long shadow fell over Eddie’s head.
He didn’t even need to open his eyes to know who it was.
The man carefully sat next to the long chair where Eddie was lying and reached out to gently stroke Eddie’s soft hair.
“Haa.”
Eddie couldn’t help but chuckle. It wasn’t like he was getting a massage; the man was just stroking his hair, but somehow that touch alone made him feel less tired.
In his ears, he could hear the Magical Spirit clattering dishes in the kitchen, and the faint noises from outside.
The feeling of spending quiet time with someone comfortable and nice wasn’t bad, and Eddie felt his mind clouding with drowsiness.
No, he couldn’t fall asleep here. Eddie’s eyes snapped open.
Ketron’s thigh, where he was sitting next to Eddie’s head, was right next to Eddie’s head.
Eddie glanced up and saw Ketron stroking his hair with an expression that didn’t reveal what he was thinking.
Looking at that face that seemed somehow pleased, Eddie asked something he had been wondering about all day.
“Ket, how is it meeting Augustine again?”
Of course, Eddie, a devoted reader of “The Hero Doesn’t Hide His Power Too Well,” knew how close the two had been.
But since Augustine as Ketron himself described him would be different, he asked, and Ketron paused for a moment before replying.
“It was nice to see him.”
Feeling that his explanation was insufficient, he pondered for a moment before adding.
“After all, he was a friend I used to spend every day with.”
“Like family?”
Ketron looked thoughtful for a moment at those words, but nodded without difficulty.
“I don’t have any family, so he could be said to be a substitute for that.”
That meant they were very special to each other.
How could he not be happy to be reunited with such a special companion, even as a new connection?
Although they hadn’t completely regained what they lost, the two had become friends again as if by fate, going around in circles. Even if their relationship wasn’t exactly the same as before, it was still quite an extraordinary bond.
Of course, Eddie, who had fed Augustine Nuclear Fire Chicken Noodle today, felt a little guilty at those words.
“Oh, you prepared ‘extra special’ Fire Chicken Noodle for me?”
Eddie recalled Augustine’s face turning bright red after taking a bite of the Nuclear Fire Chicken Noodle with a touched expression, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
He had offered a slightly more special Fire Chicken Noodle as a welcome, since he wanted to try Fire Chicken Noodle, but now he felt a little sorry…
As he was thinking that, drowsiness washed over him again. He knew it would be better to just go in, wash up, and sleep, but it wasn’t that easy.
The moment right before washing up was always the hardest to move, and once he lay down, he really didn’t want to get up.
“Eddie, are you sleepy?”
At Ketron’s question, Eddie mumbled a reply, and Ketron chuckled softly.
Ah, that precious laugh! He had to see it…!
That’s what he thought, but his eyelids were too heavy to lift.
Even in that state, he felt uncomfortable lying on the hard chair.
“Umm.”
Eddie struggled to open his eyes. Through his blurry vision, he saw Ketron looking down at him with a slight smile.
…He’s so damn pretty.
Unaware that the other person was thinking the same thing about him, Eddie gazed at Ketron with drowsy eyes for a moment before wriggling. Coincidentally, something soft caught his eye in this hard place.
“Eddie?”
Ketron called out questioningly, but Eddie, half-asleep, didn’t reply and moved a little more, lying down with his head on Ketron’s thigh.
Specifically, his left thigh.
As Eddie began to settle on his thigh, Ketron’s body stiffened.
“Eddie, wait a…”
But Eddie, lost in drowsiness, didn’t notice and wriggled, moving back and forth on Ketron’s thigh to find a more comfortable position.
In the process, Eddie’s soft hair and the back of his head rubbed gently against Ketron’s thigh.
The firm yet soft feeling of his thigh was so nice. It seemed like the perfect height to use as a temporary pillow.
It felt a little too familiar, but it would be ridiculous to suddenly feel distant with Ketron, and since Ketron had rested his head on Eddie’s thigh not long ago, he figured they were even, and such worries quickly disappeared.
Finally finding the most comfortable position, Eddie let out a drowsy breath and closed his eyes.
Unaware that Ketron, whose left thigh had been suddenly occupied, had stiffened like a stone.
I wish there was a machine that would automatically wash me. I just want to sleep like this. When is Gerold coming back? I shouldn’t have acted so tough…
Simple thoughts occupied his mind, and just as he was about to fall asleep, his mind flickering like a dying lightbulb, Eddie suddenly felt Ketron’s soft thigh, which had been touching the back of his head, gradually hardening.
Of course, it was a sensation felt in a hazy state, so he couldn’t tell exactly what it was, and he was about to fall asleep when Ketron suddenly jumped up from his seat.
Naturally, Eddie, who had been resting his head on Ketron’s thigh, lost his pillow and had no choice but to open his eyes vaguely.
“Huh?”
As Eddie made a half-asleep mumbling sound, Ketron, who had been catching his breath for a moment, stared at Eddie, who was still lying on the chair with a dazed expression, then embraced Eddie and lifted him up.
It was a bold gesture, but despite the speed of the action, the touch was very gentle.
“Ket?”
Eddie, who had been lying comfortably and was suddenly embraced, called out his name in a questioning voice, and Ketron paused to catch his breath before answering.
“…Don’t sleep here, go inside and sleep.”
“Ugh, but I’m so sleepy.”
“I’ll take you there.”
Only then did he realize that he was being held by Ketron in a very embarrassing, princess carry position, but Ketron’s embrace was too cozy to escape, and his body, limp as a wet rag, refused to move actively.
Instinct won over reason. Eddie convinced himself that since there was no one watching anyway, being carried on his back or being held like this was all the same. He was too sleepy to argue about anything else.
Augustine had come, and he had been nervously watching the two of them form a new bond. The inn had been doing too well lately, and he and Sebastian had been struggling without their all-around employee Gerold. All of this had taken a toll on his mental and physical strength.
“Good night.”
Eddie reflexively greeted him when he was laid down on his bed in his room in a daze, and Ketron, who was laying Eddie on the bed, looked down at Eddie for a moment before replying quietly.
“…Good night.”
***
Ketron, who had returned to his room, leaned against the door for a moment, taking deep breaths.
“…Haa.”
Glancing down, he saw that his lower body was sticking up like a small mountain.
Damn it.
He was embarrassed by the reaction of his body, which he couldn’t control at some point, but since this wasn’t the very first time, he wasn’t as shocked as he had been at first.
Eddie was completely asleep, so he wouldn’t have known. He wasn’t very perceptive in the first place…
But as always, that person nonchalantly crossed the line and acted strangely.
“…”
He never expected him to lie down with his head in that direction. And then he rubbed his head against it. He was glad that he was able to pick him up and take him to his room to sleep before it was fully erect and Eddie noticed.
After washing his face with his dry hands, he sighed and headed to the bathroom. Since the day he comforted Eddie when he was crying, he had often relieved his desires alone whenever he had these embarrassing physical reactions.
Perhaps that was why his movement towards the bathroom felt quite natural, even to himself.
By the time he came out of the bathroom, it was already deep dawn.
Ketron sighed briefly again and lay down on his bed. Even he couldn’t help but feel languid at times like this.
“What are you doing in the bathroom so often these days?”
Albatross spoke as if he was wondering, but Ketron didn’t feel like answering him very sincerely. He couldn’t tell him the truth.
Ketron closed his eyes. Even though his senses were sensitive, he was someone who could fall asleep anywhere as soon as his head hit the pillow, as he was from the streets.
Thump, thump.
Focusing his hearing for a moment, he could hear Eddie’s heart beating happily in the next room. Using that heartbeat as a lullaby, Ketron quickly fell asleep.
However, in the deep dawn, Ketron had no choice but to open his eyes wide at an unfamiliar sensation.