HRB 81

Eddie couldn’t come to his senses.

The fact that E had left the note, the still incomprehensible content of the note, where he had been and what he had been doing before returning with Mr. Gerold, and the name Ebon that popped into his head as if a memory from a drawer had suddenly sprung out.

…Why E’s name was Ebon.

He couldn’t figure out anything.

Regardless of Eddie’s confusion, Ketron and Ebon’s argument was intensifying.

“I don’t know who you are, but you shouldn’t make unnecessary contact.”

“What? Whether I f… hug Eddie or not, what’s it to you?”

“Eddie’s uncomfortable.”

“Huh? No, he’s not! Eddie likes me! Do you know how important I am to Eddie?”

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m more important than you.”

Eddie swore, he realized for the first time at that moment that Ketron was capable of such childish bickering.

The problem was that the childish words were very effective on Ebon.

Seeing Ebon’s face turning red and blue, Ketron hugged Eddie even tighter. As if he had no intention of giving him up.

Eddie, who had been subtly avoiding Ketron recently, was going crazy. Perhaps because he had just finished exercising, Ketron’s warm embrace reminded him of the night a few days ago.

When he met Augustine’s intrigued eyes, who had come for a meal and was now witnessing a live morning drama, he really wanted to crawl into a dog hole.

“Some stray mutt from who knows where!”

“That would be you.”

As the two continued their childish squabble, Sebastian, who had overslept, came downstairs with a sleepy face and looked bewildered at the scene unfolding.

“What is this… Oh, Mr. Gerold?”

Then, seeing Mr. Gerold, his expression brightened and he looked very happy. Although he didn’t seem to realize that he was happy.

It was then that Mr. Gerold, who had nodded lightly towards Sebastian, stepped forward.

He gently reached out and hugged the fuming Ebon from behind.

“Stop it, Ebon.”

“No, that guy is…”

“I said stop it.”

It was a tone so gentle that even Eddie had never heard it before, so hard to imagine coming from Mr. Gerold’s mouth. It was as sweet as honey, like soothing a child.

And Ebon, as if a fire that had been raging had been extinguished, instantly calmed down.

Mr. Gerold, who had soothed Ebon appropriately, looked at Eddie and asked.

“Eddie, did you order the spirit to do anything?”

“Huh? Oh, right, the spell…”

“I’ll go make it.”

With those words, Mr. Gerold tried to take Ebon away.

“Ah, Mr. Gerold. Just a moment.”

Ebon, who had been obediently dragged away, stopped as if he had remembered something and returned to Eddie.

“…”

Ketron’s arms around Eddie tightened. Seeing that, Ebon snorted and handed something to Eddie.

It was a square box. Eddie accepted it without thinking.

“E… Eddie, this is a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yeah. I went to the place where Eddie lived when he was young to make it.”

Looking at Ebon, who was puffing out his nose as if asking for praise, Eddie made a strange face.

The place where ‘Eddie’ lived when he was young.

…It sounded like there would be great memories, but unfortunately, the current Eddie had no memories, let alone knowing where it was.

Anyway, it was a gift, and it seemed strange to refuse it here, so Eddie accepted the gift.

“Thank you, Ebon.”

“No problem. Oh, and as an additional gift, a welcome person will be coming soon.”

“Huh?”

“I asked him to come with me, but he said he wouldn’t have time for a while. He said he would visit in person as soon as he had time. He seems to be busy these days.”

Whose story is this? Eddie couldn’t tell.

Was it Eddie’s parents? Family?

Eddie didn’t even know if ‘Eddie’ had a family.

“He said he missed you.”

With those words, Ebon seemed to have said all he wanted to say, snorted loudly at Ketron, and returned to Mr. Gerold.

Ebon grumbled something to Mr. Gerold. It seemed to be about being hungry. Mr. Gerold replied appropriately and took Ebon’s hand again and went inside the kitchen.

It seemed that Mr. Gerold was quite used to it. To calming down the excited Ebon.

“…”

Eddie fiddled with the box Ebon had given him. It was a square box, about the size of Eddie’s palm. It was quite heavy for its size, and the wood felt expensive to the touch.

Ebon said he had gone to the place where ‘Eddie’ lived as a child to make what was inside. If so, maybe he could learn a little about ‘Eddie’s’ childhood by looking at the contents.

Eddie, who had been stroking the wooden box with his hand, realized that it would be better to open it in his room rather than here, and hugged the box to his chest.

Then he realized that he was still in Ketron’s arms.

“Ket, I’m going now…”

Eddie wriggled. As Eddie showed signs of escaping, Ketron released his arms around Eddie. Ketron’s gaze was directed towards the kitchen where Mr. Gerold and Ebon had disappeared.

“Who is that?”

Eddie felt a sudden tightness in his chest. He had no answer to Ketron’s question.

Because Eddie didn’t know either. Who Ebon was.

What the relationship between Eddie and Ebon was.

In that moment, the frustration with this memoryless possession that he hadn’t felt in a while filled Eddie’s heart.

Mr. Gerold never questioned Eddie’s actions, but if he had, he would have found out long ago that Eddie had no memories.

That he wasn’t the real Eddie.

No, did Mr. Gerold really not know that Eddie had no memories?

Really, didn’t he know…?

“A friend… sort of.”

In the end, Eddie had no choice but to give an ambiguous answer.

Friend. What a great word.

That word was like magic, able to tie together Eddie and Ebon, whose identities were vague, and Eddie and Ketron, who had a relationship that friends would never have.

But Eddie knew. Just like Eddie and Ebon, Eddie and Ketron were not just friends.

Feeling strangely depressed, Eddie fiddled with the box in his arms and avoided Ketron’s gaze.

Then he met Augustine’s eyes, who was still looking at him with interest and smiling.

Eddie, belatedly realizing that Augustine and Laila had been watching this whole farce, hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Augustine. You came to have a quiet meal, but it was noisy.”

“No? I thought it was fun.”

Augustine burst out laughing as if he really enjoyed it.

However, unlike the laughing Augustine, Laila, who was sitting across from him, was looking at Eddie and Ketron with a confused face.

“Ketron, you’re more jealous than I thought.”

Laila’s expression became even more serious when Augustine blatantly said that to Ketron.

Normally, he would have been extremely concerned about Laila’s expression, but Eddie was too distracted right now.

His heart had been racing since a while ago. It wasn’t just because of Ketron.

“I’m… going to my room for a while.”

He needed to check this gift as soon as possible. As Eddie headed to the second floor to open the box in his arms, he saw Sebastian standing blankly in the middle of the stairs.

Sebastian had an expression that Eddie had never seen before.

A face that looked like he was very shocked by something.

His gaze was directed towards Mr. Gerold, who was taking Ebon away and comforting him as if he was hugging him.

Normally, he would have said something, but Eddie was in a hurry at that time. Eddie glanced at Sebastian and quickly went up the stairs.

***

On the way back to the temple after the meal. The delicious udon was good, but Augustine was quite pleased as if he had seen a noisy performance.

Love fights were fun after all. Augustine then realized why the elders in the neighborhood were so curious about the love lives of young people.

“I saw something interesting.”

Right? As if seeking agreement, he turned to the side and saw that Laila, who had been like that since the meal, still had a dazed look on her face. She looked quite shocked for some reason.

“Saintess?”

When Augustine called out to Laila, she slowly shifted her gaze from her dazed thoughts and looked at Augustine, asking.

“Eddie and Ketron, what’s their relationship?”

“Hmm?”

Augustine scratched his chin. What was the relationship between Eddie and Ketron?

Well, what you see is what you get, isn’t it?

In fact, there were strange rumors circulating on the streets about Eddie’s Inn.

That the innkeeper, who was from a runaway Noble family, was living with a particularly tall, handsome boyfriend while running the inn.

Especially considering Ketron’s reaction when they first met Eddie, and Ketron’s reaction during the Count Demays incident, anyone who wasn’t an idiot would know, wouldn’t they?

Besides, Augustine had openly told Ketron today that he was jealous.

But Laila seemed to want Augustine to deny it.

“Well, maybe they’re friends.”

So he gave this ambiguous answer.

“Friends…”

Laila, who immediately opened her mouth as if she couldn’t accept it, soon stopped talking and bit her lip.

“No, it doesn’t seem like it’s my business to be curious about.”

Augustine had a sense, so he knew what Laila had omitted. She must have been asking if they were really friends.

He might be curious, but why did Laila look so shocked? Augustine tilted his head, not knowing the reason.

Anyway.

Augustine had been feeling strangely familiar with Eddie several times while looking at him.

There was no one he could say for sure! But he was definitely similar to someone, but even though he was thinking that, the answer didn’t come to him clearly, so he was thinking leisurely, “Well, I’ll think of it someday.”

But today, the moment he saw the black-haired man, who he had never seen before while going in and out of Eddie’s Inn, standing next to Eddie, the face of one person flashed in his mind.

A face that had been buried deep in old memories.

Only then did Augustine feel relieved, as if a toothache had been relieved.

Yes.

It was that person.