MTM 134

Clunk.

As soon as Zed, the Seeker, and Ser entered the annex room, the door closed.

“Allen….”

Harto looked at Allen with eyes full of worry. Because he had just come out of the hot springs, the moisture clinging to his hair hadn’t yet dried and was soaking his shoulders. He looked frail and pitiful even more than usual.

“Well, Zed will handle it himself. Let’s not worry too much.”

“That’s right. After all, Zed is good at dealing with people.”

Leon helped Allen reassure Harto.

Harto was lost in thought. Come to think of it, it was the same when Zed pretended to be a hunter in Lindel Village, and when he passed through the strict inspection at the entrance to the Belnok city walls. Despite being the same age as him, Zed was always mature and extremely rational in any situation.

Yeah, Zed is different from me…

Harto tried hard to suppress his anxiety by thinking positively.

Click.

A moment later, Ser, who had entered the room with them, came out first. The curious gazes of the group all turned toward Ser. However, as if he knew nothing, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Then… well, let’s just have a meal among ourselves first.”

Allen took a seat at the table with an expression that said he hadn’t expected much in the first place. The four people, sitting one by one around the table, picked up the steaming hot steamed corn Leon had brought and began to eat.

The ripe yellow corn was sweet and nutty with every chew, the kernels popping in the mouth tasted like candy. The flavor was incomparably richer than the bland corn soup he used to eat at the hospital. Harto became completely absorbed in the steamed corn, forgetting even who he had been worrying about just moments before.

“I definitely need to learn how to steam corn later.”

“Skewering whole corn and grilling it over a wood fire is actually tasty. It tastes even better if you brush it with sugar or honey.”

“That sounds delicious….”

Starting with Leon, the casual chatter continued as Ser rattled off recipes for corn.

“But you know…”

Then, when Allen suddenly spoke with a serious expression, everyone turned their heads.

“I’m not very smart, so I don’t know for sure, but… it means the Crown Prince has been keeping a fragment of the Demon God, the empire’s legacy, all along. And it’s an object with power beyond imagination.”

They nodded at Allen’s words.

“But why would he go out of his way to do something so dangerous? Well… I know he holds a grudge against Zed, but I still can’t understand why he lured us in using such a complicated method.”

Leon, who had been listening quietly, put down the corn in his hand and furrowed his eyebrows.

“To be honest, I was skeptical about that point as well. It couldn’t be only for revenge… could there have been another motive?”

‘Another motive…’

Harto, who had been silently listening to the conversation between the two, fell into thought.

‘…That’s unexpected. To think a fragment of the Demon God would be in a place like this.’

At the same time, the voice he had heard at the Grenhardt mansion also came to mind. His memories from the tower were fragmented and vague, but the words spoken by the Crown Prince from within that nightmarish abyss crossed his mind.

[The Fragments of the Demon God… scattered.]

[Among them… there is… one piece.]

[And… to… as well.]

“He probably wanted to show off.”

Then Ser spoke.

“He wanted to prove firsthand just how strong the power he had obtained was. That’s why he kidnapped Harto and lured Zed in. He must have calculated everything, even that we would approach stealthily. He was arrogant.”

The group nodded, Ser’s answer made sense.

Bang!

At that moment, the door was thrown open with a loud noise that tore through the silence.

“……!”

The startled group’s gazes turned in unison towards the direction of the sound. Standing in front of the door, Zed was radiating a murderous aura toward the Seeker.

“Get out of my sight right now. Before I cut off that abominable tongue of yours.”

The Seeker was about to retort but gave up and sighed, then walked out of the annex.

Faced with the situation that unfolded in an instant, the group froze on the spot, unable to say a word.

Zed was still glaring at the entrance where the Seeker had vanished. It was the first time seeing Zed display such raw rage, his usual calm demeanor nowhere to be seen. Even Leon, who had watched him since their days in the mercenary group, looked flustered.

“Zed….”

Harto, who had come to his senses belatedly, cautiously approached Zed.

“Zed… are you alright? What’s wrong…?”

Only then did Zed’s gaze turn toward Harto. The moment his eyes, which had been burning red, took in Harto, they immediately turned gentle.

“Harto….”

Zed crumbled in an instant like frozen ice melting, and hugged Harto.

He buried his head in Harto’s shoulder, closed his eyes, and remained motionless for a long time. Then, he lifted his head toward the group standing there blankly.

“I’m sorry, but everyone… could you please step aside for a moment?”

“Uh… y- yes. You’re all done eating, right? Let’s go.”

Allen cautiously took Ser and Leon and left the annex.

After the group left, a heavy silence filled the room. Held in Zed’s arms, Harto wondered what had happened. However, he couldn’t bring himself to speak when he recalled Zed’s expression a moment earlier.

He squirmed helplessly in Zed’s arms, and looked at him in the his eyes. He mustered the courage to ask Zed.

“Zed, are you really fine…?”

“…….”

As Zed met those innocent, clear blue eyes, he felt suffocated.

‘Harto…’

In that moment, the sophistry the Seeker had spouted to him made his head spin. He frowned in distress, then immediately lifted Harto up and headed to the bedroom.

“Oh…!”

Plop.

Zed laid Harto down on the bed, climbed on top of him, and lifted up the thin shirt he was wearing.

“Z-Zed? Why, ngh, suddenly….”

Harto blushed in embarrassment at the sudden action, but he did not refuse. Zed traced over the marks he had left last night on the white skin with his hand.

“…Hmph!”

After savoring the body that trembled with every touch for a while, he met those gentle blue eyes.

“Harto, how was it?”

“…uh?”

“I mean last night.”

Zed’s eyes were trembling to a pitiful degree.

“Uh… mmm, that was good….”

Harto stammered, his face turning even redder.

“That’s a relief…. I really liked it too.”

Zed mumbled, then he held Harto’s waist tightly with both hands and rubbed his cheek against his stomach. His hot warmth was fully transmitted to Harto’s skin.

“Hmph! Th-that tickles….”

His soft hair brushed against his skin and tickled him, but Zed refused to let go and burrowed deeper into Harto.

“Just a little… I’ll stay like this just a little longer…. Please stroke my head.”

“Huh….”

Harto couldn’t refuse Zed’s affectionate request. He gently stroked Zed’s hair just as he wanted. Questions about what had happened in the room lingered in his mouth, but for some reason, he felt he shouldn’t ask now.

Harto silently granted Zed’s request, feeling pained by his desire to rely entirely on him, just for this moment.

***

He had dozed off. When he opened his eyes, the room was already dark.

“Zed…?”

Harto pulled back the blanket and felt around the spot next to him, but he could not feel Zed’s warmth.

Whoosh.

“Pippit!”

Then, Spi appeared from the darkness and lit a small flame.

“Spi? Where did everyone go? Where’s Zed?”

Spi jumped up and down, making the flames grow even bigger at Harto’s question. Just then, the bedroom door opened and Zed came in.

“Harto, are you awake?”

“Yes… Sorry, I fell asleep…”

“It’s fine. I didn’t wake you up on purpose.”

Zed’s expression was much brighter than before he fell asleep. Relieved by this sight, Harto shifted his gaze to the tray Zed had brought.

“This is our dinner for tonight.”

“Whoa…!”

The tray was set with dishes so splendid they made his eyes widen. Freshly baked bread with a savory aroma, juicy roasted chicken legs, sweetly reduced fruit sauce, and even that delicious corn he had eaten earlier. Before he knew it, Harto’s sleepy eyes began to sparkle.

“What about the others?”

“They said they ate first.”

“Ah, so did Zed wake up from sleep too?”

“…Yes. Let’s eat.”

As soon as Zed answered, Harto sat down at the table and began gobbling down his food. Zed ate alongside him, but he didn’t eat as much as Harto.

“This is really delicious! Zed, you should try it too.”

Harto was concerned about Zed, so he looked after him by deboning chicken and putting it in his mouth.

“Ah.”

While Harto was in the middle of eating, he suddenly remembered the schedule they had postponed.

“But don’t we have to go to Carseon today…?”

“It’s late today, so we decided to stay in Etheria for one more day.”

“I see….”

Harto sensed that Zed wanted to avoid topics related to the Seeker. Not wanting to make him uncomfortable by bringing up an awkward issue, he quietly nodded.

“Try this too. Leon said it’s delicious.”

“Yes, Zed, have a bite too!”

The two finished their dinner peacefully. After the meal, they lay side by side on the bed, chatted leisurely, and then soaked in the hot spring again.

Zed acted as if the commotion of the day had never happened. Harto felt relieved, yet at the same time, he felt uneasy.

“Harto, come this way.”

Splash.

Zed took Harto’s hand in the warm water and led him onto his body.

“Uh… um….”

Before a moan could fully come out of his mouth, Zed’s lips met Harto’s. At the end of the long kiss, Zed whispered into his ear.

“Shall we get out?”

“Hmph… Mm….”

Zed walked out of the water holding Harto in his arms, just like last night. In the hallway leading to the bedroom, the elementals squeaked and followed curiously, but when Harto told them to go play outside, they quietly backed away.

Clunk.

The door closed, and the bedroom was filled with the sound of two people’s breathing.

“Harto… Harto….”

Why was that? Zed wanted Harto much more desperately than yesterday. Harto hugged him even tighter, wanting to somehow melt away the formless anxiety lurking in Zed’s heart.