I’m the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 58

Click.

Stepping out from the locked door, I was greeted by a stark white corridor.

[This is an unpleasant place.]
“Tell me about it. It must be hard to clean.”

Having lived part of my life as a housekeeper, my thoughts naturally drifted toward cleaning. I reflexively looked at the ceiling.

“Oh, but it seems well-maintained. The ceiling is clean.”
[It’s probably magic.]
“Is that so?”

Saying so, I stepped into the corridor. Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from the wall. The Demon Sword in my hand quickly transformed into the shape of a spear and deflected something spinning towards me.

“Whoa? What was that just now?”
[It looks like an arrow coated with poison. Tsk, they’ve set up some bothersome traps.]

The arrow knocked by the Demon Sword rolled on the ground. As Gargandoa suggested, the arrowhead was smeared with a black liquid that seemed to be poison.

[It appears there are various traps installed in this corridor… Are you really going to pass through here?]
“But there’s no other way, is there? We’ll miss dinner if we’re late.”
[That, that cannot happen! But… I also don’t want my partner to die…]

I waved my hand lightly and said,

“Hey, it won’t come to that. Let’s just go.”

With that, Gargandoa and I began traversing the trap-filled corridor. Lightning fell, fireballs flew at us, spikes shot up from the floor, and plants covered in thorns tried to ensnare us.

“Phew, this is indeed a frightening place.”
[… I’m more scared of my partner than the traps…]
“Huh?”
[Oh, it’s nothing!]

We were a mess rolling through the corridor, but we finally made it to the entrance. Pushing the painting, thankfully it opened easily.

Stepping outside, I found myself in the corridor I had seen before. I walked towards the living room.

‘That grandfather must have gone to the hospital by now.’

The house was empty. I was about to head out directly but then realized I was covered in too much blood, so I wiped myself off with a cloth from the sofa. It didn’t feel right to just leave the cloth there, so I tossed it where I thought the laundry would go and headed to the entrance.

‘I should change clothes before I go.’

Being covered in blood, I planned to ask the slave I had relied on before for help. I left the room and headed to the elevator. I didn’t meet anyone on the way.

The elevator quickly descended, and I arrived at the floor where my room was. Instead of going straight to my room, I went to the slave’s quarters where I had received help before.

Knock, knock, bang!

“Eeek!”

As I entered, I caught the eye of a slave who was changing clothes, topless. I approached and Gargandoa seemed on the verge of a fit.

To avoid any misunderstanding, I sent Gargandoa back to my forearm and said,

“Ah, sorry.”
“Why, why, why -..”
“I came to borrow the shower…”

Before I finished speaking, the slave nodded frantically and pointed towards the shower room. I went straight into the shower and washed myself.

“Ahh, that’s refreshing.”

Cleaned up, I stepped out to find clothes prepared for me. There was no sign of the slave. I dressed familiarly and left the room.

‘I should repay them next time.’

No matter how many times they said it was fine, I felt a bit guilty for always taking their clothes.

‘I might need to use this often in the future.’

Thinking I should leave some money in the pocket for the future inconveniences, I headed to my room.

My joints had been aching recently, but I seemed to have grown a bit taller. With slightly longer strides than before, I arrived at my room.

Click.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard something rush toward me. Ah, is this what it feels like to be a father coming home from work?

A pleased smile formed on my face as I opened the door wide.

“Iris, I’m out. Sorry, it took longer than I expected.”

I had wasted too much time passing through the trap-filled hallway, and the day had already turned to evening. Feeling guilty for leaving her alone for so long, I stepped inside and closed the door.

‘Huh…?’

But something was off about Iris’s atmosphere. She was staring at me with a hardened expression.

‘What is it..? Did I make a mistake? Or is there something on my face?’

Feeling my face, there wasn’t anything coming off. However, I discovered something else.

“Gasp…”

The clothes that were clean just a while ago were now drenched in blood. I gasped and pulled at my collar to check the inside of my clothes.

‘Oh no…’

The traps in the white corridor had been stronger than I thought, and my wounds had not fully recovered. They weren’t severe, just slight cuts?

The problem was that my body didn’t form scabs when injured; blood would continuously flow until the skin naturally sealed.

I looked as if I had committed some heinous crime.

“Uhm… Iris, that is…”

I hesitated, remembering her excessive reaction to blood in the past and stepped back.

Thump.

I felt the closed door against my back. ‘I should have known not to close it…’ I regretted, but it was too late to rethink.

“…The smell of blood.”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry. I should have washed up first.”
“That’s not…!”

Iris’s expression twisted as she strode toward me. Her eyes were swimming with a whirlpool of emotions. Before I could discern what those emotions were, Iris bowed her head.

“That’s not…that’s not what matters, is…”

Her murmuring voice was almost inaudible, so I leaned in slightly. Then Iris clamped her mouth shut completely.

“I’m sorry, Iris. I forgot to take care of it, thinking you were waiting.”

I bought some time, eyeing the inside of my clothes. The wounds were healing slowly but surely.

“Hey, are you worried because of the blood? If that’s the case, don’t worry.”

At my words, Iris slowly lifted her head to look at me.

“This isn’t my blood. Look, these aren’t even my clothes, right?”

I couldn’t explain the connection between the blood on the clothes and the clothes I was wearing. I just blurted out whatever came to mind, trying to console Iris, who looked like she might cry at any moment.

“…Really?”
“Yeah, I’m not even hurt, see?”

Then Iris approached and grabbed the hem of my clothes. I quickly took her hand and said,

“Why? You think I’m lying?”

Iris hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Well, that’s a bit sad to hear… But I understand you’re worried, so I’ll show you just a little bit. Okay?”

Once I was sure the wound had closed, I lifted my shirt slightly to show my abdomen. There was a recent scar, but no bleeding wounds.

“See?”
“…”

Iris silently looked at my stomach, then nodded heavily. She seemed to have finally accepted it. I smiled brightly and straightened my clothes.

“It’s already dinner time. I’ll just change quickly and be right back. Just wait a moment. Okay?”

Iris was silent for a moment again but then nodded.

‘I need to be more careful in the future.’

Relieved, I made my way to the wardrobe.

“Huh? Why are my clothes…?”

I was puzzled to see my neatly stored clothes strewn all over the bed, but I quickly picked something and changed.

‘Did Iris play a prank while I was away?’

The thought brought a smile to my face. The fact that she was playing pranks made me feel proud and touched.

***

While Lian was changing clothes, Iris was swallowing the hot words that had risen to her throat.

‘…He had injuries.’

Iris had always watched Lian closely. She knew when he smelled of blood and when he got hurt and healed. That’s how she knew.

The faint scar on his stomach was from a recent injury.

Iris couldn’t get angry or throw a tantrum at Lian, who smiled despite bleeding so much to reassure his younger sibling.

‘The liar…’

A torrent of emotions and thoughts overwhelmed her mind.

It’s all your fault.
Would Lian have suffered like this if you had been a proper person?

A voice she didn’t want to hear invaded her thoughts as she was feeling weak. Iris squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head violently.

Tears that had pooled in her eyes spilled over, and her mind went blank. She had cut off all thoughts to escape the painful ones.

“Let’s go eat dinner, Iris!”
“Yeah…”

Iris, with a vacant look as if she had never been emotional, took Lian’s hand and left the room.

Unaware of what lay at the end of the path she took to escape her pain.