episode_0058

Clunk.

As I opened the locked door and stepped out, a white hallway greeted me.

“It’s a gloomy place.”

“Yeah, it seems like it would be hard to clean.”

Having lived as a housewife for years, my thoughts naturally turned to cleaning. I reflexively looked up at the ceiling.

“Oh, but it seems well maintained. The ceiling is clean.”

“Maybe it’s magic.”

“Is that so?”

Saying that, I took a step towards the corridor. Then, from the wall, there was a swish! The sword in my hand instantly transformed into a spear and deflected something flying towards me.

“Huh? What just flew at me?”

“It seems to be a poisoned arrow. Tsk tsk, what a nuisance.”

The deflected arrow lay on the ground, its tip coated with black liquid. It looked poisonous.

“It seems like there are all sorts of traps set up in this corridor… Are we really going to pass through here?”

“But there’s no other way except here. If we’re late, we won’t even have dinner.”

“T-That can’t happen! But…I don’t want my partner to die either…”

I lightly waved my hand and spoke.

“Hey, that won’t happen. So let’s just go.”

“Ugh, if you say so.”

And so, the sword and I began to pass through the trap-filled corridor. Lightning struck, boulders flew, spikes shot up from the ground, and plants with thorns wrapped around our bodies.

“Phew, it’s really a scary place.”

“…My partner facing the traps is scarier…”

“Huh?”

“N-No, it’s nothing!”

Struggling through the corridor, we finally reached the entrance. Thankfully, the frame opened easily.

As I stepped outside, the same corridor I saw earlier appeared. I moved towards the living room.

“That old man from earlier must have gone to the hospital.”

The house was empty. I was about to go outside right away, but there was too much blood on my body, so I roughly wiped it off with the cloth hanging on the sofa. It didn’t seem right to leave the cloth as it was, so I threw it in a laundry basket and headed for the entrance.

“Before I go, I should change my clothes.”

I thought about asking the slave I had helped last time, who was covered in blood. I left the room and headed for the elevator. There was no one I met along the way.

The elevator went down quickly and arrived at the floor where my room was. Instead of going straight to my room, I headed to the slave’s quarters whom I had previously helped.

Knock, thud!

“Hiieek!”

As I opened the door, I met the slave who seemed to be changing clothes or taking off his top. As I took a step closer, he tried to raise his sword towards me.

Seeing that we wouldn’t be able to have a conversation like this, I turned his sword back with the back of my hand and said, “Excuse me.”

“Why, why, why -..”

“I want to borrow the shower…”

Before I could finish speaking, the slave vigorously nodded his head and pointed with both hands toward the direction of the shower. I immediately went into the shower and washed myself.

“Ahh… refreshing.”

After cleaning up, I came out. Clothes were prepared in front of the door. The slave was nowhere to be seen. I put on the clothes familiarly and left the room.

“I should thank him next time.”

No matter how many times I intruded, I felt a little sorry for taking the clothes repeatedly.

“I might use it often in the future.”

Thinking that I should also calculate the money I had set aside for future intrusions, I headed for my room.

Lately, my joints have been aching, and it seemed like I had grown a bit taller. With legs slightly longer than before, I could walk briskly to my room.

Thud.

As I opened the door, I heard something rushing towards me. Ah, could this be my dad coming home?

Unknowingly, I opened the door with a contented smile.

“Iris, I’m here. Sorry, I’m later than I thought.”

Passing through the trap-filled corridor wasted too much time, and before I knew it, the sun had set. Feeling sorry for being alone for too long, I apologized and stepped inside, closing the door.

“Hmm…?”

But Iris seemed a little off. She was staring at me with a stern expression.

“What’s wrong…? Did I make a mistake? Or is there something on my face?”

I felt around my face, but there was nothing particularly dirty. However, I noticed something else.

“Gasp…”

My once clean clothes were now soaked in blood. I grabbed the collar of my shirt in shock and checked inside.

“Oh no…”

The trap in the white corridor had inflicted a stronger attack than expected, as the wounds hadn’t fully healed. Of course, they weren’t severe, just a slight graze?

The problem was that when my body was injured, it didn’t form scabs; instead, the blood continued to flow endlessly until the skin naturally adhered.

Because of this, I looked like I had committed a series of murders.

“Ugh… Iris, this is…”

Showing blood in front of the kids wouldn’t be good for their education, and remembering how Iris had overreacted before, I hesitated and stepped back.

Thud.

I felt the door behind me close. “If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have closed the door…” I regretted. It was too late for regrets.

“…Blood, the smell.”

“Oh, um, sorry. I should have washed up.”

“That’s…!”

Iris approached me with a twisted expression. Various emotions swam in her eyes. Before I could figure out what those emotions were, Iris bowed deeply.

“That’s… that’s important, it’s important…”

Her murmuring voice was barely audible, so I subtly lowered my head. As I did, Iris sealed her lips shut.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to handle it because I thought Iris was waiting.”

I rolled my eyes, stalling for time, and glanced inside my clothes. The wound was healing slowly but steadily.

“Oh, were you worried about the blood? If that’s the case, don’t worry.”

In response to my words, Iris quietly raised her head to look at me.

“This isn’t my blood. Look, this isn’t even my clothes. Right?”

I couldn’t explain the connection between the blood on the clothes and the clothes themselves. I just blurted out words that came to mind, trying to comfort Iris, who seemed like she might cry at any moment.

“Really?”

“Yeah, there are no wounds, right?”

Then Iris approached me and grabbed the hem of my clothes. I firmly grasped Iris’s hand and said,

“Why? Do you think I’m lying?”

At my words, Iris hesitated for a moment and nodded.

“Well, I’m a little upset… but still, since Iris is worried, I’ll show you a little. Okay?”

After confirming that the wound had completely healed, I lifted my top slightly to show my abdomen. It hadn’t been long since the scar had formed, but there was no wound that could bleed.

“Okay?”

“….”

Iris silently looked at my stomach for a moment and then nodded heavily. It seemed like she had reluctantly accepted it. I smiled brightly and smoothed out my clothes.

“It’s already evening. I’ll change my clothes quickly and come back. Just wait a moment. Okay?”

Once again, Iris remained silent for a moment before nodding.

“I should be more careful in the future.”

I inwardly sighed and headed towards the room with the wardrobe.

“Huh? Why are my clothes…?”

Seeing all the clothes that had been neatly put away in the wardrobe scattered on the bed, I tilted my head in confusion and then randomly chose something to wear.

“Did Iris play a prank while I wasn’t here?”

As I thought about it, a smile crept onto my face. Seeing that she had even played a prank, I felt a sense of pride and touched.

When Lian was changing clothes, Iris was swallowing down heated words that rose to her throat.

“…hurt, you were hurt.”

Iris always closely observed Lian. She knew when he smelled of blood, when he got injured, and when he recovered. That’s how she knew.

That the faint scar remaining on his stomach was a recent wound.

To reassure her younger brother, Iris couldn’t get angry at Lian, who smiled even after shedding so much blood, nor could she throw a tantrum.

“Liar…”

Various emotions and thoughts dominated her mind.

It’s all because of you.

If you were a proper person, would Lian have suffered like this?

A voice she didn’t want to hear, one that scared her with its weakening grip on her heart, burrowed into her mind. Iris tightly closed her eyes and shook her head vigorously.

As tears streamed down her cheeks, her mind turned blank. It was due to cutting off all thoughts to escape from painful thinking.

“Iris, let’s go eat dinner!”

“Yeah…”

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

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