I’m the Only One With a Different Genre - I’m the Only One With a Different Genre chapter 111

111 – The Day Before the Incident

Curiosity had gotten the better of Noah when he saw others drinking beer so eagerly in various places. He recalled the memory of partially spitting it out due to its bitter taste.

“It relieves stress, huh?”

He was momentarily curious, but soon shook his head. As a fugitive, he couldn’t afford to indulge in things like alcohol. Noah dismissed his curiosity and headed upstairs.

After confirming the room number, he opened the door with the key and entered. Everyone was occupying the beds, fast asleep. After days of catnaps and constant movement, they were exhausted.

Ribbon, still reluctant to fall asleep, was struggling to keep her heavy eyelids open.

“….? Where’s Lian?”

“Lian went… to wash up.”

Ribbon, who had been dozing off, pointed towards the bathroom. Upon hearing her words, Noah nodded and set down his heavy baggage.

“I should distribute the supplies tomorrow.”

Noah kept the valuable items, including money, in his possession, but each person carried their own simple provisions and blankets while on the move.

It was possible to pack everything into the void bag and move, but in case of an unforeseen accident that scattered the group, it was better for each person to have their own basic supplies.

Noah brushed off the dirt from his robe outside the window and hung it on the clothes rack in the room. Then he placed a thick fur blanket on the bed that would be his sleeping spot.

The bunk bed that took up most of the room was made of cheap wood, and there was no mattress. Instead, there was only a layer of cloth covering a pile of straw. There was no separate pillow either, so the fur blanket had to be rolled up and used.

Noah’s top bunk was occupied by Lian, and the other beds were all full.

“Let’s check if there’s any sign of danger.”

It seemed more reassuring to check beforehand before sleeping deeply at night. Noah immediately spread his mana discreetly.

He could clearly hear the sound of the group members sleeping in the bed next to him, or Ribbon’s movements as she dozed off.

The mana gradually spread beyond the room, reaching outside the door. Just as Noah was concentrating and trying to spread his mana to the upper and lower floors.

“…!?”

A horrific scene flashed through her mind. Noah quickly moved, her face filled with astonishment. She stopped where Lian was bathing.

Click. When she turned the handle, the sound of the lock breaking could be heard. The deeply sleeping group was unaware of the commotion and continued to wander in their dreams. Ribbon briefly woke up, looked around, and then collapsed sideways and fell asleep again.

“Uh, uh? Noah?”

“You…”

Because of that, only Noah noticed that Lian was holding her wrist.

***

Rewinding time a little, when Noah had just arrived at the room, Lian had summoned her dark sword to feed it blood.

[Partner, then let’s… ]

“…If you transform into a female, I won’t let you out for a week.”

[…! Instead of giving me a reward for my efforts as your partner!]

“There’s no need for that kind of effort!”

After making a promise that the cursed sword would not transform into a female form, Lian finally gave Gargandoa some sweet blood.

[hehehe, yes! Ahh.. the heat is filling my body -..]

“Please, stop saying weird things and just eat quietly!”

[Today, you seem sensitive, partner. Ah, is that it? I heard that humans become sensitive during their mating season.]

“Where did you learn such strange knowledge in the first place?”

[hehehehe, curious about the wellspring of my wisdom, are you? Well, then, I have no choice but to enlighten you! It’s -…]

“No, I’m not curious.”

Not wanting to hear about the history of the cursed sword filled with exaggeration, Lian firmly lowered his head and began to wash up lightly.

Since it was the cheapest room, showering was not possible. Instead, he washed his hands, feet, and face thoroughly and wiped his body with a soaked cloth.

Perhaps because he had showered whenever he found a river during the journey, he wasn’t as dirty as he had expected.

As he was washing his hands one last time, Lian’s gaze fell on the back of his left hand.

“Come to think of it, what would happen if I were to cut Gargandoa with this back of my hand?”

It was just a simple curiosity. He thought that if he brought the cursed sword close to his hand, it would automatically become an informative bug, saying, “You shouldn’t get close to this for this and that reason!”

“Where…”

Lian pulled the cursed sword out from his thigh and transformed it into a dagger shape, making it easier to hold.

[Why are you pulling me out already? I’m still hungry!]

“Alright, just wait a moment.”

Lian immediately brought the cursed sword above the back of his left hand. He wasn’t planning to stab it. He just wanted to hold it above, as there might be a problem with the seal.

From Noble mtl dot com

The moment he brought the cursed sword above the seal of the gods.

Paah!

The divine seal began to shine brilliantly.

[ aaah! It’s hot! So hot! aaargh! ]

“Wait, hold on..!”

Pwoof!

Startled by the pain, the sentient sword twisted its body in surprise and stabbed straight through Lian’s wrist. Lian trembled as he pulled out the sword. The wound wasn’t as deep as he had thought, so blood didn’t gush out.

But it was still a significant enough cut for blood to trickle down.

“Oh, damn… My clothes will get dirty -“

Before Lian could finish speaking.

Creak…

The firmly locked bathroom door was forcibly opened. Pale-faced Noah looked back and forth between Lian’s wrist and the sword.

“This is bad.”

Even though his sense of values had become strange from living in the world of comedy for so long, Lian knew very well how strange it looked to cut one’s own wrist with a knife. Lian glanced nervously at Noah and hurriedly spoke to the sword.

“Gargando, if you drink his blood now, you might never be able to eat again!”

[ Hiss…! ]

The sword, which had been discreetly sucking Lian’s blood, stopped at his words. The blood that had been absorbed by the sword trickled down along the blade.

“Lian… You…”

“Well, uh…”

Unable to properly continue his sentence as he rolled his eyes, Lian saw Noah’s expression turn stern. The same emotions as yesterday quickly passed over her face.

“Sigh, hoo…”

Noah took a deep breath, then spoke with his usual expression.

“…If you need help, just let me know.”

“Ah, uhm, yeah! Right now… it’s, uh, it’s fine because I made a mistake. The wound is shallow, so it’ll heal quickly!”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah, uh, thanks for worrying.”

After those words, Noah remained silent for a while, then handed over the first aid kit, saying that the wound needed to be treated in a timely manner, and closed the bathroom door.

“….”

Noah stared at the firmly closed bathroom door, biting his lip, then finally grabbed the robe hanging on the coat rack and left the room.

Thunk.

“Whew… haaa…”

Noah took a deep breath in the hallway of the accommodation. It felt like something was blocking his throat near his sternum, making it hard to breathe and causing nausea.

“I have to wait, I have to wait. Just a little longer… just a little…”

Until when?

Until Lian becomes covered in blood and becomes a corpse?

Those words echoed in his ears. His head felt dizzy and his stomach felt sour, as if facing an unsolvable problem. Noah clutched the robe tightly and staggered down to the first floor.

Because he felt like he would suffocate if he didn’t get some fresh air, even for a moment.

♩♬♪ ~ ♫ ..

As Noah descended to the lobby, the music that he hadn’t heard before was softly playing. In the early morning, there were many people enjoying drinks in the quiet atmosphere, as if running a pub in a calm setting.

Since Noah’s purpose was to get some fresh air, he immediately headed towards the entrance.

“Put it inside. It’s expensive, so be careful.”

“Are you not cautious?”

“If even a slight problem arises, I won’t receive my salary this month.”

“Oh, scary.”

A young woman in a white shirt and black pants stood at the entrance, engaged in a conversation with the innkeeper, who resembled a pig.

Soon, the woman began to swiftly move a box containing “valuable liquor.” It seemed quite heavy as she stumbled for a moment before finally finding her balance.

“Be careful!”

“Yes, of course.”

The innkeeper quickly averted his gaze from the woman to inspect another item. Noah and the woman were walking down the path that connected the entrance to the front desk, so they had no choice but to meet in the middle.

Noah, out of consideration, moved his body to the side to allow the woman to pass comfortably. The problem was that the woman also had an uncommon sense of consideration.

As the woman moved toward the side Noah had vacated, their paths collided.

“Oops!”

Noah, who never neglected his training, stood perfectly still, but the woman, burdened by the heavy load, stumbled backward as if she had hit a wall.

Thump.

Noah’s hand swiftly caught the box of liquor the woman was holding. Perhaps due to Noah’s strong grip, the woman ended up partially hanging onto the box. After adjusting her awkward posture, she comfortably cradled the box and said,

“Oh, thank you!”

“It was also my mistake.”

“No, no. You made way for me. If I had broken this, I wouldn’t have received my salary this month and would have starved. Oh, I work here as a bartender. I’ll give you a free drink.”

“No, it’s not necessary—”

“Come on, follow me!”

With unwavering confidence, the woman with an E-type personality moved briskly toward the bar. Noah could have ignored her and walked outside, but since he was already stressed to the brim, he found himself drawn to the “drink” the woman was offering.

Noah hesitated for a moment, but reluctantly took a step towards the woman who was eagerly gesturing for him to come over.

Thud.

She immediately held out a pure white glass. It was filled with ice-cold water.

“First, have a refreshing drink.”

Upon hearing her words, Noah sat down on a stool and fiddled with the glass.

“Drinking alcohol right before a journey is definitely not a good idea. It’s bad for the body.”

Suddenly, he recalled the warning from Ryan, who had said that drinking alcohol before reaching adulthood would poison the body.

Since he didn’t know his exact age, as he didn’t know his date of birth, he couldn’t be sure if he had reached adulthood. But he had never heard of anyone getting healthier by drinking alcohol, so he assumed that Ryan was right and it wouldn’t be good for his body.

“Let’s just drink this cold water and go upstairs.”

And have a proper conversation.

He thought that drinking cold water would clear his mind and wake him up -… Noah lifted the glass and gulped down the ice-cold water.

The moment her throat twitched twice.

“Pfft!”

She spewed out what was in her mouth at the strong scent of alcohol.

“Cough, cough!”

“Uh? Are you okay? Can’t you handle strong alcohol?”

The strong alcohol quickly rushed to the top of her head.

“Gulp…”

She didn’t know… she was extremely weak against alcohol.