I’m the Only One With a Different Genre

37 – Seed of the Giant Organization

Afraid of losing a useful weapon, he extended his hand to Iris.

“You’re a good girl, Iris. Quickly, give it to me.”

Iris hid the sword behind her back and shook her head vigorously. I spoke with a comforting expression to appease the tantrum-throwing child.

“That was just a joke earlier. Iris suddenly cried, and I was surprised. I’m sorry.”

Iris’s expression twisted into a pout. Even with such a distorted expression, it was still cute, reaffirming that not anyone could be a protagonist.

“Now, I won’t put a knife to your throat. Hurry up and give it to me. The… no, the sword seems to be having a hard time.”

At my words, Iris brought the sword forward. The cursed sword, which had absorbed a lot of my blood and grown from 16cm to 21cm, now seemed to have shrunk as its length decreased to 10cm.

Including the handle, it looked about 25cm long.

[ S-save me… please… if it continues like this, I’ll vanish… ]

The cursed sword gasped like a severe patient on an oxygen respirator. Afraid that it might really disappear, I approached Iris and said:

“Our Iris is a good girl, right?”

Although my tone was like soothing a heavily guarded puppy, surprisingly, Iris, who had been glaring at the sword, reluctantly handed the sword to me. I immediately praised Iris while patting her head.

“You did well, my child! Listening well, and Iris is a good girl!”

“…”

Blushing faintly, Iris lowered her head deeply. As she did so, her cute act of pulling the hem of my clothes was endearing.

‘I want to have such a cute daughter too. Oh, right now, since I’m partly raising Iris, can’t I consider myself half of Iris’s dad?’

While gazing at Iris with a melting expression, the dying voice of the cursed sword spoke.

[ Sigh… I thought I was going to disappear this time. It’s unimaginable that a body even feared by the Dragon Lord would be obliterated by the hand of a mere girl. It’s an incredible turn of events… ]

The cursed sword, like a recluse in the corner, grumbled incessantly. Dismissing the sword onto the bed, which seemed more intact than expected, I tossed it without much care. At that moment, Iris sincerely sighed and reached out to hold my hand.

[ Oh dear…! How dare you handle the great cursed sword like this! No, more importantly! Hey, human! What is that human girl! ]

As the cursed sword roared with a ringing sound, Iris’s gaze shifted towards the sword. The sword, which had been causing all sorts of trouble on its own, instantly became quiet.

“Let’s leave that alone and go get some snacks. Cream bread is on the menu today. Let’s hurry and eat.”

Holding hands with Iris, I exited the room. Behind us, the cursed sword spoke.

[ W-What about me? If you just give me some blood -… ]

Thud.

Irian ignored the cursed sword’s words and closed the door.

***

While Irian and Iris were enjoying a relatively peaceful daily life, the situation on Noah’s side was deteriorating rapidly.

From Noble mtl dot com

Thud.

Noah looked down at the leather bag that had fallen at his feet. When he raised his gaze, Mia, the black sorceress with a cold expression, was staring down at Noah.

“I’m taking him because he’s done things for me so far. And if you don’t want to make me feel worse, don’t loiter around the mansion. It’s unpleasant.”

A week passed since Irian disappeared, and it took Mia that time to give up on Irian and abandon the slaves.

Mia was one of the black sorcerers who treated slaves like bugs in the basic sense. If they weren’t as mysterious as Irian, but rather ordinary slaves, she showed no mercy.

Since all the slaves, including Noah, were accepted because of Irian, there was no reason for Mia to keep the slaves once Irian was gone.

Selling the unnecessary slaves in the slave market could bring in a substantial amount of money. However, Mia chose to release the slaves.

Partly because she needed to leave quickly due to the call of the Demon King, and partly because the image of Irian, who had taken care of her so well, came to mind, Mia couldn’t bring herself to sell the slaves in the ruthless slave market.

Instead, she decided to equip them with the minimum tools necessary for survival and release them into the forest.

‘If only I hadn’t crossed over to the side of the Earth Deity, I would have tried to take her back somehow.’

After hearing from her informant that Irian had been kidnapped through theft and had crossed over to the side of the Earth Deity, Mia cleanly gave up on Irian.

She briefly considered asking Lania for help, but Lania was currently busy with the orders of the Demon King. It wasn’t a situation where she could simply go and return because of one slave.

‘Above all, causing a conflict between the Four Heavenly Kings over one slave would be a foolish act.’

If Lania and the Earth Deity were to clash in any way, there would be considerable bloodshed. In times when the Demon King’s army was actively moving to conquer the continent, internal conflict could lead the Demon King himself to take action.

Although Irian’s body was intriguing, it wasn’t worth creating a major conflict.

‘Sigh, well, it’s fine. Since I have to leave my house empty for a long time anyway, it’s a good thing.’

Sighing away her regret, Mia turned around and left, leaving the trembling slaves in the Forest of Death.

“Br-Brother… What should we do now?”

Nero, with a quivering voice, grabbed Noah’s hand. Noah, who had been absentmindedly looking at Mia, spoke with a weak voice.

“…Indeed.”

Surviving on the Demon King’s land with children not even 10 years old was nearly impossible. It was no different from simply being told to die.

Noah’s mind was adrift, affected by the shock of losing the purpose of life named Lian and the suddenly changed environment.

It wasn’t a sense of happiness. It was the feeling of buoyancy, unable to accept the consecutive horrifying situations.

*Gulp… Sniff…*

“Lian, Lian, h-hiccup…”

The pitch-black, desolate ground, bizarrely shaped trees, and strange sounds like “quack, quack” echoing in the forest were enough to frighten the children.

When Lian, who had played the role of a comforting guardian like a tall tree, disappeared, the children burst into tears like little kids.

Noah snapped to attention at the sound of the children’s cries.

*Crack!*

A sharp blow to his cheek brought Noah’s hazy consciousness back to reality, leaving a red mark on his cheek.

[Are you finally awake?]

Julianna flew to Noah with a rough voice. Despite her efforts to shout and help him regain his senses, Noah couldn’t fully grasp reality, and Julianna had been floating silently by her side.

Only now did Noah belatedly recall what efforts Julianna had made for him.

“I’m sorry.”

[Well, it’s about time you came to your senses. More importantly, what are we going to do now?]

…

Coming to his senses was good, but the situation hadn’t improved. They were abandoned in a cruel forest where demons could emerge anytime, anywhere. Just because he regained his senses didn’t mean he could think of a way to survive in a place like this.

[Ugh, I knew this would happen.]

Julianna sighed softly and then spoke in a firm voice.

[What we need to do now is find a place where we can eat and sleep, in simpler terms, a place to solve our basic needs. If we stay like this, all the kids will die. And after that…]

While it wasn’t the Demon King’s land, Julianna was an experienced mercenary who had camped in dangerous areas. Thanks to that, she always gave practical advice to survive.

[After that… we need to go find Lian.]

…!

At the end of her lengthy words, the phrase “let’s go find Lian” popped out. Noah’s eyes widened. The gleaming light began to seep into his eyes that had been cloudy.

“Yeah… we need a place for Lian to come back to.”

Suppressing the urge to rush out and find Lian immediately, Noah recalled his goal.

First, survive. When a safe place for them to stay is established, then let’s go find Lian.

‘Surely Lian made this choice as well.’

Always prioritizing the well-being of others over herself, if it were Lianne, she would undoubtedly have made the same choice as Noah.

What Lianne had tried to protect, she would now protect herself. And beyond that, she would surely find the vanished Lianne.

The seed of a formidable and fearsome organization, which even the Four Kings and the Demon Army would be wary of, had been planted.

When Noah regained his composure and began soothing the crying children.

“Jujeon-nim…!”

Swish!

Seizing the chaotic moment, Jese escaped towards the forest, scrunching his nose.