58 – The Liar
Clank.
As I opened the locked door and stepped outside, a pristine white corridor greeted me.
[It feels unpleasant here.]
“Yeah, it seems like it would be difficult to clean.”
Having lived as a housewife, my thoughts naturally drifted towards cleaning. I reflexively looked up at the ceiling.
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“Oh, but the maintenance seems to be good. The ceiling is clean.”
[Maybe it’s magic.]
“Is that so?”
As I said that, I took a step towards the corridor. Then, I heard a swoosh! sound coming from the wall. The magic sword I was holding in my hand instantly transformed into a spear shape and deflected something that was spinning towards me.
“Oh, what was that just now?”
[Seems like a poisoned arrow. Tsk tsk, someone has been causing trouble.]
The arrow deflected by the magic sword was rolling on the ground. As the magic sword had said, the arrowhead was smeared with black liquid. It looked like poison.
It seems like there are all sorts of traps set up in the corridor… Are we really going to pass through here?
“But there’s no other way here. If we’re late, we won’t even have dinner.”
“That, that’s not possible! But… I don’t want my partner to die either…”
I lightly waved my hand and said, “Ah, don’t worry about that. Let’s just go.”
“Ugh, if you say so…”
With that, I started to pass through the corridor filled with traps. Lightning struck, and fireballs flew. Spears sprouted from the floor, and plants covered in thorns wrapped around us.
“Phew, this place is really scary.”
“…But my partner is scarier than the traps…”
“Huh?”
“Ah, it’s nothing!”
Although I was a mess from maneuvering through the corridor, we finally managed to reach the entrance. Thankfully, the frame opened easily when pushed.
When we stepped outside, the corridor I had seen earlier appeared. We moved towards the living room.
“That grandfather must have gone to the hospital.”
The house was empty. I was about to go out immediately, but there was too much blood on my body, so I roughly wiped it off with the cloth hanging over the sofa. Since it didn’t seem right to leave the cloth there, I threw it into what looked like a laundry basket and headed towards the entrance.
“I should change my clothes before I go.”
Since my whole body was covered in blood, I planned to ask for help from the slave I had relied on before. I left the room and headed towards the elevator. I didn’t encounter anyone along the way.
The elevator went down quickly, and we arrived at the floor where my room was. Instead of heading straight to my room, I went to the slave’s quarters where I had received help before.
Knock, knock!
“Eek!”
As I opened the door and stepped inside, I made eye contact with a slave who seemed to be changing clothes or taking off their top. As I took a step closer, they raised their sword and prepared to fight.
Thinking that it wouldn’t lead to a conversation like this, I turned the sword away with the back of my hand and said, “Oh, excuse me.”
“Why, why, why…” the slave stuttered.
“I was wondering if I could borrow the shower room…”
Before I could finish speaking, the slave vigorously nodded their head and pointed towards the direction of the shower room with both hands. I immediately went into the shower room and washed myself.
“Ah, refreshing.”
After cleaning up and coming out, clothes were prepared in front of the door. I couldn’t see where the slave had gone. I put on the clothes familiarly and left the room.
“I should show my gratitude next time.”
No matter how much I intruded on their space, I felt a little sorry for taking their clothes without permission.
“I might need to use it frequently in the future.”
Thinking that I should put the money I had set aside for incidents like this in my pocket, I headed towards the room.
Lately, my joints have been aching, and it seemed like I had grown a little taller. I was able to walk with my slightly longer legs and reach the room.
Thump.
As I opened the door, I heard a sound of something rushing towards me. Ah, is this the feeling of a father coming home from work?
Without realizing it, I opened the door wide with a content smile.
“Iris, I’m home. Sorry, I’m later than expected.”
Passing through the corridor filled with traps, I wasted too much time and suddenly the sun had set. Feeling like I had been alone for too long, I apologized and quickly went inside, closing the door.
“Hmm…?”
But Iris seemed a little strange. They were staring at me with a rigid expression.
“What’s this…? Did I do something wrong? Or did something get on my face?”
I felt my face, but there was nothing on it. However, I noticed something else.
“Oh no…”
My once clean clothes were now covered in bloodstains. I panicked and grabbed the collar of my clothes, checking the inside.
“Oh dear…”
The trap in the white corridor had inflicted a stronger attack than I had thought, as my wounds hadn’t fully healed. Of course, they weren’t severe wounds. Just a slight graze on the skin?
The problem was that when I got injured, my body wouldn’t just form a scab, but the blood would continue to flow until the skin naturally adhered.
Because of that, I looked like I had committed a series of murders wherever I went.
“Um… Iris, that’s…”
It wouldn’t be good for educational purposes to show blood in front of the kids, and I hesitated because I remembered Iris’s excessive reaction in the past. I stepped back uncertainly.
Click.
I felt the door behind me closing. “If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have closed the door…” I regretted. But it was too late to regret.
“…The smell of blood.”
“Oh, uh, sorry. I should have washed up.”
“That’s…!”
Iris frowned and approached me. Various emotions swam in her eyes. Before I could figure out what those emotions were, Iris lowered her head.
“That’s…that’s not important.”
Her murmuring voice was barely audible, so I lowered my head slightly. And then Iris closed her mouth completely.
“I’m sorry, I forgot to handle it because I thought Iris was waiting.”
I bought time and glanced at the inside of my clothes. The wounds were slowly but surely healing.
“Ah, were you worried because of the blood? If that’s the case, don’t worry.”
Iris quietly lifted her head and looked at me.
“This isn’t my blood. Look, even the clothes aren’t mine. See?”
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 would burst into tears at any moment.
“Really?”
“Yeah, and there are no wounds either, right?”
When I said that, Iris approached me and grabbed the hem of my clothes. I firmly held onto Iris’s hand and said.
“Why? Do you think I’m lying?”
After hesitating for a moment, Iris nodded.
“Well, it’s a little disappointing… but still, you’re worried about me, so I’ll show you a little. Okay?”
After confirming that there were no wounds, I lifted my shirt slightly to show my abdomen. There were still scars from when I hadn’t gained much weight, but there were no wounds that would bleed.
“See?”
“…”
Iris silently looked at my stomach and nodded heavily. It seemed like she reluctantly understood. I smiled brightly and brushed off my clothes.
“It’s already evening. I’ll change my clothes and come back soon. Just wait a moment, okay?”
Once again, Iris remained silent for a while before nodding.
“I’ll have to be more careful from now on.”
I inwardly sighed and headed towards the room with the wardrobe.
“Huh? Why are my clothes…?”
I raised my head in surprise at the sight of all the clothes that had been neatly put away in the wardrobe scattered on the bed, and then I randomly picked something to change into.
“Did Iris play a joke on me while I was gone?”
As I thought about it, a smile quietly formed. Seeing that I had even played along with the joke, a sense of pride and touched me.
***
While Lian was changing clothes, Iris was swallowing the heated words that had risen to the tip of her tongue.
“…I had a wound.”
Iris always observed Lian attentively. She observed when he smelled of blood, when he got injured and recovered. That’s how she knew.
That faint scar remaining on his abdomen was a recent wound.
Iris couldn’t get angry or throw a fit at Lian, who shed so much blood and still managed to smile to reassure her little sister.
“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 that she didn’t want to hear, a voice that she feared her heart weakening to, dug into her mind. Iris tightly closed her eyes and shook her head vigorously.
As tears streamed down her cheeks, her mind went blank. It was because she cut off all thoughts to escape from the painful thoughts.
“Iris, let’s go have dinner!”
“Yeah…”
Iris held Lian’s hand with a vacant expression, as if asking when she had become so emotional, and left the room.
Unaware of what awaited at the end of the path she took to escape from the pain.
