I’m the Only One With a Different Genre

7 – It’s Okay for Residents of the Comedy World to Get Hurt

***

In the comedy world, it was natural for a large dog or a person to rush in, body-slam, and make you vomit blood. Therefore, I wasn’t particularly surprised. Wiping my mouth casually, I spoke nonchalantly.

“You’re… strong. Did you put meat in the soup? Haha…”

“Are you joking now?!”

From Noble mtl dot com

“Tongue, hyung, you… you shouldn’t joke… hooahh!”

Noah, who had approached unnoticed, wiped my mouth with his sleeve. Nero, hanging on my waist, showed tears. I raised my hand lightly and said,

“No, it’s not a big deal…”

“How is this not a big deal!”

Noah shouted with a determined expression. Startled by his appearance, I trembled and said,

“Uh… it’ll be fine soon. It’s really okay.”

“You…”

Noah bit his lip and glared at me. What’s wrong? Did I do something seriously wrong?

“Sob, sob…”

“Huh? Nero hyung isn’t dead. It’s really okay!”

While comforting the crying child, I climbed the stairs. I took out a cookie wrapped in paper from my pocket, intending to eat.

“Come on, have something sweet and calm down…”

Swoosh, snap.

In an instant, as if the wind blew, the cookie I was holding disappeared.

“Huh…?”

When I turned my head, the red-haired girl was looking at me, munching on cookies.

“Thirsty.”

“Uh… isn’t that mine…?”

“I’m very thirsty.”

“Ugh… thanks?”

The girl who had approached me like a bird suddenly wrapped her arms around my head. No, she… hung onto it.

“Oops! Hey, wait a minute!”

“The one giving me something to drink! Master!”

“What, what? What’s going on?”

“My master!”

Every time the girl spoke, cookie crumbs fell on my head. I tried to pull her away, but she wouldn’t let go. Nero and Noah, who were next to me, also tried to detach the girl, but she growled, showing her teeth, and they couldn’t help.

“If it doesn’t come off, it’ll be hard to prepare lunch later -“

Swoosh!

Before I could finish my sentence, it fell off in an instant.

“Stay quiet here. I’ll bring you another soup with meat later.”

Upon hearing that, the girl vigorously nodded. Suddenly, animal ears popped up above her head. A long skirt, revealing a red tail swaying beneath it, reached down to her knees as she happily tapped the floor.

“She liked the soup last time, but… today is even more dramatic.”

With a strange sense of pride, I laughed and escaped from the prison.

Clang.

Locking the door, I spoke to the kids inside the prison.

“Don’t come out under any circumstances. If something happens, hide in the corners and keep quiet, understood? I’ll do my best to block whatever comes, but…”

I recalled Rania, whose figure blurred as I finished speaking. She had fallen after hitting the celestial object hanging from the ceiling, but by now, she should have awakened.

The kids’ expressions froze as they noticed his troubled expression thinking about Rania, but Lian didn’t seem to notice.

“Would they calm down if I bake more cookies? No, they might be overwhelmed before that happens.”

With that thought, I ascended the stairs.

Squeak.

Carefully opening the door leading to the underground prison, I peeked outside. Fortunately, Rania was nowhere in sight.

“Did she perhaps leave?”

“Leave? What are you talking about?”

“Cough!”

Pressing his ear against the door, he kicked it open, rolling forward.

“You managed to escape, huh?”

“W-well…”

“Hmm, and you only made it here after running away from me? Why? Did you hide something good here?”

Rania peered into the stairs leading to the underground, commenting. Odil’s underground staircase wasn’t very long since Odil wasn’t particularly wealthy. If you tilted your head just right, you could catch a glimpse of the underground prison. I urgently stood up, pushing Rania away, and said,

“There’s nothing, absolutely nothing here!”

“Earlier, you were so scared and running around, and now there’s something you want to protect so badly?”

Without responding to Rania’s words, I slammed the open door shut.

“In the underground, there’s only Odil’s experimental subjects. Odil is currently absent, so it wouldn’t be strange for a riot to happen anytime. I’m just being cautious!”

I spun a plausible excuse to make sure she wouldn’t show any interest in the children.

“Even with me here?”

“You’ll stay here the whole time?”

“No.”

Rania shrugged her shoulders in response. I retorted as if saying, “See, I told you.”

“We don’t know when Odil will return, but until he does, it’s best not to provoke the subjects too much.”

“Is there an experimental subject so interesting that you need to be this careful?”

“No, it’s not that…”

I said, scratching my neck.

“Even with just ordinary subjects… there aren’t many that I can handle.”

“Hmm, I see.”

She surveyed me from top to bottom, nodding her head. Although there were only children in the prison, generally, experimental subjects ranged from adults to children. Hence, it was easy to believe that a person who looked barely 13 like me couldn’t stop the experiments.

“But, well, Odil seems unlikely to come back…”

“Really? Why?”

“I can tell because we’re both dark mages. Usually, a dark mage’s laboratory has nothing left in it.”

“Are you saying that we’re all abandoned here?”

“Haha! You’ll soon be taken by slave traders!”

She laughed as if it were an amusing spectacle, tears even visible in her eyes. I knelt on the ground, holding my head with my hands.

“N-no way!”

As I sprawled in despair, a shadow fell before me. When I lifted my tear-filled eyes, Rania was crouched in front of me, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, and said,

“If you’re scared, want to come with me? I’ll take care of you.”

“Heek!”

If I didn’t know who she was, it wouldn’t matter, but if there was a Four Demon Kings member who truly embodied the title “crazy girl,” it was Rania. Right now, she seemed interested in me, and if I dared to upset her even a little, my limbs would likely be shattered.

“Assembling that thing must be incredibly difficult!”

Imagining her enthusiastically assembling the shattered pieces of her body into a complete form, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement at the thought of her using me as a personal punching bag.

“I-it’s, it’s alright. I am Odil’s faithful servant…”

“Saying that just makes it more interesting.”

A shadow of mischief fell over her face.

Thunk! She grabbed my shoulders and brought her face close.

“W-what could I possibly lack compared to Odil?”

“Hmm?!”

I was frozen, shoulders tense.

Thud, thud.

The sound of a heavy door being knocked echoed. Tears streamed down my face like a waterfall, a hopeful smile on my lips.

Creak.

Thanks to Odil’s magic, the door that should have been firmly closed swung open easily. Witnessing this, I couldn’t help but shed tears.

“He really escaped, Odil… I even fed him such delicious food…”

As I pondered this betrayal, the door opened, revealing a short-haired woman in navy blue entering. The first thing that caught my eye was the corset accentuating her waist.

Rather than a corset tightly cinching her waist like those seen on noblewomen in movies, it seemed more like a dress that highlighted her waistline. My gaze wasn’t precisely aimed at the corset; it was directed at the grand chest accentuated by it.

“Wow…”

“Wow…”

I was utterly captivated by the beautiful and shocking scene. Following my gaze, I observed her lower body. The corset, connected to pants, made her long legs appear even more slender and elegant. While I marveled, Rania, encountering something troublesome, displayed an irritated expression.

“Ugh.”

Rania stood up, releasing me and causing me to collapse onto the floor. She walked past me and addressed the newcomer.

“Mia, what’s going on here?”

“Sigh… Isn’t that something I should be asking? Master.”

From Noble mtl dot com

Mia, with half her face covered by large round glasses, pushed them up with her index finger, furrowing her brow. The thin silver frames sparkled in the light.

“Master, you are one of the Four Demon Kings. Leaving your seat so recklessly—”

“Ah, whatever! I only listen to the Demon Lord!”

“Sigh…”

She sighed, tapping the floor with the wooden staff she held in one hand. Mia’s staff was at least as tall as me, with a fierce branch wrapped around a round bead. The bead emitted a deep red glow, looking undeniably ominous.

“When are you going back?”

“Well, actually, the guy I was supposed to meet today ran away, so -.”

“Then you can leave now.”

“That’s a bit awkward, isn’t it?”

Rania pointed at me with her index finger.

“He has nowhere to go, you know.”

“…?”

The thought of ‘What on earth is the problem?’ floated in Mia’s face. In no time, she exclaimed “Ah,” and raised her staff.

“You mean we have to deal with this?”

A fiery crimson flame rose from the end of her staff.