I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 160

Chapter 160
It’s Only Natural to Marry Family, Right?

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[As of April 2nd, the content of chapters 159 to 163 has been revised. The revised content now spans from chapter 159 to 167. Since the content is completely different, if you read before April 2nd, please start again from chapter 159 or read the summary at the beginning of chapter 168.]

Jess clung to her head, groaning as she looked at Lian. Lian, noticing her discomfort, immediately pried Iris’s hand away and spoke.

“Iris, Jess is in pain.”

“Ugh, that damned fox…”

“But Jess isn’t a fox, is she?”

As a true resident of the gag world, Lian became lost in thought, pondering the oddity. Meanwhile, Jess let out a soft “Hee-ing…” and clung to him. In Iris’s eyes, the flames of hell blazed.

“Master, Jess is hurt here. Please blow on it.”

“Huh, what?”

“Here, it hurts here.”

Though it wasn’t a lie that she was in pain, it wasn’t unbearable. Jess, quick-witted as ever, saw this as a prime opportunity to cling to Lian like a puppy reunited with its owner, pressing herself against him.

Her tail wrapped around Lian’s arm, her firm legs encircled his waist, and her arms hugged his shoulders. Like a koala, she clung to him, rubbing her face against his shoulder with a pitiful expression, looking up at him with wide, shining eyes.

Lian froze, stiff as a board, as he gazed down at the beautiful woman looking up at him with eyes reminiscent of the Puss in Boots.

“Uh, uh, well…”

He could escape any physical restraint by cutting off a part of himself, but there was no escaping the prison of a beautiful woman.

It was the only way to completely incapacitate Lian. No wonder the cursed sword had told him to train to get used to the presence of women.

‘Huff, huff… What do I do? What should I do? What should I name my first grandson?’

Lian’s mind went blank, and before he knew it, he was imagining a future growing old with Jess. It was an automatic, reflexive thought. While Lian was malfunctioning, Jess, like a cat eyeing a fish, grabbed his hand and placed it on her head.

“You damn beast!”

Iris, her eyes blazing with fury, grabbed Jess roughly. Jess, ever the opportunist, used the situation to her advantage.

“Kyaa! No!”

“Mmph!”

Pretending she didn’t want to be separated, Jess pulled Lian’s head into her embrace. Lian unintentionally confirmed just how much Jess had grown. His face flushed red, and his mind began to blur. His face was buried, and he couldn’t breathe.

‘Ah… Is this how I die?’

Just as Lian was about to meet a blissful death in more ways than one, Jess was finally pulled away by Iris’s rough grip.

“Master!”

Jess spread her arms wide, once again looking at Lian with those shining eyes. Lian, instinctively moving to save her, was met with a fierce glare from Iris. Only then did Lian snap back to his senses.

‘Phew, that was close.’

He had almost fallen into the trap of those innocent eyes, a trap that promised a happy death. Lian wiped his forehead in a mock gesture of relief and scolded Jess firmly. Jess, now with a sullen expression, obediently responded. Seeing her look so pitiful yet cute, Lian couldn’t help but pat her head, causing her limp tail to start wagging again.

“Hehe, Master!”

As Jess’s expression brightened and she moved to hug Lian again, Iris, who had been watching with her arms crossed, grabbed Jess’s body with a fierce expression.

“Didn’t you hear a word I said earlier?”

“Beastfolk are too dumb to understand things like that.”

Jess, without hesitation, insulted her own race and once again aimed to hug Lian. Her innocent face disarmed her opponents, and whenever she saw an opening, she charged forward like a predator eyeing its prey.

Seeing her brother treat this beast, who was practically drooling at the thought of devouring him, like a naive puppy, Iris felt a stiffness in her neck.

‘My brother will live with me forever without getting married.’

But what if Lian did get married?

‘Even if he does, it’s only natural that he marries me, his family.’

Though her thoughts were somewhat twisted, they made perfect sense to Iris. There was no place for Jess, a stranger, to interfere.

‘…If my brother really wants it, I might allow a little leeway.’

In the dark fantasy world, polygamy or polyandry was the norm. It was a natural outcome of the strong and those who sought to survive under them coexisting in such a brutal world.

Of course, monogamy wasn’t unheard of, but those with power often found themselves adored by the weaker ones, even if they didn’t intend to be. It was hard to find someone who could push away a beautiful admirer unless they were truly in love with someone else.

For this reason, Iris thought that if Lian really wanted it, she could allow Jess to take the position of a concubine. After all, they had grown up together, and Jess had the keen senses and nose to immediately detect if Lian had spent time with another woman.

‘In the end, my brother will love me the most.’

As she thought that, Lian’s words, “We’re not family,” echoed in her mind, causing her eyes to waver, but she quickly regained her composure.

While Iris was organizing her thoughts, still holding onto Jess, Lian left, saying he was going to find Noah.

“Ah… If only I had stayed a little longer, I could have kissed him.”

“What?”

Just moments ago, Iris had been willing to offer Jess the position of concubine, but she wasn’t so generous as to accept Jess stealing Lian’s first kiss.

Of course… Lian’s first kiss had already been taken, but neither Jess nor Iris knew that.

“Sometimes, he looks at me like I’m a dog or a cat, so I thought I’d lick his face all over like they do!”

It was a declaration that she would devour Lian from head to toe with greed.

Her seductive smile, paired with her narrowed eyes, was nothing short of sensual. The childish image of her from before was nowhere to be seen.

“You…”

Behind Iris, an invisible, icy wind seemed to swirl. If Lian had been nearby, the gag filter might have turned it into a real snowstorm.

If the people from the duchy saw Iris now, they would have said, “Huh? Is that the Duchess?” Her expression was that similar to the enraged Duchess. Fortunately, Iris had positioned herself behind the carriage at the outskirts of the camp, avoiding any attention.

As Jess and Iris growled at each other, ready to fight, Lian was walking through a forest with no clear path.

[Hmm, gulp. We’re almost there.]

The cursed sword, which Lian had summoned in case they encountered any monsters, had taken the form of a thin needle, burrowing into his body and guiding him while it fed. It made a sound like someone enjoying a hearty meal, [Ahh! This is great!] which left Lian with a complicated expression.

‘Am I really that tasty?’

While pondering the multiple meanings behind that thought, he heard voices in the distance.

[Partner, suppress your presence from here.]

‘Huh? Why?’

[It would be uncool to interrupt an important training session… Ahem, I mean, it would be rude.]

At the mention of important training, Lian’s eyes widened, and he followed the cursed sword’s advice, suppressing his presence. As the bond between them grew stronger, Lian found himself able to use some of the sword’s techniques as if they were his own.

As he approached the location the sword had indicated, he began to hear the sound of swords clashing.

Whoosh, whoosh!

The sharp sound of blades cutting through the air, so fast it was hard to follow with the eye, filled the space. Lian’s gaze landed on Noah, who was swinging her sword with incredible speed. In front of her stood a familiar figure, holding a sword with a calm expression, ready to strike.

‘Huh? Why is the Duchess here?!’

[Is she giving a lesson?]

Lian’s voice was filled with confusion, while the cursed sword’s voice brimmed with interest. At that moment, the two swordsmen clashed lightly.

Boom!

Though it was just swords meeting, the sound was like an explosion. The nearby trees shook violently as if caught in a typhoon. The grass flattened, and the monsters in the vicinity fled like startled foals.

The continuous clash of the two was so fast that someone of Lian’s skill level would have struggled to even perceive it.

‘So that’s why they came so far out here.’

If they had fought like that near the camp, it would have caused absolute chaos.

The fierce energy radiating from the two was problematic enough, but the bigger issue was that the Duchess was teaching Noah how to fight.

The Duchess only ever taught swordsmanship to her own knights, so this sparring session could be seen as an indication that she was accepting Noah as one of her own.

Even if the Duchess denied it, the Knight Commander would be eager to recruit Noah into the order. After all, receiving instruction from the Duchess was a sign of overwhelming talent. This could cause trouble for Noah, which was why they had come so far from the camp for the lesson.

Boom! Crash!

The sound of their swords clashing was so fierce it was hard to believe it was just a sparring match. By the time all the monsters and animals had fled, Lian was staring at Noah in awe.

‘…When did she become this strong?’

Noah had always been the one to draw her sword first to protect and lead others. Because of that, Lian had plenty of opportunities to witness her skills firsthand.

But now, her abilities had soared to a level that made him wonder if she had been hiding her true strength all along. In terms of the fantasy world’s power scale—

She had leapt from the level of an advanced knight, far surpassing the master level, and was now standing at the edge of the grandmaster’s domain.

It was an astonishing growth speed, even to a resident of the gag world.

[The trial she faced must have been nearly impossible.]

‘Trial?’

Lian’s eyes widened as he looked down at the cursed sword, recalling the familiar word.

End of Chapter