I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 162

Chapter 162
Arrogant Worries

***

“..Your skills have improved quite a bit. Congratulations.”

“Ah, Captain.”

The Ranger Unit Captain appeared with his characteristic expressionless face and offered his congratulations to Noah. Only then did Noah’s previously stiff expression relax slightly.

“What brings you here…?”

“Isn’t it strange that no one would come when such a big fight broke out?”

“Ah…”

At those words, Noah’s face flushed lightly.

“The other unit members sent back the knights who came after hearing the commotion, so there’s no need to worry.”

In the Captain’s voice, which was so blunt it could be considered cold, Noah could still easily detect the hidden consideration. Knowing that the Captain was actually a person of deep affection despite appearances, Noah smiled warmly and expressed her thanks.

The Captain nodded slightly, and just as he was about to suggest they head back, Noah, with a hardened expression, grabbed his sleeve. The Captain turned to her with an indifferent look.

“Um… by any chance…”

After a long pause, as if she were choosing her words carefully, Noah finally exhaled the breath she had been holding.

“Could I… get some advice?”

At those words, the Captain raised an eyebrow and looked around briefly before whistling lightly. The presences around them disappeared. The Rangers who had been standing by returned to the camp.

Noah stared at the now silent forest and swallowed dryly. As she prepared to reveal the thoughts she had kept hidden deep inside, her palms grew sweaty from the tension. The urge to take back her words surged, but she bit her lip to suppress it.

‘…I can’t waste any more time.’

Ever since she had become aware of her desires not long ago, Noah hadn’t been able to sleep properly at night. The clinging affection and ugly greed contained in those desires were too raw and vivid.

She wanted to protect someone.

She wanted to die for someone.

On the surface, these words might seem noble, but what lay beneath was a sinister desire to have her death become a shackle, a wound that would be remembered forever by someone.

It felt as though an angel and a devil were taking turns whispering in her mind.

The angel whispered, “That desire is nothing more than an obsessive need to leave a mark on someone.”

Then the devil whispered, “In the end, it’s a noble sacrifice for someone else. Isn’t it okay to be a little greedy?”

At times, the angel’s opinion became the devil’s, and the devil’s opinion became the angel’s.

Noah was lost in confusion. Was her desire a ‘sin’? Or was it ‘noble sacrifice’?

The more confused she became, the more she felt the absence of Julianna. Ever since they had arrived in the Empire, Julianna, who often fell asleep, had not woken up and remained in a deep slumber.

Though Julianna had a fundamentally good nature, her existence was sustained by ‘magic.’ Because of that, in the Empire, where the amount of magic was close to zero, she could not stay awake for long.

That was why Noah, who had always relied on Julianna, now turned to the Ranger Captain for advice.

The Captain was known for being tight-lipped and wise, often acting as a counselor for the various members of the Ranger Unit, each with their own circumstances. This gave Noah the courage to ask for his counsel.

‘To overcome the wall, you need willpower, conviction, and time… and the courage to face your desires.’

Noah recalled the blood-stained advice the Duke had given her.

‘…If I can shake off this worry, maybe I can overcome the wall.’

It seemed too easy to be true, but recalling the Duke’s advice, it didn’t sound entirely impossible.

Before her thoughts could deepen further, the Captain spoke while looking at Noah.

“Let’s walk for a bit.”

“..! Yes!”

The two of them began walking in silence. There was no clear path, but they moved along the flattest route they could find. After some time, when no sounds could be heard around them, Noah quietly opened her mouth.

“…Captain, what was your reason for wanting to become stronger?”

“A reason, huh…”

The Captain didn’t say more and fell into silence. After a while, heavy words followed.

“At first, it was for survival. Then, at some point… yes, I picked up the sword because I wanted to protect someone.”

There was a bitter emotion in his voice that he couldn’t hide. It was a feeling of self-loathing and regret, like a foul smell emanating from a wound. The suffocating weight in his words left Noah momentarily speechless.

Even without asking, the Captain’s scars were clearly visible to her. Seeing them gave Noah a surge of courage. She was certain that this man would confront her ugly desires and heart with a cold, unflinching gaze.

“Captain… in truth, I have a strange desire that I can’t tell others.”

Once she cast aside her hesitation, her story poured out like a dam breaking. She didn’t directly mention ‘Lian,’ but she did explicitly confess her desire to become stronger and die in someone’s place while protecting them.

As she continued to speak, the tension in her stiff shoulders gradually eased, and they slumped down. She couldn’t bring herself to meet the Captain’s gaze, so she kept her eyes lowered.

It felt as if she were standing on a judgment platform.

Bzz.

The insects, which had been silent due to the killing intent of the Duke and Noah, began to chirp again. The sound of the insects filled the silence between the two of them. After a while, Noah spoke again.

Noah began to pour out words filled with guilt, as if she had already decided that her desires were condemned to ‘hell.’

“I… I know that my desires are wrong. I also know that at the end of that path, there’s only a cruel cliff waiting for me…”

It was as if she wanted a judgment that her desires were ‘sin.’ She lifted her gaze from the ground and looked at the Captain.

“…!”

He wasn’t looking at her but at some distant point in the air, smiling sadly. The smile was so bitter and sorrowful that Noah momentarily lost her words. It was as if she could see the unhealed wounds in his eyes.

“…Whether your desires are good or evil is not important.”

He continued in a slow voice.

“The most important thing is whether or not you can protect the person you want to protect from all the evils of this world. Worrying about good and evil is, well, a very—arrogant worry.”

With each blink of his eyes, it felt as though some unseen scars were distorting before her.

“When the person you truly cherish disappears, your worries will become meaningless.”

The Captain collected his expression and continued.

“So… live as your heart desires. Without any regrets.”

In his indifferent expression, there was an unfathomable despair. It was as if Noah could hear a silent scream. She held her breath and couldn’t say anything.

After some time passed, the Captain excused himself and left first. Noah looked at the spot where the Captain had stood and let out a small sigh.

‘The Captain must have lost many precious people, which is why he gave me that advice.’

His advice wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly helpful either. She still didn’t know whether her desires were good or evil.

‘…I guess I’ll just have to wait for Julianna to wake up.’

Noah thought the Captain’s advice was of little use to her at the moment—but in the not-too-distant future, she would deeply regret not heeding his words.

***

Lian, who had made up his mind to leave, Iris, who was terrified of Lian leaving her side, and the cute Jess, who was always looking for an opportunity to devour Lian whenever she saw an opening.

The three of them stuck together throughout the journey. To be more precise—Lian was the one holding onto Jess and not letting her go.

“Go back to your original spot!”

“No!”

“You’re making Oppa uncomfortable!”

“Master, you’re not uncomfortable, right?”

Jess, clinging to Lian’s waist, tilted her head and looked up at him. At first, she had looked at him pitifully, but now, knowing that he wouldn’t push her away, she wagged her tail and smiled with her eyes.

“Iris, it’s fine. I’m not uncomfortable. Hahaha…”

To be honest, it was uncomfortable. As a beastkin who was maturing quickly in both body and face, there were many points of contact that made him uncomfortable. If they hadn’t been so close since childhood, he might have had a nosebleed several times by now.

Despite that, Lian kept Jess close because of Iris, who was fuming.

‘If Jess isn’t here, the atmosphere will get heavy right away…’

When Jess wasn’t around, Iris would stare at Lian with a murderous intensity, as if she were about to pull out a contract that said, “I will never leave,” and force him to sign it in blood.

Since he had already made up his mind to leave, he felt that if she kept pressing him, he would end up spilling everything. In the end, he had no choice but to use Jess as a shield to escape Iris’s persistent gaze.

‘I’ve gotten somewhat used to it by now.’

Looking at Jess’s oddly soft and cute face, which resembled a puppy, he patted her red hair.

“Hehe…”

Though her body was that of an adult, her mind was still that of a child! Jess responded so innocently that it made one think of that phrase. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t aware of it at all—but thanks to Jess’s innocent reactions, he had grown accustomed to her affectionate physical contact.

‘This is probably just something she does without any deeper meaning.’

Thinking that way, Lian felt more at ease and let his guard down.

“Hehe…”

But this was exactly what Jess had been aiming for. The moment her prey let its guard down, the predator Jess would pounce and swallow it whole. For a brief moment, a seductive yet dangerous smile flickered across her face.

“You…”

The only one who noticed was Iris. Whenever Lian looked at her, Jess would droop her ears and put on an innocent, slightly dumb puppy-like face, making it easier for him to pat her head.

Because of this, Lian had no idea that he was walking right into Jess’s trap, stroking her soft hair as he fell deeper into her animal therapy.

The moment Lian’s gaze left her face, Jess smiled with her eyes and looked at Iris.

“What?”

At Jess’s sly expression, Iris felt dizzy. She had reacted angrily several times in situations like this, but the one who always ended up losing was Iris.

This was largely because Iris mistook her feelings for ‘family affection’ instead of ‘love.’ Fighting over someone you love and refusing to give up your brother to another girl are two very different things.

No matter how much physical affection Iris tried to show Lian, because they were ‘family,’ she couldn’t take things beyond a certain point. The word that should have made their relationship special had instead become a shackle. Because of this, Iris was like a swordsman fighting with one hand tied behind her back.

As Iris’s frustration grew and Jess’s physical contact began to cross the line, a voice interrupted.

“The village is just ahead! Everyone, prepare to rest!”

The soldier’s voice echoed, and Lian recalled the small villages they had passed through.

‘None of them were in good condition.’

With snow falling year-round and the ground frozen, it was hard to find a village that was prosperous. As the Empire began preparing for war against the Demon King’s army, the harsh environment had become even more brutal.

In these isolated communities, where living and dying in the place of one’s birth was considered the norm, it wasn’t difficult to find people who had starved or frozen to death.

The Duchess had sent out knights and soldiers to distribute meat from their hunts in exchange for supplies. At the same time, they repaired weapons and gear in the villages and hunted nearby monsters.

Thanks to Lian’s divine power, there was no need to worry about injuries, so everyone actively carried out their orders.

‘As long as they’re still breathing…’

As long as they were alive, he could restore some of their health. It wasn’t a miracle cure, so it wouldn’t make a starving body plump again—but it could at least give them the strength to chew and digest food.

As time passed, and they drew closer to the village, Lian’s worries were shattered—and replaced with ‘shock’ at the sight before him.

“Hup-cha!”

“Hey! That’s crooked over there!”

“Eat first before you continue!”

Green grass sprouted everywhere, the fertile soil had been tilled with tools resembling hoes, and the residents, far from starving, were plump and healthy. The workers wore thin shirts with their sleeves rolled up to their elbows, without any outerwear.

“What in the world…”

Even the Duchess couldn’t hide her surprise at the warm and lively village.

End of Chapter