Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Garden
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-Shaaaa...
Even though the world I lived in had changed, there was still something about the sound of water while cleaning that soothed my mind.
'Let's just clean...'
Whether it was other humans coming to kill me for revenge or some other reason, and our precious little one even letting one of them escape in the process, all those headache-inducing situations piled up. But while cleaning, those annoying problems vanished from my mind.
Headache-inducing problems... just put them off for now. Postponing important matters was one of my bad habits, but even if I didn't, what could I really do about it? I was trapped here from the start anyway.
Current Pollution Level: 93.5%
Cleaning the trap-filled corridor in a daze, the pollution level listed in the [Main Quest] dropped bit by bit. It had seemed pretty daunting at first, but after Erzsebet absorbed all the blood in the first hall, it plunged by a full 5%.
'What if the other rooms deeper inside are also full of blood...'
If I just had Erzsebet suck it all up, maybe this cleaning job would wrap up faster than I thought? If that was the case, I could ignore the humans, ignore Erzsebet, and just use my wish to return to Earth.
"Master. There's a door over there."
And thanks to the nonstop cleaning we'd been doing since yesterday, the end of this interminable corridor was finally in sight. I'd broken out in cold sweats double-checking every inch to make sure I hadn't missed any traps.
At long last, the trap section ended, and the door that appeared was...
"Looks the same?"
It was identical to the door we'd seen when we found the room where Erzsebet had been sleeping. Well, there was one difference.
"This... vines? Plants in a corridor with no light..."
Erzsebet lifted the vine stems blanketing the antique door and peered up at them curiously. Not that I'd been expecting much, but the door didn't jog any memories for her either.
'The door to the hall where Erzsebet was sleeping was covered in blood, right?'
The sight of the antique door brought back the image of that blood-soaked one. Come to think of it, the blood smeared on it back then—was that her pure blood essence or whatever it was called?
"Nngh... It won't open."
While I was lost in thought, Rio—who'd been hopping around nearby—dashed to the door and tugged at the handle with all her might. But no matter how hard she tried, the door stayed shut.
"Step aside."
As Rio wrestled with the door, Erzsebet—who'd been watching her fondly—gently pushed her back. Then she squirted a bit of blood from the [High-Pressure Cleaner] I'd given her...
"Put that away properly after you're done?"
"...Got it."
...Anyway, after squirting the blood, she quickly gathered it into a sharp blade.
"Hup!"
-Clang!
-Snap!
"What...?"
Surprisingly, the blood blade Erzsebet swung shattered harmlessly the instant it hit the vines. Meanwhile, the green vines clinging to the door didn't have a single scratch.
"A plant deflecting my blade...?"
Erzsebet looked genuinely shocked, but honestly, I hadn't expected much to begin with. We hadn't known each other long, but whenever she got cocky about something, it usually backfired.
'Hmm. A plant, huh...'
There was only one passage, so we had to get past this door no matter what. I grabbed the vines myself and yanked, but they were so tough that even hanging off them with all my strength didn't budge them.
'What kind of plant is this?'
I wasn't exactly a botanist, but I'd never seen vines like these before. Then again, this wasn't my world, so unknown plants weren't that strange.
Still... it was a plant, right? Perfect. I happened to have just the thing...
"This is..."
While Eugene rummaged through his inventory, Erzsebet—who was scrutinizing the vines that had repelled her blade—noticed something.
'Not an ordinary plant.'
It might look like a plant, but it was closer to a barrier... or a seal. She could sense a powerful sealing spell blocking something. Seals like this couldn't be broken by brute force.
"Master. I figured it out."
Erzsebet moved to explain her discovery to her master. Did he have germophobia or something? Every time he saw her dripping blood on the floor, he tried to take back the gear he'd bestowed. To avoid losing it again, she had to prove her usefulness.
"It's taken the form of a plant, but it's closer to sealing magic. Rather than simple physical force..."
-Snip!
"Huh? What'd you say?"
[Omni Shears (Lv. Max)]: Scissors for pruning leaves and branches from trees and grass!
I pulled the tool from my inventory and snipped away the vines blocking the door, then turned at the sound of Erzsebet saying something.
"...Nothing."
"????"
For some reason, I spotted Erzsebet mumbling dejectedly with a crestfallen expression.
After cutting away all the vines on the door—and cleaning off the rust stuck to it for good measure—I slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"A forest...?"
"Waaah...! It's so pretty...!"
"Hmm. And there's a light source floating in the sky. Doesn't look like the sun, though... What on earth is that?"
When we'd entered the hall where Erzsebet had been sleeping, we'd been greeted by a blood-red space. A grim, blood-soaked horror.
But beyond the vine-covered door lay the polar opposite: a vibrant green expanse brimming with life. A forest-like area dense with unfamiliar vegetation welcomed us.
'Hmm. A vine-covered door leading to a forest...'
Last time, a blood-covered door had led to a blood-drenched space. Coincidence?
"Though it's grown wildly out of control. The roots suggest it was originally something like an indoor garden..."
"Garden?"
Erzsebet's words made sense once I approached the foliage. Some plants were rooted at unnaturally regular intervals, and pushing through the underbrush revealed colorful decorative stones—badly weathered, but arranged neatly.
Of course, now it was overrun with tangled plants of every kind, roots bursting from the soil, and blackened, rotting trees dotted here and there.
'...No way.'
Current Pollution Level: 93.0%
I had to clean this place too?
'Damn it.'
Cleaning games did have 'garden cleanup' maps, and the [Omni Shears] I'd just used to cut the vines were meant for spots like that. But...
"How long is this gonna take..."
Looking at the space that felt more like a full-blown forest than a garden made it all seem hopeless. Wait, wasn't this indoors to begin with? Why was there a forest inside? What was that massive glowing orb floating in the sky like an artificial sun? And above all...
"What the hell is up with that tree over there? It's huge."
"Hmm. Definitely unnatural."
A colossal tree dominated the center of the vast forest... no, garden. I'd seen pics online of Earth's biggest tree back home, and this one looked even larger.
"Rather than wandering aimlessly... shall we head there first?"
I'd given the surroundings a quick scan, but all I saw were trees everywhere. No other passages or structures in sight, so we decided to make for the most eye-catching landmark: that massive tree.
Or maybe this ruin's space ended with this garden? Cleaning it might complete the [Main Quest]...
-Rustle...!
".....?"
I heard what sounded like shaking leaves and turned around. But there were no wild animals or anything—just plants filling my vision.
'What was that? Wind indoors?'
There was that fake sun, so maybe it came with artificial wind...
-Chop!
On the way to the tree, I neatly pruned the tangled branches blocking the path with the [Omni Shears].
"What in the... I didn't even see it swing? When did he cut all those other branches...?"
I'd expanded the [Cleaning Range Setting] and sliced through a bunch at once, leaving Erzsebet aghast at the scattered limbs vanishing in a single go.
"Even my eyes only caught a single swing...!"
Yep, just one swing. Her shocked face was kinda cute.
"Should I burn them all?"
As more twigs kept getting in the way, Rio pulled out a cute little fireball and asked. Put that away, though—I could get burned too.
-Crack!
"...You been hearing weird sounds since earlier too?"
Once more, the crunch of leaves underfoot echoed. Feeling uneasy, I mentioned it to Erzsebet, but she shook her head.
"Hmm... No signs of life. Master, anything with blood in it can't escape my senses."
Sigh... then what? Maybe some automated gardening tool hidden among the trees? I'd probably find it while cleaning this place up anyway.
"We're here."
"Yeah. But this is..."
"Waaah... It's so huge..."
At the base of the gigantic tree, I craned my neck until it hurt, but the top was still out of sight. This thing was impressive. Just looking at it filled me with awe for the power of nature.
This was a fantasy world, so was it some world tree? Nah, no way it'd be stuck indoors.
A trunk stretching to the ceiling... Fresh green leaves that somehow put my mind at ease. And a person embedded in the trunk... a person?
"Isn't that a person up there?"
"What?"
"Eek?!"
I widened my eyes and stared at the middle of the trunk. Her body was half-buried in it, but... that was definitely a person!
"Erzsebet. Do you know her?"
"Ugh... It feels strangely familiar, so probably... but I can't remember. Master."
'Yeah, figures.'
"Sigh, useless..."
"That's too harsh, Master..."
Whoops. I said that out loud.
For now, what to do? Climb up and pull her out? Would she suddenly attack us like Erzsebet did? Why was a person here in the first place...
"But this tree isn't ordinary either. The energy flowing through it..."
As I pondered the woman stuck in the trunk, Erzsebet curiously placed her hand on the tree.
-Shraaack!!
"Ugh?"
"What?!"
In that instant, a mass of tendrils burst from the straight trunk and wrapped around Erzsebet.
"Erzsebet? What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything!"
As Erzsebet struggled to shake off the clinging branches, noise came from the forest.
-Crack. Crack. Crack.
'This sound?'
The irritating noise we'd heard since entering the forest grew louder and closer. And then...
"Groooar..."
"...Trees?"
Blackened, rotting trees were uprooting themselves from the ground and shambling toward us.