I Opened an Illegal Animal Hospital in Another World - Chapter 112

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

112

Chapter 24. End of Vacation (4)

“Where have you been? Right when things are busiest!”

And an irritated voice pierced my ears.

Seth looked at me with a slight smile before striding into the research lab.

“I know you get anxious without me, but aren’t you being too possessive, Chloe?”

“What did I eat?”

I spotted a female mage who suddenly popped out from between stacks of books and papers piled up like walls. She looked like she hadn’t slept or washed for days – her appearance was disheveled enough that she could sit on the street and successfully beg for money.

Her reddish-brown hair tied up near the crown of her head was matted into clumps from who knows when she last washed it, and the area under her eyes was blackened as if bruised. Whether she was naturally thin or not, her cheeks were sunken making her cheekbones prominent, and her lips were completely chapped and peeling.

“Damn bastard, there’s a limit to how harshly you can work someone… Suddenly dumping work on me and disappearing – what am I supposed to do, die? I’ll kill you…”

“Rebellion my ass, damn it! The real rebellion is what Prince Neison is trying to do…”

The woman who had been muttering like reciting an incantation without even looking at Seth suddenly spotted me and stopped talking abruptly.

‘That was a dangerous statement…’

Even for a secret research lab, her lips were too loose. Under her piercing stare with an expressionless face, I experienced an internal earthquake, but my facial muscles didn’t budge. Fortunately.

After a long while, the female mage Chloe asked Seth. She was still expressionless. She looked like a zombie from exhaustion.

“What is this thing?”

“What is this?”

“A maid from the separate palace. You can tell from her outfit.”

With a thick, deep navy skirt that came down to my knees, a white apron, and a headscarf, I looked like a servant to anyone who saw me. Chloe snapped back asking who had asked such a thing, then held her forehead in frustration.

“Ah, forget it. There’s no point in asking about your intentions anyway. …Hey, what’s your name?”

Koreans have a habit of automatically repeating that phrase with a distinctive intonation when they hear it. Or they want to ask what the phone number is.

“Who knows.”

Oops, that’s not right. I got distracted thinking about other things…

“Ah, whatever. It’s even better if she can’t hear. Just keep a good watch so she doesn’t cause trouble anywhere, got it?”

Oh no, that’s not right. I got distracted and my mind wandered….

“Ah, whatever. It’s better if you can’t hear anyway. Just make sure to keep a good watch so they don’t get into any trouble, got it?”

“Chloe, I brought you here because you’re such a slob. Look at this place, it’s a pigsty…”

Seth kicked at the trash scattered around Chloe with his foot, as if handling socks that hadn’t been washed for a week. I finally tore my eyes away from Chloe and looked around.

“Shut up, you germaphobe. When you’re working, where’s your space and my space? It’s because you don’t do the work you’re supposed to do and go off playing around. This is proof that I work harder.”

“Damn it, don’t just do what you’re told – find work to do! Have some ownership!”

“Hey, I told you not to cross this line.”

“Shut up, you germaphobe. When you’re working, what’s the difference between your space and mine? This is what happens when you slack off and goof around instead of doing your job. It’s proof that I work harder than you.”

“I did everything I was told to do, didn’t I?”

“Damn it, don’t just do what you’re told—take initiative! Have some ownership!”

“That wasn’t in the contract terms.”

Ah, so that woman is Seth’s contractor….

“Did he say something about me being gone?”

“Then isn’t that fine?”

Thanks to my facial muscles being duller than my original body, I was able to maintain an expressionless face, and Chloe, reassured by the misconception that I couldn’t hear, shouted with apparent relief.

“Lord Matthias is already in a foul mood, so we’re all walking on thin ice.”

“What do they say when I’m not around?”

“How could that be? You’re never helpful anyway. It makes no difference whether you’re here or not.”

“Then isn’t that good enough?”

“…I’m just bitter that I’m the only one working myself to death! After taking away 20 years of my lifespan!”

Ah, so the price of the contract was 20 years of life….

“If we kill her right away, Neison would be blamed as the culprit?”

“That must be difficult, so that’s why.”

Seth’s response contained zero grams of soul. Hey, show some sincerity… Even I felt embarrassed watching.

However, Chloe seemed used to that insincere answer. The demon she contracted with for 20 years of her life is a bottom feeder who’s lazy and insincere…

Ugh, why do I smell something pathetic.

“What’s so difficult? Even with Anais over there, there are two demons here.”

“The power comparison is incomparable with just that. No matter how amazing Anais is, she’s just human – what’s there to be cautious about…”

I don’t know since when Mother became the main force of Raven’s faction, but to Chloe, only my mother seemed to be an obstacle.

“Neison must have something else important.”

“But this isn’t really work that helps your advancement…”

Ugh, why does it smell fishy.

“What’s so hard about it? Even if Anais is over there, we have two demons right here.”

“Oh, so you’re including me too?”

“That alone makes their power incomparable. No matter how amazing Anais is, she’s just human after all, so what’s there to hold back for…?”

I don’t know since when my mother became a main force of the Raven faction, but to Chloe, it seemed like only my mother was an obstacle.

“Nathan must have other important things to deal with.”

“Even so, it’s just piecing together a mangled body, right? Damn it, thanks to that I’m buried under all the grunt work the director dumped on me and about to die from it… Help me out, you useless bastard!”

“This isn’t really going to help your career advancement…”

“Shut up! Success, schmuccess—you have to be alive first!”

That’s when Seth pointed at me. Ugh, you’ve been playing together just fine as if I didn’t exist, so why suddenly now.

“That’s why I brought her along. Right, Sha….”

I glared at him with wide eyes. Say my name and I’ll kill you.

Seth stopped speaking and blinked twice. Then he grinned and said.

“Sena.”

Am I your little sister or what…? But it was definitely better naming than Merona. It was a fake name I absolutely couldn’t use with Seth who knew Merona when we came here.

“Your name is Sena? It’s similar to his name. Could it be….”

“…Never mind, treating you as siblings seems too much. You don’t look alike.”

“Just having the same color doesn’t mean you look alike – that’s too one-dimensional. I’m not such a simple person.”

Instead of answering, Seth just laughed “Pfft!” It was a more annoying reaction than any response could have been. I know, I know, I’ve been through this a lot too….

“Fine, high-dimensional contractor. I can’t breathe in this garbage dump anymore, so I’ll be going now.”

“Right, your high-and-mighty contractor. I can’t breathe in this garbage dump anymore, so I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait, hey…!”

Seth, where are you going!

I could have said something, but having already missed my timing, I just glared at Seth with wide eyes. Seth grinned and spoke by silently moving only his lips.

Go ahead and try.

What are you good at, you bad guy.

Seth had truly vanished just like that, leaving me alone with Chloe in the filthy lab. Chloe muttered curse words under her breath for quite a while—clearly not for the first time—then glanced at me and buried her face in the desk.

She appeared to be around the same age as my mother, but she was so thin and gaunt that she looked twenty years older.

‘Did I somehow age 20 years just by signing that contract…?’

Or maybe my mother looks so young for her age that my standards are off. I had forgotten about the strange concentration of beautiful people around me and felt sorry for Chloe.

He said it was just menial tasks, but maybe I could learn about Nathan’s plans by looking at those research materials or stacks of papers. Since Chloe seems to know everything, I might be able to get a hint about the location of the mansion where Maria is being held captive.

Crunch crunch…

I stood there dazed like a sack of barley, then decided to start by cleaning up the area around me.

I happen to be in the perfect position to clean up, and I could use organizing as an excuse to get my hands on those documents.

In fact, this laboratory with its nose-rotting stench was even harder to bear.

Cursing Seth who had slipped away like a loach, I moved my light body busily. Chloe glanced at me once but left me alone.

I know. You don’t like it either….

***

I cleaned with my own hands for the first time in 18 years.

From top to bottom! Starting with the biggest ones!

I may not clean often, but when I do, I do it properly…! I once told Min-ah that when I decide to clean, I do it right, so she should just leave me alone. But Min-ah didn’t believe me and said, “Unnie, you always say you’re going to clean and just take everything out, but you never actually finish.”

It does take a few days, but it gets done! If you just leave it alone!

But I know the truth. People around him can’t stand watching him struggle like that, so they end up doing it for him. Though I guess if we really left him alone, he’d actually do it.

However, despite being someone who makes a mess easily but hates dirty things, I couldn’t relax in this lab like I usually do.

Thanks to that, it took a whole 3 hours! Just cleaning! 3 hours! A full 3 hours!

Thanks to his strong physique, he wasn’t out of breath, but it was mentally exhausting. Still, the floor was now sparkling clean and the desk felt much more spacious. The room felt twice as big.

The only regret was that there was nothing I could do about the lingering stench.

Applying clay would solve it right away, but I held back since Seth said I shouldn’t use my abilities.

Steal a peek at the documents? Hardly—when I got close, he hunched over and hid them so I couldn’t see anything. Besides, all the scattered papers were written in such terrible handwriting that they were completely illegible.

Are you a doctor?

“Wow, I can see the bottom… How long has it been since this happened?”

Chloe, who had pretended not to notice and looked away while I was frantically searching for cleaning supplies, finally spoke her first words.

‘The contractor and that demon…!’

Birds of a feather was science.

Chloe, who was just as shameless as Seth, gave me a grin as I stared at her quietly. Was she trying to give me a reward for doing a good job? You like a comfortable environment too, don’t you.

“You said your name was Sena, right? Take this.”

What is it. What is it. What’s this, something to eat? He received it with sparkling eyes. Praiseworthy! Well deserving of praise!

“I’ll take it to the Magic Guild Leader.”

…An errand….

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————