IRFVA 11

Chapter : 11

Shaken by the ghost disturbance, I grabbed a rag and immediately started wiping down all the rooms.

“Ugh, it’s really dirty since it hasn’t been used. Seriously.”

When I went up to the second floor and opened a room door, dust rose up and a dim, gloomy room came into view.

It didn’t feel like it was just a ventilation issue either—the air itself felt heavy overall.

“The sky’s dark too.”

Wondering if it might rain, I looked out the window.

It was dim outside, creating a rather depressing atmosphere.

Snake-dori refused to enter the room, hanging from the doorknob instead.

“You prefer the doorknob over me? Don’t be like that—it’s hurtful!”

I muttered playfully and looked at Snake-dori before scrubbing the floor hard with the rag.

“…That’s weird?”

Then I tilted my head.

The sensation I felt now wasn’t like wiping away dust with a rag, but more like clearing a hazy film from my vision.

The wooden floor, which was only slightly darkened with age but otherwise well maintained and not particularly dirty, began to shine golden every time I wiped it.

“Was the floor always this color?”

While I was thinking that, I heard a sound like something being slowly scratched near my ear.

—kreeeek… kreeeeek…

“Huh? Is that a door opening?”

Shiit! Shhk!

“…Maybe it’s just the floor being old.”

I shrugged it off and kept moving my hands with the rag. It seemed the second-floor flooring was quite worn out.

Should I call someone for repairs? I’d never even hired a remodeling company in my previous life.

With a vaguely uncomfortable feeling, I worked all day.

When I finally straightened my back and looked at the sparkling room, that uneasy feeling vanished. The room looked like it was glowing gold.

Feeling refreshed, even the sky seemed clearer. No, actually…

“The weather cleared up?”

The sky, which had looked dark just moments ago, was now bright.

* * *

Whoooosh— the wind was still loud.

Frowning at the strangely strong gusts, I looked up at the sky outside.

“The wind is seriously noisy. Did some sealed dragon get released somewhere or something?”

But the sky was clear. It didn’t feel like a typhoon—just a steady, slightly eerie wind.

I shrugged and went through each room after finishing ventilation.

As I carried all the bedding out of the rooms in my arms, the gloomy laundry piled up like a mountain, blocking my view.

Why is there so much to clean when there aren’t even that many rooms? Feeling the unfairness of life, I carefully moved forward.

Wobbling a bit, I slowly went down the stairs and out to the backyard. I placed the bedsheets on a suitable box and brought down a large wooden tub used as a bath.

The reason was simple.

“Laundry needs to be boiled.”

Well, there’s no washing machine in a romantic fantasy world anyway.

Stories where the heroine meets the male lead while doing laundry in a cold river are quite common.

…Meanwhile, I, who had no male lead to meet, was just doing laundry alone in loneliness.

Thinking such trivial complaints, I boiled water in a pot and carried it little by little.

“Waaashing~ when will it be done~”

As a native Korean, I hummed some unknown tune while transferring the boiling water into the tub.

Then I moved my body energetically in rhythm.

La la la, as I poured the boiling water, the clear water sparkled with a golden shimmer.

Probably just sunlight reflecting. Romantic fantasy worlds even make boiling water look pretty.

I lifted the bedsheets and blankets into the sparkling water.

“Ugh!”

While I was working, Snake-dori hanging near my neck let out a strange “kiiiiik—” sound and became alert.

I should calm it down later with some fruit.

Thinking that, I tossed the laundry into the boiling water under the strong sunlight.

Kreeeek—

At the same time, an ominous sound like something being dragged and sliding came from somewhere.

Focusing on the unfamiliar noise, I then heard a familiar sound near my ear.

…Shh, shh.

Ah, it was Snake-dori.

It was unusually affectionate today, making soft hissing sounds right by my ear.

Realizing it was Snake-dori, I relaxed. How cute.

It kept chattering nonstop.

I smiled and rubbed my cheek against the small snake affectionately.

“You wanted to talk to me?”

As I rubbed my cheek against the tiny snake’s sound, Snake-dori seemed to give up and went quiet.

Once its hissing stopped, the noise it had been covering scraped at my ears.

—kagagagak, kigiig.

…That wasn’t Snake-dori?

Feeling uneasy, I turned my head and glanced toward the building.

What I saw through the gap of the open back door was…

“…Hmm, that’s tragic.”

The inn looked pitiful.

Even after cleaning somewhat, collapsed walls and ceilings remained.

Undeniably a haunted house.

The moment I saw it, the noises I had been hearing suddenly made sense.

Right, if something like that didn’t make wind noises, that would be stranger.

My goosebumps turned into emptiness.

“Heh, at least it hasn’t fully collapsed.”

Even a tower made of wooden blocks by a three-year-old wouldn’t feel this unstable.

I lifted my skirt slightly, stepped into the tub, and began stomping on the laundry.

The bedding felt like stepping on something soft and mushy under dust.

—Aaaah!

With holes in every wall, of course sounds would echo like that.

Right, no complaints—it really is a haunted house.

I finished the laundry with a calm expression.

“Done—!”

After finishing, I shook out the laundry like in a sports drink commercial, hung it up, and then stepped around on the grass in the backyard like I was dancing.

Clean laundry, a clean building, and my clean steps to finish it all.

Bravo. As I spun once more like I was dancing, I heard a sound behind me.

—whoooosh…

Even the wind through the leaves seemed to make the building hurt.

Tomorrow, I really need to go find Mr. Hans at the repair shop.

* * *

CLANG—!

“I said I’m not open today!”

In the evening, at the time I’d normally be dealing with customers, I was still dealing with customers.

Even though I clearly posted that today was a day off, customers still barged in demanding food.

Right, there are no days off for an innkeeper in fantasy worlds! But I came from the 21st century!

“Give workers their damn holidays, you bastards!”

As someone shoved the door open and pushed into the inn, I swung a frying pan at them.

A clang echoed from the customer’s head, and I panicked for a moment—but seeing them act completely fine, I realized again.

This is a romantic fantasy world, so exaggerated violence doesn’t kill people.

Especially if they’re just background extras with no death value!

Gaining courage, I bonked three people on the head like playing whack-a-mole and chased them out.

Auntie, the answer wasn’t a shield—it was a frying pan. Between a sword that pierces everything and a shield that blocks everything, the frying pan wins.

“Just leave already!”

“You saying an inn is closed makes no sense!”

“Hey, get out! Want another hit?!”

I rolled up my sleeves and swung wildly.

If you come in, you’ll break things—just let me enjoy my clean inn for at least one day!

When they finally disappeared from sight, I closed the door with a satisfied expression and turned around.

The sparkling inn greeted me. Floors, walls, tables—everything was shining.

“Yeah, at least let me enjoy this cleanliness for a day.”

Nodding, I walked around the inn.

Snake-dori was still shaking its head beside me, probably a habit by now.

“…Huh?”

As I walked around the first-floor tavern, I noticed something strange on the ceiling above the counter.

It looked like a long scorch mark shaped almost like a person lying down.

“…How do I even clean that?”

I stared up for a while. Snake-dori started shaking its head even faster.

“Yeah, Snake-dori. You don’t like seeing mom struggle, huh? Hmm… it’s on the ceiling, so hard to see… maybe I should just leave it?”

Snake-dori bit my hair and pulled.

A walk? You want a walk?

While I stared blankly at the ceiling, my gaze dropped.

‘But… was that stain always there?’

I recalled when the old lady first showed me the inn.

Back then, when I explored the tavern carefully out of curiosity, I definitely didn’t see that stain.

—Why… why…

“Tinnitus… am I tired?”

I said it as if avoiding reality while stroking Snake-dori.

Snake-dori was still shaking its head, like its comforting dance wasn’t over yet.

Maybe I really was just hearing things from exhaustion.

Back when I lived in the modern world, I had similar symptoms. Whenever I got stressed, my ears would go weeeeee…

—Why did you do that?

But it wasn’t that kind of sound. Hmm.