The Safety Guidelines of The Duke’s Haunted Castle Chapter 30

“Monter Village”

The first thing to greet me was a large sign with the village’s name written across it.

And underneath…

Huh?

This looks similar to the one inside the ducal estate.

《Monter Village Resident Code of Conduct》

1. All transactions are conducted through barter only.

However, due to Monter Village’s shortage of goods, parts of your body may, in certain circumstances, be accepted as items of trade. Please keep this in mind.

2. Remain inside your home after 8:00 p.m.

Monter Village’s nighttime security cannot be relied upon, and protection against outside threats cannot be guaranteed.

3. Avoid entering the forest leading to Belmond Ducal Estate whenever possible.

Even if the unfamiliar beings you encounter there wear familiar faces, never assume they are human.

What’s with this creepy atmosphere?

Is this another Naples-horror-style scenario? Or is the territory management part of the game finally expanding beyond the estate?

Surely… I don’t have to fix these village rules too, do I?

After a moment of hesitation, I opened the map. The area that had previously been covered in black now displayed the name “Monter.”

Let’s go.

There was no point hesitating now.

As I walked forward confidently, the village that came into view surprised me.

This is unexpected.

I had imagined something like the Belmond estate—a ruined wreck on the verge of collapse.

Instead, the village looked… completely normal.

Wide stone streets stretched neatly through rows of two- and three-story buildings.

The cream-colored stone walls and colorful slate roofs clearly showed their age, but they were at least well maintained.

If anything, the village seemed to be in better shape than the estate.

Maybe they’re managing to get by through self-sufficiency?

It looked like an old but peaceful countryside town—not particularly wealthy, but certainly not poor.

Even the people… seem pretty normal.

Well…

Weeell…

Considering even the servants in the estate—the game’s main setting—didn’t have properly rendered faces…

There was no way ordinary villagers would.

Just like the servants, every villager had a black void where their face should have been.

But who cared?

It’s just another bug from the developers.

I mentally added another note to my growing list of feedback.

Anyway, I hoped there would be lots of quests here that paid well.

Or maybe surviving and getting out safely should be my first priority.

Haha.

Maybe I’d gotten a little careless after everything had been going so well lately.

Thinking that, I continued deeper into the village.

After looking around for a while, everyone seemed to be behaving normally.

Hmm… but how am I supposed to find the Ruden Trading Company?

As I glanced around, I noticed a young boy kicking a ball alone near the edge of the village.

Carefully, I approached him.

“Um… can I ask you something?”

“Eek!”

Apparently he hadn’t noticed me at all.

The startled boy fell backward onto his backside.

Not expecting such an extreme reaction from my cautious greeting, I gave an awkward smile and offered him my hand.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

“W-Who are you?”

“Uh, I’m…”

“Don’t come any closer!”

Instead of taking my hand, the boy scooted backward across the ground.

Even if I startled him, isn’t that a bit much?

…Could it be because of the code of conduct?

Trying to look as harmless as possible, I smiled gently.

“I’m… Nadia. Actually…”

“An outsider?”

The boy cut me off with a direct question.

“Hm? Well… I guess you could say that.”

I’m not from this village, after all.

His legs still trembling, the boy ignored my hand and struggled to stand up by himself.

Only then did I notice that one of his fingers was missing.

My gaze lingered on it for a moment before I quickly looked away, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

“I’ll apologize again for scaring you. I came looking for the Ruden Trading Company…”

The boy visibly flinched.

“The Ruden Trading Company? Why?”

Huh?

Isn’t the reason for visiting a trading company pretty obvious?

“I have some business there.”

“What kind of business?”

“Well… there’s something I need to buy.”

“There’s something you need to buy there?”

Why does this feel like an interrogation?

A little flustered—but figuring he was simply wary of outsiders since I’d startled him first—I answered honestly.

“Yeah. It’s sort of an errand. Some people close to me asked me to.”

“Are your friends hungry too?”

“Huh? Uh… something like that.”

Technically, I’m the hungry one, and I’m getting ingredients for myself…

“Is there some kind of problem?”

I asked again.

The boy stayed silent for a long time.

Maybe I should’ve just asked an adult for directions instead.

Just as I quietly turned away…

A calmer voice than before stopped me.

“It’s that way.”

“That way? I can’t really tell… Could you maybe come with—”

“No!”

“H-Huh?”

Before I could even finish speaking, the boy turned and ran.

He disappeared so quickly that chasing him never even crossed my mind.

“Uh…”

Maybe he was busy.

Or maybe the game simply wouldn’t let NPCs escort me to the trading company.

Watching him disappear, I sighed and continued toward the center of the village.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

After that, I asked everyone I met the same question.

“Excuse me, do you know where the Ruden Trading Company is?”

And I kept getting the same kinds of responses.

“We don’t speak to outsiders.”

“T-The Ruden Trading Company? Why would you want to go there?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything!”

Most people either ignored me or reacted as if I’d mentioned something forbidden.

Eventually someone finally told me where the alley leading to the company was…

But…

“Would you mind showing me the way?”

“Ahem. Well then, I’m busy.”

The moment I asked them to guide me, they hurried away just like the boy had.

Only after being rejected several times did someone finally tell me which alley the Ruden Trading Company was located in.

“So it’s scripted…”

I finally accepted it.

The developers had obviously programmed it this way.

Otherwise, there was no reason for everyone in the village, regardless of age or gender, to react so uneasily.

At this point, I was honestly starting to wonder what kind of place the Ruden Trading Company was.

Was it like… He Who Must Not Be Named?

Thud.

“Ah, sorry—”

Lost in thought, I bumped shoulders with someone.

Before I could finish apologizing, the other person spoke.

“Be careful…”

“Hm?”

“Having all your limbs intact isn’t always a good thing here.”

The man, who was missing one of his legs, muttered quietly as he walked past me.