The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 26

“Myaaang…!”

“You’ve got fast hands.”

“Haha, right?”

Thanks to my part-time job experience, I was confident in my knife skills. Under Jade’s fingertips, the radish was sliced into uniform intervals. While Jade’s specialty was baking, Korean food was also one of his mainstays.

If only I had some white rice, it would be perfect.

The thought of freshly cooked, steaming rice made his mouth water. Pushing the regret aside, Jade put a pot of water on the stove. He then began to season the radish soup with salt.

He planned to sauté the radish greens like a side dish and, since there was no rice, he intended to keep the soup’s seasoning light. Along with Jade’s fast-moving hands, a delicious aroma began to waft through the kitchen. Soon, Buster’s exclamation of admiration followed. Despite the ups and downs, today’s meal was another success.

If one had to pick the busiest person in the villa, it was undoubtedly Jade. Starting today, one more task was added to his daily routine: helping the Bluewood consume fresh dew. Because of that, Jade had to wake up about 20 minutes earlier than usual.

“Hueh?”

As he took the pot outside to let it catch the dew, the Bluewood, which had been quiet all night, gradually woke up and started to move.

“I heard you eat dew, so I brought you out.”

The dew was practically ice crystals, but since the little guy was from the Elloban Forest, Jade figured it would like it. More than that, he worried if it was really okay to feed it only dew.

“Awoo.”

Seeing that it wasn’t crying, it seemed Ian was right about dew being its staple diet. Its leaves swayed happily as if dancing. At first, it had certainly felt eerie, but the more he looked at it, the more he found it had its cute side.

“Hey, listen.”

“Hueh?”

When he spoke to it, the thing even gave its own little reply. It didn’t seem to fully understand the meaning of his words yet, but then again, it didn’t seem to be completely clueless either.

“I think you’re going to need a name.”

If they were going to keep living together, it needed a name. “Bluewood” was too long. Perhaps because he had lived in Korea his whole life, he preferred names with two or three syllables. They were easier to say.

“Hmm.”

Placing the pot on a stone and crossing his arms, Jade agonized over the decision. After rubbing his chin in thought for a long while, he snapped his thumb and forefinger together.

“Bluey!”

However, as always, Jade was far from subtle. His method of naming was simple and concise.

“Hueee?”

“Yeah, let’s go with Bluey! It’s perfect—your leaves are blue and all.”

Inside the pot, the Bluewood tilted this way and that, giving a response that wasn’t quite a response. Each time it moved, the blue stems inside were clearly revealed. Bluey was definitely the most fitting name for this little fellow.

After all, what did “Bluewood” even mean? Didn’t it mean “blue tree”? When it grew up later, even the trunk would turn a dark, blackish blue. So, there was no name better suited than this.

“Hwa-eu?”

Bluey spread its short, adorable arms and shook them as if trying to express something.

“Yeah, that’s you. Bluey. I’ll call you Bluey from now on. You like it?”

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

He was sure the little guy would love it, but for some reason, the Bluewood burst into a wail. Jade, assuming Bluey just didn’t understand the meaning of its name yet, brought the pot back inside with a satisfied heart. He felt proud of himself for accomplishing a naming ceremony first thing in the morning.

“Myaaaang…”

Buster, who had been listening to Jade’s usual naming sense from behind, shook his head. He thought to himself that his own name was at least better than “Bluey.”

Jade, who had only managed to pull one radish during yesterday’s root vegetable harvest, headed back to the Elloban Forest today.

Ian wanted to follow him again today, but Jade adamantly refused. After unexpectedly bringing Bluey home, he was anxious about what else might pop out of the Elloban Forest.

I hope he’s not waiting outside again.

He was concerned about Ian waiting in the freezing cold until his delicate skin turned red and chapped. Since it was the first time someone had waited at home for him, he couldn’t help but be even more mindful of it.

“I should head back early today.”

Come to think of it, yesterday was the second time. The second time Ian had braved the cold wind to wait for him. Whenever Ian felt like Jade was returning late, he would come all the way outside the door to wait.

He remembered being shocked on the first day he returned late, seeing Ian’s hands all chapped from the biting wind while waiting for him. After that day, even if Jade wanted to forage for more mushrooms, he would stop at a reasonable hour and head back to the villa.

Of course, the later it got, the higher the chance of getting lost, so it was better for Jade to return early anyway. Especially in the North, the sun was short and it grew dark in the blink of an eye.

But secondary reasons aside, the mere fact that Ian was waiting for him made him return to the villa early.

Seeing Ian waiting at the door made him see glimpses of his younger self—sitting in front of the door of a rooftop room at the very end of an alley, waiting for his mother who came home about once every two days. Jade knew all too well how long and slow the time spent waiting for someone could feel.

“I guess… we’ve become a bit close.”

Seeing that Ian waited for him while he was away, it seemed the boy relied on him to some extent. There were moments when he felt Ian would never let anyone in, but at times like this, it felt like they had grown much closer, which gave him a strange feeling.

Is this okay?

The closer he got to Ian, the better it was for Jade. It meant the probability of Ian killing him dropped significantly.

However, even while getting along well, a thought would suddenly occur to him. What would happen to Ian after Jade left the villa?

He knew Ian would survive well and grow up to eventually become a Duke in the distant future, but lately, he found himself constantly thinking about that process.

How would he survive? How would he find food and endure the cold?

Though he occasionally felt he should keep some distance, it wasn’t easy to do when he saw a child without a guardian waiting for him.

“Well, that’s a problem for later.”

Jade shook his hands in the air, trying to shake the thoughts away as well. First, what they needed was new food. Jade activated his skill to divert his thoughts.

[ >> Exclusive Skill << Activating Lv 1. ‘Root Veggies, Here I Come!’ ]

The activated skill pointed in the direction where root vegetables were located. Jade quickly ran toward that spot, looking forward to new ingredients to show Ian and Buster.

As if to ease some of Jade’s many worries, today’s results were excellent. He had gone out for root vegetables and managed to dig up carrots and potatoes.

Even though the carrots were purple and the potatoes were lumpy and shaped like stars, wouldn’t they all be the same once they were in the belly?

“I won’t eat these and die, right?”

If it weren’t for the system window, he wouldn’t have even known these were carrots and potatoes. They certainly didn’t look like ordinary crops.

“The system called them root vegetables, so they must be edible.”

Jade dug up every root vegetable in sight and stuffed them into his bundle. Returning with the bulging bundle, he saw Buster and Ian pressed against the window waiting for him.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

“Kaaaaack!”

It seemed Bluey had been crying again while Jade was away. Bluey’s wails could be heard from outside even before he opened the villa door.

“Welcome back.”

Ian, who had scurried to the door, greeted Jade.

“Haha, I shouldn’t ask if everything was… alright, should I?”

Jade quickly changed his words as the wailing cut through their conversation. Bluey’s cries sounded exhausted, as if the thing had been at it for hours.

“Waaaaah!”

“Myang! Ka-woong! Ka-ack!”

As soon as Jade arrived, Buster began to vent about something. Seeing him repeatedly pointing at Bluey with his front and back paws, Jade could guess what the problem was.

“This is a bit troublesome…”

Bluey was even out of its pot. Seeing dirt scattered around and the plant sitting by the pot sobbing, it seemed it had climbed out on its own.

Setting the bundle down, Jade muttered as he picked Bluey up. As he soothed it by tickling its leaves, the crying stopped immediately.

“Did it keep crying after I left?”

“Yes.”

“Myang!”

“Maybe I should take it with me next time…”

It was going to be a problem if this happened every time he left the villa. Since Bluey was small for now, there wouldn’t be much of a problem taking it along, but it would be easier for everyone if it could just stay at the villa.

“Hmm, next time Bluey cries, why don’t you try to soothe it? Buster, you too—stop just hating it and try to comfort it.”

Since it stopped crying when soothed, he thought that was the way to go.

“…”

“Myack.”

However, their reactions were incredibly lukewarm.

Ian’s gaze was fixed out the window, looking as though he were ready to throw Bluey away at any moment. Buster, baring his teeth, also looked like he wanted to just eat Bluey up.

“What am I going to do?”

To be honest, Jade was also uneasy about leaving Bluey with Ian or Buster. Buster, who flew around, could drop Bluey, and Ian was still just a child.

“Ah!”

Just then, something flashed through Jade’s mind. A brilliant idea had occurred to him.

“Hey, ghost! You, come over here.”

“Kieee?”

The mop ghost, which had been slowly cleaning the condensation-fogged window as it slid down, flinched and drew in its tassels. It seemed to have a bad premonition, as its pace of descent slowed significantly.

“Hurry up and get down here!”

“Kieee…!”

The mop ghost, having reached the bottom, wiggled its way in front of Jade. Jade picked up the mop ghost and placed it on the windowsill. Then, he placed Bluey on top of it.

“Alright, do some rock-a-bye.”

“Kieee?”

The mop ghost scratched its head with a long tassel, as if it didn’t understand what he was saying.

“I said do some rock-a-bye. Don’t you know rock-a-bye? You do it like this.”

Jade gave a personal demonstration of “rock-a-bye” by cradling Bluey in his arms and swaying his body from side to side. Then, it seemed the mop ghost understood what “rock-a-bye” meant.

However, the reaction was not positive. The proof was the way it let its tassels hang limp and flattened itself against the windowsill.

The mop ghost seemed to utterly dislike the current situation. But what could it do? A ghost could not defy Jade’s orders.