The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 49

“Are you seriously going to be like this?”

“Myang!”

“You didn’t even look at it when it was in the storage room!”

In fact, ever since Buster hatched from his egg, he had never once looked for the box. It had simply been left abandoned in the storage room.

“Myack…! Hiss!”

But Buster went as far as opening the lid of the box, climbing inside, and lying down. His tail stuck out of the box, wagging back and forth.

“Alright, alright, I get it.”

“Mya…”

He couldn’t sell it if the owner, Buster, said no. No matter how desperate he was for money, he didn’t want to do that.

Besides, Buster was the one who had to stay by Ian’s side and protect him after Jade left. Since the mission Buster had to undertake was so grave, Jade didn’t want to forcibly take away something the creature wanted.

“I won’t sell the box. Should I just put it back in the storage room?”

“Mya! Mya!”

“…This part is okay?”

Once Jade cleanly gave up and took his hands off, Buster pointed to the clasp attached to the lid of the box.

“Myang!”

It was the clasp he had felt looked like a dragon’s claw. Jade had targeted the box because he thought that specific part could fetch a good price.

Buster crossed his short front paws and lifted his chin confidently. His attitude suggested he was certain that the clasp would sell for a high price.

“You’re the one who said it’s okay, right? I’m taking it off with your permission.”

“Myang!”

“You mean it this time?”

“Myang!”

After confirming once more, he removed the clasp. The clasp resembling a dragon’s claw fit perfectly into his pocket. He had been worried it would be difficult to carry the box since it was so bulky, so this actually worked out better.

“Jade.”

Ian called out softly to Jade, who was making the final preparations. Having finished getting ready to go out, he was hiding something behind his back.

“Ian, are you all ready?”

“Yes. But I have something to give you.”

“Something to give me? Is it a present?”

Jade spoke jokingly. He knew better than anyone that there was nothing Ian could give him. That was only natural, wasn’t it? They were living a life that was practically survival. Knowing the situation inside the villa perfectly, he couldn’t even dare to want anything from the boy.

“Yes.”

“Pardon?”

However, Ian nodded, confirming it was indeed a gift. There was nothing inside the villa that Jade didn’t know about. What on earth was he doing this to give him?

Just as he was wondering, Ian slowly brought forward what he had been hiding behind his back.

“This is…”

“You got hurt several times because of me.”

“……”

“It’s a gift. Please take it.”

What Ian held out to Jade was the precious sword he had inherited from his father.

After going to bed yesterday, Ian had lain there stroking the sword and thinking.

He had to give Jade something. The man had saved Ian’s life twice, and each time, he had been injured because of Ian.

In the world, there was no such thing as kindness given for nothing. At least, that was the world Ian knew. Giving something away like an equivalent exchange when there was some other ulterior motive or something to take in return—that was the kindness of others.

Ian wanted Jade’s kindness to continue.

He wanted the sound of knife work and the smell of food from the kitchen, and the touch of his hand tidying his messy hair, to be there tomorrow and the day after. He wanted to keep knowing the subtle life that was appearing in the voice reading fairy tales without inflection, and the new meal menus.

To do that, he had to give a price for that kindness, and this was the only thing Ian possessed. It was the only item left to him by his father and the only thing of his own that Ian had brought from the main estate.

His father hadn’t liked Ian very much. It wasn’t that he hated or despised him. He just had no interest. In fact, rather than his father handing this sword down, Ian had simply taken it because it was the most portable and usable defensive tool among the things left behind.

It wasn’t because Ian had done something wrong. His father was just that kind of person. Having lived like a person who didn’t know what emotion was, he simply had no feelings for his own son.

Still, while his father was alive, there were no inconveniences. As the only son and heir of the Ducal family, he received a proper education, wore high-quality clothes, and ate good food.

Expensive decorations and a splendid chandelier hung in Ian’s room. Ian was too young then to remember every detail clearly, but he remembered vividly the room that was so perfect and grand it felt devoid of life, and the hollow atmosphere that settled faintly within it.

From the time he was five, around when his father passed away, Ian’s life changed in earnest.

His uncle was not a clever man, but his obsession with power was immense. The day his uncle arrived at the mansion with his own son, Ian knew instinctively that he would no longer be able to live the same life as before.

Starting from the day his uncle began to lay hands on the family management, Ian’s life was completely overturned.

His residence was moved from the main building of the estate to an annex, and his assigned servants were changed as well. Incidents where he got minor injuries became frequent. It was all the work of others.

People were certain that the uncle, not the young Ian, would become the next head of the family. Not only the servants of the estate but even other families were anxious not to get on the uncle’s bad side. Naturally, Ian became an eyesore to everyone.

He felt that he could die at any moment. A contract killer might break into his bedroom while everyone was asleep, or poison might be put into the food he ate every day. Ian always had those thoughts while going to bed, eating, and drinking water.

However, his uncle didn’t use such easy methods. Even if killing his nephew immediately would be convenient, he possessed at least enough common sense to know he wouldn’t escape public suspicion.

But that didn’t mean the anxiety at bedtime went away. So Ian went to bed every night clutching this precious sword. Even if he couldn’t trust people, he could trust a blade. He was the only person who would protect himself. He had touched it so much that the top of the hilt was polished smooth.

“I’m giving it to you.”

When Jade hesitated and couldn’t easily accept it, Ian held the sword up higher. Jade held out both hands but stepped back, declining.

“It looks like a precious treasure, so it’s alright. You keep it, Ian.”

Jade couldn’t bring himself to accept the item Ian was offering. It was because he knew exactly what this sword was.

It was the sword that had appeared several times in the setting guide—the blade that slaughtered the servants and the very reason Jade would end up dying.

“We don’t know what might happen on the way to the village. Use it when it’s dangerous.”

“I’ve already packed a weapon. It’s really okay.”

As a matter of fact, he had just packed the only kitchen knife in the villa, the one he used for cooking every day. Jade held up the large knife proudly. But Ian shook his head with a look of pity. There even seemed to be a slight hint of disdain mixed in.

“With that… you can’t kill anyone.”

“I—I see.”

‘I was supposed to kill them…!’

He replied calmly, but the corners of his mouth trembled. He had only thought of it as something to use for intimidation; he had overlooked the point that it could be used to actually kill someone.

Knowing that those words—that a kitchen knife can’t kill anyone but a precious sword can—were based on experience, Jade forced a smile.

“It—it’s just such a precious item, you see.”

“You can sell it. It’ll be worth quite a bit. You were planning to go down to the village and sell things anyway.”

“Th—that’s true, but.”

He could sell it? Was it a trap?

In the game, the reason the original Jade died was because of that very sword. Hadn’t he met his end at Ian’s hands while trying to run away after stealing it to sell it?

“Why aren’t you taking it?”

“Haha. Then, I will gratefully accept it.”

With Ian sending him a strange look, he eventually had no choice but to take the sword, like a man forced to eat bitter herbs.

Once it was actually in his hand, he felt like he understood why the original Jade had coveted this blade. The white hilt and scabbard, the delicately engraved gold-leaf decorations, and the elegant patterns. Even the rubies embedded here and there. Anyone, even a stranger, would have to realize at first glance that it was a valuable item.

A particularly large ruby was embedded in the top of the pommel at the end of the handle; its color was as vivid as a drop of blood, making the area near his neck feel strangely cold.

How many times was the original Jade stabbed? Come to think of it, he had been killed the most brutally among the three servants.

“It feels like a waste to sell it.”

He emphasized that he would never sell this sword. Ian said it was fine, but Jade was taking preemptive action, worried that the lines from the setting guide might come true.

Jade slowly drew the sword from its scabbard. The blade, which slid out smoothly, shone silver, and the sharply forged double edges glinted coldly. But he couldn’t believe a child had killed several people with a short dagger about a span long.

And then Jade saw it. Below the blade, at the point where it met the hilt, dried bloodstains remained, not yet fully wiped away.

“Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”

Jade quickly closed the scabbard again. Then he hid the sword in his coat. He felt like he would lose his mind if he looked at it any longer. Jade stammered as he gave his thanks.

“I—I like it. The sword is beautiful.”

“Yes…”

Ian scratched near his eye, looking a bit shy. His cheeks, flushed with pride, made him look like a fairy.

Was this really right? The act of holding out a sword that had killed several people and the face of an innocent child didn’t match in the slightest. He looked so much like an angel that for a moment, he even had the illusion that the information he knew about the sword was wrong. However, the bloodstain he had just seen was no illusion.

‘Let’s think positively.’

Anyway, it was a gift given with his own thoughts in mind, wasn’t it? As Ian said, it was also a precious item. Truthfully, even though it was a bit scary, he didn’t feel bad. It was the first gift he had received from another person in a long time.

Jade fingered the sword inside his coat a few times.