The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 5

It felt incredibly strange for someone to speak to him that way. No matter how hard he searched his memory, he could never recall hearing such words.

Perhaps he had heard them when he was too young to remember. Along with the unfamiliar sensation, he felt strangely unsettled. Was it because the man’s voice had sounded so kind when he said he’d be back?

“There’s no way.”

Ian, crouched beneath the window, shook his head vigorously as he spoke to himself. His cynical voice contrasted with his fidgeting hands. Having lived alone, his habit of talking to himself had only grown.

In Ian’s short twelve years of life, there had been no kind people. Although his uncle had taken over the Ducal house after Ian turned five, no one had shown him much kindness even before then.

His father was always busy, and his mother had passed away shortly after giving birth to him, so he didn’t even know her face. He had seen her portrait, but everyone said it didn’t capture her true impression. Thus, Ian did not know his mother’s real self. He didn’t particularly like the cold, sharp woman in the painting.

So, the kindness he thought he heard in the new servant’s parting greeting must have been an illusion. Why would a servant sent by the family show him any goodwill?

He must have misheard because he had been left alone for so long. That was the conclusion Ian reached. Then, he dwelled on the short word Jade had muttered earlier.

“Mushrooms…”

The man seemed a bit odd. He had suddenly muttered “mushrooms” to himself, then stepped outside wrapped in a curtain like someone possessed. Ian stood up again, got on his tiptoes, and looked out the window.

He said his name was Jade.

He was the first servant to arrive at the villa and introduce himself to Ian.

For all his bold talk upon leaving, Jade looked somewhat clumsy. Even now, wearing only thin leather shoes, he was trudging haphazardly through the deep snow. In the north, walking like that was a surefire way to get frostbite. Moreover, claiming he would find food ingredients in that snowfield—it was the height of recklessness.

“Foolish.”

That was what his uncle always said to Ian. Whenever he ran into Ian, he would click his tongue and say exactly that. Even though Ian hid to avoid him, they would cross paths at least once every two days, and he was forced to hear it.

Ian didn’t particularly deny the description. Since he had failed to kill his uncle and ended up stuck here, “foolish” was accurate. But now, that word seemed to fit the servant better than himself.

“As if he could find anything.”

Ian muttered dismissively to himself. It didn’t seem like this servant would be of much help either.

This was the third time the family had sent a servant. The first servant lamented his own fate for being sent here the moment he arrived and took out his stress by throwing things at Ian.

The second servant did nothing but sigh the moment he saw Ian. He seemed deeply disappointed that he couldn’t return immediately because Ian was still alive. He treated Ian as if he didn’t exist while prowling through the villa and hid the supplies he brought in places Ian couldn’t reach. He even gobbled up all the remaining food.

Neither was the type of person who was helpful to Ian. Thus, the first servant met his end three days after arriving, and the second lasted a week.

How should I kill this one?

Dealing with the servants every time was a hassle for Ian, too. Being small, Ian had to wait for the right opportunity to handle an adult servant, and it drained his stamina.

The aftermath was also a problem. It wasn’t easy for Ian, who wasn’t yet very strong, to move a corpse, and the bodies he managed to drag far away didn’t rot well because of the cold. At least it was a relief that the bodies buried in the snow didn’t give off the smell of decay.

Should he lure him into the forest and kill him this time? That would be most efficient. He wouldn’t have to clean up blood splattered in the villa, nor would he have to struggle to move the body. Unlike the previous ones, this servant seemed simple-minded; if he played his cards right, it might just work.

“Aaargh! It’s freezing!”

Just as he was calmly organizing the details of his plan, a scream rang out. The man had managed to trip in the snow and was making a huge scene.

“……”

Ian revised the plan he had just made. Even if it took more effort, it would be better to just get rid of him quickly. Not only did he seem useless, but he was also noisy. Noisy people were annoying. Based on past experience, the more talkative a person was, the more they tormented Ian.

“…Maybe I’ll kill him while he sleeps.”

That would likely have the highest success rate. Besides, there was something clumsy about this man; he seemed like he would be the easiest to handle among all the servants who had come.

Like the others, he would likely let his guard down within half a day. No, this servant was already defenseless. He had reached out his hand when introducing himself to Ian. He had even looked at him and smiled.

“Strange.”

The servants who arrived at the villa were usually too busy ignoring Ian to even look for him. It wasn’t just because he was neglected here. Even at the Ducal house, the staff treated Ian like a ghost. Since he was thoroughly hated by the uncle who would take over the Linwood line, the servants’ disregard was no surprise.

Actually, Ian had endured all of it well enough. Being treated like an invisible person by everyone in the Ducal house wasn’t particularly special. Come to think of it, neither his father nor his nanny had liked him very much.

But that didn’t mean he intended to die while being tormented by servants. Ian knew he would likely finish his short life here soon, but he didn’t want to make things easy for the uncle who would cheer at his death. Perhaps, like his cold-blooded father, he had a nasty streak of his own.

“……”

Turning away from the window, Ian pulled out the precious sword he had hidden under the stairs. The well-honed blade flashed even in the dim light. Dried bloodstains that hadn’t been fully wiped away clung to the metal.

Ian blinked his innocent-looking eyes and stared blankly at the blade. This blade would pierce the neck of this new servant in a single stroke. Ian imagined the scene of the sword’s edge driving through the man’s throat.

The feeling of pressing down on the hilt with all his weight, the sensation of tendons and muscles snapping as the force traveled up the blade. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling, but he had to get used to it to clear away those who tormented him.

“I’ll be back…”

But even while imagining killing Jade, Ian tried muttering those words again. It was unfamiliar, but not bad. Ian had lived his life wary of new things, but this was okay. Even though it wasn’t a special sentence, it strangely tickled his chest.

“……”

Ian sat hunched by the sword for a long time, lost in thought. He should be thinking about how to handle the servant who arrived today, but the man’s cheerful smile before he stepped out the door kept popping into his head.

Was it because of his kind-looking impression, so different from the previous servants? Or was it because of his bright grin and his eyes that looked a bit dry?

Thud—

How long had he been lost in thought? About an hour later, the villa door swung open with a loud noise. Ian quickly hid the sword first. He had to appear as a naive, innocent child. That made it easier to kill his opponent.

“Gah, young master! I found them!”

He turned to see Jade standing by the door, shivering and holding something. He ran over to the hunted Ian in a single bound. As the distance closed, a rush of cold, wintry air approached with him.

“Look at this!”

Jade sat down at Ian’s eye level. He spread his palms for him to see.

“Mush… rooms…?”

Sitting on his palms were mushrooms. He had thought it was nonsense, but the man had actually found food, just as he said he would. And in only an hour.

The mushrooms he had found looked different from the flashy poisonous ones Ian had always discovered. These looked like dry twigs and were a species that grew wild in the snow. He had read about them in books but had never seen them in person. The quantity was small, but for Ian, who hadn’t eaten in over two days, it was precious food.

“Uh…”

However, what caught Ian’s eye more than the mushrooms was Jade’s hands. Perhaps from digging through the snow with his bare hands, they were frozen completely red. At this rate, the skin on the back of his hands would crack.

“Let’s roast them!”

But Jade acted as if his near-frostbitten hands were nothing, looking as triumphant as a man who had brought down a wild boar. Instead of warming his frozen hands, he took the mushrooms and strode toward the kitchen.

“……”

Ian blinked slowly, staring at the water pooling on the floor. It seemed the snow that had fallen from Jade’s body was melting. Ian sat there blankly, staring at the small puddle until Jade finished cooking the mushrooms.

It seemed he wouldn’t be able to handle that servant today.

“What kind of villa doesn’t have a single proper kitchen tool?”

Jade grumbled, rubbing his frozen hands against his trousers.

Having just picked the mushrooms, Jade had experienced the sheer ruthlessness of this game. The skill [Distinguish Poisonous Mushrooms] literally only allowed him to distinguish them. Once Jade found a mushroom, it merely told him whether it was a normal one or poisonous.

It did provide a general direction for where the mushrooms were. But the range was so wide that he had to dig through all the snow nearby. The trowel was too small to be of much help. It was a miracle he found them before getting frostbite.

So more skills open up when the level rises, right?

Still, there was one unexpected harvest. It was the notification that popped up after he dug up the mushrooms.

[ >> Exclusive Skill << ]

Lv 1. Distinguish Poisonous Mushrooms

Additional skill unlocks upon reaching Lv 2

I knew it. He didn’t think there would only be a mushroom-distinguishing skill. The phrase “additional skill” made Jade’s heart race. The problem was the experience points.

[ >> EXP << ]

10 / 1,000

The experience points increased by 10 each time he picked a mushroom. The points required for a level-up were 1,000.

In other words, it meant he had to pick these damn mushrooms a hundred times to get the next skill.

“Dammit!”