The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 69

He had moved his residence countless times. He spent the first two years in Ardel, four years in the East, and then drifted through various villages after returning south. He had only just arrived back in Ardel three months ago.

For ten years, Jade had successfully stayed out of Malderic Linwood’s clutches. It had taken a desperate level of effort.

In the beginning, he lived in such a state of anxiety that he changed inns every two weeks. When walking outside, he kept his eyes glued to the ground to avoid making eye contact with anyone, and he frequently woke up multiple times a night from sheer paranoia. He had cycled through more than five aliases over the years. Even his jobs were mostly day labor to avoid a paper trail.

As time passed, he slowly began to let go of his worries. Since his life consisted of nothing but work, he managed to save a decent amount of money.

Yet, on the other hand, his heart would still drop at the sudden fear that someone might seize him. Ultimately, even after relaxing a bit, Jade never stayed at a single lodging for more than a month.

The reason Jade had returned to the port town of Ardel was to finally settle down in one place.

He was now approaching the end of his twenties. He couldn’t live like a wanderer forever. He was tired of traveling light because he never knew when he’d have to leave, and he was exhausted from the constant effort of adapting to unfamiliar lands.

He occasionally fantasized about whether he could return to his original world. But that never happened, and by now, Jade had grown quite accustomed to the Vilhelm Empire.

About a year after Jade left the North, Malderic had successfully ascended to the title of Duke. Once he became the head of the House of Linwood, he acted as if the world belonged to him. The stories of the grand parties he hosted reached even the South, which said everything.

At that time, Dan used to send letters occasionally while traveling between the North and South, and the focus of the news he scouted was whether the House of Linwood was still persistently searching for Jade.

According to the information Dan gathered, Malderic had not made any additional requests after the initial hiring of mercenaries. While money was paid to the mercenaries periodically, they didn’t seem to be expanding the search.

Perhaps, since he never appeared even as time passed, they assumed he was dead. After all, if Jade had kidnapped and hidden Ian for some purpose, he would have surfaced long ago to demand money.

Above all, once Malderic became the Duke, he was intoxicated by his own power. This matched the personality Jade had pinned on him. He was greedy but sloppy—the type to fall easily into the pleasures of parties and decadence.

A man like that might have felt reassured, believing that even if Jade or Ian appeared, they wouldn’t be able to interfere with him.

Still, that didn’t mean Malderic had stopped the search entirely, so Jade traveled as cautiously as possible. There was always a chance Dan’s information was wrong, or that a different, undetected tracking effort had been launched in secret.

However, there was a specific reason why Jade had become relaxed enough to decide on settling in one place.

Missing…

Four years ago, Malderic Linwood went missing.

At that time, the gossip surrounding the House of Linwood was incessant. Since Malderic took over as head, the Linwood Trading Company hadn’t had a single day of peace. His business acumen was a total disaster.

Anything he touched turned a smooth operation into a mess, and trade with countries that had been stable for years was severed. Meanwhile, the parties he hosted were held almost daily. Having seized power, he indulged in luxury and pleasure, making a point to flaunt it—as if his failures were of no consequence.

Of course, because the House of Linwood had generations of accumulated wealth and prestige, the family didn’t collapse despite Malderic’s numerous blunders. However, it was great fodder for the public.

The problem was that the influence of the House of Linwood on the Empire was substantial. People began to whisper that the glory of the Linwood family was nearing its end.

It was said that a crisis for Linwood was a crisis for the Empire, so that was all anyone talked about. Everyone looked upon the decadent head of the house with disapproval.

And then, around that time, Malderic vanished.

Various rumors swirled regarding his disappearance. “It was a murder orchestrated by the Linwood branch families who could no longer stand his stupidity.” Or, “He ran away because he couldn’t handle the shame of his failing businesses.” Others countered with, “As if a man like him knows the meaning of shame.” Many backhanded comments followed.

Regardless, the position of Duke became vacant once again. The Linwood branch families took turns acting as proxies according to the rules. They had been fighting over the position of the next head for four years now.

What was important came next. Two more key figures of the Linwood family, who had been serving as proxies, also disappeared.

Of course, both cases had clear causes. One was robbed and murdered by bandits, and the other got drunk and drowned in a lake. It was strange, however, that people from a single family kept dying or vanishing.

It couldn’t be related to Ian, could it?

Coincidentally, the year Malderic went missing was the year Ian reached adulthood. It was also the end of the period Ian was supposed to stay at the temple.

Could it be connected to Ian? Even though the connection between the House of Linwood and Jade had ended long ago, he couldn’t help but feel concerned.

No way.

But Jade soon shook his head. If it were Ian, he would have first eliminated Cain, Malderic’s biological son who had been adopted as Ian’s older brother.

Cain had been mentioned as the next heir ever since the head position became vacant. However, it seemed they were hesitant to appoint him for fear he would follow in Malderic’s footsteps. Because of what Malderic had done, trust in his son had also plummeted. Cain himself didn’t have the personality to step forward and claim the seat.

Right, it’s not Ian’s doing.

Besides, the year Ian was supposed to ascend to the title of Duke was when he turned twenty-six. In that year, Ian would eliminate all the branch families of the House of Linwood. Malderic was also destined to die then. In other words, Ian needed three more years to make his move.

Did Malderic die after his disappearance in the original setting too?

That part hadn’t been in the setting guide. Yet, for some reason, he couldn’t shake a lingering sense of unease.

It was unknown whether the missing Malderic was simply in hiding or dead. On top of that, the sequential disappearance of Linwood family members weighed on him. He worried that something might have changed from the original setting.

Whatever it is, it’s a relief for me.

A man who had gone missing wouldn’t be working himself into a fever pitch trying to find a single runaway attendant. Malderic’s disappearance was a good thing from Jade’s perspective.

Dan had also suggested that since the source of worry was gone, why not come live in his village? To the rootless Jade, Dan was a pillar of support. Callie, perhaps thanks to the passage of ten years, no longer kept her guard up against Jade as she once had.

Jade believed now was the time to pursue his long-held dream. Whether by coincidence or fate, Ardel still didn’t have a bakery.

Having settled in Ardel, Jade began baking bread and taking it to the port to sell a few weeks ago. Fortunately, Jade’s bread was incredibly popular. It was so in demand he couldn’t make it fast enough.

Knock-knock.

A knocking sound broke his train of thought. Jade stood up and stretched. He had been lost in thought for too long this morning.

“Hey man, your big brother is here!”

“Dan…!”

The visitor was Dan. Before Jade could even touch the doorknob, Dan swung the door open along with his knock. He was holding a bag of fruit.

“Why is this hill so long? Coming to your house feels like a workout, man.”

“You worked hard. What’s this?”

“Apples.”

“The South really is great. You can find apples even in winter.”

“Myang!”

Jade gave a genial smile as he took the apples.

He washed the apples thoroughly, sliced them neatly, and handed some to Dan. After giving a piece each to Buster and Bluey, he finally put one in his own mouth. Crunch. A cool juice spread through his mouth with the sound.

In the North, it was hard to find a single scrap of food, but here, food was everywhere even in winter. Whenever he managed to get his hands on such appetizing food easily, he was suddenly reminded of the North. Specifically, the Northern winter, the villa, and Ian.

“You’re really something. How do you still not have any furniture?”

Dan grumbled as he plopped down on the floor and patted his knees.

“It turned out that way because I bought the baking equipment first. Once I finalize the house contract, I’ll start bringing things in one by one.”

The first thing Jade did after returning to Ardel was find a house. Since it had been over four years since Malderic went missing, he figured he could stop living in inns.

He intentionally chose a secluded house some distance away from the bustling port. Since he had saved a fair amount of money over ten years, he had enough to comfortably afford a small house.

In truth, it wasn’t Jade’s house yet. They had agreed that he would rent it for a month first and then sign a formal contract the following month if he liked it. However, Jade liked the house already. Unless something unexpected happened, he planned to sign the contract as intended.

“I thought you would have left the Empire.”

“You were the one who told me to settle in the South.”

“And that’s why I like it.”

Since he had saved enough money to buy a house, leaving for another country wouldn’t have been difficult. He could have even had forged identity papers made.

But strangely, he didn’t feel like it. Even though leaving the Empire entirely would be much safer and more relaxing.

Ian…

To be honest, he knew the biggest reason for his hesitation. It was because Ian was on his mind.

Whenever he heard stories of the North from Dan, Ian would cross his mind. However, there was never anything related to Ian in the Northern news Dan shared.

It wasn’t just Dan. Since the influence of the House of Linwood was so great, he had heard talk of them no matter where he wandered, but Ian was never mentioned in those numerous stories. It was as if he were a person who had never existed.

“Oh, right, Jade.”

“Yeah?”

“I went to the North recently, you know.”

Dan was running an herbal medicine shop in the South, succeeding his father. However, he still headed North occasionally to find rare herbs.

Had he arrived just two days ago? It was at the moment Jade looked up with a casual nod.

“You know someone named Ian Linwood?”