The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 7

“I’m screwed.”

Jade muttered to himself before he could even think.

The broken eggshells fell to the floor with a crisp crunch. Soon, the black fragments dissolved into thick purple smoke and vanished. Meanwhile, in Jade’s arms, a newborn magical beast that had just opened its eyes was slowly wagging its tail.

“Myang?”

The creature tilted its head and used its front paw to tap Jade on the chest. The gesture felt like it was rushing him, asking why he wasn’t serving it yet, and Jade felt his vision go dark.

Sweat trickled down the forehead of the panting Jade. One second. By a difference of exactly one second, he had become the first thing the magical beast laid eyes on. Jade squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again.

“Mya-myang!”

“I should have run just a little bit faster…”

As Jade spoke dejectedly, the beast plucked a piece of eggshell stuck to its wing. That nimble movement of its paws seemed to signal it was ready to get out and start its life in the world, which only made Jade feel more hopeless.

“What is that?”

Ian pointed at the suddenly appearing beast, his face twisting. He didn’t look scared, but it was clear he wasn’t happy about it.

“Hiss!”

The beast swiped its front paw as if to scratch Ian, who was pointing at it. Jade had thought the wary Ian resembled a cat, but this beast was the real deal. It wasn’t just a metaphor; it looked exactly like one.

Specifically, it looked very much like a black kitten, only a bit plumper with wings on its back. Even the way it shook its triangular ears with its back paw was quintessential cat behavior.

“Kaaa!”

“Whoa, stop that.”

Jade lifted the beast high as it tried to scratch Ian. This wouldn’t do. This was the magical beast that was supposed to follow Ian, commit evil deeds with him, and grow strong by his side.

Whether by coincidence or fate, Jade had read a few “possession” novels before waking up in this world.

Most protagonists in those stories worked hard to turn evil beings good. They would lead the story toward a happy ending, as if proving that goodness always prevails.

But he didn’t particularly want to do that. Whether Ian eventually murdered all his Linwood relatives or became a warmonger who held the Empire and the Imperial Family in the palm of his hand was none of Jade’s business.

He just wanted to stay here for a reasonable amount of time and then leave. He wanted to avoid affecting the game’s original story as much as possible. He wasn’t exactly looking for a happy ending. His consistent goal, both in his previous life and this one, was simply to earn enough to live on.

To do that, he first had to make this beast serve and follow Ian as its master—not have it swiping its paws and trying to scratch him.

“Young Master, look at this little guy. Come on, you have to see him.”

Jade spun the beast around to face Ian. He wanted to change the reality that the beast had recognized him first. Since it was only a one-second difference, it might be possible. He had to imprint Ian’s existence on the beast somehow.

However, Ian himself seemed to have zero interest in the creature. Usually, a kid would be obsessed with small animals, but Ian didn’t seem to find a winged cat impressive at all. Consequently, Jade was the only one stomping his feet in frustration.

“Look at its eyes. Aren’t they round and cute? Wow, the pupils are gold!”

“…”

“And look at the ears! Whoa, look at the wings! I can’t believe a beast like this exists!”

Jade desperately tried to talk up the beast. But contrary to his hopes, Ian was indifferent rather than interested. After a polite, brief glance, his chubby cheeks puffed out slightly. Then, he grumbled peevishly.

“It’s ugly.”

“Excuse me?”

“Myang?!”

The beast, which had been licking its front paw, unsheathed its claws. Even though it was fresh out of the egg, it seemed to understand human speech. As soon as Ian finished speaking, it snapped its head around and its fur stood on end. It looked like a black dandelion puff.

“Kyah! Mya-ack!”

“No, stop!”

Furious, the beast stretched its body out and swiped its front paws back and forth. Ian avoided the attacks perfectly with a cold expression. He was so agile that the beast couldn’t land a single hit.

This was a disaster. Instead of following Ian, the beast was just building up unnecessary hostility. Even Ian looked like he couldn’t stand the creature.

“I’ve gathered the basics, so let’s head back to the kitchen for now.”

Jade quickly wrapped up the situation. He felt like they would only grow to hate each other more at this rate. As the saying goes, people feel better when their bellies are full. He figured he should feed them first.

“Young Master, I have my hands full, so could you hold the little guy for me? He’s very gentle.”

Since he had picked up the items from the shed, he lacked a spare hand. Jade tried to push the beast onto Ian, thinking this was his chance.

However, Jade’s suggestion was flatly ignored. As soon as Jade finished speaking, the beast flapped its wings and hovered in the air as if to show off. it was a firm expression of its will that it would rather flap its wings than be held by Ian.

“K-ack, k-ack!”

The beast was throwing a fit to the point that Jade’s description of it being “gentle” was embarrassing. It was a beast after all; despite its tiny wings, it flew surprisingly well.

And so, they returned to the kitchen with a slightly awkward atmosphere. It was a bizarre sight—the beast perched on Jade’s shoulder and Ian stuck to Jade’s side as they walked back.

“Haha. It’s already evening…”

“Myang!”

Returning to the kitchen left him completely drained. All he’d done was pick two handfuls of mushrooms and rummage through a shed, but the sun was already setting.

Perhaps because they were in the North, the days were short. Still, the red sunset falling over the white snow was undeniably beautiful.

But there was no time to admire the view. Jade moved quickly. He was someone who had built up his “living alone” skills since middle school. Cooking mushrooms was a piece of cake. Actually, there were no ingredients, so it barely qualified as “cooking.”

He skillfully scrubbed the old grime off the pots, pans, and utensils he brought from the shed and cleaned the mushrooms. While cleaning the pots and pans, he struggled quite a bit because the burn marks wouldn’t disappear no matter how many times he rubbed them, and the water kept coming out filthy.

After about an hour of hard work, a somewhat decent dish of roasted mushrooms was finished. Jade placed the steaming plate on the table. He could see the look in Ian’s eyes, which had been as calm as a lake, change slightly.

“How is it? Does it taste good?”

Jade used a fork to pick the best-roasted mushroom and held it out to Ian. Then he popped one into his own mouth.

“…”

Instead of eating, Ian looked back and forth between the fork in his hand and Jade. He either doubted Jade or doubted the mushroom.

“Wow, this is delicious.”

To prove the mushrooms weren’t poisonous, Jade ate while giving two thumbs up. They were strange-looking mushrooms, but the taste wasn’t bad. The only downside was that he couldn’t season them because there was no salt.

“I think it’s edible, but do you not like it, sir?”

“…It’s not bad.”

Ian nodded while nibbling on the mushroom. His white, chewing cheeks looked like rice cakes. Ian was very small and thin, but his cheeks were surprisingly plump.

“Myang…”

Sprawled on the table with a paw on its belly, the beast looked at Jade with pitiful eyes. Until a moment ago, it had been glaring at Ian with quite fierce eyes, but now it had big, watery eyes like Puss in Boots.

“Do you want to eat too…?”

“Myang!”

Unable to resist that look, Jade asked, and the beast cried out while even squeezing its eyes shut. The setting manual said that the beast and Ian could communicate, so he thought it could speak human language, but it seemed impossible because it was still too young.

“Is it a pig?”

“Young Master!”

Ian muttered sarcastically while glancing at the beast. The creature’s watery eyes turned fierce once again. Jade thought they might get along if they shared a meal, but it seemed like a lost cause.

“Kyah…!”

“…”

Jade chewed on his mushroom as he sat between the two bickering figures. He could only hope that their relationship would improve even a little bit tomorrow.

After finishing a simple intake that was embarrassing to even call a meal, Jade went looking for a place to sleep. Not for himself, but for Ian.

He was someone who could sleep anywhere as long as there was a floor and a roof, but Ian was just a child. The space under the stairs where Ian said he had been sleeping was dirty, crude, and freezing.

“Not a single place is decent.”

Jade said, tapping the floor with his foot after looking around the villa’s hall and a few rooms on the second floor.

Every room he opened was a mess inside. The furniture was old and broken, and there was an unbelievable amount of dust.

But he couldn’t let him sleep under the stairs. Jade fell into thought.

“I told you it was fine.”

“The blizzard is howling out there, how can it be fine?”

“…”

Seeing Jade set out to find a suitable space again, Ian furrowed his brow.

The servants who had come before him had been horrified by the state of the villa and holed themselves up somewhere. None of them had come with any intention of working. In fact, they had only bullied Ian.

But Jade scurried around the villa looking for things to do.

“I told you to rest, Young Master.”

“Forget it.”

Ian retorted sharply. His eyes were full of suspicion.

Ian found it suspicious that a servant was working this hard to find him a place to sleep. Why would he care about someone who was being given the cold shoulder? It was more logical to assume he had some other motive.

Besides, this servant was a bit annoying. Just a moment ago, he had wrapped Ian’s body in curtains. It was because Ian had shivered a few times from the cold.

He had planned to see how things went for a few days since the man had brought mushrooms, but the servant was becoming a nuisance.

“Sigh.”

Ian’s small sigh fell onto his own feet. He didn’t know how he ended up just following this servant around.

Jade kept looking around to find a suitable place to sleep, and Ian turned around to head back down. He planned to hide in a quiet spot so the annoying servant couldn’t find him. He felt ridiculous wrapped in curtains.

‘It is warm, though.’

It was annoying that it was actually warm, just as Jade had said. He was walking down the stairs, grumbling to himself, when…

“…”

Ian’s footsteps suddenly faltered. It was because the curtain trailing behind him was too long for his small body and had gotten caught under his feet.

By the time he realized he had misstepped, it was already too late. In an instant, his balance collapsed.