The Servant in the Horror Game is Suspicious Chapter 9

The magical beast, jumping up and down, showed Jade the snow clinging to its body and then held up two short toes on its front paw. It struggled for a long moment, grunting as it tried to fold down the other toes—apparently, its fine motor skills weren’t quite there yet.

“Myang! Myang!”

“He threw you? And twice at that? No way, surely not.”

“Mya-aaa-ck! Hiss!”

When Jade reacted with disbelief, the beast mimicked the motion of rolling through the air. It even lay flat on its back like a tantrum-throwing child, flailing its four limbs wildly. Seeing it huffing and puffing with actual tears welling in its eyes, it didn’t seem like it was lying.

“But…”

Jade tapped his temple with his index finger, carefully retracing this morning’s events.

When he woke up, Ian had been sleeping soundly beside him. He looked so peaceful—less like a dark mastermind and more like a prince from a fairy tale—that Jade had thought to himself how he truly looked the part of a top-tier character.

Come to think of it, the beast hadn’t been there at the time. He clearly remembered it curling up right against his side last night to sleep.

So, when exactly had Ian thrown the thing? Jade had woken up quite early himself, yet he hadn’t sensed a thing.

“Hiss!”

The beast’s fur suddenly stood on end as it bared its fangs fiercely toward the space behind Jade. Turning his head to follow its gaze, he found Ian standing perfectly still by the door, staring at them. He hadn’t heard a single sound, so he hadn’t even realized the boy had entered.

Ian’s expressionless face felt like the dry air of a winter morning. His long bangs drooping over his forehead and his disheveled hair at the back created a strange contrast with his usual aura.

“Young Master, did you really throw this little guy out into the snow?”

“…”

“Myang! Myack!”

As Jade pressed for an answer, Ian didn’t speak; he just tapped the floor with the toe of his shoe. Seeing as he didn’t deny it, the beast’s claim seemed to be true.

However, it was impossible to scold Ian, who looked like a small rabbit left out in the cold. Even when he seemed detached as if he’d already seen the whole world, Jade would catch glimpses of his immaturity—the result of a lack of adult care—and a sense of pity would naturally well up.

“Young Master. I’m not trying to scold you. You two are going to have to live together from now on, so we can’t have any misunderstandings.”

Jade approached Ian and leaned down to meet his eyes. He spoke in the gentlest voice possible. He wanted to reach out and fix the boy’s messy hair, but he held back, feeling it was still too early for that.

After a period of silence, during which Ian repeatedly shifted his gaze between the floor and Jade, he finally opened his mouth.

“It’s ominous. That thing is a magical beast.”

Ian said it in a soft, calm voice. For a moment, Jade blinked in pure absurdity.

Ominous? This beast was originally Ian’s right-hand minion.

Furthermore, Ian was not the type of character to be bothered by a mere magical beast. How many people were destined to lose their heads at Ian’s hands in the near future? Once Ian awakened his special abilities later on, he would be popping people’s heads without even lifting a finger.

“Magical beasts are scary,” Ian said, blinking his gentle eyes with a voice that didn’t sound scared at all.

“You mean you’re afraid of it?”

“Yes.”

“Of the beast?”

“Yes.”

‘And yet you’re the final boss of a horror game.’

Jade swallowed the words rising to his throat. The very reason Jade had ended up at this villa was because the previous servants had gone missing. And Jade knew full well they hadn’t “gone missing”—they had died at Ian’s hands.

But when a child droops the corners of his eyes and says he’s scared, there aren’t many adults who could look him in the eye and demand to know what on earth he’s talking about.

Could it be that he found the beast scary despite having killed several adults? He looked calm, but one could never truly know another’s heart. Besides, Ian was small for his age. Hearing that Ian actually had something to fear made him feel like a real child for the first time. Sure, it was possible.

“There’s no need for that. Look how well-behaved he is.”

It seemed Ian had a prejudice against the creature simply because it was a “magical beast.” He wondered how the original Ian had ever come to command the beast when he hated it this much now.

“And you mustn’t throw it away. You might get hurt, sir.”

“…”

Ian avoided his gaze and didn’t answer Jade’s request. With his delicate, flower-like features and naturally mournful aura, even his silence made one’s heart soften. Words like “petite” or “dainty” were clearly created just for Ian.

Right. The Ian he read about in the setting manual was cruel beyond measure, but that was him as an adult. Humans are multifaceted beings, aren’t they? This fragile, fearful side was likely one of Ian’s true faces as well.

“Well, you might have been scared. Just don’t do it again.”

“Yes…”

When Jade held up an index finger and acted somewhat firm, Ian nodded and gave a reluctant answer. He looked a bit gloomy, making Jade want to tell him everything was okay.

But he had to be firm about this. Tossing a creature out into the white wasteland… it only survived because it was a magical beast; throwing anything out in this cold was basically a death sentence.

Actually, the beast’s welfare aside, he was more worried about Ian. It seemed the beast hadn’t attacked Ian yet because it was young, but once a beast exerts its power, its enemies are the ones in the most danger.

“Now then, let’s make up.”

“Myang! Kya-aaa-ck!”

The beast, who had been rolling its eyes while listening to their conversation, rolled around on the floor and flapped its wings as if it were dying of injustice. Jade picked up the rolling beast, which was now covered in dust, and dusted it off.

“There, there, you’d like that too, right?”

“Myack! Myack!”

“To celebrate our reconciliation, shall we give this little guy a name?”

Having forced the reconciliation while clutching the struggling beast under his arm, Jade came up with an idea. A name. He felt they needed a name to get close. He couldn’t keep calling it “the beast.”

However, no matter how hard he thought, the setting manual hadn’t mentioned a name. Had Ian used it without ever naming it?

“How about May? It’s cute and nice, isn’t it?”

After a moment’s thought, Jade picked the most familiar and easiest name. He wasn’t the type of person sensitive enough to agonize over picking a name.

“That thing is a male.”

“Oh, magical beasts have those distinctions?”

Jade inspected the beast’s body here and there. Looking at the parts, it did seem male. He was impressed that Ian had noticed something he hadn’t even considered.

“I think it’s better not to give it one.”

“Still, we can’t keep calling it ‘the beast’ forever.”

“We could just not call it at all,” Ian mumbled in a small, dissatisfied voice. His pouting cheeks were adorable.

“No can do.”

Jade vowed to break Ian’s prejudice and improve the beast’s image. That was the only way the future Ian would use the creature comfortably.

Besides, if those two fought, it was obvious that Jade, the servant, would be the one suffering. He wanted absolutely no part of that.

“Amadeus? How about a name like that? It sounds dignified, like an ancient demon.”

“Myaa, Myang!”

The beast seemed to like this name the most. it purred, rubbing its forehead against Jade’s hand. Ian’s brow furrowed instantly.

“It doesn’t suit a pathetic-looking beast like that.”

“Young Master! Even so, it’s a magical beast; you shouldn’t say things like that right to its face.”

“Myang?”

“He’s still young, he might get his feelings hurt.”

However, Jade actually agreed with Ian. Since it was small and cute, it did look a bit pushover-ish for a magical beast. The creature, listening to the conversation, tilted its head this way and that as if asking what they were even talking about.

“Hmm, then how about… Buster?”

Jade, having set the beast down, clapped his hands together. Buster. That was perfect. It sounded sturdy, was easy to say, and had a friendly ring to it.

“Myack?”

“Bus… ter…?”

Ian and the beast both gave lukewarm reactions. Since it was the first time the two had reacted the same way, Jade let out a “ha-ha” laugh.

“Myack! Myack!”

The beast seemed to think for a moment, then crossed its front paws into an ‘X’ to show its disapproval. Seeing that, Ian answered immediately.

“I like it. Buster. It’s a great name.”

“Hiss!”

The creature, who had just become “Buster,” puffed out its fur and hissed at Ian. However, perhaps worried that Ian might snatch it up and throw it again, it didn’t dare get close enough to attack. It was strange that it was scared of Ian despite having wings.

“Now, now, then Buster and Young Master Ian, please head down to the first floor. This poor servant has to finish the cleaning.”

He had to finish cleaning today if he wanted to sleep inside a room. The Northern winter was not a level of cold a human could simply adapt to. Tonight, he was definitely spending the night in a room.

Since it had come to this, he intended to do the sweeping properly and rack up some experience points. Jade forced Buster into Ian’s arms and pushed them out of the room.

“…”

The moment he was sent out of the room, Ian dropped Buster as if discarding him and walked down the stairs. Buster followed behind, flapping his wings.

“Myaa…”

“You.”

“Myack!”

Even though Buster had been flying at a significant distance, Ian easily snatched the creature’s wings with one hand. Buster flailed in mid-air, held by both wings.

“Wagging your tongue already?”

“Mya-aa-ck!”

“You’re over a hundred years old; where do you get off acting like a child?”