The Attendant in the Horror Game C56

Chapter 56

The carriage entered the forest path and soon arrived at the villa.
A distance that had required a full day of walking felt surprisingly short by carriage. They had left in the late afternoon, yet night had not fallen.
In the dimming sky, the evening moon rose faint and pale.

“You’ve done well. You remember my request, yes?”

“Oh, of course I do.”

The coachman lifted the gold coin Jade had given him earlier and winked.

Before they departed, Jade had made a request of him:
to come to the villa once a month so that Ian could travel to the village. While there, he was also to check on the villa, and if the child ever fell ill, take him to a physician.

Before leaving the village, Jade had made a similar request to the innkeeper. On the day the coachman visited the villa, she was to send bread and food with him.
Thankfully, both the coachman and the innkeeper had readily agreed.

Jade planned to leave a note explaining all of this for Ian—so he would not be startled by an unfamiliar visitor, and so he would know whom to seek help from should he ever need it.

With the amount of money Jade left, the coachman could deliver food ten times over.
If the coachman performed the job properly, Jade promised to send money monthly.
A safeguard—just in case.

It worried him, entrusting such things to strangers.
But it was better than leaving Ian alone with no support whatsoever.

Ian was a sharp child.
After the first few times, he would manage everything himself.
Jade was also leaving money behind for him, so he could, if he wished, take the carriage and depart from the villa altogether.

Whatever he chose, Ian would make the right decision.
Jade was certain of that.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Travel safely.”

The coachman unloaded the luggage, waved, and departed.
Jade carried the purchased items into the villa first.
Though they were gone for merely two days, the place felt strangely unfamiliar—perhaps because they had spent so much time indoors before.
There was an unusual feeling in the air.

“…Hm?”

It wasn’t just a feeling.
Even after finishing the unloading, Jade did not close the door.

Something was wrong.
The air was different.
It didn’t feel like the villa they had left.
The cold dusk wind seeped through the hall.

“Jade.”

Ian sensed it too. He moved closer, eyes scanning the surroundings.

Before leaving, Jade had filled the oil lamps with whale oil.
He had left several lit throughout the hall and corridor so the villa—home to Parang and the mop ghost—would not be too gloomy.
Even at dawn when they departed, he had seen the faint glow of the lamps.

“……”

“……”

But now, the villa was pitch-black.
Only the moonlight filtering through the windows illuminated the interior.

Both fell silent simultaneously.
Too quiet—unnaturally quiet.
Ordinarily, the mop ghost would have rushed out with Parang on his back.
But there was no sound—not even a rustle.

Perhaps they were asleep somewhere.
But the ominous feeling kept growing.

“Stay behind me. Soondol—go after the carriage. Stop it. Bring it back if possible.”

“Mya…”

“Hide your wings as much as you can. Hold the gold coin in your mouth.”

Jade whispered so softly it was barely audible, guiding Ian behind him.
Soondol chirped back once and flew off.
The carriage had only just left—it wouldn’t have gotten far.

Jade worried the coachman might find a winged creature suspicious, but there was no choice now.
At least Soondol carried a gold coin as an explanation; he would come.

Jade surveyed the villa using the pale moonlight—
scattered dust, toppled firewood, an unfamiliar scent.

An intruder.
Someone had come into the villa.
Perhaps they were still inside.

Should they flee?
Run back now and chase down the departing carriage?

But Parang and the mop ghost were in the villa.
They could not leave them behind.

And more importantly—
if the intruder was still inside, he would pursue the fleeing Jade and Ian.
If he meant to kill Ian, he would chase them down immediately.
They would be caught in moments.

“Kki-aaa…”

“…!”

As Jade debated whether to flee or confront the intruder, a familiar cry reached them.
The mop ghost.

They turned and saw him cowering behind the fireplace.

“Kki-aaa…”

Parang was on his back, silently crying, tears dripping down.
The mop ghost pointed—a single, trembling strand of its mop hair—toward the upper floor.

Above.
Jade followed the gesture with his eyes.

A figure stood at the upstairs railing.
A lump of shadow—just far enough ahead of the railing’s own shadow to be unmistakably human.

“Ian.”

“There’s someone in the house…”

Ian saw it too.
He whispered, stepping closer behind Jade.

Jade cut him off, pushing him further behind.

“Run.”

“What?”

He had to get Ian out first.
If an intruder was here, the target could only be Ian.

A sudden memory flashed—
from the setting book detailing what happened after three servants failed to kill Ian.

Malderic, frustrated by Ian’s survival and troubled by the family elders opposing him, devised a new plan—
to kidnap Ian, lock him in the villa’s storeroom, and starve him to death.

It would leave no clear trace of murder.
They could simply claim that Ian, trapped behind the villa’s broken door, had died because he could not escape.

Malderic would still face blame for neglect, but with all other methods exhausted, he was desperate.

In the game’s story, Ian survived that ordeal.
But would he survive it now?

His childhood had already changed drastically—because Jade had intervened.

And the setting book only summarized his survival in one meaningless line.
It never described the suffering required to reach that point.

“Run. Run to the carriage.”

Whoosh—

As Ian stepped back, a throwing knife flew past and embedded itself in the door.
Jade froze, glancing at it.
The razor-sharp edge glinted in the moonlight.

A warning: Do not run.

“Kki-aaa…”

The mop ghost held up one strand again—
one.
There was only one intruder.

From the second-floor railing, he would have a perfect view of the hall.
Standing still would only bring death.
There was only one choice.

Someone had to hold the intruder off so Ian could escape.

That someone had to be Jade.

“Run!”

“Jade!”

He shoved Ian out the door.

A burst of throwing knives flew down, embedding deeply into the door.
Thanks to Jade blocking them, not a single blade hit Ian.

“You bastard…!”

The intruder leapt from the railing with expert precision.
Even while dropping from the second floor, he kept throwing knives.

Several grazed Jade’s limbs, ripping fabric and drawing blood.
Then one struck deeply into his shoulder.

“Ugh…!”

Jade staggered from the impact.
Seeing the opening, the intruder lunged toward Ian.

A thick rope was in his hand—
He planned to capture Ian without leaving injuries.

“Damn it.”

Jade hurled himself at the intruder.

They crashed to the floor, rolling violently.

“Ian, GO! RUN!”

Jade screamed through clenched teeth.

But Ian could not run.
He could not leave Jade behind—not bleeding, not struggling alone.

Jade was hurt.
The intruder needed to die.
That was the only thought left in Ian’s mind.

He reached instinctively for a weapon—
but the treasured dagger was with Jade.
All Ian had was his small, weak body.

“You stupid brat! You don’t know who sent me?!”

“Aaargh!”

“Idiots like you need a beating!”

The intruder kicked Jade’s head and shoulders repeatedly.
The knife in Jade’s shoulder tore deeper with every blow.
Anger flared in the intruder’s eyes—
He clearly expected Jade to be an ally, not an obstacle.

“Stop the carriage! That’s how we BOTH survive!”

Jade shouted at Ian—but also at the intruder, revealing that people were outside.

“—!”

Startled, the intruder pulled out a dagger.
Jade also drew the kitchen knife he had carried for self-defense.
He refused to use Ian’s dagger for something like this.

Besides, the kitchen knife had a longer edge—an advantage.

Clang—

Steel collided with steel.
The shock made Jade’s arm tremble.
He pushed himself upright and blocked the doorway.

The intruder stepped back, lowering his stance.

“You…!”

He was clearly rattled.
He had expected Jade—another of Malderic’s men—to help kill Ian, not fight him.

He looked at Jade as though staring at a madman.

If Jade didn’t seize this moment, they would both die.

Jade charged.

He had never stabbed anyone.
He had never engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
But hesitation meant death for both of them.

Whoosh—

The intruder twisted aside, dodging Jade’s strike, and immediately slashed his arm.

“—!”

A long cut opened across Jade’s arm.
Then the intruder reached for something at his belt.

A small glass bottle.

Jade barely saw it before the man threw it to the floor.