The place was a banquet hall, but it would be more accurate to call it a banquet of death. The long, vertical table was laden with all sorts of food, but none of it was edible. There were withering flowers and fruits, food models made of resin, and on the plates in front of the guests were the skulls of animals or bird bones, still intact. But even more grotesque were the people seated at the table.
…Were they even people? The well-dressed guests each wore animal head masks: a goat, a rabbit, a cat, a fox… The masks fit perfectly on human-sized heads, making them look disturbingly real, like some blasphemous hybrids of humans and animals. Just looking at them made me uncomfortable.
Lian seemed to feel the same way. He looked at me and asked, “What are we supposed to do here?”
Reluctantly, I hopped up onto the table. The creatures with animal heads were seated all around the table, and the seat where the host should sit was empty. The cutlery in front of that seat was also empty. The plate and wine glass were unfilled, unlike those of the other guests.
“Meow.”
I carefully touched the empty wine glass with my paw. Lian stared at it for a moment before speaking as if he had figured something out. “Are we supposed to fill this wine glass?”
It was nice that he understood so quickly. I nodded, and Lian paused to think.
“Wine… Where could we find wine? Should we look for a wine cellar?”
I nodded again. I knew where the wine cellar was.
I jumped back down to the floor and began leading the way.
“Ah, Mia. Wait for me!”
I led Lian towards the kitchen. The rest of the place was covered in dust and cobwebs, but this area was strangely clean as if someone was still living there…
After passing through the kitchen, we found a pantry. I motioned for Lian to push it, and he easily slid it aside.
A hidden entrance to the basement appeared. Lian let out a gasp of admiration.
“Wow, if it weren’t for you, Mia, I would’ve been wandering around for a while…”
We descended into the basement with a lantern in hand, but the floor felt oddly squishy. It was like walking on a water-filled balloon. And with each step, a nauseating smell of iron filled the air.
“Ugh! What is this…?”
The wine cellar was flooded. I wished it were just water, but the bright red liquid swirling around was clearly blood.
The wine racks were submerged in it. To get the wine, we would have to step into that pool of blood, which was at least 50 cm deep. Lian frowned in contemplation as he surveyed the room.
“We’ll have to go in there to get it…”
“Meow!”
I urgently let out a warning. Going in there would lead straight to a bad ending. The moment someone steps in, something will grab their ankle and drag them down, drowning them.
There was a way to solve this. I scratched at the wall, and Lian began feeling around that area. Then, with a click, one of the bricks was pushed in, and the blood began to drain out.
Lian half-laughed in amazement. “This mansion is really strange. I would’ve been in trouble if it weren’t for you, Mia.”
[Lian’s affection has increased by 10.]
[Current Lian’s affection: 42]
Lian muttered this to himself as he stepped into the now slightly blood-stained floor. He picked up a bottle from the wine rack. “Any wine will do, right?”
I nodded once.
We returned to the dining room. As he poured the wine into the empty glass, the strong smell of blood filled the air. What was in the wine bottle wasn’t wine but blood. Lian noticed this too, and frowned.
As the glass filled, the level of the liquid started to decrease, as if someone was drinking it. A red lip mark appeared on the rim of the glass.
“Really, this place has the worst taste… Hmm?”
–Clink.
At that moment, something fell onto a plate, revealing itself to be an earring. Lian picked it up, his face filled with disbelief. It was a perfect match to the earring he had shown me earlier.
“…I should be getting used to this by now. Let’s go, Mia.”
He led me to an empty room. It looked like a guest room, but inside was a mannequin head. The mannequin wore a wig and hat. When Lian placed the earring on the mannequin, the bottom drawer clicked open. Inside was something like a piece of a diary. Lian flinched as he read the contents.
“…This is my brother’s handwriting.”
Even without looking, I knew what the contents were. To summarize, it was about how he was suffering after losing someone dear to him, and someone approached him during that time.
I already knew about this, so it wasn’t important. What mattered to me was the earring.
“Meow.”
After giving Lian enough time to read the diary, I gently nudged the earring. An item description window popped up.
[Garnet Earrings: Earrings with small garnets embedded. Price: 2 gold.]
Wow, 2 gold…! Since Lian had the letter, he wouldn’t need this anymore.
Returning to the dining room, I gathered all the cutleries.
[Gold-Plated Cutlery: Cutlery plated with gold. Made of high-quality porcelain Price: 30 silver.]
[Gold-Plated Spoon: A spoon plated with gold. Price: 20 silver.]
[Gold-Plated Fork: A fork plated with gold. Price: 20 silver.]
[Gold-Plated Knife: A knife plated with gold. Price: 20 silver.]
There were five sets of each.
Today’s earnings were great, and I felt quite satisfied. At this rate, I’ll make money quickly…! I happily gathered up the items.
Once again, I was one step closer to ending my contract.
4. A Guest Arrived
Bright sunlight streamed through the window. The afternoon sun was simply refreshing. It was a peaceful day, completely unrelated to the title of the game <Night of Fear>.
As usual, I attended to Isaac while dressed in my maid’s uniform. The fragrant scent of black tea spread throughout the room. As I poured the tea, my face reflected in the clear amber liquid.
Sitting at the table, Isaac spoke. “Sit down. Have some with me.”
“…Yes, Master.”
I took a seat across from him and lifted my teacup. Ever since becoming his personal maid, I had been having meals and tea time with Isaac. I knew why he was extending this courtesy to me. Or was it really courtesy?
The time spent with him was tense and uncomfortable, but I had no right to refuse. Sigh, at least the pay is good. I sipped the tea with a bitter feeling. Well, expensive tea does taste good.
Just as I was savoring my drink, Isaac suddenly spoke. “I heard Toby asked you out on a date.”
Cough. I almost spat out the tea I was drinking.
Is he insane? He killed Toby, and now he’s bringing him up?
“Ah, yes. That did happen.”
“And now he’s missing. You must be very worried.”
Ha… How shameless can you get, Isaac?
I kept my expression as calm as possible and replied, “Yes, I am worried.”
“Were you planning on going out with him?”
Why is he even asking this?
Suppressing my urge to glare at him, I answered, “I don’t understand why you’re so interested in this, Master.”
“Well, because I’m your master.” He set down his teacup and gazed at me steadily with his silver-gray eyes. “So, naturally, I’m interested. Is that a problem?”
I wanted to say yes, but of course, I couldn’t.
Just as I struggled to find a response, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
The butler entered and bowed respectfully. “Pardon me, Master. You have a guest.”
“A guest?”
“It is Lord Raphael.”
At the mention of Raphael’s name, Isaac shot up from his seat.
Hmm? Is he a pretty important guest?
“That’s enough for tea time. You can clean up and take the rest of the day off.”
“…Yes, Master.”
Who could this person be to make him react like that?
After Isaac hurriedly left, I cleared the table. On my way to the kitchen, I ran into him again on the first floor. Standing beside him was a tall man—equally handsome. His golden hair shone softly, and his green eyes gleamed with the freshness of spring leaves. He looked incredibly kind and gentle.
Was he the guest? Who on earth was he?
Hi, if you enjoy the story, please leave a review in the Novelupdates. Thank you~
thank you for the translations!
These puzzles are pretty random. Though it does give the vibes of original wave of RPG Maker horror games.
Thank you for translating this story!