Chapter 38
3-1. I’ve changed my job to a survival type.
Okay, if I just slip this much away, they won’t notice, right?
I sneaked back to my quarters and glanced down at my treasure with delight.
Among the evil-laden goods I discovered using ‘Seer’s Eyes,’ I only grabbed enough of the same type to avoid detection.
I took a quill pen without feathers, two fountain pens, a pair of black leather gloves, a headless statue of a goddess, a primitive mechanical watch, a heavy history book, and a little jackknife.
I wanted to take more, but my hands were full from carrying the history book, which was as hefty and thick as a college textbook.
If it hadn’t been for the history book, I could have grabbed more tiny objects, but the animosity surrounding it was so intense that I couldn’t leave it behind.
“But why was there such strong malice in the history book?”
Did it enrage a history teacher?
Was it so boring that he wanted to murder the teacher?
Or did he feel violent toward the author because it was too difficult?
I couldn’t grasp it, but Adrian’s concentration in reading such a complex book while burning with hate and homicidal intent was impressive.
Reading such books puts me to sleep with no violent thoughts.
I chose not to approach or chat with Adrian while he was reading a book.
Who knows which book or section can arouse violent thoughts?
A poorly timed conversation could lead to trouble.
“Is this… gloves?”
There was one more item engulfed in malice, just like the history book.
At first glance, they appeared to be typical black leather gloves.
What are these, to be steeped in such malice?
The energy gathered in a deep red, creating a mist around them, and distorting their shape.
Ugh, how sinister.
Creepy.
Ominous.
Surely, these weren’t used to strangle someone to death, right?
As I inspected them, a faint white writing emerged in front of me.
「You have got specialized gloves. Would you want to view the item description?」
It appears that the item I acquired has a description. When I pressed ‘Yes,’ a bit smaller writing showed beside the gloves.
「Special Gloves (Ancient Magical Artifact)
This tool is designed to leave no trace of use.」
“Leaves no trace of use?”
The fact that it left no traces of use was a key indicator.
Wearing the gloves for murder would imply that no evidence of the crime would be left behind.
Additionally, ancient magic was involved.
The realization that I was in a world with demons and magic gave me a strong sensation of unreality.
“These gloves might be incredibly important to Adrian.”
I chose to keep them separate in a drawer.
Unlike other items I stashed deep inside the wardrobe, the gloves were kept in a drawer.
Moving them felt so disturbing that I could only take them up with the tips of my thumb and forefinger.
Although the skill’s length was not obvious, the malice was so intense that I was afraid it might infect me too.
Statue, gloves, and fountain pens… If it hadn’t been for the ‘Seer’s Eyes’ skill, I would have missed all these malice-infused things.
While playing the game, I was perfectly aware that Adrian killed people with daily, everyday items.
Knowing the situation all too well, I was afraid even when he only had a knife, which inevitably led to me being chastised for being overly cautious…
Taking these evil-laden objects was a righteous deed if you think about it.
The trouble is, it only applies if you know the whole story.
To anyone else, it appeared to be petty thievery.
What kind of punishment would a servant face if they stole their master’s things in this world?
In a society with a tight class structure, leniency would be difficult to come by.
Period dramas depict people being rolled up in mats and beaten…
“No, everything that bothers Adrian won’t be publicly punished.”
People may question why these exact products were stolen because they do not appear to be expensive or valuable.
That would also put Adrian in a difficult situation.
He’d most likely contact me for a one-on-one grilling.
The very concept is scary.
But if doing this improved my chances of survival, and thus everyone’s prospects, it was worth a shot.
Furthermore, my fairly smug assumption that ‘the game couldn’t possibly be built with such complexities’ played a role.
I looked up to see the freshly appearing symbol on the right side of the screen.
In seconds, the eye-shaped icon for ‘Seer’s Eyes’ displayed the remaining cooldown time.
Playing the game and finding something I wanted on cooldown was irritating, but I hoped ‘Seer’s Eyes’ was not one of those skills.
It meant that I would frequently have to read malice.
Thinking about it again, the residents of this mansion should bow their heads and thank me.
I’ve raised their chances of survival significantly!
But no one seems to be appreciative.
“Hilda, Hilda! Where are you hiding now? Geez, this girl, she doesn’t do much but carry medicine to the young master in the morning, and she’s always roaming around.”
In reality, I’m only a scapegoat.
It is heartbreaking.
It’s quite unsafe to provide medicine to Adrian every morning.
Every time I go, my heart shrinks to the size of a pea.
Meeting Adrian’s eyes is like being burnt in the fires of hell.
“I’m in my room!”
The footsteps thundering around in pursuit of me had returned to the door.
“Can’t you come out soon? Have you forgotten that we were going to start cleaning the windows this morning? You are the only one who is late!”
“I apologize. I’ll be right out!”
I quickly closed the drawer and shouted through the door.
Leticia sighed hard as she walked away from the door.
With so many servants in this home, tasks are divided by period and organization, but I haven’t spent enough time here to get a hold of the routine.
Not that Hilda would leave a letter, and I had other responsibilities here.
Fulfilling my obligations as a servant while also pursuing my primary goal may entail spending a lifetime in this game working in terror, growing old, and possibly being murdered before I age.
I swiftly went to the kitchen, where I was given a bucket of soapy water and a sponge to wipe the ground-floor windows.
Looking at the windows to begin cleaning, I saw how unclean they were, covered in grime despite the fact that there was no pollution there.
“Hilda, late again, aren’t you?”
Emily no longer appeared astonished by my delay.
Sigh… I sighed heavily.
Secret acts of goodness were so exhausting.
They say your left hand should not know what your right hand is doing, but I’m the sort to brag loudly about the right hand’s good works for the world.
“Emily, cleaning the windows is not the problem. Do you know what I did this morning?”
“What could it be? Did you oversleep?”
“Listen, Emily, do not be shocked. This is serious. Pretend you don’t know after hearing it. Actually…”
“What, what is it?”
“I saved people’s lives within this mansion. This morning.”
“…”
“You need to keep this to yourself. You cannot tell anyone, okay?”
Emily stopped wiping the windows and stared blankly at me, having divulged such a significant secret.
It was enough to astound anyone that their life had been saved without their knowledge.
“Hilda, seriously, what sort of joke is that? You are too funny.”
She chuckled at my solemn confession as if it were the most stupid thing she’d ever heard and returned to cleaning the windows.
Her initially severe expression softened.
She seemed more concerned with my well-being than with my claim.
Let us give up on expecting others to comprehend.
I’ll just keep racing about as if my feet were on fire.
「You gained 1 experience point for washing the window.」
Even in the midst of this, my experience points gradually climbed by one. Until recently, I worried about why my experience points were increasing so slowly, but now that I’ve hit double digits in level, it appears my efforts were not in vain.
Ironically, Adrian, who contributed the most to my advancement, is now someone I compete against with my newly gained abilities.
「After reaching level 10, you can add another target of affection.」
「Would you like to add Emily as a target of affection? (3/3)
Category: Devoted and compassionate servant.」
A new selection window appeared while cleaning the persistent filth off the windows.
Emily was not originally among the targets. However, it appears that I can now select characters to add as favored people.
Level truly is king.
「Leveling up allows you to add more people as targets.」
「When you reach the highest level of favorability, you can request specific favors based on the person.」
It would be wonderful to know what kind of favors I could request from Emily if I topped out her favorability, but no further explanation was provided.
I pondered deeply.
Choosing the wrong skill tree can damage any profession, no matter how much you spend.
I questioned the value of working on favoritism with a fellow servant.
But in my current situation, every gold cent matters, so I’ll break even at worst.
After a moment of thought and tapping ‘Yes,’ unseen text appeared above Emily’s head.
「You’ve added Emily as a target.」
「Emily currently has a favorability level of 1 (0/10).」