Chapter 05

The priest who approached them was a young woman with a warm appearance, dressed in modest black robes with a stout, fleshy build, and a white pattern depicting rays of light radiating in all directions hanging from her chest. Ian was familiar with the priest’s attire, having seen it in the capital.

With a gentle smile, the priest brought both hands to her chest and spoke.

“A pleasure to meet you. I am Nancy, a servant of the gods who serves and performs religious duties in a nearby village. I’m saddened to meet the two members of the Walton family during such a heartbreaking time when the baron has departed for eternal rest.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Ian. This is Ash.”

When Ian replied, Ash also bowed slightly. The priest looked back and forth between them with a kind smile.

“Though I’m well aware of the charity the Walton family bestows upon the villages in the territory, there has been… regrettably little interaction. I hope we can meet more frequently now. And there’s something I’d like to discuss…”

Listening to her speak, Ian thought the Walton family hadn’t been particularly close to religion either, then at her following words, he glanced around. He spotted Gale standing in the shade of a nearby tree, cleaning his glasses.

“Ash, would you go to Mr. Gale while we talk for a moment?”

At those words, Ash—perhaps wanting to leave anyway—bowed to the priest and headed toward Gale. Though it would probably be fine for him to hear, this was the perfect opportunity for Gale to ask Ash. The priest watched Ash’s retreating figure before turning her gaze back to Ian.

“I’d only heard rumors that the young master was at the manor, but he’s very dignified, unlike other children his age. I understand Mr. Ian Walton is the next baron—would you be the young master’s older brother?”

“Well, I’m a distant relative. But I suppose I could be called his older brother by age.”

The explanation would be quite long, so at his simple answer, the priest’s eyes widened before she quickly returned to her earlier warm expression and nodded.

“Oh my, I’ve said something inappropriate. I apologize.”

“Not at all. What’s inappropriate about it?”

“…And the village residents are curious whether there will be any changes from before when the new baron inherits the Giles estate…”

Her expression suggested she knew what the villagers might be curious about. Though she’d come to officiate the funeral ceremony, it seemed the priest had also come as the village representative to assess the next baron. Ian scratched the back of his head.

“Probably not much will change from before, so they needn’t worry.”

He said this because, not knowing how things had worked before and having no knowledge of such matters, he probably wouldn’t have occasion to change anything. The priest, looking relieved, greeted him and left, prompting Ian to sigh quietly.

Then, suddenly feeling a gaze, he turned his head and met eyes with Ash, who was talking with Gale. When the child startled and looked down, Ian found it odd but decided not to interfere and approached Clayton, who was talking with the head maid. The two had been conversing face-to-face, then bowed their heads when Ian approached.

Clayton naturally introduced the head maid beside him.

“This is Head Maid Mrs. Gauner. I plan to gather all the manor staff later and introduce them to you formally, one by one.”

“Louisa Gauner.”

Mrs. Gauner, whose expression was stiff enough to seem rather cold, was a familiar figure to Ian. Though he hadn’t known she was the head maid, she was the character who opened the door for the protagonist arriving at the manor late at night when the game began and handed over a lamp item.

Then, when Ian arrived at the manor, and now—her expression always looked rather stiff. It was a funeral that was somewhat formal but showed no signs of grief. Ash looked a bit melancholy, but about the same as usual, and Clayton and the head maid, who had attended to Arthur closely, also wore calm expressions.

Recalling Arthur Walton’s final appearance, Ian wondered if they all felt rather relieved after long illness care, and feeling somewhat eerie, he turned around. A crow had somehow perched on the clean new headstone erected at the cemetery where Arthur Walton rested.

The crow gripped the headstone with clawed feet, rolled its black bead-like eyes while looking at Ian, then twisted its head strangely. And opening its gray beak…

[It is not far off]

It left those words, but Ian’s expression didn’t particularly change. To Ian’s ears, it sounded like ordinary crow cawing. Rather, Ash, who was far away, turned at that sound to look where the crow was and frowned as if understanding something. But soon the crow flapped its large wings and flew away with a flutter.

‘First time seeing a crow up close—they’re incredibly large.’

Ian watched the crow flying away in the distance, then headed to the carriage as Clayton called.

A few days later, the manor staff gathered in the entrance hall for a formal introduction to Ian. Ian was introduced to each person’s name and role one by one. It wasn’t a large number for a manor of this scale, but Ian, who couldn’t know such things, felt like a new employee.

Whenever they met, they quickly answered with their name and what work they were doing. Fortunately, they also seemed not to particularly expect the baron to remember their names.

There were also some changes to the system. After visiting the cemetery where Arthur was buried, a button to check the entire map appeared on the manor map, and a cemetery was generated near the manor. It was quite a carriage ride away—definitely not walking distance—but Ian noted the change.

The life that truly began in the cursed manor was peaceful like the calm before a storm. Since he couldn’t just sit still, when he wandered around to learn the manor’s structure, servants would appear each time asking if there was anything inconvenient. Like shop clerks in busy shopping districts. Ian would give an awkward smile to such questions, saying he was learning the layout, then escape the situation.

This time, he was about to go out to check around the manor to avoid such non-interference interference. When he finished preparing and stood in the entrance, a woman older than Ash but younger than Ian came running over and looked down.

Having approached like that and standing there hesitantly without saying anything, Ian carefully spoke to her.

“Is there something you want to say…?”

“I-I’m maid Eri. Are you going out? Shall I call a carriage?”

“Oh, no. I was just going to take a walk.”

Startled by the unexpected respectful language, the maid glanced up at Ian briefly then quickly bowed her head.

“I’m telling you just in case, but if you go outside the manor, you need to be careful.”

“…Hmm, careful of what?”

Ian carefully asked at the maid’s words. He focused more, thinking it might be information related to the mysteries Raven Manor held. Perhaps nervous that the new baron was listening to her words, the maid spoke in a somewhat unrefined voice.

“There are swamps around here, so if newcomers step wrong… big accidents can happen. You might think it’s solid ground and step in, then fall into a swamp and get sucked down. You must be careful…!”

Ian was shocked by the maid’s words. Though he hadn’t thought of going far last time due to the sudden rain and his frail body, thinking that if he’d misjudged, he might not even be here now sent chills down his spine. And a faint voice came from behind.

“That’s why it’s dangerous for newcomers to go alone…”

At the small, delicate voice that seemed about to fade away, he turned around to see Ash standing on the stairs looking down at him. At Ash’s appearance, the maid bowed and quickly returned to her place. The child slowly walked down the stairs then stopped.

Ash’s voice, which Ian was hearing properly for the first time, sounded almost girlish at first listen, perhaps because he hadn’t gone through puberty yet. Looking at his short black hair, small and delicate body and features, Ian thought it was hard to believe he’d grow into a tall, handsome man, then snapped to attention at Ash’s next words.

“Would you like to go together?”

Ash had spoken to him for the first time. And he was suggesting they go together.

“Sh-shall we?”

Afraid to miss the opportunity, Ian quickly nodded. Soon, feeling a cool temperature wrap around his hand, Ian inhaled. It felt like a wild animal that had never approached, always watching him from afar, had come to him first. Ian was instantly overcome with emotion and broke into a warm smile.

The two of them went outside the entrance together. Under the slightly hot sunshine of approaching summer, they walked together slowly. Beyond the garden he’d checked over the fence, they toured the separate building used as a warehouse, the stables, and the coachman’s hut beside it. Ian inwardly marveled that the manor was truly as large and vast as a big-box store.

And Ash began leading him by the hand slowly outside the manor.

“Didn’t you say earlier that outside was dangerous?”

“It’s fine if we only go to places I know.”

Ash said, looking up with clear amethyst-like eyes that revealed nothing of his thoughts. They were so clear it seemed you might see into the soul beyond. After brief consideration, Ian thought it would be fine as long as they didn’t go too far and began following Ash.

Around the manor, as Ian had seen over the fence before, rough rocks and shrubs growing beside them were positioned. As they approached closer to the dead trees, they began to see damp gray swamps along with a humid, foul smell of something rotting.

The child seemed familiar with this place, quite skillfully choosing rocks to step on. Ian also clumsily and unsteadily stepped where Ash had stepped and moved forward.

Then, the sound of crows cawing came from the distance. At that sound, Ash looked up at the sky. Ian somehow felt they shouldn’t go further. And thinking this was absolutely not a place to come at night, he asked:

“We should stop here. You don’t play here, do you?”

“Sometimes. No one else comes here. And there are interesting things…”

It was natural in a way that people didn’t go near a place that was eerie, smelled foul, and where you could fall and die if you made a mistake. The child, who had been glaring up at the sky as if confronting it, turned his eyes to look at Ian. Ash, standing properly while Ian was precariously balanced on rocks, somehow seemed more anxious and reached out his hand.

“Let’s go back to the manor now.”

Ash, who had been looking back and forth between that hand and Ian’s face, spoke calmly.

“…Before that, there’s something I need to tell you.”