「Seeing that there’s no answer, I suppose there was no particular reason.」
Tears soaked in terror began to run down the sides of the creature’s eyes.
The man bent at the waist and grabbed the creature’s third arm, then wrenched it. The sound of bone distorting rang out with a crack.
“Kiiiii! Hi—”
「Let’s see. Your name is… Antonio, wasn’t it.」
He read the name branded into the upper portion of the forearm with a hot iron, then murmured to himself, 「I remember now.」
Antonio. A first-degree death row inmate sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an entire family. It was the name the creature had carried when it still wore a human form.
Bitterly cursing his past self for being lured in by the promise of having his sentence reduced from life imprisonment to ten years and volunteering for the prison facility transfer, the creature sobbed.
If he had known it was a place where that man served as warden, he would never have volunteered, not even on pain of death.
Five inmates had come in the same intake as him. And the only one to have survived until now was himself alone. Of course, his own life, too, could be snuffed out at any moment — like a candle in the wind.
「Dear me, seeing you cry like this doesn’t sit well with me. Are you frightened of being punished?」
“Keh, hh….”
「Don’t worry too much. I won’t remove anything severe.」
Today, I’m in a good mood, after all.
With a soft whisper and a click, an ice-cold restraint was fitted around the creature’s neck.
The man slowly straightened up and turned around.
He gazed quietly at the direction where he had parted ways with the ‘interesting thing’ he had found a short while ago.
Jun.
The name rolled around on his tongue like something adhesive, clinging — and the corners of his mouth curved languidly.
「…That’s right. I’m in a good mood today. Very, very good.」
He disappeared slowly into the darkness. Together with his twenty-first dog, found in the forest.
Just before he was transported back to the manor, it hit him. Come to think of it, I never got that man’s name.
I can just ask when we meet again.
[Auto Return] was, as expected, a system similar to teleportation. The moment he blinked, the scenery around him had already changed, and an involuntary sound of wonder left him.
“Wow.”
He had arrived in the manor lobby. The dirt that had been underfoot was now plush red carpet.
Interesting. He was spinning a full 360 degrees to look around when his body froze.
Someone was standing right in front of him.
“Teacher.”
The elderly butler was looking at him with the same kind smile as when they had first met.
With his irises fragmented into hundreds and thousands of pieces, like the compound eyes of an insect.
“Where have you been?”
What is that now.
He reflexively suppressed the scream trying to tear out of his throat and arranged his expression into something casual.
“…Ah, I wanted to take a look around outside the manor. Ended up going all the way to the village.”
“This early in the morning? It must have taken quite a while to walk all the way to the village.”
“It being my first day as a tutor, I was a bit nervous, and ended up waking early.”
He scratched the back of his head in a show of mild embarrassment and kept a sheepish smile on his face. Bulge — the center of the butler’s eyes fragmented again, like dividing cells.
He swallowed dryly and prayed silently. Please just let this go, please….
“Howard!”
A voice calling a name rang out from behind the butler. The butler’s eyes snapped back to normal in an instant, and he turned his head toward the source.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“What are you interrogating him for, the poor man just stepped out for a bit. It’s the first time you’re meeting — make introductions first.”
Howard must be the butler’s name. He vaguely recalled being introduced when he first entered the manor yesterday — but he’d been so out of his mind in the shock of this game world that he hadn’t really listened, and couldn’t remember clearly.
But ‘Your Grace’ meant…
He turned his gaze that way as well.
A man in uniform with chestnut-brown hair appeared, looking to be in his early forties. Beside him stood a small boy.
The duke extended his hand toward Jun with a warm, friendly smile and offered a handshake.
“A pleasure to meet you, Teacher. I am Deon Leveque.”
“How do you do.”
He smiled back, took the offered hand, and shook it up and down.
So it’s you. The one who invited all those people to a massacre banquet and conveniently slipped out himself.
“I had business to attend to yesterday and was out, so I wasn’t able to greet you. Belated as it is — was the room we prepared to your comfort?”
“More than. It was excellent.”
His manner of addressing Jun was remarkably courteous for someone of ducal standing.
In a society with a rigid class hierarchy, a duke could surely speak casually to most people, couldn’t he? Especially to someone younger and a hired employee like me. Admirable, but unusual.
After asking Jun several questions about his wellbeing, the duke beckoned to the boy who had been lingering hesitantly behind him.
“Mitchel! This is your new teacher. Come and say hello.”
Loosely curling light cocoa-brown hair. Large eyes and soft-looking cheeks.
The adorable-looking little one gave a proper bow of his head.
“…Hello. I am Mitchel Leveque.”
The father was excessively courteous — and the child, in turn, was excessively well-mannered.
Gauging his age, somewhere between ten and twelve.
Even so, he had none of the typical boisterousness of children that age. He didn’t seem to be shy about the first meeting, either. Passing him off as simply a well-raised child felt like too simple an explanation — he was excessively devoid of vitality.
“When would you like to start lessons? If you’re ready, we’d appreciate starting today.”
From the first day? Brutal.
Well, if that’s what they want. He agreed, and the butler opened a small notebook and handed it to him.
“This is the young master’s daily schedule. For lesson time, please choose any two hours from the weekday open slots that are convenient for you. The teaching materials you had mentioned have been prepared in the young master’s study.”
I was wondering what I’d be teaching — so it’s a subject that uses textbooks.
Literature, mathematics, history — that sort of thing? As long as it’s not history, I could probably cover anything. Teaching a ten-year-old wasn’t particularly daunting. He’d had similar undercover work experience before, so he opened the notebook with confidence.
And he couldn’t help but let out a laugh of disbelief.
“Is this… the young master’s full weekly schedule?”
“It is.”
“If I may ask — how old is the young master?”
“He is eleven, sir.”
From nine in the morning to midnight, the schedule was packed solid with not a single gap except for meals and bathing.
Not even weekends were free. After returning from the Academy, all weekday evenings and weekends were crammed entirely with [Theology Lessons].
This isn’t a project to get someone into medical school — what on earth is this schedule? Given that theology makes up most of it, is it a project to turn him into a priest?
“There aren’t any… open slots.”
He asked with an awkward laugh. The elderly butler generously pointed to the top portion of the schedule.
“The morning slot is available. Seven to nine in the morning. Since the young master must prepare for the Academy, it would be six-thirty to eight-thirty.”
“…Pardon?”
Is this sane? Setting himself aside — when was the child supposed to sleep?
No wonder the child has none of the usual vitality of kids his age. Keeping up a schedule like this with no days off would drive even an adult out of their mind.
“Isn’t it a bit too early in the morning….”
“Please don’t worry. You’ll only need to teach for two hours on weekday mornings, and the rest of the time is yours to spend as you like. The young master’s room is directly across from yours, so getting to work won’t be any trouble.”
Aside from the predawn start, the work-life balance is genuinely incredible…. No, I’m not saying it’s hard for me — the problem is the child.
“Shall we start right away then? Miss Mary, please show the teacher in.”
Just as he was about to push back, the maid who came rushing at the butler’s call appeared before him and the momentum was cut off entirely.
He turned to the duke in a fluster, but the duke only smiled contentedly as though there was nothing at all the matter.
Excuse me, Your Grace. If you raise your son this way, he’s going to break.
But among everyone standing in that manor lobby, he appeared to be the only one who wanted to object……
“By the way, Teacher — it would be quite the walk when you go down to the village, so please don’t trouble yourself — use the carriage at the stables anytime you’d like. It moves on its own without a driver.”
“Pardon? How does it—”
He didn’t even have time to ask before the maid’s unrelenting gaze compelled him, essentially by force, to climb the stairs.
The child followed along with an expressionless face, step by step. He gave up on saying anything further and followed the maid’s lead.
Just as he was about to turn the corner at the landing, a faint voice came from behind him.
“…All of this is thanks to the grace of the exalted… Ne….”
It was the duke’s voice.
He turned around the moment he heard it, but both the butler and the duke had already vanished.
Only the sound of footsteps hummed through the still, empty corridor. Like a model manor peopled entirely by dolls.
The maid guided Jun and Mitchel to the second-floor study, then left.
The spacious study — intended for the child’s studies — had every wall lined floor to ceiling with tall bookshelves. No windows were visible. The only light was the gas lamp shining down from the ceiling.
In the center of the room sat a large mahogany desk with two armchairs placed facing each other. He pulled one out, sat down, and spoke.
“Hello.”
“…….”
No greeting came back. The child’s guarded eyes seemed to be glaring at him somehow.
Is he shy around strangers? He tried a grin to ease the atmosphere and introduced himself.
“Your teacher’s name is Ju Jiwoon.”
Without thinking, he had said his real name instead of the [Jun] written on his résumé.
He gave an awkward little cough — then figured it was fine, since it was the child and not the duke himself he’d said it to.
Besides, his résumé said Jun, so he’d been going by Jun for various reasons — there was no particular reason to hide his real name anyway.
“It’s a hard name to pronounce, so you can just call me Teacher Jun.”
“…….”
The child continued to respond with unbroken silence. Suppressing the sigh trying to rise in the uncomfortable atmosphere, he got to the point.
“Well then — young master? Starting lessons on the very first day might be a bit much, so….”
Even in a horror game, the adults can be strange, but maybe if I’m kind to the child, he’ll warm up. He clung to that small hope and tried to reach out.
That was when it happened.
“You’re noisy, Teacher.”
A cold voice struck his ears.
“……?”
He looked down at the child in blank surprise.
The polite, well-mannered demeanor from just moments ago was nowhere to be found — the child had settled into the seat across the desk with an arrogant posture and raised an open book to cover his face. It was an attitude that made clear he had no intention of continuing any conversation with Jun.
“No need to waste your effort. Just kill time and go.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not expecting anything.”
A hollow laugh escaped him. It seemed his prospective student had quite a disagreeable personality.
