Chapter 85: No Way, You Can Actually Divinate?
"Ask the butler?"
Years ago, out of some lingering sentiment, the Castle Master had given the true butler two choices.
One: Pretend to know nothing, take a handsome sum of money, leave the castle, and live out his old age in peace.
Two: Become a Bound Spirit, merging his soul completely with the castle to guard its secrets for all eternity.
If the part about the Bound Spirit was true, then the real butler had likely witnessed the Castle Master's entire horrifying plan from beginning to end. This theory was bolstered by the bloody words scrawled on the main gate: [The butler is always on the players' side; the butler is a good person.]
"But how can we be sure he chose the latter?" Tong Yi questioned, her brow furrowed. "Why would he become a Bound Spirit instead of just taking the money and living the rest of his life in comfort?"
The others turned their gazes to Lin Xuelao, awaiting her answer.
"Because of loyalty," Lin Xuelao said softly, her voice carrying a quiet conviction. "The Castle Master entrusted him with something as critical and taboo as cleaning up the 'medicine dregs.' That alone shows the immense trust placed in him. And why was he so trusted? Because that old butler had already devoted nearly half his life to this castle. If he ever intended to run, why would he wait until that very moment?"
Xie Lin nodded in agreement. "To still be serving as a butler at his age means he must have been here for a very long time. He wasn't just a servant anymore; he was likely seen as part of the family. That bond is reflected in the two choices the master offered him at the end."
A thoughtful silence fell over the group as they gradually accepted the deduction. They proceeded to lay out the few pieces of evidence they had managed to uncover.
There wasn't much, but among the items was a single black-and-white photograph. It showed an elderly man with a kind but weary face, dressed impeccably in a standard black-and-white butler's uniform.
This was the true butler.
The other clues were trivial and offered little insight.
"Since we've basically searched the entire interior of the castle, any remaining clues can probably only be found in the yard outside," Haruto suggested with a casual air.
Xie Lin nodded. "I was thinking the same. Remember the first morning? The fake butler went out and didn't return for half an hour, but he wasn't carrying anything when he came back."
"I paid special attention on the second day," he continued, "and he didn't go out at all. So, I speculate he went to pay his respects to the true butler's resting place."
"Then should we check the surveillance footage?" Liu Haoran asked.
Xie Lin pondered for a moment. "I doubt the body is just buried in the yard, but it wouldn't hurt to send someone to the surveillance room to check."
"No need," Haruto suddenly interjected.
As everyone turned to look at him in confusion, they saw him strike a deep pose, pinching his fingers together as if performing a complex calculation. He spoke slowly, his voice laced with faux-mysticism.
"The body is in the backyard."
"No way, you can actually tell fortunes?" Kaguya's eyes widened in sheer disbelief, her mind racing to figure out when Haruto could have possibly learned such a skill.
The looks the others gave him grew increasingly respectful. They had always dismissed fortune-telling as a cheap trick used by street charlatans to scam people, but in that moment, watching Haruto's solemn performance, they couldn't help but feel a sliver of belief.
Then, just as suddenly, Haruto's entire demeanor shifted. He rolled his eyes at Kaguya.
"Are you an idiot? How would I know how to tell fortunes? Nobody ever taught me. I just used a Perception Talisman Card to figure it out, obviously."
Kaguya's mouth twitched violently. "Then what was all that with the finger-pinching just now?"
"It makes me look cooler that way," Haruto replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Hearing their exchange, the rest of the group was instantly stunned. They had genuinely thought he was some legendary master of divination, capable of calculating the heavens, fate, and even one's marriage prospects. It turned out he was just using a perception-type item.
Kaguya's mouth twitched even harder. If she had overheard the conversation between Haruto and Yakumo Yukari on the first day, she would have undoubtedly muttered, 'Like sister, like brother. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.'
Now that they knew where the butler was buried, the group wasted no more time. Haruto handed the umbrella he'd acquired from Zhang Katao to Xie Lin, then offered Yakumo Yukari's parasol to Tong Yi, intending for her to help search the yard.
To his surprise, the moment Tong Yi saw the parasol, her face drained of all color. She recognized it as the very same one that had sucked a player dry, leaving behind a shriveled corpse on the first day. She shook her head desperately, refusing to take it no matter what.
Seeing her reaction, Haruto shrugged and instead handed the parasol to Yotsuya Miko.
Miko was clearly frightened as well, her shoulders trembling slightly, but she braced herself and accepted it.
As she began to open the ornate parasol, she recalled Haruto mentioning that this "elder" of his liked to call herself a seventeen-year-old girl and pretend to be young. So, both in her mind and under her breath, she began to chant a litany of praises: 'So beautiful... so pretty... eternally young...'
Whether it was because the parasol simply didn't reject her or because the flattery actually worked, the entire process went off without a hitch. The parasol opened smoothly, its eerie eyes seeming to gaze at her with something less than malice.
Only then did Yotsuya Miko let out a long, shaky sigh of relief.
Watching this, Tong Yi hesitated for a moment before gritting her teeth and cautiously stepping under the parasol's shelter. But as she felt the gaze of those hideous, painted eyes upon her, her body still couldn't stop trembling.
Leaving Lin Xuelao, Wu Wenwen, and a half-dead Zhang Katao behind, the rest of the group stepped out from the ancient castle, huddled under their umbrellas. Yotsuya Miko and Tong Yi were tasked with searching the main yard.
Xie Lin and Liu Haoran followed Haruto and Kaguya as they made their way to the location where the butler was supposedly buried.
Behind the ancient castle.
A small, elegant pavilion stood here, untouched by the corrosive acid rain. The ground around it was clean and tidy, and a few scattered wildflowers were even blooming defiantly in the gloom.
"This is the place," Haruto announced. As he spoke, he casually reached into a gap in space and pulled out a shovel.
Liu Haoran took the offered tool, exchanging a complicated look with Xie Lin. It wasn't that they had never seen spatial items before, but to think that inside such a priceless artifact... he actually kept a shovel?
Even Kaguya couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "What are you doing with a shovel in your Gap? You're not planning to use it to bash my head in, are you?"
"What are you even thinking?" Haruto rolled his eyes at her. "I occasionally help Yukari tend to her flower fields. This is for loosening the soil."
Just as Kaguya breathed a sigh of relief, she heard him lazily add, "Besides, I can't beat you. If I really wanted to do something to you, the most I'd do is hand this shovel, which carries all my convictions, to Mokou and let her swing it at you."
"I'll fucking... huff—" Kaguya nearly cursed. She took a deep, steadying breath to rein in her emotions, then abruptly feigned a look of grievance, wiping away nonexistent tears. "I knew it. You're tired of me, bored of me. Out with the old, in with the new... I was truly blind to have met a heartbreaker like you back then..."
Haruto's mouth twitched. "Actually, I met Mokou first."
"So... so I'm the third party? That makes sense... All those years ago, you were already making eyes at that Immortal Turkey, all lovey-dovey. If Yakumo Yukari hadn't forcibly dragged you away, your children would probably be attending Terakoya by now..."
Haruto silently pressed 'stop recording' on his phone and tossed the device back into his Gap.
"Fine. Just you wait. When we get back, you can look forward to a mixed tag-team match from me and Mokou."
"Holy crap! You cheap scoundrel, that's playing dirty!"
"..."
Listening to the two of them bickering, Xie Lin and Liu Haoran didn't even know where to begin to complain. They had been through so many instances and seen all kinds of players—the strong, the brave, the cunning.
But to witness someone treating a horror-survival game like a trip to a haunted house attraction was a genuine first. Then again, Haruto and Kaguya truly had the power to back it up.
This was probably what people meant by 'being willful because of overwhelming strength.'
"I dug something up!"
Liu Haoran's shout cut through Haruto and Kaguya's squabble.
Haruto looked over.
There was no body, no ashes. There was only a long, rust-colored iron nail and a yellowed slip of paper.
[If you are reading these words, it means the Lady has reached the final step, and you have understood most of the truth. If the Lady successfully transforms, the Master will naturally let you all leave. But if she remains trapped in a state that is neither human nor ghost, I implore you to use this iron nail to end this complete and utter tragedy.]
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