Chapter 43
The moment I finished reading the article, only one thought came to mind.
How do I get back?
Every ending I knew in Clean3 always had you leaving the mansion on a spaceship.
You’d watch the ending credits roll with the mansion shrinking into the distance, and that was that.
I stood there holding the newspaper, dazed, when the Cat Butler spoke up.
"Don’t worry too much, Roasted Chestnut. I’ll find us a transport ship. Getting one person like yourself back home is no trouble at all!"
As I listened to the Cat Butler telling me to leave it all to him, Je Hyun-oh’s voice flickered through my mind.
"You trust that?"
But still... anyone could see he was trying to help me right now.
"Though as you’re aware, Roasted Chestnut, we have no occasion to go outside, so securing a transport ship will take some time. It will likely run past the one week you originally agreed to stay."
"Roasted Chestnut. Stay with us."
The Cat Butler and the Rabbit Butler looked down at me.
I stood still, clutching the newspaper, then looked up at them and asked.
"Butlers... are you all right with this?"
"Of course."
"What could we possibly dislike about it? If Roasted Chestnut stays with us, it’s nothing but a delight."
I folded the newspaper neatly and handed it back to the Cat Butler.
"Then, if you’ll forgive me, I’ll impose on you for a few more days."
"Impose? You’ll be working hard, Roasted Chestnut! You are a proper Apprentice Butler, are you not?"
The Cat Butler patted my head like he found me admirable.
Then he startled himself and quickly pulled his hand away.
"My apologies. I treated you like a child."
"It’s fine."
I didn’t know how old the butlers were, but they’d certainly lived longer than me.
Something like this barely registered.
"Roasted Chestnut. I want to do it too."
The Rabbit Butler placed his hand on top of my head.
He didn’t ruffle my hair — he tidied up the mess the Cat Butler had made, smoothing it back into place.
It felt like being a beast getting its fur groomed.
I thought to myself as the Rabbit Butler combed through my hair.
How long is it going to take to get that transport ship?
Still, the butlers would get it as fast as they could, so it wouldn’t be too late.
That meant the clear time would be delayed, but a few days was fine.
When the ship arrived, I could just bring Je Hyun-oh and the Captains aboard with me.
I’d have to tell Je Hyun-oh about this first thing when he came by tonight.
"I’ve delivered the urgent news, so would you wait just a moment? Let me finish one bit of business, and I’ll brew you some black tea with the new tea leaves that just came in."
I was supposed to be working, though....
Calling myself an Apprentice Butler while lazing around like this was embarrassing.
I was debating whether to tell the Cat Butler we could have tea later, once his work was done, when the air around us suddenly went cold.
The Cat Butler had his arms crossed, looking thoroughly displeased as he stared at the Footmen.
Every Footman had their head bowed low, bodies trembling.
Come to think of it, he’d assembled all the Footmen since morning — something must have blown up.
I watched the scene, worried some problem had arisen in the mansion.
The Cat Butler spoke up, his voice laced with irritation.
"Only four Cleaners died last night."
Excuse me?
My eyes flew wide open, but I immediately remembered the Rabbit Butler beside me and composed my expression.
That can’t be right.
If Je Hyun-oh had properly relayed my message to the Captains last night and acted on it, the Cleaners should have been slaughtered en masse by the Creatures.
Je Hyun-oh was doing the exact opposite of what I’d suggested.
Saving the Cleaners and slaughtering the Creatures instead.
A curse rose up in my throat, but I couldn’t let it out of my mouth.
No — why?
All I felt was confusion.
Even with all of us pooling our strength, it was uncertain whether we’d reach the True Ending. So why was he sabotaging it?
He hadn’t even passed my opinion along to the Captains, it seemed.
There was no other explanation for only four Cleaners dying.
If Je Hyun-oh had been standing in front of me, I’d have abused my authority as Apprentice Butler and cracked him on the head.
While I was inwardly screaming Je Hyun-oh’s name and trembling with rage, the Cat Butler spoke coldly.
"To think I brought such useless wretches on as Footmen. The fault is entirely mine."
That wasn’t the butler’s fault.
It was all Je Hyun-oh’s — that was what I was thinking when it happened.
A beam of light shot out.
Two Footmen with holes bored through their heads melted on the spot.
They turned into liquid metal, like mercury, pooling on the floor.
The other Footmen pulled out buckets and swept the shimmering puddles away with brooms, swift and practiced.
They moved as naturally as if this had happened many times before.
The Cat Butler muttered, displeased.
"I’d wanted to fill out thirteen, though.... I’ll have to find more new Footmen."
Then he gave an order to the Footmen, now ten in number.
"Tonight, all of you are to patrol the mansion and check on the Creatures and Cleaners! Dismissed."
The Footmen bowed in unison and vanished with a crackle of sparks.
The Cat Butler shook his head, then suggested we go have some tea and tugged me along.
I joined him for teatime, if only to help soothe his mood.
The Cat Butler lamented to me about how utterly hopeless young people were these days, while the Rabbit Butler listened in silence.
I chimed in at the right moments and waited for my chance.
And at the opportune moment, I asked.
"Would it be all right if I roamed the mansion tonight as well?"
The Cat Butler set down his teacup and asked back, surprised.
"Roasted Chestnut, you mean to check on the Cleaners and Creatures yourself?"
"Yes. I know I’m only an Apprentice Butler, but I haven’t been doing much real work.... I’d like to help out with something like this. And I’m worried about the mansion, too."
The moment I finished speaking, the Cat Butler threw his arms wide and cried out.
"If only every Footman were like you, Roasted Chestnut!"
He was so deeply moved that he showered me with praise.
He told me I could do whatever I liked, so long as I didn’t overdo it.
I answered with a humble smile, saying I’d be careful.
At last, I’d legally obtained the right to roam the mansion at night.
Relying solely on Je Hyun-oh was a path to ruin.
I needed to step in myself.
I have to meet the Captains first.
On my way to Kwak Hanmuk’s and Mo Haein’s cleaning zones, I figured I might toss a few Cleaners to the Creatures while I was at it.
And I planned to search the third floor of the Main Building.
That was where the Master’s bedroom, study, and the like were gathered — I might be able to find some information there.
I drank the deep red tea as I laid out my plans for the night.
"Have some more, Roasted Chestnut! Eat some snacks, too."
The Cat Butler diligently pressed tea and treats on me.
I’d been sure I was full, but once I started eating, it all went down fine.
I didn’t refuse a thing and accepted it all.
The work of an Apprentice Butler was nothing much.
I was too much of a trainee to be entrusted with anything important. The tasks I got were so light, I almost felt guilty taking pay.
What I did during the day today was inspect whether the East Wing Cleaners had properly cleaned their assigned zones.
Cleaning assignments in Clean3 were decided each day by spinning the Roulette.
The Roulette result determined the contamination level of your assigned zone.
The worst possible outcome, 100% contamination, turned the place into a garbage pit, and in that case, you could never finish cleaning before inspection without high-grade items.
Failing the cleaning inspection meant immediate death.
But the Captains had good items, so even if they’d gotten 100% contamination, they’d have managed the cleaning without trouble.
Lieutenant Colonel Je is the last person I need to worry about.
Kwak Hanmuk was in charge of cleaning the floor of the East Wing’s second-floor corridor, and Je Hyun-oh was in charge of the landscaping trees in the East Wing garden.
But even if I went to their assigned zones, I wouldn’t be able to meet them.
It was because of a rule you could call the fundamental principle of clearing Clean3.
During the day, clean your assigned zone thoroughly, but take care not to cross paths with the butlers.
You had to be careful not to run into a butler for no reason and get hit with a beam of light.
They’d probably hidden somewhere else the moment they sensed a butler’s presence from a distance.
In the midst of all this, Je Hyun-oh had trimmed the trees so perfectly that it actually pissed me off a little....
"The Cleaner assigned here is reasonably competent."
The Cat Butler, looking at the neatly rounded boxwoods, praised Je Hyun-oh’s skill and built up some goodwill.
He was satisfied with Kwak Hanmuk’s zone too, which made me feel oddly proud to myself.
And at last, night came.
I’d eaten dinner early and was resting in my room when I lit the lantern.
The lantern the Rabbit Butler had prepared for me in advance was just the right size.
It was shaped to mimic a gas lantern, but it actually ran on some unknown fuel and operated by touch, of all things.
I picked up the lantern and was about to head outside when I stopped short.
Feel like I’m forgetting something.
I thought hard, and then I remembered Samra’s item.
The holographic color badge was sitting quietly in my Inventory.
But there was no particular reason to check it right this moment.
Butler work came first. I decided I’d look at it later when I had time, and stepped out into the corridor.
The moment I stepped into the pitch-black corridor, a scream rang out.
"GYAAAH!"
I saw a Cleaner fleeing in a panic.
I swung my lantern and shouted.
"This way!"
The Cleaner came running toward me in a frantic rush.
"I’m — alive — haah!"
When the Cleaner saw my butler uniform and startled, I made a shushing gesture.
A voice called out from the distance.
"■■, where are you? It’s too dark here, I can’t tell.... ■■, you didn’t abandon me, did you...?"
The Cleaner’s eyes wavered — maybe it was the voice of the colleague they’d been fleeing with.
I handed them the lantern.
The Cleaner, who’d been looking at me with unease, snatched the lantern and ran toward where their colleague was.
They must have figured that as long as they drove away the darkness, they could handle a Creature somehow.
But before long, a wretched plea rang out.
"AAAAH! PLEASE, SAVE ME!"
I walked slowly.
When I reached the place the light had led to, the Cleaner was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, a gentleman in a crisp tailcoat was strolling down the corridor, opening the doors to rooms one by one.
From the gentleman in the white smiling-face mask came the voice of the Cleaner who had fled moments ago.
"AAAAH! PLEASE, SAVE ME! AAAAH! PLEASE, SAVE ME! AAAAH! PLEASE, SAVE ME!"
The gentleman approached me.
He came closer, the tails of his coat fluttering, and politely held out the lantern the Cleaner had taken.
"You’ve worked hard."
When I offered him encouragement, the gentleman trembled all over as if delighted.
Then he left, motivated, to find other prey.
I picked up the lantern again and moved on.
I went down to the second floor of the East Wing and first scanned the corridor.
Kwak Hanmuk, the one I was looking for, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a group of Cleaners came bursting out from around a corner, all clatter and chaos.
As they fled in a panic, I quickly swung my lantern to show them.
"Over here! This way!"
The Cleaners who saw the lantern came running like moths to a flame.
Five of them in total.
That’s a decent number.
In that case, the dance studio would do nicely.
I opened the door to a room a few steps away and went inside, and the Cleaners who’d come running from afar all followed me in.
Every one of them was pale-faced — they’d probably been chased by a Creature.
"Huff, haah.... You’re...!"
One of them recognized me.
"You damn — you came here as a Cleaner, so why the hell are you the only one in a butler uniform!"
But the others, instead of getting angry, tried to win me over.
"Hey, he was a Cleaner anyway."
"You’re still trying to save us now, right?"
I left them to their forced smiles and sidelong glances and turned on the light in the room.
The dim room lit up with a click.
It was the spotlight on the small stage installed at the very back of the dance studio.
On the stage, where a circle of light fell, stood a ballerina made of white metal.
With her smooth, featureless face, she gave us an elegant bow.
I requested a song from her.
"There are a lot of people, so allegro, please."
The clear sound of an oboe flowed out.
It was the Black Swan dance from Swan Lake.
Normally, the slow adagio version and the fast allegro version played at random, but at my request, it proceeded as allegro.
The metal ballerina in the black tutu danced to the fast, dynamic music.
The Cleaners stared at the metal ballerina, frozen stupidly, even though they knew they had to run right then.
I, too, fell under the spell of the metal ballerina’s movements along with them.
While she stepped lightly and flew about, the Cleaners gradually drew closer to the metal ballerina.
It was an act they performed without conscious awareness.
The music reached its climax, and the metal ballerina looked at me.
She began the fouetté section — thirty-two consecutive turns.
Turn after turn followed, balancing straight on one leg while whipping the other around.
Every time she swung her leg, the Cleaners’ bodies twisted.
Screech, screek. The sound of entire bodies contorting lay beneath the beautiful melody.
When she finally finished the fouetté.
Clap clap clap clap!
I gave her an enthusiastic round of applause.
The metal ballerina returned a delighted bow to me.
At her feet lay the Cleaners, their bodies twisted like screws, scattered haphazardly.
But neither she nor I paid them the slightest attention.
The Creatures were all fitting for a beautiful, elegant mansion.
The only ugly filth here was the Cleaners.
I completely understand why the butlers hate Cleaners so much.
I felt my shoulders swell with the pride of being a butler of this mansion.
I pretended not to see the ballerina ravenously tearing into the Cleaners.
A lady’s meal was not to be disturbed.
I was about to step back out into the corridor when I heard a voice outside calling for me.
"Goyo! Han Goyo! Roasted Chestnut! Sweet Chestnut!!"
It was Kwak Hanmuk’s voice.