The butler seemed puzzled as to why the detective suddenly asked such a question, but he didn’t hide anything and directly said, "That’s right. Letting him stay and work here is the greatest kindness he could receive!"
Drake’s group overheard this statement from the butler as they descended the stairs.
Luis frowned slightly, his mind working quickly. If what the butler said was true, then Ethan didn’t have a room in the mansion. That room was probably a dressing room or a shared room for the servants.
Usually, servants shouldn’t be staying in the same room as the house master, but Vincent... well, he was just excessively kind-hearted.
This thought also crossed the minds of the others. They noticed Susan’s group huddled on the lower floor at that moment. Nana and Sana looked at them with barely concealed hostility, and Susan’s group, upon spotting Drake’s group, showed some surprise on their faces—but not too much, as if they had expected something might happen.
Noticing Susan’s gaze, the two maids turned to look. When they saw the new group of maids descending the stairs, Sana and Nana couldn’t help but frown deeply. They almost spoke in unison, their voices dripping with dissatisfaction: "Why did you come down so quickly? Have you already finished cleaning?"
Drake answered truthfully, "Because I broke a vase, Lord Vincent sent me down here."
Hearing this, Sana and Nana shouted in sync, "Useless trash!"
Their overlapping voices sounded harsh and grating like they were about to pounce on Drake and strangle him on the spot.
But Drake didn’t seem to care. He just raised an eyebrow and looked at them, his expression almost provocative.
At that moment, the butler’s cold voice rang out again: "If you’re going to work here, you’d best learn to be honest. Lord Vincent would never get angry over a broken vase." His gaze toward Drake’s group was full of contempt. "Even if you’re just a bunch of ignorant commoners."
"You people aren’t eating tonight! If you can’t work properly, start preparing to leave this mansion!" Sana and Nana said in unison, then turned and left without sparing another glance at Drake or Susan’s group. The butler’s face was dark as well—judging by the look on their faces, it seemed they were already planning to deal with this group of servants once and for all.
The maids and the butler quickly disappeared, likely off to tend to their duties. Left behind was only the detective, still standing there, his face emotionless. He looked almost dazed.
"Detective, just what exactly is going on in this place? Could you please tell us? We’re terrified!"
Bella’s voice rang out right then, tinged with despair and fear. She had walked up to the detective, her delicate face full of confusion. She looked so young and adorable—it was easy to feel sympathy for her.
However, as she approached, the detective suddenly stepped back in alarm as if snapping out of a trance. He backed away so quickly that he lost his balance and fell heavily to the floor.
Bella stood frozen, bewildered.
Wait a second—she wasn’t vain, but she was sure she wasn’t ugly or scary-looking. She usually made a good impression on people. So why did this detective react like he’d just seen a wild beast?
The detective quickly got up and backed away, directly exiting the mansion without intending to speak to the humans.
[Haha, I noticed before that the Prophet didn’t like humans—maybe was even a little afraid of them—but now he’s even more scared, doesn’t it?]
[But why would he be afraid of humans? With his abilities... he’s not scared of monsters either. If he’s not afraid of monsters, then why humans? It’s so confusing...]
[Maybe he’s scared of catching some disease, hahaha.]
[I told you—he’s just a dumb, introverted mushroom.]
[It’s hard to put into words. It’s like he’s wary of things he doesn’t understand... Even though he could probably crush them effortlessly, he’s still scared...]
[Well, a black mamba doesn’t know its venom can kill either.]
At that moment, Silvanus had already arrived at the farm behind the mansion. The estate was truly massive. The farm was only one part of the entire estate, yet it was still fully equipped, raising animals like sheep, pigs, horses, and chickens.
Silvanus headed straight for a small hut next to the pigsty.
Calling it a "hut" was no exaggeration—it was tiny, probably even smaller than the servant rooms inside the mansion.
In the pen beside that little hut lay a fat pig. Its rosy skin was caked in mud as it lazily lounged around.
Only then did Silvanus begin to perceive the bizarre thoughts coming from the spectators fully.
[As expected of the Prophet... Maybe he already has the answer he was looking for.]
[But I still feel like something’s off about him. He wouldn’t forget about Drake, right? His attitude just now... it didn’t feel like the Prophet!]
[Isn’t it obvious? Something happened. He clearly doesn’t remember Drake or the others.]
[So... are we about to get some real drama?]
[It feels like Drake barely even registers their existence...]
[That sounds dangerous. He’s not going to bury them all here, is he?]
[Don’t joke like that, hahaha.]
The door creaked open easily, and a foul, nauseating stench immediately hit Silvanus’s nose—so strong it overpowered even the smell of the pig nearby.
Dark reddish-black liquid oozed out from the crack beneath the door. With his sharp vision, Silvanus could see the horrifying scene inside: a mountain of corpses, both fresh and decomposing, piled haphazardly within the small room. Most of the bodies were mutilated—arms and legs thrown together into a heap—and several intestinal loops tangled among them, making one wonder where the rest of the bodies had gone... and why someone would store them here instead of disposing of them.
Suddenly, a human head rolled down from the top of the corpse mountain, landing at Silvanus’s feet. The face still wore an expression of terror—frozen in fear and chaos.
Then, its eyes suddenly rolled upward and locked onto Silvanus. Its mouth dropped open, and a long tongue shot out like a whip, latching onto Silvanus’s leg.
The detective’s brow furrowed instantly. His face twisted in panic, clearly caught off guard.
He was yanked to the ground by the tongue, tears immediately spilling down his cheeks, his expression pure despair. Yet the moment his tears fell, the tongue’s movements abruptly stopped as if frozen in place.
Then, the head—and the rest of the corpses—began to disintegrate into countless tiny numbers, shrinking gradually until nothing remained but a speck of dust, the most primitive atomic form... and just like that, they slowly vanished from existence, as if they had never been there at all.
The detective remained seated, tears streaming down his face, his body trembling with fear.
[I honestly don’t know who to feel sorry for anymore.]
[Why does the Prophet look so pitiful? Just lift your head and look—those monsters were wiped out before they could do anything!]
[If it had been anyone other than the Prophet who came here, there would’ve been a brutal battle.]
Silvanus sat crying for a long while before finally standing up. By now, he had found the honest answer.
It seemed the chef had some mental issue, but the undeniable truth was that he was the one who killed the servants in the castle—yet he firmly believed that Vincent was the true villain.
As for the rest of the corpses from earlier... thinking about Ethan’s profession and all the jokes viewers had made, Silvanus didn’t want to dwell too deeply on it. He only hoped Drake and the others wouldn’t discover the truth—after all, they had eaten quite a lot of that food.
Based on Silvanus’s judgment, this world was likely constructed from Ethan’s subconscious. That would explain how Ethan could frame Vincent as a true villain and lead humanity’s assumptions astray.
Meanwhile, Drake’s group and Susan’s group had already gathered together. Both sides quickly shared what they had experienced.
Zara, clearly emotional, exclaimed, "If that’s the case, then the butler’s diary was wrong! We can complete the mission now!"
Luis frowned. "I still feel like something about this isn’t quite right."
Just then, the dungeon’s system announcement suddenly appeared:
[The truth is gradually being revealed. Judgment approaches! Deliver judgment to the one who caused the mansion’s nightmare and escape this place!]
The final mission had arrived—they would have to deal with the monster lurking in the castle.
"It looks like the final quest is tied to everything that’s happened. Only once we figure out who the real boss is can we complete the final mission," Alice murmured.
Drake suddenly let out a cold laugh. "One, two, three, four, five monsters—just kill them all."
He didn’t sound like he was joking at all. Susan noticed Saphen was no longer present and quickly said, "Wait—we should investigate a bit more first."
Drake replied coldly, "There’s nothing left to investigate. Tonight, we’ll be judged just like in Ethan the chef’s diary—punished for the mistakes that displeased Vincent. When that time comes, we’ll be forced to fight no matter what. If we’re going to fight anyway, better sooner than later."