Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 4

“…Then is the servant job at the Seo Family Estate out of reach now? They might have found someone by now….”

“Hard to say. That Hwang-ga who manages the servants there is quite picky, you know? We’d have to go ask directly to know for sure, but in my opinion, there’s still a chance they haven’t found anyone….”

Belatedly picking up on the Po Couple’s conversation, I snapped back to my senses.

Right, now wasn’t the time for this.

To deliver this precious information, I needed to get close to Seo Yeon-ri, and to do that, I absolutely had to get into the Seo Family Estate, didn’t I?

Just when a servant position at the Seo Family Estate had come up, this couldn’t be better!

“Um….”

Having made up my mind, I opened my mouth.

“About that servant job. Could you perhaps ask about it again?”

“What?”

Uncle Po looked surprised at my words.

“You went to the trouble of finding me a job, and it feels like such a waste to let it slip by. If they haven’t found anyone yet, I’d like to do it….”

“But are you sure you’re okay? Your body hasn’t recovered yet and your memory isn’t fully intact either.”

“I’m fine! My body is a bit stiff, but it’s not to the point where I can’t move. As for my memory… won’t it naturally come back with time? Actually, even if I’m not okay….”

I had no choice given my situation.

When I gave a bitter smile, Uncle Po’s pitying gaze grew even deeper. Please don’t look at me like that. This is all groundwork for turning my life around.

But perhaps my pitiful act worked, as Uncle Po soon nodded and said.

“…Alright! Since you’ve already made up your mind, it’s not my place to say anything. I’ll ask about it first thing tomorrow.”

“Thank you!”

“In the meantime, you eat well, sleep well, and rest well. If your condition gets worse, how could I face Lady Sa? Understood?”

“Yes!”

After that, the Po Couple continued to heap worried scolding on me. I earnestly appeased the couple while secretly thinking.

‘This should do it, right?’

I could say it was only half done.

There were two things I had overlooked.

First was that I hadn’t revealed my gender to the Po Couple and specifically asked to do ‘maid work,’ and second was that I didn’t properly know what exactly this ‘servant work’ entailed.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Uncle Po really did secure the job. More precisely, it was because they still hadn’t found anyone.

‘What kind of work could it be?’

I went to the Seo Family Estate with a faint sense of unease. And when I met the ‘Hwang-ga’ that Uncle Po had mentioned.

“Wh-what kind of work are we going to do?”

“What’s wrong with you, why can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

Hwang-ga… Uncle Hwang shouted angrily.

“We’re going to clean up shit, shit!”

And so I became a servant of the Seo Family Estate.

More precisely, a Dung Carrier of the Seo Family Estate.

Damn it.

* * *

Six months later.

I was washing dung buckets at the stream side.

The round wooden buckets with dung residue stuck here and there would make anyone retch at the sight, but I scrubbed the buckets with an indifferent expression.

It had already been six months since I inadvertently started working as a dung carrier.

To summarize my life during this time…

‘It was hardship and adversity itself.’

Of course, the work itself wasn’t difficult. I had worked like a slave in my previous life, so what could be hard about this?

However, the content of that work was problematic, if anything.

“Cleaning up dung isn’t easy work, but it’s still work that people do, so you get used to it if you keep at it. I’ll teach you well.”

Actually, the work wasn’t particularly difficult.

In a way, it was simple repetitive labor. When the time came, I’d go collect dung, then transfer the collected dung to one place, and when a certain amount accumulated, deliver it to the farmhouses.

Of course, the Seo Family Estate’s manor grounds were so vast that ordinary dung carriers couldn’t handle it, so we had to pull dung carts around… but that wasn’t a problem.

The problem was something else.

“Uurgh!”

It was the smell.

Collecting dozens of dung buckets – how could that smell be ordinary? Especially when opening the collected dung buckets and pouring the excrement inside into one place, the scene that unfolded was truly…

“Ugh, uuurgh…!”

“Endure it, endure it. Just think of it as mud!”

“What kind of mud smells like this… bleegh!”

I really threw up like crazy in the beginning.

Later, when there was nothing left to vomit, I was just throwing up stomach acid – how miserable that was. Seeing me become haggard in just half a day, Uncle Hwang laughed with relief.

“See? It’s surprisingly manageable, right? Later you’ll even be able to eat meals next to it.”

At the time, I cursed inwardly, ‘What kind of nonsense is that,’ but Uncle Hwang was right. I actually did sometimes eat snacks next to the dung buckets…

“That’s the last one!”

Only after washing the final dung bucket did I stretch with a long yawn. A familiar yet strange boy’s face was reflected on the water’s surface.

A broad face with unrefined features, dark skin with a flat nose, and freckles densely scattered above it – a striking countryside bumpkin…

That was me.

Recognizing that fact, a wave of injustice washed over me again.

‘This is me?’

I mean, when other people possess someone, they admire their cute and lovely appearance and say ‘This is me?’ But why do I have to lament over an ugly face and say ‘This is me?’

Still, if there was one fortunate thing, it was that this half-finished appearance meant my male disguise hadn’t been discovered.

“You’ll never be able to get a decent wife.”

Uncle Hwang giggled so much watching me eat ravenously with dirt smeared all over me.

I had worried that someone might quickly discover I was a girl while working, but it was really a needless concern.

With my ugly face and the smell of dung wafting around me, no one had even the slightest suspicion that I was a girl.

‘Damn, pretty cross-dressing women were only possible in novels.’

Should I be happy about this or not? Still, when secondary sexual characteristics develop, it’ll become obvious, so what will I do then…

While worrying about this and that as I cleaned up, the sun was already setting. I had to hurry. Unlike the other servants who stayed in the Servants’ Quarters, I was commuting from home.

As I was pulling the cart loaded with empty containers and walking quickly, I saw Uncle Hwang approaching from the other direction.

“Oh, are you done now?”

“Yes! Are you also heading home after finishing work, Uncle?”

“Me? I was just looking around here and there. Let me see…”

Uncle Hwang casually responded while lifting one of the containers from the cart. His eyes examining the container were as sharp as a hawk’s.

After a moment of silence, Uncle nodded with satisfaction.

“As expected, you really have skilled hands. Good work.”

“Oh, come on. You’re too kind.”

“At first, I wondered if such a skinny kid could do the work properly, but it was needless worry. There aren’t many who work as diligently as you. Good boy…”

As he said this, he pressed something into my hand, and I looked down at my hand in bewilderment. Several copper-colored Copper Coins were pressed into my palm.

My mouth fell wide open.

“U-Uncle…!”

“Eat well, boy. Your salary isn’t small, so why aren’t you gaining weight? Being filial is good, but you need to take care of your own body too.”

“Uncle…”

I looked at Uncle with moved eyes. Uncle Hwang waved his hands dismissively as if feeling burdened and said,

“Hey, it’s just a few coins, why are you looking at me like that? Don’t do that and hurry along. At this rate, the sun will set.”

“Uncle, thank you. I’ll work even harder!”

“Good grief, you’re already working hard, how much harder can you work… Go on, go on!”

Then, contrary to his words “go on,” he turned around first and hurried away. I watched Uncle’s retreating figure intently, then soon called out loudly,

“Uncle, thank you so much!”

“Just go quickly!”

I giggled softly at Uncle’s shout. My heart warmed with emotion.

‘Should I buy some meat for the first time in a while? Mother would be happy too.’

* * *

I entered inside the Courtyard Wall, holding my bulging pocket close.

I made eye contact with a woman who was just coming outside.

“Dan-ah, you’re back?”

The woman’s name was Sa Yeong-jeong.

She was Seo Dan’s sick Widowed Mother, and the person who had grabbed me and cried on the first day.

Fortunately, Seo Dan’s mother woke up not long after fainting. However, when she heard from Lady Po that I had lost my memory, she turned pale as if she might faint again.

“You, you can’t remember? Nothing at all? You don’t even know who I am? Who I am….”

I hesitated and finally shook my head. I didn’t know enough to pretend I knew, and I felt it wouldn’t be right to lie to her face.

The woman looked at me again as if she couldn’t believe it. But when she finally realized that I truly didn’t know anything, she began to cry once more.

“It’s because of me. Because of me, our Dana….”

I could only quietly watch Mother as she wept bitterly.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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