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Chapter 5
“Goodness! I’ve heard that rumor before! Do you think it’s really true?”
“But that was almost a year ago. I got curious too, so I compared the timing of when those two arrived with the children’s admission dates, but it didn’t really match. Cove and Rowina came much later than the kids currently here.”
“Then it might just be a rumor?”
“Most people think so these days.”
As Amanda and Helga chatted quietly, I chewed on the rim of my paper cup.
I’d heard that rumor too.
Four A-Rankers, people who should be leading gate subjugations and anti-terror operations, permanently stationed on this tiny island?
Even if the center was a facility for protecting the children of Rankers, that was excessive. Though lately, it seemed the children of Astava’s high-ranking officials had also been admitted here from time to time.
Anyway, when I first saw them after joining, I was pretty shocked.
Not long afterward, I heard the rumor from the other sitters over breakfast and spent quite a while seriously considering it.
Could it have something to do with the protagonist I was supposed to find?
Because of that, for nearly a month, I watched every child with extreme care and attention.
To summarize the result:
I found absolutely nothing.
The odds that the protagonist was one of the children were absurdly low.
The kids at the center were currently between one and three years old.
That was far too young for abilities or other special traits to have manifested.
In Astava, abilities usually awakened around puberty, making it difficult to connect any of them with the clue that the protagonist was supposed to be powerful.
Granted, there were rare cases of people awakening from birth, but still.
As far as I could tell, none of the children here possessed abilities.
That said, I hadn’t completely given up.
A protagonist was the kind of existence who could appear anywhere, at any time.
Maybe one of the children’s parents or relatives was the protagonist.
“Hmm…”
“What are you thinking so hard about, Arsen?”
A dark-faced man suddenly leaned into my field of vision.
Perhaps my expression had grown serious, because Kassen blinked and asked.
“Oh, nothing. Just wondering what I should do during tomorrow’s break.”
“…You’re already thinking about that?”
Kassen scooted away as though he’d witnessed something bizarre.
Amanda giggled softly beside him.
At that moment, a cool sea breeze swept between us.
The salty scent, both refreshing and slightly rough, tickled my nose.
As though by agreement, everyone closed their eyes.
I did too.
The weather was cool and pleasant.
For a brief moment, I could even forget about curses, finding the protagonist, and all the rest.
“Ahh. Break time’s almost over. Did you know I’ve practically lost track of dates?”
Kassen looked up at the sky and laughed bitterly.
“After living in the middle of nowhere for four years, I barely remember how old I am anymore. Sometimes I wonder if staying here is really the right thing.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You know perfectly well. Four years, just like you said. You’re thirty now.”
“Hey!”
The face that had almost become sentimental instantly twisted.
Kassen flared his nostrils in annoyance, while Helga merely shrugged.
“Still, where else could we find a place like this? C-Ranks and D-Ranks like us would never get this kind of salary anywhere else.”
I always thought the same thing.
If the concept of rational judgment became human, it would look exactly like Helga.
The fact that she could deliver such merciless reality checks even to the person she was dating was honestly impressive.
“Arsen, you’re a C-Rank too, right?”
While Helga and Kassen bickered, Amanda looked at me with her usual bright eyes.
“I really admire all of you. As everyone knows, my dream is to become a D-Rank ability user someday, so…”
Did someone spike the coffee?
Amanda’s cheeks were flushed red as she twisted awkwardly in embarrassment.
I stared at her blankly.
“I don’t know. These days, I think ordinary people have it better.”
Then I downed the rest of my coffee in one gulp.
“Huh? Why?”
Amanda blinked in confusion.
I tapped the table with my fingers a few times before leaning back.
“Honestly, this is just my personal opinion, but for C-Ranks and D-Ranks, the advantages aren’t really worth the restrictions and regulations that come with them.”
“Unless you plan on living a completely ordinary life, the moment you become even slightly involved with the Association or gates, you’re basically treated like a disposable part.”
Like this screw.
I pointed to a metal fastener embedded in the table.
Even as I said it, my stomach twisted.
Maybe the coffee was making it twice as bitter.
“But once you have even the tiniest ability, people naturally want to do something with it, you know?”
“And that’s how they end up becoming one of those parts.”
I smiled bitterly.
Of course, as a player, my situation was somewhat different.
Still, this was the reality of Astava.
“Exactly. That’s why, unless my kid ends up B-Rank or higher, I hope they’re born completely normal. Right?”
Apparently reconciled already, Kassen clicked his tongue and looked at Helga.
The response he received was:
“…Who said I’d be the one giving birth?”
A completely bewildered answer.
“No, if you say it like that, what does that make me? Seriously? Wasn’t marriage supposed to be the assumption here?”
“…Marriage was the assumption?”
“Helga!”
At this point, I was used to it.
Sensing the start of Round Two, I quietly stood up.
“I should get going. Break time’s almost over.”
“B-But… Please don’t fight, you two!”
Leaving Amanda to desperately mediate between the now-standing pair, I slipped away.
Their arguments were always like cutting water with a sword.
Soon enough, Kassen would be clinging to Helga again, whispering sweet nothings.
Amanda, kind to the point of being a pushover, was always the only one genuinely worried.
There’s still some time left…
After entering the center, my gaze fixed on a single location.
The Supervisor’s office.
Something Kassen had said earlier still bothered me.
The Supervisor is overly interested in the children.
Can I really just ignore that?
I could confidently say one thing:
My instincts were usually terrible.
But for some reason, the Supervisor continued to bother me.
Maybe I’ll just check whether he’s inside.
And if he isn’t, maybe I’ll take a quick look around while I’m at it.
The break hadn’t ended yet, so the hallway was empty.
Knock. Knock.
No answer came.
Just as I reached for the doorknob—
“Arsen!”
Damn it.
I spun around.
Amanda.
Why couldn’t you just stay with those two…?
Naturally changing direction, I headed toward the children’s area with Amanda at my side.
She chatted nonstop the entire way.
“Oh right! Arsen, this is still a secret, but…”
After glancing around, Amanda lowered her voice.
“The male sitters are getting vacation next week! Since it’ll be your first vacation, I wanted to tell you first!”
“…Vacation?”
My mind lit up instantly.
Vacation?
I had never even heard the word since joining.
When I first arrived, we’d signed an oath stating that everything concerning the center was strictly confidential.
We weren’t allowed to ask questions.
We weren’t allowed to tell outsiders anything.
A facility buried beneath layers upon layers of secrecy shouldn’t even have the concept of vacations.
In fact, on my very first day, the bearded Director had firmly declared that center employees didn’t get a single day off until they resigned.
“Why are you making that face? You look like someone hearing about vacations for the first time.”
Amanda tilted her head.
“Uh… We get vacations?”
“Huh? Ahahahaha!”
Amanda burst out laughing.
I stared blankly at her freckled face.
It was a completely innocent laugh.
“The Director still says that? He told me the exact same thing when I joined. He put on this terrifying expression and said there was absolutely no such thing as vacations, so I should work diligently.”
Amanda wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.
Which meant…
“Of course we get vacations! They just give them to us without warning.”
“Since nobody can know when the center is understaffed, they have to keep it secret.”
Amanda patted my arm as she explained.
My sluggish brain suddenly started spinning at full speed.
That changes things.
The reason I’d obediently focused on babysitting until now wasn’t just because I cared about Lottie or because of my debt.
The biggest reason was that there was no way to leave this place.
When I first opened my eyes in Astava, Arsen Nero had been a student at the prestigious private academy, Remble.
Even now, I thought that was unbelievably cruel.
No—
Why?
Why of all places?
Remble was the elite academy that produced numerous future Rankers.
Getting in was incredibly difficult.
You needed at least one of three things:
Outstanding talent.
Enormous wealth.
Or incredible connections.
Apparently, Arsen, with his ambiguous immortality ability, had barely managed to enroll as a tagalong.
As a result, with no family and no scholarships, Arsen had accumulated an astronomical amount of debt by his graduation year—the exact point when I became him.
No.
Not astronomical.
Avalanche-level debt.
Remble’s tuition was every bit as monstrous as its reputation suggested.
Upon graduation, I was assigned a C-Rank.
With a rank like that, repaying six million Curie was nearly impossible.
The monthly interest alone was five thousand Curie.
Even if I fought gates every single day, there was no way I could manage it.
Then, by pure chance, I ended up at the center.
Salary:
100,000 Curie per month.
At first, I was convinced they were recruiting experimental test subjects.
But after endless debt collectors hounding me, I decided to attend the interview anyway.
If it really turned out to be human experimentation, I planned to die a few times and escape.
And the result was my current situation.
A babysitter in the middle of the ocean?
Not bad.
Actually, it was amazing.
The job was so sweet it could rot your teeth.
Sure, the occasional murderous delinquent Ranker, suspicious Supervisor, and mentally questionable Director were annoying.
But once you understood that debt was the most terrifying thing in the world, becoming a slave to your paycheck was inevitable.
Still, this place is basically a prison.
It’s the worst possible environment for finding the protagonist.
At least, that had been true until Amanda spoke.
“So is the vacation just for a day? Or several?”
“Oh, it’s always one night and two days. The destination is pretty much fixed too.”
“What? Then how do people visit family or friends?”
“Huh? Obviously you can’t?”
Amanda looked utterly confused.
As though I had asked the most ridiculous question imaginable.
I shut my mouth.
This place was insane.
Astava was insane.
I’d forgotten once again that Earth’s common sense simply didn’t apply here.
“Still, isn’t it exciting?”
Amanda’s eyes sparkled.
I forced an awkward smile.
Yeah.
Just having an opportunity to leave this place was already a huge gain.
Sometimes, people needed to think positively.
***
“Lottie, you need to sleep now.”
“Uuuugh… don’t waaanna!”
“What don’t you want, hmm? Want me to sing Tiger Prince?”
“Don’t waaanna!”
I had no idea what was wrong with him.
Normally he fell asleep without any trouble.
Tonight, though, I’d already gone through three full rounds of lullabies and he was still whining.
He’d even rejected Tiger Prince.
This is going to be a very long night…
After patting his back for nearly an hour, my arm was starting to cramp.
With my pitiful physical abilities, I’d already done more than enough.
Since he hated sleeping in beds, we used blankets on the floor.
Now my back was aching too.
Did he somehow find out I’m going on vacation tomorrow?
That issue had been bothering me as well.
If I succeeded in escaping during this vacation, what was I supposed to do about Lottie?
I still haven’t learned anything definite about the Supervisor either.
Leaving behind a child who trusted me this much felt wrong.
And the fact that nobody seemed suspicious of the Supervisor bothered me too.
“Oh, finally asleep.”
Just as Lottie finally drifted off after yet another round of lullabies, something impossible entered my view through the window.
“…What is that?”
A crimson flash streaking across the pitch-black sky.
As if possessed, I opened the window and leaned out.
My eyes narrowed at the strange sight.
It looked like a meteor hurtling toward the ground.
“Huh?”
The blazing red mass suddenly changed course.
A chilling sensation crawled down my spine.
Its acceleration was unnatural.
“L-Lottie!”
Instinctively, I spun around and threw myself over the sleeping child.
“AAAH!”
The world collapsed around us in an instant.
KWAAAROOOOM!
The terrorist attack had begun.
