Chapter 5: Another Fine Day at the Center (5)
"Oh my goodness! I've heard about that! Could it really be true?"
"But that story is almost a year old. I was curious too, so I compared the ti those two ca with the children's admission dates, but it doesn't really match up. Cobe and Rowena ca a long ti after the current children."
"Then it could just be a rumor?"
"These days, everyone thinks so."
Quietly listening to Amanda and Helga's conversation, I nibbled on the rim of my paper cup.
‘I've heard that rumor too.’
Four A-rank Rankers, who should be at the forefront of subjugating Gates and suppressing terrorism, stationed on this small island?
No matter how much the Center was a facility to protect the children of Rankers, it was excessive. Well, it seems that recently, the children of Astava's high-ranking officials are often included too.
Anyway, when I first saw them after joining, it was quite a shock. A while later, while having breakfast, I heard that rumor from other sitters and was quite serious for a while. I wondered if it had anything to do with the protagonist I had to find.
So for almost a month, I paid close attention to each and every child. To get to the point, I gained nothing.
First of all, the probability of the protagonist being among the children was absurd.
The current ages of the kids at the Center were from 1 to 3 years old. They were far too young for abilities or other special traits to manifest.
In Astava, abilities usually appeared around puberty, so it was difficult to connect it to the clue that the protagonist is strong.
Although there were very rare cases of awakening from birth, well. For now, there are no children with abilities here at the Center.
But that didn't an I had completely let my guard down. The protagonist is, by nature, a being who could appear anyti, anywhere. The kids' parents or relatives could be the protagonist.
"Hmm...."
"Arsen, what are you thinking so hard about?"
A dark-haired man's face was thrust right in front of my eyes. Casen blinked and asked, perhaps because my expression was grave.
"Just wondering what to do during my break tomorrow."
"...You're already thinking about that?"
Casen moved far away from as if he had seen sothing bizarre. Amanda chuckled softly beside him.
Just then, a cool sea breeze brushed past us. The salty yet refreshing scent tickled the tip of my nose.
As if by agreent, everyone closed their eyes. I too closed my eyes.
It was cool, languid, and nice.
So much so that for a mont, I forgot all about the curse, about having to find the protagonist, and everything else.
"Ah, ah. The break is almost over. You know I'm losing my sense of date?"
Casen, who had been staring up at the sky, let out a hollow laugh.
"Being on this vast sea for four years, I don't even know how old I am anymore. I wonder if it's right for to keep staying here."
"What do you an you don't know, you know very well. Just as you said, it's been four years. You've turned thirty now."
"Ah, co on!"
The face that was about to get sentintal crumpled. As the clearly disappointed Casen flared his nostrils, Helga just shrugged her shoulders.
"Still, where else is as good as here. C's or D's like us can't get this kind of salary."
I always feel this, but if the concept of 'rational judgnt' were to be personified, it would be Helga. To think she's so impartially sharp-tongued even to the person she's dating.
"Mr. Arsen was a C, right?"
While Helga and Casen were bickering, Amanda spoke, her characteristically clear eyes shining.
"I think you're all so cool. As you all know, my wish is to beco a D-rank superhuman...."
Did soone spike the coffee with alcohol? Amanda, her face flushed, squird shyly. I stared at Amanda with impassive eyes.
"I don't know. I think in tis like these, it's better to be an ordinary person."
And in one gulp, I downed all the remaining coffee.
"Pardon? Why is that?"
Amanda blinked blankly. It was a face that said she couldn't understand what I was saying. I tapped the desk with my fingers a few tis and then leaned back in my chair.
"Honestly, it's my personal opinion, but C or D doesn't have that much of an advantage compared to the restrictions and rules that follow. Unless you're going to live a truly ordinary life, if you're even slightly involved in this line of work, that is, the Association or Gates, you're just treated like a part."
Like this screw that can be thrown away at any ti. I pointed to the tal piece embedded in the table's joint.
My stomach churned even as I said it. Maybe it churned twice as much thanks to the coffee.
"But then again, if you have even a very minute ability, it makes you want to try sothing, doesn't it? So you end up playing that part, usually."
I smiled bitterly. Of course, as a Player, it was a slightly different story for , but anyway, this was the reality of Astava.
"That's right. That's why I'm hoping our kid will be born ordinary if they're not going to be B or higher. Right?"
Casen, having made up quickly, clicked his tongue and looked at Helga. But what ca back was,
"...Who said they'd give birth to one?"
A response as if hearing it for the first ti.
"Hey, if you say it like that, what does that make ? Are you really going to be like this? Wasn't our marriage a premise?"
"...Marriage was a premise?"
"Helga!"
Well, I was used to it by now. With the outbreak of a second round that seed unlikely to end soon, I got up from my seat.
"I should probably head back. It's almost ti anyway."
"B-but.... You two, please don't fight!"
I slipped out of my seat as the two were now completely on their feet, jumping up and down.
Their fight was like cutting water with a knife anyway, so in a little while, Casen would surely be clinging to Helga and whispering sweet nothings. Only Amanda, who was so nice she was almost a pushover, would be fidgeting with anxiety every ti.
‘I have so ti...’
Entering the Center, I fixed my gaze on one place.
The Administrator's office.
What Casen said earlier was also quite botherso.
‘The Administrator is very interested in the kids. Is this sothing I can just let slide?’
I can assert this with complete certainty. My original intuition is the worst. But the Administrator, in particular, continues to get on my nerves.
‘Should I just check if he's inside.’
If he's not, I can snoop around while I'm at it.
The break wasn't over yet, so there was no one in the hallway. Knock, knock. There was no answer, so just as I was about to grab the doorknob.
"Mr. Arsen!"
Damn it.
When I turned around abruptly, it was Amanda.
‘She should have just stayed with those two...’
My feet, which had naturally turned, headed with Amanda to where the children were. Standing side by side, her mouth didn't rest for a mont on the way.
"Oh! Mr. Arsen, this is still a secret, but...."
Amanda, who had been chattering away, glanced around and lowered her voice sharply.
"The sitters in charge of the boys are getting a vacation next week! Since it'll be your first vacation, Mr. Arsen, I'll tell you first!"
"...A vacation?"
For a mont, my mind flashed.
A vacation?
It was a word I hadn't even heard since I joined. When I first ca here, I even signed a pledge that the affairs within the Center were absolutely confidential, that I should not ask about anything, and that I should not reveal anything to the outside.
There was no way an institution shrouded in such secrecy would have a concept like a vacation.
Moreover, on my first day, the bearded Center Director had firmly hamred it in that Center employees do not get a single day off until they resign.
"Why the long face? Like you've never heard of a vacation before?"
Amanda tilted her head.
"Uh.... Do we have vacations too?"
"Pardon? Ahahaha!"
Amanda burst out laughing as if she had heard a funny story. I stared blankly at her freckled face. It was a clear, unblemished laugh.
"Is the Center Director still like that? When I joined, he also had a very scary face and said there were absolutely no such things as vacations, and asked for a diligent attitude."
Amanda wiped the tears that had ford at the corners of her eyes. Does that an, could it be....
"Of course we have vacations! But they give them as a surprise like this. In case soone finds out that the Center is even a little bit empty."
Amanda kindly explained, patting my arm. My creaking brain began to turn as if struck by lightning.
‘This changes things.’
The reason I had been obediently focusing only on my sitter job until now was my affection for Lottie and my debt problem, but the biggest reason, honestly, was that there was no way to get out of here.
When I first opened my eyes in Astava, Arsen Neroro was a student at the famous private advanced academy, ‘Remble’.
Even thinking about it now, wasn't this too harsh a reincarnation, no, possession?
Of all places,
Why on earth,
Why!
Remble, being the top elite academy that produced many future Rankers, was also tough to get into.
You had to have one of three things: outstanding talent, enormous wealth, or amazing connections to enroll.
But Arsen, with his ambiguous ability of immortality, seed to have barely managed to enroll as a hanger-on.
Thanks to that, Arsen, who had no family let alone a scholarship, was saddled with a debt that had snowballed... no! An avalanche of debt by his graduating year, that is, when I beca Arsen.
Because Remble, as one could guess from its fa, had an enormous tuition fee!
The grade given upon graduation: C.
With such a grade, the possibility of repaying the huge sum of 6 million quri was slim. The interest alone was 5000 quri a month, which was completely unmanageable even if I went on Gate subjugations every day.
Then, I stumbled into the Center.
A monthly salary of 100,000 quri.
At first, I thought they were definitely looking for so kind of test subject sample.
But as I was endlessly plagued by debt collectors, I went for an interview, thinking I had nothing to lose. If it really was a one-way ticket to being a test subject, I planned to die a few tis and escape.
And the result is my current situation.
A babysitter in the middle of the vast ocean?
Not bad. No, actually, it's so sweet it's like my teeth are going to rot.
Of course, the good-for-nothing Ranker who sotis tries to kill , the suspicious Administrator, and the Center Director of unknown ntal age are botherso, but knowing that debt is the scariest thing in the world, I had no choice but to beco a slave to my salary.
‘But this place is like being trapped. It's a very disadvantageous condition for finding the protagonist.’
Of course, that was until I heard what Amanda just said.
"So is the vacation for a day? Or a few days?"
"Ah, it's unconditionally 2 days and 1 night. The location is almost decided too."
"Pardon? Then how do I et my family or friends?"
"Pardon? Of course you can't- et them?"
I shut my mouth at Amanda's expression. A reaction as if I had asked sothing extrely obvious, one of incomprehension.
As expected, this place is crazy. Astava is crazy. I had forgotten again that the common sense of Earth doesn't apply here.
"Still, aren't you looking forward to the vacation?"
I smiled awkwardly at Amanda, whose eyes were sparkling.
Right. Just having the opportunity to get out of here is a big gain.
One needs to live positively sotis.
***
"Lottie, you have to go to sleep now."
"Uueu- No wike!"
"What don't you like, hmm? Should I sing the Tiger Prince song?"
"No wike-!"
I don't know why she's being like this.
Usually, she falls asleep just fine without needing to be soothed, but today she's been whining even after I've gone through the lullaby dley three tis. She even said she doesn't like the Tiger Prince.
‘Tonight is going to be an unusually long one...’
I've been patting her back for almost an hour, and now my arm is starting to cramp. My body, with the weakest physical ability, has tried hard to do this much.
She hates the bed so much that we sleep on a futon on the floor, but now my back is killing .
‘Could it be that she knew I was going on vacation tomorrow?’
My mind is already troubled because of that. I don't know about other things, but if I succeed in escaping during this vacation, what should I do about Lottie?
‘I haven't found out anything specific about the Administrator in the anti either.’
It doesn't feel right to leave a child who follows so well. It also bothers that no one is wary of that Administrator.
"Aigoo. Finally asleep."
It was when I was taking a breather after Lottie finally fell asleep after the dley went through another round. Sothing that shouldn't have been there caught my eye as I looked out the window.
"...What is that."
A red flash cutting across the wide-open, pitch-black sky.
As if possessed, I opened the window and stuck my head out. My eyes instinctively narrowed at the unknown sothing.
It looked like a teor hurtling towards the ground.
"Huh?"
The blazing red mass suddenly changed its trajectory. A chilling sensation ran down my spine. The madly accelerating speed was bizarre.
"Lo- Lottie!"
Instinctively, I turned my body and threw myself over the sleeping child.
"Uaaack!"
In an instant, everything around us collapsed.
Kwagwagwagwang!
It was the beginning of the terror.
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