The Babysitter Wants to Stop Dying

Chapter 30: Deep in the Mountains, a Small Village (2)

“Why doesn't your shield have a warming function?”

“What the, what do you think a shield is, exactly?”

“A window would probably be more useful than Phillip.”

“If I ever save you again, sunbae, I'm really not a person, not a person at all.”

It was an argument that started when Delphi told Phillip to put up a shield in the increasingly chilly weather, but Phillip retorted that she knew it was useless.

I thought it would be scary in the dark mountains, but with Delphi and Phillip fighting nonstop behind me, it was actually much better. It was noisy when I heard it in the wagon, but here it felt like a decent comedy sketch was playing.

“Chueo-eo-eo-.”

After walking for a while, Lottie started to wriggle and babble. Her tiny feet tapped my side.

‘Are her feet cold?’

As I cupped each of her feet with my hands, Lottie lifted her head and smiled bashfully. It had become a habit not to put shoes on her since she couldn't walk well, but if I had known this would happen, I would have put them on. Then her feet wouldn't be cold, and I would have salvaged at least her shoes from the devastated Eastbourne.

On the palm-sized face that smiled brightly, her blue eyes, catching the moonlight, shone like silver threads. Seeing that, the corners of my mouth went up despite the mountain trek that made my body feel like a thousand pounds.

“How is it. A little better?”

“U!”

“We just have to go a little further. You can bear with it, right?”

“Uu!”

I was tired too, but how tired must the little one be? I lifted Lottie once more and hoisted the luggage bag firmly on my shoulder.

I wonder how long we walked like that.

“Oh! Found it!”

Romero, who was striding ahead at the very front, shouted loudly.

“It's over there, over there!”

I, who was walking right behind Romero, was also able to see what she was talking about not long after.

A small village with scattered lights and about thirty houses clustered together. It seemed to be the place the driver had told us about.

“Was there a village like this near Eastbourne?”

“Our country bumpkin is pretending to know things again. I think Phillip-gun has only been to Eastbourne a handful of times.”

“Sunbae, if you really want to get married, you'll have to sew your mouth shut. The man will run away the next day, no, even before the wedding is over.”

“Yeah, don't worry, I'll live happily ever after with someone better than you.”

“Phew, my goodness. Your dream is so big, it's giving me goosebumps.”

At this point, I wonder if they like each other.

Listening to them, they sound like people who are dying to talk to each other.

“This seems to be the entrance. Taka Village? Something like that.”

Romero, who had reached the village entrance, lifted her head and read the sign written on the fence.

The village we arrived at, with the voices of Delphi and Phillip as the background music, was very quiet.

Old houses were irregularly lined up along the road, and not a single one had a light on. The only lights were the moon and a few orange lamps hanging along the roadside.

Rusted farm tools were scattered on the ground, and the trees, which looked as if they had been scorched black, all stretched out their gaunt branches.

On top of that, there were shabby, loosely woven fences and pieces of cloth scattered here and there, as if they weren't well-maintained.

“Are people actually living here?”

Led by Romero, who tilted her head in confusion, we entered.

Perhaps because the village was small, there was no one guarding the entrance.

“Uu!”

“Lottie, shh. Let's be quiet.”

I was slightly surprised by Lottie's sudden noise for a moment, but as we entered the village, a chilly wind brushed past my skin.

It felt a little more biting than a cold mountain wind. But perhaps I was the only one who felt it, as Romero in front of me and the two people right behind me showed no reaction. However, their expressions didn't look very good.

“Excuse me, it's nighttime, but isn't it strangely quiet?”

The driver's words suddenly came to mind. At my words, Delphi came right up next to me and asked.

“What time is it now?”

“A little before ten.”

“It's definitely strange. It's not like everyone would be asleep.”

Delphi also frowned, feeling uneasy. Phillip had also come to my other side at some point.

“Aish. I really hate this kind of thing.”

Perhaps because he was more of a coward than I thought, the atmosphere seemed eerie no matter how much we walked, so Phillip grumbled and looked around.

“Vice-Captain, do you see anything?”

“Hmm. No. Why is there really not a single person here.”

Romero, also a little flustered, turned this way and that, peeking around.

‘Is she not scared at all?’

Romero, who had been walking around the ghost-town-like streets without hesitation, shook her head and came back in front of us.

“Do you think they all went on a group trip or something?”

“Like the driver said······ Pardon? What did you say?”

“Hey! Is anyone there-? Hey!”

The moment I questioned her absurd opinion, Romero raised her voice powerfully.

She's practically advertising our presence. With this person, I won't have to worry about drawing aggro in the future.

“Vice-Captain, please be quiet, ack!”

At Romero's sudden shout, Phillip freaked out and reached out his hand. But what came back was,

“……!”

A silent scream visible on his face.

Phillip grabbed his hand and shook it. Romero, who had been looking at him quizzically, was startled and checked on him.

“Oh my! I'm completely hardened right now, are you okay?”

“Keeeuk, you think I'm okay! I thought it was going to break!”

Romero was a true 'Diamond Body' that physical attacks couldn't penetrate. The pain must have been worse than punching a wall.

“Ms. Romero. I think there's something really strange about this place.”

Delphi, who had a deep frown on her face regardless of whether Phillip was in pain or not, muttered as she looked somewhere in the distance.

“Let's go further in for now. There might be a house with lights on there. Even if they're on a group trip, there must be someone who didn't go.”

“How about we just leave? Let's go back to the wagon.”

The feeling was really bad. Romero was still fixated on the group trip, so I cast my vote for leaving.

“Let's do that! Let's just leave like Arsen said! I have a bad feeling.”

Phillip, who was still clutching his wrist, readily agreed with me as if he had been waiting for it, but,

“What are you talking about? We can't let Lottie sleep outside. What's there to worry about when I'm here?”

But at Romero's incomprehensible smile, the retreat ultimately came to nothing.

In any case, the leader of this party was Romero, and in a situation where I wasn't a formal member, I couldn't just insist on my own opinion. The trouble of having to go back the way we came also played a part.

As scary as it was, I felt like my stamina was really hitting rock bottom.

Right.

Maybe they really did all go on a trip somewhere.

If there's no one even after we've gone all the way around, let's just warm ourselves up for a bit in an open barn or something and leave first thing in the morning. That should work.

‘What's there to worry about when I'm with a human weapon like that? Of course, I don't know if the strongest can beat up ghosts too……’

Lottie in my arms was at least a comfort. It was as I was following closely behind Romero.

Delphi was to my right front, as if protecting the weakest me, and the terrified Phillip was a little behind to my left, forming a diagonal line.

“……yo.”

“Newbie, wait a minute. I think a bug got inside my clothes.”

“……giyo.”

“No, newbie! I told you to wait a minute.”

A somewhat annoying sound came from behind me. Newbie, is that me?

“Excuse me……”

“Ah, come on! Just a second!”

“Mr. Phillip, what are you doing?”

I couldn't see Phillip, who had been roughly in my left field of vision, so I turned around, and Phillip, who had fallen behind at some point, was patting down his shirt. But his expression,

“……?”

Phillip blinked slowly. It seemed his blue hair was standing on end. His lips were fumbling, as if he were trapped in a frozen moment of time.

‘What's wrong with him?’

Sensing that something was off, I was about to approach him when Lottie suddenly stretched out her hand.

“U!”

“Hm? Why?”

“Arsen? Why is Phillip over there again?”

Just as I was focusing on Lottie, who seemed to be staring intently at something, I heard Delphi's voice. She had been walking with Romero, but had noticed that Phillip and I were not following and was also coming this way.

“Mr. Phillip, are you okay?”

Why on earth is he just standing there blankly, his lips trembling, and not coming?

Phillip was still standing about five steps away, motionless. Lottie pointed her index finger as if pointing at something and poked the air. It was a sign to get a move on.

The moment the distance between Phillip and me closed to two steps, half willingly and half not, Phillip began to stutter like crazy.

“N-n-n-n-newbie, i-i-i-if you're there, th-th-th-th-then behind me is…… what?”

“Pardon?”

“T-t-t-t-the one who talked to me, h-h-heok!”

As Phillip turned his head like a broken wooden doll,

“Excuse me.”

“Aaaaaaaargh! A ghost! It's a ghost!”

A scream that could rival a dolphin's erupted from Phillip's mouth.

Behind him had appeared a woman with a pale face.

“Heop……”

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

A real ghost!?

At the unexpected appearance, I was also about to let out a scream at the woman who had popped out, but I couldn't.

No, it went right back in. Instead, what came out of my mouth was a sound closer to a question uttered in disbelief.

“……Ah?”

“A ghost! I told you a ghost would appear!”

A shriek that pierced my eardrums, ringing right in front of me. Thankfully, Phillip was screaming his head off for my share as well.

“Aaaaaaaargh! Aaaaaaaargh! Vice-Captain!”

Kiing-

And at that moment. With a sound like a faint mechanical hum, something emerged from Phillip. A greenish barrier, which formed a circle on the ground as if a magic circle had unfolded, instantly enveloped him.

It was obviously much more solid than the one he had given the driver.

‘Wait a minute……’

But did he just put up a shield for himself?

There's a child here too?

I looked down at Phillip, who was cowering on the ground, with cold eyes. Thanks to him, all my creepiness had disappeared. Should I be grateful for this?

“I-I-I'm not a ghost! I'm a person, a person!”

Then, the woman, who had turned pale in turn, waved her hands and tapped her chest.

“I-if I startled you, I'm sorry······.”

And on top of that, she even apologized when she hadn't done anything wrong.

Now, there was Phillip, safely shielded and lying flat on the ground 'alone', me, holding a small and precious child, and Delphi, who had approached with a dumbfounded expression. Romero was walking over belatedly from a distance.

“You disloyal bastard. You put up a shield for yourself. Hey, you punk! Shouldn't you have at least put one up for Lottie!”

As Delphi kicked the shield as if to trample it, Phillip awkwardly got up from his spot, staggering.

“W-why is it only here.”

Phillip, who had dispelled the bluish barrier that was within a 30cm radius of his body, avoided my gaze and shrunk into a corner.

“What, what. Is something fun going on? Oh! Oh! Found one, a villager!”

And Romero, who appeared only after the situation was over. I thought as I watched her run over excitedly.

Just like with the alligator monsters, a protagonist who always appears with such ambiguous timing…….

‘The apocalypse, can we really stop it?’

It was a serious concern.