The Babysitter Wants to Stop Dying

Chapter 33: The Devil in the Deep Mountain Village (2)

“Would you please leave now? I'd like to speak with the President alone.”

Camila's request was not a request. At her tone, which was almost a command, the secretary's body was already backing away on its own.

“……You may leave.”

“C-call me when you need me.”

Brandt's permission was no different from the voice of a dead man on his deathbed. The secretary bowed his head and scurried out, closing the door behind him.

“You must be busy, so what brings you here?”

Brandt, who had been standing awkwardly, leaned back in his chair, figuring that escape was already out of the question. Camila walked in with the steady sound of her heels.

“You don't even offer me a seat. You're so openly disliking me, I don't know whether to laugh or not.”

“You've already taken the seat of honor, and yet you say……”

Brandt clicked his tongue at Camila, who only showed him the back of her head.

In the President's office, the President's desk was on the opposite side of the entrance, and in the middle, sofas were arranged in a U-shape.

Among them, the sofa in the seat of honor had its back to the President's desk, which meant that Camila, who was sitting there, wasn't even looking at Brandt.

“President.”

After a moment of silence, a chilling tension descended.

“I don't care how you enjoy your life, but shouldn't you at least draw the line?”

An utterance that clearly knew of Brandt's revelry the previous night. Watching Camila lean her head back on the sofa's headrest, Brandt swallowed dryly.

“……I will gladly accept the punishment for that later. For now, isn't resolving this situation more urgent? If that's why you're here, let's see each other in an official setting later.”

It was his own way of telling her to get lost. But what came back was,

“An official setting……. Are you talking about a place where we reveal the President's vigorous private life in front of a myriad of flashes?”

It was a shameless mockery.

“Hey! No matter how important a position you hold in the Association, are you really not able to distinguish between heaven and earth! I am also a person of real power in Astava!”

Even as he said that, Brandt was clutching his knees to hide his trembling hands. He felt pathetic for secretly being relieved that Camila wasn't looking at him, but at least he was satisfied with the anger he had unleashed on Camila for the first time.

‘Seeing that she's quiet, it seems the bitch who was acting up, trusting only in the Association, has come to her senses.’

During the brief silence, Brandt judged that Camila was a little intimidated by his words. If so, it was a golden opportunity to continue the momentum and turn the tide of the conversation in his favor.

It was just as Brandt was about to open his mouth.

“To say such a thing with your own mouth, it's embarrassing. A person of real power. I wonder who made you that.”

Camila, who had let out a low sigh, slowly stood up and approached Brandt. Her expression was so much like she was looking at something pathetic, as if she had nothing to say, that Brandt felt not just unpleasant, but his mind went blank.

“Do you really think you got here on your own?”

On her face, which had been as emotionless as a mask, the corners of her mouth suddenly curled up.

A clear sneer.

Brandt's brow crumpled mercilessly as his pride was suddenly broken.

“This woman, really!”

Brandt slammed his desk as if to throw a punch, but,

“You are just one of the few elements I've changed.”

An irresistible pressure crushed him. As if an invisible power resided in each syllable, he couldn't even breathe.

Camila Ingram was definitely a non-superhuman, but what on earth was this…….

“You're not qualified, but I put you in your seat because your abilities were decent. It's a problem if you act like this.”

Brandt glared at Camila, panting for breath that wouldn't come. Then, she suddenly changed her expression and asked.

“President, do you want to keep that position?”

It was an absurd question. She had been intimidating him as if to remove him from this position at any moment, and now what?

As Brandt stared blankly with a pale face, Camila tapped the desk and said.

“What I want is nothing special. Just hand over all the data on this year's Remble graduates. Don't miss anything, from the number of times they were late to the number of writing utensils they were given. Simple, right?”

“Wh-what?”

Brandt asked back with a face that said he had misheard. But Camila just tilted her head silently. The flustered Brandt blurted out whatever came to mind.

“Th-the graduates' data contains not only personal information, but also individual ability stats and information on the subjugation teams and companies they applied to after graduation……”

“You're not the type to worry about such things, are you? Right?”

Tap.

Camila, who had grabbed Brandt's shoulder with a sound, smiled brightly. But her eyes didn't move, and the smile that only lifted the corners of her mouth brought a strange discomfort and eeriness. The President, against his will, slowly nodded his head up and down.

“Then I'll assume you understand and take my leave. If you continue to listen to me, you'll be able to have a pleasant life as President.”

Camila patted Brandt's shoulder, which gave no reply, once more and turned around without any lingering attachment.

“······Out of our past acquaintance, I'll give you a piece of advice.”

Brandt, who was glaring at the walking Camila, said in a broken voice. He still couldn't breathe properly.

“You'd better watch yourself. The rumors circulating about the great Camila Ingram are getting less and less ordinary.”

“……”

“I don't know what you're plotting, but there's at least one or two groups of people targeting you. It's better to do your foolish acts in moderation. No matter how much you have the Association backing you up.”

Brandt, who had cleared his throat with a snort, drank water with a trembling hand.

“Brandt.”

Camila, who had turned around with a slow motion, looked down at him.

“You're not even going to call me President anymore?”

The President, who had let out a hollow laugh at her, who was twenty years his senior, calling him by his name, could only shut his mouth.

“That doesn't matter at all.”

Her lips, red as if stained with blood, whispered coldly.

“Because it's a world that will soon be torn to shreds and disappear anyway.”

Camila, with eyes that looked as if she were about to die, left the President's office. Brandt stared blankly at the door she had left through for a long time.

It wasn't that he was scared by the sharp words of a young woman.

It was because Camila's face, as she said that and left, was so expressionless, so much like a dead person's, that Brandt could not forget the chill for a long time.

And he thought.

Maybe the rumors about her were true.

Maybe the rumors that she had sold her soul to the devil were, in fact, true.

***

I shrank from the cold of the night air. The cold made me feel the urge to pee even more intensely.

“This is the first time I've seen a bathroom outside.”

Remble, the Center, and even the lodging I had stayed in until yesterday were all high-class facilities, so it was natural that they were clean, and they all had indoor bathrooms. In that respect, it was really not much different from the 21st century of my previous life.

But this was a rural area outside the big city of Eastbourne. A mountain village at that.

All there was was a portable toilet set up next to a fence that seemed to have no meaning here. And it was a portable toilet with almost dying lights.

“I have to squeeze everything out so I don't have to come out in my sleep.”

A light shiver ran down my spine as I emptied myself refreshingly.

“I wonder how much I can sleep if I go to bed now.”

The night in the mountain valley was quite eerie. And since there were no lit houses around, it was even more so……. What's that?

“Ugh! What the!”

Blink. The moment I came out of the bathroom in the pitch-black darkness, our eyes met. Four pairs of eyes staring at me from over Emma's fence.

“F-fuck!”

I couldn't even close the bathroom door and let out a word that was practically instinct.

Tadadak-!

The moment I freaked out and swore, they all ducked their bodies in unison and I heard the sound of running feet.

“Newbie! What's wrong!”

“Arsen? What happened?”

Phillip and Romero, who had heard my shout, threw the door open as if to break it and rushed out. Then I saw Emma, who had just woken up, also rushing out.

“Heok, heop, there, there, heok……”

Only then did I realize that I had been shouting without taking a single breath.

Breath caught in my throat.

At this moment, looking at the three faces that looked sweeter than any dessert, I thought.

‘Ha…….’

If I hadn't gone to the bathroom just now,

I would've peed my pants.

100 percent.

***

“How many were there?”

“Four! There were definitely four.”

At Emma's serious question, I spoke with passion, even spreading my fingers. I just couldn't get those black eyes out of my head.

“Are they villagers? Why on earth were they doing that?”

And the fact that they were all looking in a line was even creepier.

“So, you were coming out after doing your business, and there were four unknown people at the fence? And they were staring at you.”

“Yes! Phew, the goosebumps won't go away.”

I rubbed my arm and nodded at Delphi's words. She had woken up the latest and was still trying to grasp the situation.

In the dead of night, Emma's living room, where everyone was gathered, was noisy.

Besides me, who was explaining, and Delphi, who was still listening, Romero was excited, saying she wanted to see them too, and Phillip, who was afraid of ghosts, was whining. Only our Lottie was peacefully in dreamland at a time like this.

Then, Emma dropped a bombshell.

“They might not be human.”

“What?”

The goosebumps that had just subsided shot up all at once. Emma carefully began to speak. Her face was filled with fear.

“Actually, strange things have been happening in our village for a few months now.”

“Strange things?”

Romero tilted her head. Was it a stretch to think that her eyes held a hint of anticipation?

“At first, villagers started disappearing one by one. Back then, everyone thought they had just left secretly, but then one day two people disappeared, and another day an entire family disappeared.”

Emma, hugging her knees, trembled slightly.

“And a strange rumor started to spread in the village. That something was roaming around at night. That those things were catching people and taking them to the gorge. That's why people never go out at night……!”

No way, did they appear today too…….

Emma, her hands trembling, grabbed the arm of Phillip who was next to her.

“I know it's rude to ask this of travelers. But I saw earlier that you're superhumans. Right?”

“Ah, yeah.”

Phillip, who had put up a shield thinking Emma was a ghost, nodded awkwardly.

“Could you please help our village? Actually, I had a younger brother too. But he went missing three months ago. My only, my only family……”

‘Huh?’

I was quite flustered at Emma, who was shedding tears.

‘Suddenly?’

As Romero was flustered, telling her not to cry, and Phillip was shuddering at the bizarre story, I stared at Emma.

The hunch I had gotten while listening to Emma's story during the meal reared its head again.

The flow of the story felt a bit rushed. Didn't she not mention a younger brother earlier? If her brother had disappeared not long ago, I think she would have mentioned it then.

How should I put it.

It felt like a slightly fabricated story.

“Everyone, can we talk for a moment? Come over here.”

Just in case this impulsive group of Knights made a rash decision, I beat them to it. Emma, who was wiping her tears, showed a look of confusion, but I simply raised and lowered my hand to be polite.

The Knights, who had only moved their butts a little away from Emma to gather, were just staring at me blankly. I squatted in the middle of them and said.

“Let's not help them.”

“……Huh?”

At my voice, which held no hesitation, Romero made a face of disbelief. Phillip and Delphi also widened their eyes in surprise. But my opinion did not change.

“Y-you're a good friend! What do you mean let's not help them?”

Romero shouted softly, glancing behind her. Even so, it was loud enough for Emma in the same space to hear.

“I said let's not help them. You all remember what the driver said, don't you? That it's a neighborhood he wouldn't recommend.”

I firmly stated my opinion, regardless of whether Emma heard me or not. I felt a gaze from behind me, but I just ignored it and shook my head.

“Of course, we're not sheriffs or problem solvers. We also refuse jobs outside of our mission. But we received help. How can we just pass by after hearing Emma's story?”

Delphi tried to persuade me in a soft voice.

Even if we got some food and a place to sleep, aren't these people trusting her too much?

In this world, suspicion, and more suspicion, is always essential.

And even more so here in Astava.

I was wondering how to persuade these people, when Phillip asked.

“What's the reason for not helping?”

“……The reason.”

There's no reason. Just like with the Center Administrator incident, I just trust my own alarm bells that are ringing under my skin.

I didn't used to believe it, but after the Administrator, I knew for sure that my gut feeling wasn't bad.

I blinked slowly, stroked Lottie's head, and said firmly.

“A hunch.”

“……A hunch?”

The three of them blinked at the same time, as if on cue.

I looked back at them with a solemn expression and explained seriously.

“Yes. A hunch. It's not something to brag about, but with just this hunch, I was able to predict that the Administrator at the Center might be an intruder.”

As I said that, I thought that the Knights would surely listen to me.

Naively.