I Am Not a Robot. Beep-bop

Chapter 53: The Saya Guild of Nuong 2

I think I’ve said this a few times already, but this is my third life.

My first life was as an ordinary human.

My second life, though fragmented in memory, was something akin to being a Demon King or another grand figure.

And my third life, as you can see, is here in the post-apocalyptic world of Ark, living as an android.

In other words, I’ve lived a fairly long time.

Living a long time means I’ve had all kinds of experiences, rolling around in various situations, sometimes being on top and sometimes at the bottom.

However, my mind is forcibly fixed in the early twenties, leaving most of the memories and lessons of my long years behind.

That’s a shame, really.

In any case, despite my long life and countless experiences, there’s something I’ve never tackled.

That would be the role of a caretaker.

More specifically, taking care of children.

In my first life, my parents passed away early, I had no siblings, and I lost contact with my relatives, so I never had the chance to meet or take care of a baby or a child.

I didn’t form a family in that life either, so naturally, I didn’t have any kids of my own.

The second life as a Demon King was no different.

I wasn’t even human back then.

Though I may have led and guided others, children were never a part of my existence.

Of course, it could be that I’ve simply forgotten about it.

But even when Sohi asked me to take care of the guild members, who she referred to as kids, I wasn’t particularly worried.

“Kids are kids, after all. Just play with them a little and wear them out. It should be fine, right?”

Even if they weren’t ordinary children but something closer to awakened beings, they were still kids.

And I was an Ultimate-Class Returnee and the successor of a First-Class Overseer.

I figured it wouldn’t be too hard.

At worst, I thought I could just take them to a forest somewhere and let them play around.

“The kids are in the shelter.”

“Shelter?”

“I mean the subspace shelter. It’s a room with a virtual dungeon from the Barrier Agency applied to it.”

“Are there that many kids?”

“…I’m not sure about that.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Instead of answering, Sohi gave me a troubled look and silently guided me.

Following her lead, I arrived at the kids’ “shelter,” a giant playroom enhanced with spatial distortion devices, similar to the virtual dungeons used by the Barrier Agency.

“Miss Alice.”

“Hmm?”

“Our contract… you haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“Oh, yeah. A long-term contract with a 0.3 percent share. Plus, I get to use the guild mansion as my own house in exchange for babysitting. Why?”

“I just wanted to remind you to stay true to your word. Also, you’ve already signed the contract, so it’s irrevocable.”

Sohi’s sudden intimidation made me scoff.

Sure, babysitting might be a little tricky, but how hard could it be?

The deal was too good to pass up—a 0.3 percent share and a luxurious mansion practically brimming with electricity for me to use.

“I’m not scared of babysitting, so I’m not backing out now.”

“That’s a relief.”

With that, Sohi opened the door to the shelter.

The shelter, originally about 30 pyeong in size, had been expanded to the size of a soccer field thanks to the spatial distortion devices.

Inside, there were countless black-haired girls.

They were all beautiful girls.

Each had long black hair, black eyes, the same height, and looked no older than ten.

But they weren’t identical twins, as their facial features varied slightly.

However, what caught my attention upon entering the shelter wasn’t their appearance.

It was the bizarre scene unfolding before me.

No, could this even be described as a “bizarre scene”?

Bang!

Crash!

“Heeheehee!”

“Catch me if you can!”

“Give me back my squeaky toy!!”

The girls were swarming across the walls and ceiling, darting around like a whirlwind.

At first glance, it looked like innocent tag games, so it wasn’t too alarming.

At least those seemed like peaceful play activities.

But turning my head revealed something else.

In one corner, some of the girls were sparring using martial arts that resembled some sort of special forces techniques.

“Hiya!”

-Thud!

“Ugh!”

Their moves were ferociously aimed at each other’s necks, faces, and solar plexuses.

Despite their small arms and legs, their nimble movements were reminiscent of martial arts novels.

I decided to let it slide, for now.

At least they weren’t using weapons.

The girls’ fingers dug into the floor, and their kicks seemed to crack the walls, but I decided to pretend not to notice.

Tap-tap-tap-tap!

“Die!”

“Kyaa-ha-ha-ha!”

In another part of the room, dozens of girls wielded guns that seemed bigger than themselves, firing at each other while dodging.

Below them, some girls sat eating cookies, smearing crumbs all over their hands and faces, seemingly unbothered by the bullets flying overhead.

“Kyaa-ha-ha-ha!”

“Hiya! Celestial Wave Fist!”

“Oh, darkness darker than twilight, oh, light redder than blood!”

Boom!!

“Oh no, I told them not to use that indoors…”

“….”

Elsewhere, three or four girls clasped their hands together, shooting a red beam that was promptly sliced in half by another girl wielding a sword.

When I turned to Sohi to ask what was going on, she avoided my gaze and looked away.

“What is this? No, who are those kids?”

“Ahaha, it’s the first time I’ve shown this to anyone.”

“Are you sure those are awakened children?”

“I can’t say much yet, but think of them as something similar. However, as specified in the contract, the amount we’re paying Alice is significant, and the task includes taking care of guild members and fostering harmony.”

“You didn’t mention that before.”

“I just did.”

It became clear to me why the Saya Guild was offering not just temporary cash but an actual share of ownership.

For them to pay such an exorbitant price to hire a mere hunter, there had to be a reason.

And once I’d said yes, there was no backing out.

That’s how hunter contracts worked.

Whether a hunter was treated as a thug with a sword or as a trustworthy sentinel and hunter of Ark depended entirely on their reliability.

“These children are regular guild members of the Saya Guild.”

“…Do other people know? This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“We operate exclusively as a guild. Regular guild members aren’t deployed to missions where there are witnesses or survivors, and we don’t collaborate with others. Especially not with adults.”

If children swarmed a place, rumors would surely spread, but most of the information about the Saya Guild was heavily concealed.

Even if someone stumbled upon a place teeming with children like an orphanage, it’s unlikely anyone would believe them.

The Saya Guild’s regular members are ten-year-old girls, and they’re all monstrously strong!

People would dismiss it as a crazy otaku fantasy.

“The main reason we hired Alice is that the children dislike adults.”

“You seem to like me, though.”

“I’m a bit of an exception. I started looking after children around Alice’s age.”

I studied Sohi quietly after that remark.

She looked young, but she wasn’t at an age to be called a girl anymore.

Considering awakened beings in Ark often looked much younger than they were, Sohi was likely older than she appeared.

“Our children are often afraid of or dislike adults. No matter how skilled a hunter might be, if they’re an adult, hiring them would be problematic.”

“No wonder you accepted me so easily.”

“That’s why someone like Alice, young yet skilled and independent, is incredibly rare. We couldn’t afford to let you go.”

Still… no matter how you looked at it, these kids were out of the ordinary.

Could I beat them in a head-on fight?

1-on-1, sure, I could win.

1-on-2 or 1-on-3 might be tricky but manageable.

However, starting at 1-on-4, things would get difficult.

At 1-on-5, I’d need to be fully prepared.

【Analysis of Saya Guild individuals indicates that from 1-on-6 onward, victory cannot be guaranteed.】

“Shining Fingerrrr!”

“Take this! Dark Finger!!”

Crash!

“….”

【Considering the technique just displayed, it would be more accurate to adjust the assessment to 1-on-5 as the threshold where victory becomes uncertain.】

I finally understood why mega-corporations like Dawn and Earnest Rail hadn’t managed to oust the Saya Guild from Jine.

While the Saya Guild might not rival them in capital, their individual combat power wasn’t inferior.

Each of these young girls was not just strong but monstrous, and there were enough of them to fill a shelter enhanced by spatial distortion technology.

If they decided to take down a mega-corp in earnest… it’d be terrifying.

“Alright, kids, focus~!”

In the end, Sohi clapped her hands to gather the girls’ attention.

Despite the noise of gunfire and all sorts of weapons clanging against the walls, a single clap from Sohi echoed throughout the space, drawing all the children’s eyes to her.

“Ah! Guild Master!”

“Sohi unnie!”

It seemed the girls only just noticed Sohi and I entering the shelter.

“Kyaa!”

“It’s the glowing Guild Master!”

“I have a glow-in-the-dark sticker.”

“Whoa, give me one too!”

“Nope.”

“I’ll trade you a crayon.”

“Fine!”

“Whoa! There’s a pretty unnie next to her!”

“Wow!”

“A new unnie!”

“Unnie?”

“She’s a glowing unnie!”

“No, she’s too pretty! She’s like a doll unnie!”

“Kyaa, doll unnie! I wonder what’s inside if we pull off her head!”

“Blood, obviously.”

“Dummy, dolls don’t bleed.”

I decided to ignore the creepy comments coming from somewhere.

The chaotic girls had somehow all lined up in front of Sohi.

“Today, I’m introducing a new friend to our guild members.”

“Kyaaaa!”

“Friend-friend!”

“Glowing friend!”

“No, she’s going to be my crayon friend!”

“Unnie! Are you the glowing unnie?”

“She’s younger than the Guild Master!”

“Wow! She’s the glowing doll unnie!”

“….”

I wanted to introduce myself, but the endlessly chattering girls made it impossible to find the right moment to speak.

Their words lacked logic, and listening to them too long felt like it could cause brain damage.

“Now, it’s time for our new unnie to introduce herself, so everyone, shh.”

“Shh!”

“Shhh!”

“Shhhhhh…”

“Shhhya…”

“I need to go shh.”

“Waaaaah!”

“Shh.”

“Shhh-shh!”

“Shwoop!”

Even so, the girls seemed to listen to Sohi and quieted down somewhat.

Somewhat quieted down.

I could still hear random noises from here and there.

Sohi smiled and gestured for me to introduce myself.

“…Hello. I’m Alice…”

“Alice!”

“Alice!”

“Ellisoo!”

“Lisasoo!”

“It’s Alice!”

“Alice unnie!”

“No, it’s Alice ahjussi!”

“Why ahjussi? She’s a girl!”

“In a comic, there was an unnie who looked like Alice unnie, and she said, ‘Ahjussi doesn’t want to move because it’s hot~.’”

“Gasp.”

“That’s a comic, you dummy!”

“……”

Fine, call me whatever you want.

Honestly, I wouldn’t even care if they called me ahjussi at this point.

Sohi clapped her hands again to mediate the chaotic situation and refocus the girls’ attention.

“Alice unnie is an independent mercenary, but she has temporarily joined our Saya Guild under a contract.”

“What’s an independent mercenary?”

“It means she’s a mercenary who works alone.”

“Whoa, she’s solo!”

“Gasps!”

“Unnie, are you solo?”

“So, while the contract is valid, Alice unnie will be here to play with you all.”

“Yayyyy!”

“Great, great!”

“Alice unnie is so pretty!”

“Unnie is pretty!”

“Since she’s pretty, give me that face!”

“I want the eyes!”

“I want the hands!”

Some of the kids occasionally said creepy things, but the problem was that, with their abilities, even jokes seemed like they could be carried out for real.

“Uh-uh, you can’t do that! Alice unnie is an outsider, but she’s also an important guest of ours. Should you treat a guest poorly? Should you?”

“Should we not?”

“No, we shouldn’t?”

“No, we shouldn’t!”

“Really?”

“Is that so?”

“I heard outsiders are bad…”

“You dummy! It’s the outside adults that are bad. Unnie is young!”

“But someone said Alice unnie is an ahjussi?”

“Just ignore that!”

“Anyway, you all need to treat Alice unnie’s words as if they were mine and follow them well. Got it?”

“Yesss.”

“Yeahhh.”

“Got ittt.”

The answers came in various forms again.

Satisfied with their responses, Sohi smiled and whispered to me.

“Then I’ll leave it to you. Teacher.”

“Teacher? I’m not a teacher.”

“Of course you are—a kindergarten teacher.”

This girl…

Perhaps the true purpose of the Saya Guild’s request was to find a slave to take care of these monstrous kids.

Sohi gave me a quick “good luck” before disappearing from the shelter, leaving me to face the stares of countless girls.

Having all their gazes focused on me felt awkward.

What now?

Curious and questioning eyes.

Eyes brimming with interest and excitement.

And even a few filled with doubt and suspicion—all directed at me.

Sohi told them to listen to me, but I wasn’t sure if they really would.

“So… what do you want to play?”

“…!”

“Play?”

“Play!”

“You’ll play with us?”

“You’re playing with us?”

In that instant, something shifted in the kids’ expressions.

The vast mana emanating from the children began to surge, and a few girls even wore unsettling grins.

What the… what’s happening?

-Click!

-Clang!

-Click-clack!

And then, out of nowhere, they started pulling out guns and swords.

“Uhuh… heehee…”

“Huhuhuhu…”

“Hohoho…”

“Hihi!”

Not just one or two, but easily over a hundred girls, armed with all sorts of dangerous weapons and unfamiliar magical techniques, stared at me.

It was like a horror movie.

“Play!”

“Let’s play…”

“Unnie! Play with us!”

“Let’s play!”

“Play with us!”

“Come play with us!”

Pulling out weapons to play?

I couldn’t tell if they were asking me to play or threatening me with blades.

“…Ah, sh*t…”

…Should I just quit now?