The Babysitter Wants to Stop Dying

Chapter 16: The End of the Tutorial (6)

I dozed off and was woken up by a sudden surge of nausea.

"Ugh? What is it?"

My vision was dizzy. Up, down, left, and right were shaking wildly. I felt like a protein powder in a shaker bottle.

On the floor, the glass I had just been drinking from was in pieces, and even the intact boxes had all fallen over.

"Professor?"

Camila's expression, standing by the window, was also unusual. I had a feeling something was about to happen. What on earth....

"Uweeeek-."

Ah. So this was it.

"Uweeeeeek!"

I desperately hugged the trash can next to me as if it were a lovely treasure. I hadn't eaten anything, but bile was rising. And a foul smell to boot.

"No, what, euup!"

An alien wave that instantly wrapped around my body as soon as I woke up. It really felt like someone was grabbing the yacht and shaking it. My stomach was turning inside out.

"Lady Camila."

As I was panting, pathetically clutching the trash can, the door burst open. It was Mago.

"A Gate has opened near our route. Shall we evacuate?"

A Gate? Suddenly? Well, Gates usually open suddenly, but this is the sea.

"This is annoying."

"I'm sorry."

Camila clicked her tongue, tsk. Mago apologized.

What is this, this strange sense of unease. We encountered a Gate in the middle of the vast ocean, but the atmosphere was closer to annoyance than seriousness.

"What's the Gate level?"

"Judging by the wavelength, it's estimated to be C-rank, but the problem is that it's in the sea, so responding won't be easy and will take quite some time. I think it would be better to evacuate."

Camila's eyes turned towards me. No, more precisely, towards Lottie who was sleeping next to me.

"No. It will reek of rotting corpses in there, so I'll stay here. Focus on passing through safely rather than subjugation."

Don't tell me the evacuation was into Mago's subspace?

Uuuk-

Another wave of nausea washed over me.

"Mr. Neroro, if you're awake, please watch Lottie."

Camila gestured with her eyes and sat down again. Mago, who had bowed his head, closed the door and left.

"It will be nothing."

Kugugugugu-

As if on cue, a huge vibration shook the yacht as soon as Camila's words ended. Gulp. The lumps that were about to rise up my throat were automatically swallowed.

‘I think it will be a huge something.’

This wasn't a wave. It felt as if the beings below were struggling to get out.

Everything is swaying, and my heart is pounding. But,

‘Really, what is it.’

Documents fluttering before my eyes. Can she even see the letters when it's shaking like this?

"If you'd like, you can watch Renie. She's an excellent ice user."

Camila, with a file in one hand, slowly fastens her seatbelt with the other.

"Ice...?"

"You may not know the others, but you'll rarely have a chance to meet Renie, so it won't be bad to watch."

Ah! Ice!

It was when I let out a small exclamation in my mind at her words.

Kuwuooooook!

Huge monsters, probably tens of meters long, suddenly shot out of the sea.

"Uaaah!"

Whether this was a yacht or a submarine, the hull shook like crazy. No, this was beyond shaking. Aren't we sinking right now!

I grabbed Lottie in the churning sea and hurriedly fastened my seatbelt. I wondered why it was there, and it was essential.

With the belt on, my body at least stuck to the sofa and I found a moment of stability. And the moment I turned my eyes to the window behind me,

"Oh my god."

Dozens of pairs of gleaming, bright yellow eyes are staring this way.

The eyes of the monsters, illuminated by the moonlight, on the dark night sea.

...Hairtails?

Even to me, it was a very intuitive impression.

***

A silver body that shot up from the sea like a razor clam, at least over 20m long, with a pointed snout.

The shape of the monsters was unmistakably that of hairtails.

Horrifyingly, they seemed to be thousands of times larger.

Swaaaaaa-!

One after another, others also shot up, and seawater poured down like a waterfall. A water bomb so large it was a wonder the yacht didn't sink.

"Mago! If it comes to it, put the whole yacht in!"

A cheerful voice came through the soundproof cabin.

Renie.

That person is that person.

A man who jumps out of the yacht in the pitch-black night sea. Then he starts running on the sea.

No, to be precise, the surface was freezing with every step he took. A cold, blue light shone brightly even on the black seawater.

Jjeojeojeojeok!

Keueeeeeeek!

The black sea, except for the area around the yacht, is gradually turning into an ice sheet. At the same time, the hairtails that were on the surface also began to freeze.

Kueeeee?

Jjeojeok- jjeojeojeok-!

The hairtails, unable to move a muscle after their appearance.

"【Ice Ball】."

While the hairtails were confused, hundreds of ice fragments the size of bowling balls gathered in the air following Renie's fingertips.

It was truly a spectacle. A feast of a black background and glossy spheres.

"Fish should live in the sea!"

Jump!

The moment Renie kicked off the ice floor and soared into the sky!

Kueooooook-!

The scattered ice fragments are shot like bullets.

Peopeopeopeok!

The heads of dozens of hairtails burst mercilessly. The screams of the monsters, which felt like they would burst my eardrums, were rampant.

A battle that ended in just a few minutes, truly a futile one.

But the aftermath was not light.

"Euk-!"

Crimson blood falls from the sky like a waterfall. Clutching my churning throat, I covered the eyes of the sleeping Lottie. The yacht was about to be covered in blood.

"Renie! Hurry!"

But that too was just a baseless fear. At the same time as Mago's shout, sparkling ice crystals instantly surrounded the yacht.

The thinly shaped plates formed something like a transparent balloon, separating the yacht from the mess. The blood couldn't reach the yacht and flowed down in streaks.

Renie, who had finished his work, ran in an instant and jumped onto the yacht. To think he ran on the sea. It was a surreal sight that I still couldn't get used to.

"Mago, did you think I wouldn't have predicted that? How about it, the skill of this body that shines even in the sea!"

"Everything that could have splattered already has. What are we going to do with these clothes? Bloodstains don't come out."

"What? Then you should have fought instead, why did you just stand there? Geez."

A casual yet grumbling conversation from outside.

Ice Prince Renie.

A cute name that gives the listener considerable internal damage. But unlike his childish nickname, he was an incredibly famous person.

I should have looked through the Ranker encyclopedia more diligently. I didn't recognize his face.

A handsome ice-type who always ranked high in the popularity poll of the weekly magazine 'Ranker Life White Paper'. With his bluish hair covering the middle of his face and his handsome features, he was the type of man women would like.

To see such a celebrity like this.

Rankers were also beings who replaced celebrities in Astava, which had no entertainment industry. Naturally, they had fandoms, and popular Rankers even had related merchandise sold.

Literally, Rankers were stars themselves.

Especially S-ranks or Rankers with handsome looks and strange abilities.

But.

"Save me...."

That's that.

"Uwek-"

As the freezing of the sea ended, the bodies of the hairtails with their heads burst began to crumble one by one. And the rough waves that grew even stronger.

"Uweeeeeek!"

I put down Lottie, who was sleeping well thanks to my ability without waking up, and grabbed the trash can again.

'At this rate, my soul is going to come out....'

In the end, I lost my mind.

Ah.

I'm a disqualified babysitter, disqualified....

***

The sea before dawn was silent. The faint sound of waves and Arsen's snoring were the only things that broke the silence.

Lottie, whose specialty was sleeping, would wake up for a short while, eat a snack, and then go back to sleep.

"There's nothing. Nothing has changed."

Camila, who had been buried in documents for a long time even after encountering the swarm of monsters, took off her glasses.

Her purple eyes, steeped in fatigue, stared at the passed-out Arsen. There was not even a twitch, as if he were dead.

'Everything is the same.... Who on earth are you? Why did you bring the terror attack?'

Camila, with a troubled face, swept back her hair.

She had taken every single document from the Center to find anything that had changed. And she had read them all. She had put every single remaining record into her head, but,

"I don't know. Anything."

There is nothing she doesn't know. There is nothing in 'this world' that she does not know anymore.

But as Arsen said earlier, he was from Remble. She didn't even know that. Of course, it could be that the Administrator had blocked the report in the middle, but it still didn't make sense.

Arsen Neroro was a person who had never appeared even once.

Lottie's sitter was Ferid Ville from beginning to end. Only that person.

But Arsen Neroro. It didn't make sense.

Of course, Lottie had also never come out of the Center until 'that incident'. The terror attack that occurred with the purpose of kidnapping Lottie was also a non-existent event.

"Something, is going wrong."

Camila's lips trembled faintly.

***

"...-ssi."

Ugh. What.

"...-ro-ssi!"

Just a little more, just a little more. I've been building sandcastles all day.

I don't know if I'm a person or an excavator anymore....

"Mr. Neroro! I told you to get up!"

"Heop! Ak!"

Waking up by hitting my head on the table.

"Kkeuaak...."

As I struggled in excruciating pain and distinguished between dream and reality, the first thing I saw was Camila and Lottie, already dressed and ready to leave.

Lottie, naturally held in Camila's arms. The bear-patterned pajamas, which had lost an ear, were also intact, probably fixed by the Professor.

"You wouldn't wake up no matter how many times I called you. I'll be waiting outside, so come out."

"Aah, yes...."

A gaze steeped in pity, as if she had been trying to wake me up for a long time. The tiny eyes next to her also had the same glint, so I meekly nodded and headed to the bathroom.

"How long did I sleep?"

The face in the mirror is haggard. A dark stubble is a bonus.

"Still, this is decent enough... huh."

Didn't I throw up a lot yesterday? Why am I clean?

"You've gone crazy, Arsen."

I feel like my vision is turning white.

The vomit on my face and the trash can. Either the Professor cleaned it up, or the other Rankers did.

What's certain is, I did a horrible thing on this high-class yacht. And the disgrace in front of the woman who might become my superior is a plus.

"Uaaah."

For some reason, the future of my new job didn't look very bright.

***

"The vehicle will be arriving soon. Please wait a moment."

As I trudged outside, I saw Mago, who had bowed respectfully to Camila, disembarking first.

"This is...."

It's hard to even open my eyes in the bright, shining sunlight.

The place we reached after a full day's voyage. As I raised my hand to make a shade, a huge port came into view.

"Eastbourne. Isn't it a familiar place."

My mouth fell open at Camila's passing remark.

Eastbourne?

The capital of Astava's 1st continent.

The most bustling city where the Association headquarters is located.

The pride of the 1st continent, which boasts the best security and wealth, right there?

'It's where Remble is.'

My face hardened on its own.

I've arrived at a place that's not very welcome.