https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/45/
Babysitting
“Last place Onee-chan! Wake up!”
A little girl’s voice dragged my attention back to reality after it hopped from place to place. Colorful and clean wooden toys that had their sharp edges shaved away were scattered across the floor around us. Each one was shaped to mimic some piece of fruit or tableware.
It took me a second to remember I was in the middle of playing house with a young girl whose small cheeks were puffed out like a squirrel’s because of my complete lack of motivation.
Today’s request involves taking care of some kids. The client wanted us to watch their children because, and I quote, “I want to go on a date with my husband.” Something about this request clicked with Dahlia, and she stubbornly insisted we take it no matter what.
With three of us working together, I figured we would have plenty of leeway, but it turns out there were also three kids we had to take care of. To make sure nobody got left out, we decided it would be best for each of us to pair off with one of the kids.
“Are you listening Onee-chan!? This is why you’re last place!”
I was put in charge of the oldest of the three, a five-year-old girl who is so good at tearing my heart to shreds I cannot believe she is actually only five.
“I-I heard you. You were making an apple pie weren’t you?”
“I already made that! You were sleeping after all!”
Last night Lily got more excited than usual when she remembered that Olive had interrupted our fun before, and we didn’t end up falling asleep until day was already starting to break. Even so, Lily didn’t want to break her morning routine, so after we took a short nap, she forced me back awake so we could train. It’s not even noon, yet all I want is to go back to bed.
To get rid of my sleepiness, I put all my strength into my eyes and opened them as wide as I could. It didn’t work very well, but it did cause the little girl to fall over laughing when she saw me. I don’t know what exactly she thought was so funny that she’d start rolling around the floor, but if she’s happy, I’m doing my job.
Dahlia took charge of the youngest, one-year-old baby. She used a cloth to make a sling around her neck to carry the baby and has been walking around the house singing a soothing lullaby with a gentle voice I never thought I’d hear coming from her.
Melia is in charge of the middle child. He is the only boy, but Melia was able to make good use of her bountiful breasts to put him to sleep. I noticed that while Melia was carrying him around in his sleep, he had a big smile while she patted his head. I worry about the kid’s future.
“Hey, I’m hungry. I want something to eat. Let’s go out!”
The eldest eventually got tired of seeing my funny face and started to grumble.
“All right. I managed to get this child to sleep, so how about we head out?”
Dahlia agreed with the girl while showing me the sleeping baby’s face. Her head was buried in Dahlia’s chest with not a care in the world showing on her face. I still don’t like Dahlia as a human being, but she’s so young and beautiful I find it hard to believe she has a kid of her own. Maybe she knows some kind of beauty magic?
We nudged the middle child who was enjoying Melia’s breasts awake and then the six of us headed to the market.
♠
The market at noon is crowded with like-minded people who all want to fill their bellies. I entrusted the kids to Melia and Dahlia in order to grab enough food for all six of us on my own.
The smell of fruits and meat stewing together in a large pot wafted from inside the simple roofed food stalls and whetted my appetite.
A crowd of people similarly lured in by the smell had formed in front of the stalls, making it impossible to walk in a straight line, and so even the people I directly walked past didn’t notice I was one of the hero candidates. Although you’d never find a crowd this dense in the countryside, so it made me a little uncomfortable.
When I finally managed to get to the front of a line, I ordered enough food for five people. While I was waiting for the food to be prepared, I stood with my back to the throngs of people and just stared blankly at one of the walls. Then I felt someone touch my butt.
I turned around in surprise and found an older guy standing there with a creepy smile. I have no idea who he is, and there is no reason why he would need to touch my butt.
“W-What is it?”
“Hey Miss, you’re the dancer in the audition ain’t you? Here, some money. I’ll even vote for you. Let’s head over there and have some fun.”
“Let me go!”
He grabbed my wrist and tried forcibly dragging me away, so I used my free hand to grab one of the stall’s pillars.
This guy apparently thinks that just because I’m a dancer, I’ll do anything including prostitution for some money, so he came to talk to me. Goosebumps stretched from where he was touching me on my wrist all the way up my back.
Normally someone would’ve spoken up to help me out, but nobody from off the street has noticed us yet. No, some people have noticed, but they’re just pretending they didn’t. The only one who can protect me, is me.
But I don’t know how to do that. I don’t have any weapons. And the guy is tougher than me and has me pinned like…..like the time Lily pinned me against the wall.
I didn’t lose all my strength when she did it, but Lily moved me around like my whole body was at her whim. If I remember right, she grabbed me by the wrist and twisted it behind my body. It was like we were dancing.
“I-I get it, so please just let go of my hand.”
When the guy finally let me go, I tripped over and almost fell into the dirt. I tried to look calm as I stood up straight, and I made as if I were going to hold his hand. Then I yanked on his wrist, spinning around him like one of my dances and jammed his arm behind his back.
I worked mostly off instinct, so I honestly can’t say exactly what I just did, but the uncle’s arm was firmly locked in place.
I couldn’t see his face, but he kept apologizing to me while groaning in pain, so I guess it actually went better than I could’ve hoped.
I’m usually being beaten down by Lily, but I have to say, it’s fun being on the superior side too. I proudly declared my victory with a small sense of superiority born from my triumph.
“I might be a dancer, but do not assume that all dancers are the same. Get it?”
“I-I get it, so let me go! I’ll be killed! Oii! Somebody!”
“Wai-….I am not going to kill you!”
The bald uncle suddenly started screaming for help. All the people who were pretending not to see us a moment ago were now forming a circle around us.
“T-This girl suddenly attacked me!”
“Don’t throw around false accusations! This guy….you touched my butt!”
I really don’t feel comfortable talking about this in front of a crowd. But if I don’t prove my innocence here, even if I can walk away from the situation now, it’ll cost me in votes later.
But my voice was too loud apparently, and the crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger. It was becoming impossible for anyone to walk through the stalls anymore. Just as I was holding my head, wondering what I did wrong, my nose suddenly picked up on a scent I liked.
Then without knowing how, someone came up behind me and put their hand on my shoulder.
“Hero candidate Liffy-san. Is there a problem here?”
I didn’t need to turn around. I know what Lily’s voice sounds like. We’re in public, so she’s using her weird, prim and proper voice when she talks, but there was no doubt in my mind. Maybe the crowd wasn’t actually forming to see what was going on so much as they were just following her.
“Ah…. this guy here…. he touched my butt and tried forcing me to sleep with him for money….”
I have no idea what kind of distance I’m supposed to have with Lily when we’re in public, so my voice turned strange as I kept changing my volume and tone.
“Oi oi! You’re the one who suddenly pulled on my arm! Everyone saw it right!?”
The people gathered around weren’t agreeing with the guy, but since the ones here didn’t see the whole situation, they weren’t taking my side either.
“You have yet to deny the claim that you groped her and tried forcing her into prostitution. Is it true?”
“This girl’s….a liar!”
In the end, it’s just my word against his, so we aren’t going anywhere with this. Then a girl around my age stepped to the front of the crowd.
“I….I was called out by this man too…. when I said no, he started chasing me until I asked the guards for help.”
Going by her appearance, I think she’s a dancer too. Back in the countryside, I was the only young dancer around. I’m happy to see there are others keeping it up in the capital. Anyway, her words helped turn things in my favor.
“Then we can continue our talk at the guard outpost. We won’t let you turn your lies into a truth.”
At the very end, Lily muttered something quiet enough that only the old man and I could hear. It makes me think that the only person who can get away with telling a lie in front of Lily is the king himself.
♠
I worked with the dancer who came out of the crowd and Lily to push the uncle over to the guards. They told us that the guy is actually a repeat offender and similar complaints have been posted about him many times before. The guards thanked me for my help, but with no news reporter around to document it, I can’t expect my achievements to spread too widely.
I walked side by side with Lily to the stall and pick up the food I ordered earlier.
“Thank you for your help Lily.”
“Think nothing of it. I was merely doing the right thing.”
Because we didn’t know who might be listening in, Lily didn’t break from her prim and proper character. She stayed that way until we brought the food over to Melia and the others who had been waiting all this time.
For some reason, it really felt like I was talking to a noble lady. I mean, she is a noble lady, but I’ve never really thought about it that way before.
“Hm? Is Lily-san alone?”
While Lily was standing to the side with nothing to do, Melia asked her something I hadn’t realized while feeding the boy his lunch.
“Yes. We decided it was for the best to split up. We have many people who ask to shake our hands, and the problem only gets worse when we are all together.”
Maybe it’s because we’re all in a group together, but Lily’s voice lost that proper edge to it. When I glanced around, I could see a lot of people looking at Lily, but nobody was coming towards us. It’d probably be awkward to come up to a lone girl and ask her to shake your hand.
Lily’s team is made up of the most popular girls in the competition. If a group like that were to wander the market together, it would cause a panic. The three of us don’t get nearly that much attention, and it makes me a little jealous.
We all chatted for a time, but eventually, we heard a bell ringing in the distance.
“That’s about time for me. I will see you all at the dorms.”
As she left, Lily tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear.
“Tonight, I will be overwriting that butt of yours.”
When Ronaldo strangled me before, Lily licked me all over, saying she would “overwrite” the memory.
Today, that guy grabbed my butt and my wrist. I have no idea what time I will be able to go to sleep tonight, but at least I managed to find some new motivation to babsit this afternoon.
Experimental Translations 