#016. The Nanny is Too Kind (2)

#016. The Nanny is Too Kind (2)

The giant-breasted Centaur archer, Nina.

She harbored many grievances about her situation.

“Wow, those human women are seriously fast hunters. Is it really so hard to show some consideration? Women only care about their own fun, anyway.”

“I thought beastfolk women would be different from those human sluts, but they’re all the same. Meeting men just for their bodies and not caring about safety, those sons of b*tches.”

“Ugh, if I had joined the Hero’s party, I wouldn’t have to worry about these hardships. They say the men in that party don’t even get their hands wet. How can they possibly expect us to do the dishes and clean up just because we fetched them a few measly kills?”

She was late to find out that the harem party she had formed with handsome human males who only knew how to say nice things was actually talking behind her back like that.

She was even feeling a sense of deep disillusionment, thinking she would rather quit everything and return to her hometown than continue to maintain such a party.

“Recruitment to Theresa’s party? If it’s Theresa of Maternal Love…”

A reliable powerhouse.

At least it’s better than just carrying around a bunch of males.

Before going back home, let’s try having one last proper adventure.

Such resolve was shattered when she was told to act as a nanny.

It wasn’t long before she lost a bet and her fate as a nanny was sealed.

“Big sis with big boobies!”

A little girl stood fearlessly behind the Centaur, slapping her bottom playfully.

With the reckless attitude typical of girls her age, even a slight annoyance welled up.

The adventure she had hoped for was ruined. Should she just run away?

She’d been considering it seriously when the boy approached.

So mature, so grown-up, such a quiet and undemanding child. Nina straightened her back and puffed out her chest naturally as he came near.

“What is it?”

“Mother needs help.”

Teresa intended to handle everything herself, but Ian thought differently.

Their opponent was a Section 3 boss.

One with a considerable number of henchmen, at that.

No matter how formidable a one-man army, nobody could withstand hundreds pouring in from every direction alone.

“Childcare. Your mother tasked you with this. Aside from whether I’ll help, how *can* I help? I dislike humans to begin with. Judging and comparing others. It disgusts me.”

The hurt caused by realizing the true nature of her harem-party men hadn’t been easily soothed.

“I understand.”

“You? A *boy*? How?”

“Our family was also betrayed by my father.”

“…!”

“If Mother is badly hurt, or doesn’t return, Anna, who carries her blood, will also be tormented and exploited by Father or other awful men.”

Nina had thought Teresa’s party was trash – burdened by two troublesome children, unwilling to let their members participate in the hunt.

But that wasn’t the case.

They, too, were victims.

Victims whose lives had been made difficult and painful by a despicable man.

Ian, Teresa’s eldest, showed an unmanly consideration as he pleaded.

“So please, take good care of Anna. If you earn Mother’s trust, Nina, you’ll also have the chance to join the hunt.”

Nina couldn’t comprehend the eldest son, Ian’s, request.

“We’ve just met today. What makes you trust me enough to ask that?”

Ian gestured to Nina’s injured hand and ungroomed fur.

“I understand centaurs are a species that cares about their appearance. The only reason Nina would neglect her own body must be because of her former party members.”

“!”

“If I can’t trust Nina, who values her party members more than herself, then I don’t think there’s any companion in the world I can trust.”

Nina felt her heart pounding.

She had wanted to hear those words for so long.

She had wanted someone to recognize.

To be acknowledged.

That her dedication wasn’t meaningless.

That everyone in the harem would gladly accept it.

But they hadn’t.

To human males, a female’s dedication was a given.

They couldn’t be bothered to earn money, hunt for food, or share their wealth and power without being given trouble.

She’d only made a few small requests.

She’d only assigned a few minor roles so they could be treated as equals, even for show, and be recognized outside the party.

Even that was too difficult, they complained, disparaged, and slandered. The male harem party members came flooding back to her mind.

“Three months, then.”

“…?”

“Those party members I’d spent three months with couldn’t see the things you noticed in under half an hour.”

Nina’s nose wrinkled.

She tried her best to suppress the emotion swelling up inside her.

But the sorrow that had accumulated was just too great.

Impossible to contain it all.

Ian stroked the fur of Nina’s foreleg as he watched the tears overflow.

*Never stand beside a centaur.*

*You never know when you’ll be kicked to death.*

As if he didn’t care about that proverb, so prevalent among humans.

The fearlessness was the same in both boy and girl.

Even the audacity, born from Teresa’s bloodline, the audacity that knew no fear, now felt like comfort.

*They understood her sadness and her devotion.*

*She wasn’t something to be feared.*

Ian and Anna’s pure hearts, accepting and acknowledging her as one of the party.

That purity released the floodgates that had been holding back Nina’s tears.

“You want to cry, don’t you?”

“…!”

“It’s okay to cry. At least, in front of me.”

“Hic… hic-cough…!”

“It’s alright, cry. You’re not a weak person. Just a wounded one.”

“Waaah!”

Faced with the boy’s gentleness that called to mind a saint, Nina finally burst into loud sobs.

* * *

The centaur archer, Nina.

A character who appeared frequently even within the game.

An alpha female with her own harem party.

But her end was far from good.

If the player didn’t accumulate achievements and rise up quickly, gaining Nina’s trust, they couldn’t disband her party and create a normal one.

Nina’s disappointment with the human males in her party would eventually lead her to want to return to her homeland, which enraged her harem members.

As a result, the male party members would beg her to join them for one last adventure out of old affection, and Nina, unable to ignore their pleas, would grant their request.

On that journey, Nina would be poisoned, fall into traps, and have all her possessions stolen before dying a miserable death.

It was a truly pitiable and wretched end.

*‘Can I trust them?’*

Pitiful, but also an unsettling person.

The Third Act boss, Lonowe.

Second-string magician of the Hero’s Party and a forbidden researcher who, in order to accelerate his research on human experimentation and cross-breeding, even stole the lifespans of his test subjects with rapid growth spells.

If his true nature was revealed, he could be labeled a dark magician at any moment.

Unfortunately, exposing this character was futile.

The Hero’s Party was as good as a death trap.

The highest-ranking adventurers are nominated, though they usually resign en masse.

Powerless party members are exploited by those with authority, perishing in the killing fields.

Thus, ‘test subjects’ who can replace the roles of the Hero’s Party members are valuable, and Ronowe can turn a blind eye to their sins.

At the same time, Ronowe never rested on these advantages, never allowing whistleblowers or conscientious good Samaritans to reveal his secrets.

Falling into debt with the higher-ups meant losing more test subjects as payment, costing him dearly.

And so, near those who might expose him, the therians always lingered.

They were disguised as ordinary adventurers, but ready to become assassins at Ronowe’s command.

Nina, the centaur archer.

No one knew if she was an assassin or not.

Each iteration brought a different therian as minion, and each offered a chance of liberation from that fate.

‘It doesn’t matter if I can’t trust you.’

Trust wasn’t born from background checks alone.

If one were an evildoer who couldn’t even trust their own purity…

Wasn’t there a method reserved for those like me, those who didn’t even know what purity *was*?

Yes.

I was a brainwasher.

A deceiver who twisted and manipulated the hearts of men.

Using this wicked power, I will…

[Brainwash Activate]

[Target – Nina]

[Command – You can cry, if it’s in front of me.]

I broke her down, making her easier to manipulate.

So that even if Ronowe’s orders came, she would value my words more, weigh them heavier.

This was the persuader’s method, one only possible for a villain who knew no purity, one who could only trust by trampling and distorting hearts, because they didn’t believe in people.

Pat-pat.

Thump.

How would the gaze, laced with annoyance and exhaustion, she directed towards Anna who lingered beside her, change?

Could the kindness that seemed only superficial truly become genuine?

Was my brainwashing sufficient to change your heart?

Could my wickedness trample your vulnerability?

Prove it.

Right here.

Right now!

“Hmph… you should be honored. This is a VIP seat I don’t offer to just anyone.”

“Wow! I’m bigger than Anna now. I’m taller!”

Hooking Anna’s collar with her bow, Nina lifted him up and placed him behind her.

For a centaur, the back was the closest place to trust, reserved only for life partners, their children, those they could truly believe in.

It was proof that the evil within me had twisted the heart of a centaur.