An Extremely Rational Action
The light leaking through the door crack gradually faded.
The resonant hum that tickled the ears also ceased.
Around that time, the mansion's scenery began to change.
The labyrinth formed by the stairs rippled like smoke and returned to its original form.
Sunlight seeped into the house that had been as dark as night, softly illuminating the surroundings.
“Ah…!”
Cream, who had been hanging from the ceiling with her eyes tightly shut, landed lightly on the floor.
The chandelier had vanished along with the mansion's return to its true appearance.
As if nothing had happened, it was merely a desolate space where an entire family had died due to a tragic love affair.
In this world, things like love or vows held no meaning whatsoever.
The illegitimate daughter clicked her tongue and wrapped her wrist with her other hand.
Traces of impurity remained here and there, but they could not affect her.
Even though it possessed the nature to erode its surroundings and turn everything into something like itself, it dared not approach anything filthier than itself.
So she walked onward, clutching the wound she had made with the needle earlier.
A faint scent of blood trailed behind the sound of the young girl's footsteps echoing through the corridor.
An aftertaste she could never separate herself from.
Cream had known since childhood that her blood was strange.
When she fell and scraped her knee, when her nose bled after being hit by her mother—she had seen the grass and insects touched by that blood rot away at an alarming speed.
Just like the ancient Blood Witch from fairy tales.
Or like the future version of herself she had vaguely glimpsed in dreams.
Whatever the case, the ending was the same.
The witch dies.
She is hunted down by a great being who wields holy power.
A saint, or a saintess.
Existence that could only oppose each other.
Holy beings loved and praised by everyone.
In contrast, she was an ugly witch hated and resented by all.
So she knew.
She could never become a good child, and she did not want to.
Being submerged in filthy muck suited her far better.
The sweet, soft word “happiness” would never suit her.
And neither would you, who so carelessly uttered it.
“…”
Creak—
Cream finally arrived at the playroom and opened the door.
In one quiet corner of the room, a man leaned against the wall, collapsed.
Black hair, a sharp face shadowed by fatigue, a pale complexion that looked rather decadent.
Dust clung to the scratches covering his body.
Cream, still holding the needle, looked down at Endy in silence.
He must be exhausted after exerting so much power.
It would be easy to finish him now.
She only needed to drive the needle in her hand into that white neck.
Then the man called Endy would die.
The poison would spread through his body before he could purify the blood, rotting him from the inside.
Cream could simply leave this place behind, leaving everything else.
Just as this mansion had regained peace after everyone inside died, her own heart would also become peaceful.
He had been a strange person from the very beginning.
He seemed clumsy, yet he quickly noticed her true nature.
Even so, he kept offering her kindness.
She did not even feel angry at the realization that it had all been a mask to deceive her.
After all, they had not spent that much time together.
At most, they had played at being teacher and student for a month or two.
His actions had simply left a strong impression because they were so unusual.
It was not a special relationship.
Though if one considered a witch and a clergyman, it could be called special.
Anyway, this too would be forgotten.
It would fade from memory as nothing more than a common incident.
The warmth of the hand she had held, the gentle touch that stroked her, the kind voice—all of it.
Even this turbulent feeling in her chest would soon calm down, and she would return to being the usual bad Cream Holybell.
Surely, that would happen.
“…”
After thinking for a long time, the girl gripped the needle tightly.
She clenched and unclenched her hand several times before finally crouching down to match the man's eye level.
She was close enough to feel his breath.
A small, faint breath.
But he was clearly alive.
“…Teacher.”
“…”
“Teacher.”
“…”
“Teacher, please wake up.”
Instead of swinging her hand to end his life right there, she tried to wake him.
“I said wake up.”
“…Huh? Huh…?”
She met the eyes of the man who had woken up in a daze.
His pale sky-blue eyes, like sunlight breaking through the window outside.
Unlike her own eyes, they were a cool color, yet somehow felt warm.
Those eyes widened instantly.
“Ah, Miss! Are you safe? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Teacher.”
“Ah… W-well, let’s clean this up first. People might come if they sense something strange. There’s still some impurity left, so I need to purify it. Please wait a moment. After that, I’ll confirm the request is complete—”
“Teacher.”
“Come to think of it, there should be waffles. Miss, which cream flavor do you like? From what I roughly remember, there’s chocolate, strawberry, and mint. Everything else is fine, but if Miss likes mint, then this Endy will honestly shed tears of despair—”
“Teacher!”
“Y-yes?”
“I still haven’t heard your answer to the question I asked earlier.”
When Cream cut him off coldly, Endy let out a sigh.
It was the question she had poured out while appearing with stress piled high.
“Haa… That question. Miss, I think you’ve misunderstood something. I am not a clergyman.”
Endy looked troubled as he tried to explain while running a hand through his hair.
Cream lowered her head and let out a weak chuckle, then sighed softly herself.
When she raised her head again, her expression was no longer the cold smile from before, but filled with petulance.
Just like a child her age.
“Teacher. Are you still trying to deceive me? You’re a clergyman. A high-ranking one at that. I’d believe it if you said you came from the Holy Land.”
“I am not. I have no connection whatsoever to any order or cathedral. Truly.”
“Then what was that purification work you did in this house today?”
“I’m a beginner who received his first purification request today.”
“Teacher.”
“Yes.”
“Shall I stab you once?”
“Oh holy.”
“Do I look that ridiculous to you?”
“It’s true though…”
Even when she thrust the red needle at him and questioned him, the other party only scratched his head in a clueless manner, making Cream feel like her insides were about to burst.
Moreover, this man did not even take a defensive stance.
No matter how exhausted he was after using his power, being this defenseless was something else.
It had been the same earlier.
He could have blown her up at any moment, yet he had only carried her in his arms and run.
He was truly an incomprehensible man.
“As I told you before… I am always the same.”
He suddenly composed his expression and looked at Cream.
His eyes were serious now, different from before.
Clear sky-like pupils gazed straight into Cream’s eyes.
At that moment, the girl’s body flinched.
Somehow, she felt like she knew what he was about to say.
—No matter what happens, I am your teacher.
“I am simply your teacher, always.”
“…”
“A teacher who wishes for your happiness.”
“…”
“Hmm… How can I make you believe me?”
In front of the muttering man, Cream swallowed hard.
Sweat beaded on her palms.
The needle she held slipped and fell to the floor with a soft clink.
Cream did not trust people.
She did not want to trust them, and she believed she had no right to.
So her current decision had required quite a bit of resolve.
Of course, it was not that she intended to trust this man.
Nor was she enchanted by words like “happiness.”
She was simply acting in an extremely rational manner.
“…Your hand. Give it here.”
“Huh… Does this mean you believe me? Are you going to take my finger as proof?”
“I don’t need that!”
Cream, who had shouted in anger, snatched one of Endy’s hands.
A large hand with a few small scratches.
She rolled up his sleeve slightly to expose his wrist.
When she gripped it tightly, she could feel the thick forearm pulsing with a steady heartbeat.
“Miss?”
“…Stay still.”
She brought her face close to it.
She had done something similar before, but her purpose was slightly different now.
She could not kill him yet.
This man was a clergyman dispatched to hunt witches.
Yes.
He was definitely someone who would contact his order.
If that connection was cut, another clergyman would be dispatched, and by then their vigilance would be heightened, so Cream might be killed immediately.
That was why.
That was why she could not kill this man right now.
It would be better to brainwash him instead.
But that also required blood manipulation and drug compounding, so she could not do it at the moment.
Therefore—
—Chomp.
She simply opened her mouth wide and closed it.
She left a mark on the man’s arm declaring him her prey.
She pressed her lips together two or three times, biting down hard to make the mark clear, before finally releasing her teeth.
“…Haa.”
“Uh…”
“Every time this mark fades, I’ll bite you again. Understood?”
“Pardon?”
“It’ll serve as proof that you cooperated with me. ‘Offered blood to a witch every day.’ A clergyman cooperating with an impure being—if word gets out, you won’t be able to move freely either, right, Teacher?”
“Miss…”
“Hmph…”
“Aren’t you going to drink it?”
“I’m not drinking it!”
She jumped back and retreated.
She did not forget to wipe her lips vigorously with a distorted expression.
“The smell of human blood is disgusting. I don’t even want to put it near my mouth. Wild beasts are much better.”
“But wild beasts carry all sorts of parasites and bacteria—”
“Anyway! Don’t do anything suspicious. I’ll be watching you at all times. Whether you’re trying to harm me or plotting something strange.”
She would literally monitor and observe him constantly.
During meals, during lessons, during rest, during sleep, during missions—whenever, constantly.
He was a clergyman and a pervert.
She could not predict what he might do with that handsome face.
Even now, if he had infused his blood with holy power, he could have inflicted a fatal wound on her, yet there had been no sign of it.
She did not know what he was plotting, but it did not matter.
If an opportunity arose, she would strike first.
She would make him regret not acting sooner.
Cream was a bad child, so she could do it without fail.
‘Just you wait.’
The girl, hugging her dog plushie tightly, burned with determination as she looked at her teacher.
Whether he noticed or not, Endy was quietly staring at his wrist, now bearing two small puncture marks.
His face looked both pleased and deeply exhausted.
“…”
“Hmm… I understand for now. In any case, it means you’re accepting me.”
“I’m not accepting you. I’m keeping you close to watch you.”
Cream, who had been quietly observing him, reached into her plushie and pulled something out.
It was a small glass bottle.
Inside the tiny bottle, just big enough to fit in one’s mouth, was a green liquid.
“Take it.”
“This is…?”
“Herbal water. It should give you enough strength to stand. We need to return to the mansion… Of course, if you’re suspicious, you don’t have to drink it—”
“Ugh, it’s a bit bitter.”
“…”
“Thank you, Miss.”
When Endy accepted and drank the medicine without hesitation and thanked her, Cream spun around sharply.
Empathy: +1
Stress: -5%
“…Then let’s go back now.”
“Yes, understood.”
A lot had happened.
So much that her mind still could not sort through it all.
Still, it was time to go home, and since she had decided to keep him close and watch him, they would return together.
Two people who had met with different thoughts and purposes.
Different ages, different personalities, even the nature of their abilities was different.
Even though a slight misunderstanding had arisen, still—
The tutor remained unchanging, and the young lady’s heart kept stirring, so their companionship did not seem to be over yet.
…
“Ah, Miss. By the way, I’ll be punishing you when we return.”
“…What?”
“You acted without permission. I clearly told you to stay quietly in the mansion even if I wasn’t there. But you didn’t listen and followed me to such a dangerous place.”
“Uh…?”
“What if you had gotten hurt? What if I hadn’t recognized you and used my power, and you got caught in the area of effect… Haa.”
“Uhh…?”
“I don’t want this to happen again, so I’ll be giving you a punishment.”
“…”
Whoosh—!
At the sudden change in atmosphere, Cream started running without even looking back.
The sulky expression from moments ago was gone, replaced by a face covered in cold sweat.
But she could not outrun Endy’s stride when he was genuinely angry, so she was caught and lifted up, dangling in the air.