Cotton Candy Flavor
The carriage rattled, and every inch of my body ached.
This was my second time leaving the estate since arriving, and I still wasn’t used to this mode of transportation. The muscle pain was the biggest problem, though.
In any case, unlike the first outing, I now had a companion. Endy looked straight ahead. In front of him, his young lady stared out the window with an expressionless face.
Beneath the white dress that covered her neck, she wore white stockings and brown loafers on her small legs.
Her fluffy hair was hidden under a hooded cloak, giving her an overall warm and soft appearance. Yet her eyes remained icy cold.
Because of the penalty from the previous round, she was the young witch lady who carried both a blood-sucking impulse and blood of extreme poison.
Surprisingly, this world had already been destroyed once by that very girl.
The novel I had read on the web novel site was the first round.
The current world was the second round, which had begun again after that destruction.
Welcome to the world that begins anew, Guide!
The first round had been a novel. The second round was a program. Though their approaches differed, continuity existed between the rounds. In the end, they were the same world.
And while Endy had casually referred to the first round as the “original novel,” when he thought about it, it had never been an ordinary story.
*
Cream Holybell had eaten her meal.
With no family around, eating alone after so long had put her in a good mood.
——
Stress: 80% → 70%
——
*
The novel had progressed like game logs.
It felt less like “a creative work written with the author’s heart” and more like a simple description of events.
‘…Something about that feels like it’s leading to a decent hypothesis.’
But his whole body throbbed with muscle pain, and his head felt fuzzy from the backlash of purification. Endy decided to put those thoughts aside and focus on what was right in front of him.
After all, the most important thing was this girl who distrusted humans so fiercely that she bared her teeth at them.
Even now, the clear bite mark she had left on his left wrist still stung slightly when pressed. He had wrapped it in bandages, but the trace remained.
That day when she had bitten down hard after suspecting he was a priest, saying she would watch him for a while, then given him medicine.
Giving him the illness and then the cure. Children really were impossible to predict.
As he recalled that moment, Cream glanced at him and gave a small smile.
“Don’t look this way.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She was prickly, but there was nothing he could do about it. Her current stress level was at seventy-nine percent. He had come out today to help relieve the stress of the young lady who held the fate of the world in her hands.
Today’s schedule for the tutor and his young lady: a friendly outing together!
‘Now that I think about it, we’ve never gone out to play together before.’
From now on, he would take her out more often.
Letting her experience many different things outside the estate would lift her spirits and broaden her perspective. A perspective that would let her see the world from more varied angles.
In Endy’s view, Cream needed to become a little more free.
Free from what?
‘Well.’
He couldn’t explain it in concrete terms. It was just a gut feeling.
She always smiled while bristling like a hedgehog with sharp quills. What exactly had she gone through in the past?
Seeing how skillfully she handled blood, he sometimes wondered if she retained memories from the first round. Yet at times she showed an innocent, childlike purity that didn’t seem fabricated, so maybe not.
That would mean the events of her past in this second round were the core incidents that had shaped the current Cream.
‘…Never mind.’
He had no intention of prying. If he stayed by her side, pouring in positivity and affection every day, the day would come when she would tell him with her own lips.
With that thought, they stepped down from the carriage together.
Because it was the weekend, the Holybell Commercial District was especially crowded.
“All right, shall we go have an experience that feels like your brain is melting?”
“…”
At Endy’s words, Cream sucked in a sharp breath and hugged her plushie tightly. Then she quietly drifted five steps away.
“Young lady?”
“…You go first.”
“Don’t do that. Come over here. You might get swept away by the crowd.”
Cream was a small child. She was much smaller than others her age, so if she got lost in a busy street like this, they might never find her again. What if she fell into a sewer? That was why he had been carrying her tucked under his arm.
Even when he told her to come closer, she only shook her head with a reluctant expression. So Endy strode over to her.
“It’s dangerous, young lady. Come on.”
“I-I don’t want to.”
“Hmm… Then how about this?”
When the approaching Endy reached out his hand, Cream flinched and hunched her shoulders. Naturally, she expected to be carried like a dangling sack again.
But, contrary to her expectations, Endy behaved gently.
He simply offered his palm.
“Uh…”
He was holding out his left hand to her. The hand where a bandage was faintly visible between the sleeve of his suit.
Cream blinked, looking back and forth between his hand and his face.
“I know you dislike me, young lady, but it’s still dangerous, so please listen to me.”
His hand was much larger than hers. And warm.
She knew that because she had held it a few times before.
“…”
“Come on.”
“…”
“Young lady.”
“…”
Endy’s tone and expression as he urged her were gentle. His attitude said he would never hurt her.
But Cream knew better.
‘…You think I don’t know you’re acting kind like this so you can feed me a truth serum later?’
What a wicked teacher.
In her mind, Endy had become a priest even more ruthless than a demon.
‘…Still.’
Still, if they kept this up, it seemed they would stand here forever. So.
She had originally vowed to keep a certain distance, but there was no helping it.
Cream pressed her lips tightly together and cautiously extended her hand. Her small, white fingers grasped the sleeve of Endy’s black suit.
“…There. Happy now?”
“Very good.”
It felt like a prickly hedgehog had reluctantly extended one of its quills, but that was enough. Satisfied that her safety was secured, Endy took the lead.
In contrast, Cream kept glancing around nervously, but fortunately their first destination soon appeared.
A shop with a long line stretching out front.
“Wow. There are a lot of people because it’s the weekend.”
“Where is this…?”
“It’s an ice cream parlor. It’s better to eat first and then move around, so let’s get in line. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Waaah. Ice cream…”
‘…No, that’s not it!’
For a moment Cream had turned into a moth drawn to a flame. She shook her head vigorously.
‘I need to keep my wits about me.’
She didn’t know what that teacher might do if she let her guard down.
Especially at a place like this.
It might look like an ice cream shop on the surface, but it could actually be something suspicious. An experience that melts your brain? That sounded exactly like a truth serum or some bad drug. Cream might be young, but she had quite a bit of knowledge about medicine.
“Triple scoop!”
“You’re going to drop it, kid.”
“Ohh, it’s sweet.”
“It’s good. Let’s come here again later.”
“…”
Hmm.
It did seem like a peaceful place to suspect.
The people around her all gave off a sugary scent. In their hands were cones and fluffy mounds piled high. Everyone walked on with happy expressions.
‘…Fine.’
She would admit it. This was just an ice cream shop.
But it was also clearly a place that didn’t suit her.
Look at all those widespread smiles. Spending money comparable to the cost of lunch on food that melted in a single moment. Their brains must be melting too.
That kind of happiness was something only ordinary people who didn’t know anything could enjoy. A happiness you could only have because you didn’t know, because you were naïve.
A world of innocent people completely different from herself, who wickedly wielded blood.
She felt almost sorry for their carefree attitude—
“Young lady? What flavor would you like?”
“Huh?”
“Please choose quickly.”
While she had been thinking, the line had disappeared and it was now their turn.
At the kind shop owner’s words of “Take your time choosing,” Cream looked around the display case in a daze.
There were so many. Pure white milk flavor, dark chocolate, cookie, mint, berry—so many varieties.
Each ice cream was neatly arranged in large tubs. The colors were vivid and the textures looked fluffy and fascinating, making her head spin.
“Umm… so… uh…”
“Having trouble deciding? How about that one?”
It was her first time eating ice cream. Unable to choose easily, the teacher pointed somewhere.
There, unlike the others, was an ice cream with a “Recommended!” sign next to it.
“That one. It’s similar to the color of your hair, young lady. The subtle shade is very pretty.”
“Wow…”
It really was similar.
A white base like Cream’s hair with a soft pink tint that was pretty…
Pretty…
“…What?”
What did he just say?
“That one. The color is similar to your hair, young lady.”
“No, after that.”
“The subtle shade is pretty?”
Pretty?
He said it was pretty?
“What! What’s pretty about a color like that…!”
Cream snapped, then bit her lip.
It was a flashy hair color, strange, like white mold.
That was what her four-years-older cousin had said when she first arrived at this house.
She had never particularly liked the color because it had always stood out. That was why she pulled her hood down as far as possible to hide it.
It was a well-known story that Count Holybell had taken in his illegitimate half-sister. An older sister with white hair that didn’t match the family’s signature blue-purple hair at all. So whenever she went out, she made sure to cover it.
Yet the teacher kept talking.
“It’s pretty, though? It suits you very well.”
“…”
“It looks like cotton candy, so it’s cute. I thought so the first time I saw you.”
“……”
It was uncomfortable to hear.
For some reason, it made her feel strange.
She didn’t know how to respond, and she didn’t know what his intention was in saying such things.
So Cream pretended not to hear and quietly moved away from Endy, approaching the shop owner instead.
“…Mister. What flavor is that?”
“That’s cotton candy flavor. Interesting, right? It’s popular in the capital these days. It’s sweet and soft, so it tastes great.”
“W-wow. It really is interesting. I’m so curious what it tastes like. Wow.”
“Shall I give you that one?”
“Yes.”
Cream took the cone and quietly shuffled back to Endy’s side.
“…Aren’t you having any, Teacher?”
“I was still choosing. So you went with that one after all?”
“I chose it because it sounded interesting. It’s not because anyone recommended it.”
“Haha, I see.”
“…Teacher.”
Cream went behind the smiling Endy and tugged on his coattail.
She was just… just saying it once. If he still hadn’t chosen, then, well.
Since this man had said it first, Cream would suggest it too.
Like a normal young lady and her tutor.
Treating this time as a simple moment to comfortably enjoy a snack.
“You should choose this flavor too, Teacher.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s popular in the capital, isn’t it? It would be good to try it while you have the chance.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“The taste is unique, and the c-color is… p-pretty too.”
“If you say so, young lady, then I suppose I will.”
“…Hmm.”
A short while later.
The tutor and the young lady stood side by side, each holding a pale pink ice cream.
The young lady held her cone in one hand while her other hand gripped the teacher’s sleeve. Her plushie was tucked under the arm holding the cone.
In that state, she brought the soft texture to her mouth for a bite. The moment the ice cream touched her plump lips, it melted smoothly.
‘…What is this?’
It was a soft sugar flavor. Exactly like cotton candy.
It wasn’t bad, though.
“Is it good? I quite like this one.”
“…It’s all right.”
It was so sweet it felt like her brain was melting.
——
Stress: -10%
——