This Is Not Child Exploitation
Karma: 999
Curse Manifestation Rate: 0%
Andy blinked, wondering if he had misread the numbers, but they refused to change. In the original novel, karma typically started at zero and rose bit by bit each time Cream committed an evil act. So yes, it was possible for her to have karma. After all, who could truly live a life completely without sin?
But Andy had only met Cream today. She was supposed to be a small, innocent twelve-year-old girl. Yet the stat already capped at its maximum was screaming her wickedness at him.
“Teacher?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Why are you acting like that? You suddenly went completely still…”
“It’s nothing… really.”
“Really? Hehe…”
When he brushed it off, she beamed as if something wonderful had happened. A bright, sunny smile paired with morality 3, faith 2, and karma 999. The gap was uncanny—like an empty village with every light still burning but not a single person inside. The strangeness of things that simply did not belong together.
At that moment the maid spoke from the side.
“Then I’ll take my leave, sir. Please let me know if you need anything.”
“Please prepare tea time for me and the young lady.”
He needed to stay calm. Nothing was definitively wrong yet. After sending the maid away, Andy rose quietly and put some distance between himself and Cream. Why on earth were the girl’s starting stats like this? Had she been beating people and passing beast exams since she was little? Of all the numbers, the karma worried him most.
Could it be because of the original novel?
The novel Andy had read before entering this program. Its ending saw Cream transforming into a witch and destroying the world. When it came to the scale of sin, nothing could be more horrific than world destruction.
What if the karma she accumulated back then carried over?
Some games did let data from the first playthrough carry into the second. Since the original novel itself had progressed like game logs, it wouldn’t be strange for this world to have a similar system.
“T-teacher… ahem, ahem… Teacher!”
While he was lost in thought, an energetic voice called out beside him. The slight lisp followed by a deliberate cough and retry was oddly endearing. When he looked, Cream was sitting on the bed and patting the spot next to her.
“Here! Sit here!”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t just stand there—talk with me! Okay?”
“…”
Right. Even a neighborhood puppy could have 999 karma. Though it felt absurd, Andy pretended nothing was wrong and sat down. At the very least, she probably wouldn’t devour him right away.
Cream immediately began clapping her hands in delight.
“Did you know? I was really, really looking forward to this. I heard I would have a personal, home, home tutor?”
“Personal tutor?”
“Yes, that! When I heard I would get my very own teacher, I was so happy! So I counted the days and prepared flowers while waiting for you.”
“…”
“Teacher, let’s get along well from now on.”
She held out a flower as she spoke. A white blossom with a lovely fragrance. She tucked it behind Andy’s ear, then puffed out her chest as if extremely pleased with herself.
“Hehe…”
“…”
When Andy removed it, her face fell instantly. But the moment he moved it to the breast pocket of his suit, her smile returned. She grabbed his long hair and squeezed it like a toy, clearly enjoying herself. Somehow it felt a little deflating.
His mind had been sharpened by the truth the status window revealed, yet watching the girl laugh so innocently put him at ease. Just what was this harmless creature?
Well, if his earlier assumption was correct, the 999 karma was nothing more than a number. It was simply the measure of sins the current Cream had never committed—sins inherited from the previous round. Her morality and faith might simply reflect that this girl possessed an unexpectedly remarkable inner self that manifested as stats.
A potential disposition different from others…
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. There was another reason Andy could interpret the situation so generously. In the latter half of the original novel, Cream—driven mad by long-term abuse—had committed atrocities without hesitation. She stuffed the family members who had treated her cruelly into an orc barrel, kidnapped the nobles who had mocked her, and set fire to the estate.
“Ahaha… I should have done this sooner…”
The once tearful child who had only ever endured now coldly executed meticulous, wicked plans, eliminating her targets one by one. During those days of piling up karma, a new stat called Curse Manifestation Rate had begun to rise in her status window.
Karma: 782
Curse Manifestation Rate: 0% → 1%
That stat, which rose alongside her repeated evil deeds, eventually reached 100%. The curse inside her body burst forth, and Cream became a witch. The Blood Witch. Or the Witch of Destruction. It was the title of the woman who had once driven the ancient world to the brink of ruin.
Andy remembered reading the latter half with nervous dread, wondering what that number meant and what would happen when it maxed out. He had wondered whether this child could ever find happiness.
—And so the world was destroyed.
Fortunately, the current Cream had a Curse Manifestation Rate of 0% despite her sky-high karma. That was why Andy could dismiss her abnormal stats as nothing more than inherited sins from the previous round and an extraordinary latent disposition.
Knock, knock.
Just as he was thinking, a rather half-hearted knock sounded. The door opened and a different maid from before entered with a tray. She must have come to prepare the tea time he had requested. But why was her expression like that?
She was an older woman whose mouth was pursed in clear displeasure. Not wanting to hear a lecture, Andy stood up from the edge of Cream’s bed. Yet the maid didn’t even glance his way as she set out the teacups.
“It is ready.”
Then she spun on her heel and left the room. Two teacups on the table. A meager tea time with not a single dessert to share. Finding it strange that no steam rose from the cups, Andy touched them. They were cold. Not lukewarm—completely cold.
…So this is how it is.
The maid’s wrinkled uniform that looked as though it had only been wiped across a table once, her disheveled hair, and the cold tea. Warm tea served by a servant to a noble was proof that the recipient was being attended to with care. Serving it cold instead made her intentions blatantly obvious. In the original novel, Cream had been thoroughly cowed by this kind of ostracism.
“Um… I’m… sorry, Teacher.”
“Pardon?”
“The, the maid auntie must have misunderstood. She usually brings warm tea… but… um… hehe… it’s true.”
She apologized as if the shabby treatment were her own fault. Then came a loud growl from somewhere. It clearly hadn’t come from Andy, so the culprit was obvious.
“Ah, th-that, that’s just…”
“…”
“I’m just hungry! It’s time to be hungry…!”
“…”
“O-our mansion always gives proper meals! And proper tea! It’s not a bad place, we don’t starve people, it’s abundant! Really…!”
“Young lady. I understand. First, calm down—”
“So, so please don’t quit…! Don’t leave, Teacher…”
“Pardon?”
“You won’t quit, right…? You won’t leave the mansion, right?”
The child who had been smiling brightly crumpled in an instant, fidgeting with her fingers. Tears welled in her round eyes, making them sparkle like pink glass marbles. While Andy stared in a daze, Cream suddenly jumped up.
“Just a moment… wait just a moment, please.”
“Young lady?”
“Wait here, okay?”
Before he could stop her, she threw herself out the window. Whoosh— Andy watched helplessly as she landed lightly in the flower bed and disappeared into the bushes.
“Young lady!”
If a child could do it, so could an adult. He jumped down after her.
“Ugh… What are you doing, suddenly jumping out of a window! Even from the second floor you could get badly hurt…!”
Shaking out his tingling legs, he lifted Cream, who had practically buried herself in the bushes. He hooked his hands under her arms and pulled her up.
“And what exactly are you eating already?”
Munch, munch. Her cheeks kept moving up and down; it seemed she had already stuffed something into her mouth. Looking closer, red berries grew on the bush. Her lips were stained red as well.
“Hehe… I picked them for you, Teacher.”
She held out both hands filled with the berries. The girl, smaller and lighter than others her age perhaps from not eating properly, had gathered a whole pile of precious fruit.
“…”
A rush of emotions hit him. The anxiety he had felt at first now seemed ridiculous. Having made up his mind completely, Andy carried Cream toward the mansion’s kitchen. Since he didn’t know the way, he asked the servants as he went. When they arrived, the people working there whispered among themselves and vanished, but that wasn’t important right now.
“Sit here, please.”
“Teacher?”
He settled her on a suitable chair, then went to gather ingredients. As expected of a large mansion, the pantry had everything. Bread, vegetables, butter, meat. The meat had even been pre-minced, apparently for tonight’s dinner. Since it was for the young lady, using a little should be fine.
After gathering everything, Andy rolled up his sleeves. He had decided to make her a snack to grow closer to Cream. Something she could eat with her hands, since she probably wasn’t used to formal dining etiquette yet and might feel embarrassed.
He grilled the minced meat in a buttered pan, toasted the bread in the same pan, and prepared lettuce and tomatoes. When he stacked all the ingredients between the bread and presented it, Cream blinked.
She stared at it quietly, clearly wondering what it was.
“Eat it before it gets cold. I worked at a restaurant before, so it shouldn’t taste bad.”
“Uh… umm…”
She hesitated at the unexpected hospitality but eventually reached out timidly.
“What is this… called?”
“It’s a hamburger.”
“Hambugi…”
“Hamburger.”
“Ha, hambu…ger.”
The pronunciation didn’t matter. She had been living in the back alleys until just recently before suddenly being brought to a noble mansion. She grabbed the unfamiliar food with both hands and turned it this way and that. Then she opened her mouth wide, revealing sharp canines. Was that why she lisped? She bit down with an audible crunch and began chewing with adorable focus.
Andy wiped the oil from the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
“…”
Her pale pink eyes turned toward him. Despite her clumsy behavior, they held a mysterious sharpness.
“Does it suit your taste?”
“Yes… munch… it’s deli… munch… cious… munch.”
“I’m glad.”
Watching her devour it with such innocent abandon, Andy smiled faintly. All his earlier worries melted away.
“…Young lady, please listen while you eat.”
“Mmm?”
“I have no intention of leaving your side, at least not until you become an adult and can stand on your own.”
“…”
“So you don’t need to worry that I’ll quit on the very first day.”
A girl living alone in a desolate mansion. Separated from her real mother and thrust into a completely new environment, she was currently being ostracized by the adults. How much had she anticipated—and feared—the arrival of a personal tutor? The person who came as her teacher might very well look down on her too. Yet she had prepared flowers with her small hands, hoping they could get along. Could he really fail to raise a girl like this?
A simple girl who ate a single homemade snack as if it were the most delicious thing in the world. Until now, there had been no adult to guide her, and that had frustrated him. That was why he had willingly decided to become that guide.
Andy looked straight at Cream. The girl who held the world’s fate in her hands quietly looked up at him as well. For someone burdened with such grand titles, she was still just a back-alley kid, and the place they sat was not a noble banquet hall but a narrow, shabby corner of the kitchen. Even so, their eyes met.
“I promise. Until you become a wonderful and splendid young lady, I will stay by your side.”
She was only twelve. Surely she could reach a good ending. Whether she became a scholar or a knight, she should dream big. A high position like prime minister or empress would be fine too. Or, like the parody novel Andy himself had written, she could become a saint loved by everyone.
Whether the man dreaming of Emperor Cream’s future looked too earnest or was thinking something else, Cream simply blinked with a strange expression. A quiet, seemingly deep-in-thought face without an answer. Eyes that seemed to measure him, scanning him up and down.
“…Heh.”
Then she smiled. Brightly, as if she had never worn any other expression.
“Thank you, even if it’s just words.”
“It’s not just words.”
“Mmm. It’s okay! Just making me a snack and listening to me is already enough.”
“No. I won’t stop at words. I’ll prove it with actions.”
“Huh?”
“If you’ve finished eating, let’s get up.”
He helped the girl, who had roughly finished her meal, to her feet. After their warm conversation, where did the pair head? Behind the Hollybell Mansion lay a wide garden, and that was their destination.
“Mm… here it is.”
Before that, Andy stopped by the gardener’s shed and gathered a large armful of tools. He handed one to Cream.
Health: 31
Strength: 22
Agility: 35
Wisdom: 67
Sensibility: 10
Charm: 38
Dignity: 24
Morality: 3
Faith: 2
Stress: 50%
Andy had some experience with nurturing games that displayed status windows like this. Things like Princess Maker 2, for example. And such games had their own standardized methods of child-rearing.
“Here’s your shovel.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll tell you today’s schedule. For the remaining time, you will till the fields in this area, young lady.”
“Ehh??”
That’s right—early stages meant raising the stamina stat! To set an example as a teacher of action, Andy picked up a farming tool himself.
“Hold it tightly like this and dig. Understand? Now, give it a try.”
“Eh? Ehh?”
“Very good. Your posture is excellent for a first try. I’ll work beside you, so let’s do our best today!”
“Eueh??”