I looked down at the little girl, who was looking up at me. If one were to believe that I wasn’t particularly good with children, they might find themselves surprised. This was because I had spent an extensive amount of time with children. During the great plague, parents had flocked to bring me their children in droves. Most of those parents were quite pathetic. They would just dump their child off on my tower and expect me to take care of everything.

What is it about human beings where they expect you to take care of every aspect of their ill’s life? They wanted me to be responsible for sheltering, feeding, bedding, and keeping them clean? If a family cared about their loved ones, shouldn’t they be at their side doing all of those things? In fact, why should a medical professional be bothered to be responsible for cleaning sheets, providing beds, or feeding them? It was beyond ridiculous. It’d be like expecting a hair stylist to also clip your nails, change your clothing, give you a rubdown, and also a meal.

Suffice it to say, many parents didn’t hesitate to abandon their children. Perhaps, they just didn’t want to see them sick and growing sicker or maybe they were afraid of catching it themselves. Either way, very few watched them, meaning that responsibility had fallen on me to take care of their sick little floor rats. In the end, I had too many children. Even asking for assistance from the kingdom and the towns, no one came to help me. They were afraid of catching the disease themselves, and so they abandoned their children to preserve their lives.

In the end, I had to create flesh golems to care for the children. It took a lot of work to create creatures that didn’t scare them and make them cry, but could still perform all of their care. After everything I had done though, the towns who had abandoned their children to me only had then turned on me, declaring me evil. After I had rolled out the cure, the parents of those that survived claimed I emotionally traumatized their children, and the parents of those that were dead called me a murderer and torturer.

The kids I had cared for, egged by the concern their parents gave them now, after sometimes years of abandonment, began to spread increasingly more horrific embellishments, turning my entire one-man research center and the hospital made out of concern into a tortuous freakshow.

Suffice it to say, I had learned how to deal with kids, but I also really didn’t like kids. They were deceitful, manipulative little shits. They were a perfect display of humanity. When you became an adult, you didn’t become better, you just learned to hide it better. Everything that children show, the lying, the violence, the manipulative, the selfishness… all of that is an ingrained part of humanity, and children only act as a window that shows people for how they truly are.

I looked down at the little girl who had just seen me light the grill on fire and sneered. “Yes, it was magic.”

She blinked. “Can I learn magic?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re ugly.”

She giggled. “You’re funny.”

If I had to guess her age, she was about six years old. She was quite young, with a face filled with freckles and a gap in her front teeth. Her hair was messy and her nose was too big for her face. I hadn’t lied. I had seen much cuter children than her.

“Don’t you have a mother you can go bother?” I asked.

“Why can’t I learn magic really?” she asked back, seeming to ignore me.

“Because the magic in this world is weak, and even learning basic spells would take a long time.”

Magic was a complex topic that required a lot of study. In this world, mana was so meager that even doing small and basic spells required a lot of resources. I didn’t put her on the same level as Lana. Lana had already grown and committed herself to learn witchcraft. It was unlikely she would succeed, but she had already helped me at various points, so I didn’t have it in me to destroy her dreams. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t discourage others from moving down a path that they had almost no chance at excelling in.

“You can cast it.”

“That’s because I wring the magic out of life and use it for my purposes.”

“That sounds evil.”

I leaned close to her, trying to look as intimidating as I knew how to be. “Then perhaps, I am evil.”

Children were afraid of scary things. I had learned that from the flesh golems. Thus, if I acted scarily, she’d run away. It seemed like a logical enough attempt to get rid of her.

“You’re funny…” She giggled again.

“Riveting,” I responded dryly, standing back up.

“Maya! Maya!” A voice cried out, causing the girl to turn her head in a panic. “Where are you? Ah… there you are!”

A woman appeared from the other side of a picnic shelter. When she saw the little girl, she let out a sigh of relief and came running toward us. As she ran, her large chest bounced rather exaggeratedly. She also seemed to not be very fit, as by the time she reached us she was breathing hard and holding her bag. She was a rather young woman. She appeared to be close to my age, maybe a little older. She had a pretty face, with straight, dark brown hair, green eyes, tanned skin, and a shapely body with wide hips. She reminded me a bit of the love I had once had back in my world.

“Thank you for finding my daught-” As she caught her breath and looked up at me, shock appeared on her face. “A-aiko?”

It seemed like this person knew the hero, or rather the current me before I took over this body. “Yes?”

I decided there was no reason to show that I didn’t remember her. I might as well fake it.  

“Ah… this is my little sister. Thank you for finding my little sister.” She responded hastily.

“You can’t find what you weren’t looking for,” I responded dryly. “Didn’t you call her your daughter?”

“H-how can that be? I’m only 18!” She responded desperately.

“It’d mean you were sexually active at 12.”

“11! Ah… but this is my little sister, she’s my little sister.” She cried out.

“Mom… I don’t like it when you call me that.” The little girl pouted.

The woman’s desperate look dropped, an expression like her whole world was collapsing. I legitimately didn’t care. Was this that big of an oddity? I had seen some of the fetish material from their world. It had even destroyed my ruse and led to the hero cutting me in two, which I still recalled feeling! So, was such an engagement that rare?

“Aiko! I have the burgers!” I heard Mom call out from the picnic table.

We weren’t under one of the buildings, because Mom said everyone needed more sun. I did agree that sunlight was good in acceptable amounts, so I had agreed with her. I turned to leave, but then a hand reached out and grabbed my arm. I turned back to see the girl, nearly in a panic.

“Aiko, please don’t tell anyone about this at school.” She asked. “Please, I’ll do anything you want.”

Aiko opened her mouth to tell her he didn’t care, but that’s when a thought came to him. “You’re at my school.”

“Yeah, we’re in all the same classes together.” She responded. “Look, this was… it was something that happened when I was young. I just want to finish my high school education in peace. If this gets out… I already had to switch schools twice. Please let me finish out my last year in peace.”

“I will only help you if you do something for me.” Aiko declared.

Her look turned suspicious. “What is that?”

“I’ll be returning to school Monday. I’ve been away thanks to an accident.”

“Oh, that’s right, I haven’t seen you around the last few weeks. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, but when I return, I want to use you.”

“Use me?” Her face grew flushed.

“You will remain close to me in class.”

“You… want to be friends?”

“More than that.”

“More?” Her eyes widened. “Like together?”

“I want you to talk with my friends, complete my sentences, and keep others at bay,” I added, mostly speaking my thoughts out loud.

I had worried about going back to school. While this family of mine wasn’t close, I didn’t know if Aiko had any close friends. The wholes in my memory and the changes in my personality might become too obvious, and even result in future problems. That’s why I needed someone to run interference.  From what I knew about teenage boys, a pretty girl would be a distraction for any of them. As long as she was close to me, they’d be less likely to notice any slipups I made. Of course, I didn’t want to tell her exactly what I needed from her for or I’d have to come up with something about memory loss, so explained it in that.

“So… that is what you’re asking.” Her expression turned slightly complicated.

“Why, is there a problem?” I asked.

“It’s just, are you bothered by me having a daughter?” She asked.

“Why would I be?” I responded. “I planned to ask someone else, but I decided you’d be easier.”

I had never found a way to properly ask Skylar. Plus, I didn’t know how many classes I shared with her. It was far easier to use someone I had no particular attachment to the outside of school.  

Her face flushed with anger. “What did you say? I’m not easy! You pig!”

Why was she suddenly angry at me? She took a step forward, but then she felt a tug on her causing her to look down at her daughter.

“Mommy, you should. He’s funny.”

“Honey, you don’t understand what he’s asking. He’s being really rude.”

“He’s not a bad person.” Maya declared, pointing at herself. “I can tell!”

“Baby…” She seemed reluctant.

Maya looked up teary-eyed. “I just want mom to be happy. You’ve never been close to any boy.”

“Th-that’s because I’m too busy taking care of my precious daughter.” She responded.

“Please, mom? Just try…”

The woman finally let out a sigh and looked up at me, although she didn’t look happy. “Fine.”

I was watching this slightly confused. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. I supposed I had come at it from a direction of blackmail. I needed to stop blackmailing people. I was used to demons, and the only way you could get a demon to respect you was to have something over their head. I had to remind myself how touchy humans could be. I didn’t want my new life in this world to end up like the life I had left behind., hated by all.

Before I could open my mouth to try to repair the misunderstanding, there was a thud and a sizzle. I looked to see that meat had been haphazardly thrown on the grill. Kio was standing there glaring at me.

“You were supposed to get the meat and start grilling!” She snapped.

“I apologize. I was speaking with someone.”

Kio shot the girl a look, and then her eyes landed on the child.

“This is my mom, Ivy!” The little girl declared.

The woman named Ivy shut her eyes, her mouth muttering slightly as her daughter once again revealed her dirty little secret. Of course, Kio immediately latched onto it.

“Aren’t you a little young to have a kid, how old are you anyway?” Kio demanded.

“E-eighteen.” Ivy looked like she was about to cry.

“Eighteen!” Kio’s mouth fell open as she realized the implication.

She probably had been expecting someone in their twenties. She was still acting mockingly, but this age was far too pitiable.

“Mommy is Aiko’s new girlfriend!” The little girl declared.

“What?” Kio’s eyes went wide.

Girlfriend? When was this discussed? Why did this little liar come up with such a fib, and why was her mother not disputing it?

“S-sorry to bother you.” Ivy finally grabbed her daughter, trying to excuse herself before she said something else.”

Kio’s eyes narrowed, and a grin appeared on her face. “Not at all. In fact, you should join us for dinner.”

“D-dinner?”

“Yeah.” Kio smiled like a cat. “I bet mom’s going to love you.”

“I’m sorry, but-”

“We’ll join!” Maya declared, getting her mother to glare at her. “I’m hungry!

Ivy sighed and gave a nod, causing Kio’s grin to grow even wider. I also let out a sigh. See? My contempt for children was well earned. They were nothing but trouble.