I sat at one of the dinner tables, and pulled out a jar of blood from my bag.

I was thinking back to what Philia had said to me as I drank. She had said that my appearances was a part of me. Technically that was a given. It was my body, and while it was vastly different from my previous one, it was mine.

(But still...)

This body was fabricated. It wasn't born in any normal sense. I didn't have parents in this world, didn't grow up. Hell, I still had the memories of my previous life. I may have lived three years here, but I hadn't lived my life like a normal person would, or where a normal person could.

Finishing my meal, I put the jar back and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from my bag before carefully spreading it out on the table. It was covered in dirt and stains, with an uncountable number of creases, but perhaps testament to it's otherworldly origin, it was in surprisingly good condition despite that. The letters hadn't bled or faded, and there weren't any tears aside from the original one when I got it. The surface was slightly glossy like copier paper and aside from the stains from dirt and blood, the sheet was almost whiter than anything else I've seen in this world, the black ink darker than the dark void between stars.

Tracing my finger, I read what was on the long sheet of paper. The memories filled me as I thought back to what I was thinking before I had been reborn in this world. The thoughts I had when choosing the options that ended up becoming my new physical form.

It was a stark reminder oh how little thought I had put into this, how much I underestimated what I was experiencing. The entire thing was so dream-like, I hadn't taken it seriously.

Thinking back, I had gotten extraordinarily lucky. Since that was all real, the consequences of getting caught must've been significant. Maybe I'd have been punished and reincarnated as an insect, or if the ones managing my reincarnation thought I had committed too grave of a crime, then my soul, or whatever form I had taken back then, might've been destroyed, never to be reborn again.

But just being alive with my memories intact, was glad. Even if a part of me continued and lived on in a new body, it wouldn't have been me. Without my memories, without my thoughts, it would've been a different person. Even though it would've been a more literal piece of me that lived, it would've felt less so than if it was my own offspring.

I was hesitant to say I had no regrets. No, I definitely had regrets, but given a second chance, I would've still done the same thing. Maybe...been a bit more conservative on the options.

But even still, the good probably outweighed the bad. While I was still worried about peoples' reaction to me being a vampire, the advantages were still better than most other races I could've picked. Thanks to it, I managed to survive without a community to rely on and had gotten the power to help others I had encountered. It might not continue to stay true throughout my current life, but the positives definitely outweighed the negatives, and I wouldn't go back on it.

Still, my choices had consequences, and I didn't doubt I hadn't gotten even close to the end of them. Even aside more repeats of the trouble I've gotten into the last few days. There were probably countless unseen pitfalls due to my choices when designing my new body that I was to encounter in the future. My beauty being one was definitely outside of my expectations, and that one would likely last me my entire life.

At the very least, some others weren't so bad. I felt I had adjusted to becoming a woman quite well, though I didn't have to worry about some bodily functions thanks to my race. That said, I still couldn't see myself dating or getting married to a man. Even the thought of it made a shiver run up my spine, let alone what came after marriage.

That said, the way Philia kissed me suggested that in some ways, despite how backwards the technology and society was, some things were quite progressive.

My fingers slowly ran across my lips as my mind went back to the feeling of such warmth and softness pressing against them. That really caught me off guard. I had no idea she had thought of me in such a way.

My chest filled with a complex swirl of feelings. On one hand, I was happy that I had gotten to experience such a thing for the first time between both my lives, on the other hand I didn't feel like I deserved such a thing, nor give a proper response to her feelings. Even more so since I had barely even considered staying for in this city for long. I had too many reasons to move on, not the least of which to avoid being seen by that lecher of a lord again.

The thought of having a proper female friend was really appealing, but I would only bring trouble by staying and being one for Philia.

But it really surprised me. I knew that women tended to be more intimate between each other than men, but to be that much more so? Or maybe it was just how things were in this world? I really had no baseline to compare, so I couldn't judge anything on that regards.

Well, the feeling was nice, and it was better than how distant people seemed to be from what I had read of Victorian times. Not like I knew how to handle such intimacy, but it felt nice once I had the time to process it.

I was really glad that she didn't act that way because she lost to her lust from looking directly at my face. It was a good feeling to know that people wouldn't just lose control over it. My own experiences might have been pure flukes, or were caused by something completely different. My attributing what had happened to my appearances was probably wrong. Or at least it didn't play such a big part as I had thought.

But even still, I wasn't comfortable with the thought of being stared at. People who stood out too much would be stared at. That was no different in this world as on Earth, but fortunately wearing an oversized jet black hooded robe wasn't enough to look suspicious on the streets here it seemed.

Tugging at the hood that covered my face, I smiled a bit.

Lately, this thing had become less of protection from the sun and more closer akin to a safety blanket. I didn't think that I had regressed or anything, but I definitely wasn't as comfortable with myself as I had thought I was.

"Hair colour: silver?"

While I was buried in my thoughts, someone leaned in from the side.

"Ah, you're awake already?"

"It's morning already."

The pointy eared girl looked at me like I just told her the obvious.

(Well, I did, actually.)

"Eye colour: red. Skin colour: pale. Height: manual...what's that bar supposed to mean?"

She looked back at the sheet and read off of it one line at a time.

"Ah, the bar indicates the range of possibility and the circle on the bar tells how far along on it was selected."

The girl turned back and tilted her head to the side. The way she did it was pretty cute, but something a bit more important struck my realization.

"You...you can read it?"

"Not that bit."

She frowned and looked back at the sheet.

"Physical attractiveness: manual...that bar again? Ummm, is this describing you Scarlet?"

"Ah? Ah, yea, this is my information."

The girl's eyes sparkled and quickly went back to the sheet.

"Ah, no, I mean, the rest of it. You can read the words on this sheet?"

Uneasy about having so much of my information being read, even by a kid, I quickly asked my question again. The girl looked back at me and tilted her head once again.

"These words right here. You can read them?"

I pointed at one of the lines and asked her again.

"Eye colour: red. You mean that? Anyone can do that."

"Did Miss Philia teach everyone here how to read?"

If she did, then that was pretty incredible. One person teaching dozens all the while taking care of them and doing everything to keep the orphanage running?

But contrary to my expectation, the little girl shook her head.

"Then, who taught you to read?"

"Nobody."

The answer baffled me. It just didn't make sense. My mind refused to acknowledge such an answer.

"Then how can you read? Did you all go to school for it or something?"

She shook her head.

"You can read too, right?"

"...yea, I can."

"It's the same thing. You can read it, I can read it. Everyone can read it."

Her answer didn't make sense. She described it as if it was a given she could read. That anyone could read. But they hadn't gone to school. She claimed to not have even been taught how to read, but that wasn't possible. There wasn't any way for her to learn.

(But if she never learned...)

"I've got a favour to ask. Can I examine you for a bit?"

I grasped the girl's arms, holding her just below the shoulders lightly but firmly as I asked. It might not have been particularly important, but it was something that shattered my concept of common sense.

"Examine?"

"Yea. I want to have a look at something inside you."

"It won't hurt?"

"It won't. You won't feel a thing."

"Okay! But if it's a favour, you have to do one for me too!"

Once I reassured her of that, she didn't hesitate to agree.

"Of course. As long as it's something I can do."

"It's easy! I want to sit on your lap!"

"Huh? My lap?"

"Yup! Can I?"

I didn't really see how this was a favour, but she gave me the puppy dog eyes as she asked, making it impossible for me to refuse.

"Umm, sure."

"Yay! Can I do it right now?"

"Ah, yea. I can examine you while you're sitting on my lap."

I pushed my chair back from the table to open up space for her and spread my arms wide as an invitation.

"Yay! Thank you so much!"

The girl practically hopped onto my lap and wrapped her arms and legs around me while she buried her face so deep into my chest that I was worried that she'd suffocate herself. But her large bushy tail wagged so fast that I had to grab my reincarnation sheet as it threatened to be blown away.

Unfortunately for me, my anatomy made it difficult to see the girl properly as she held me tightly and pushed up my chest with her face, but I at least had a clear view of her tail. As fast as it was moving, it wasn't a problem for my eyes, and I managed to activate [Scan] on her without problems.

The girl's information showed up properly in a window only I could see. I scrolled through it and noted her name when it showed up.

(Flix huh? I need to remember that.)

This girl had taken particular interest in me. No, she probably really liked me if Philia's words were any indication. It was especially apparent with how happy she looked, if her tail was any indication.

But that wasn't what I was most interested in. Going deeper, I found the section for hidden skills. There, I found what I was looking for. Flix had a hidden skill called [Literacy]. Like all hidden skills, there wasn't much to read that I could decipher without spending a lot of time on it, but if the name was any indication, it let her read and write without the need to learn to.

Frankly, it felt like cheating, considering it took a year of hard work to do so on Earth, and many still couldn't do it competently as adults, let alone do it at a high level.

(Though I have the [Local Language] skill, so I didn't even need to learn that.)

The very existence of this skill, and as a hidden one, suggested that it was something everyone was born with. Checking myself, I found the exact same hidden skill as well. I had always thought that [Local Language] was responsible for letting me read the language, but it seemed it might not have been so.

This new-found knowledge was pretty enlightening, though it had almost no value at all. At least it explained why in a world that seemed like the average person was poorly educated, that writing was so prolific. I hadn't even given the fact that the requests at the adventurers' guild was written down a second thought. But thinking about it, it was strange. Most people here should've been illiterate.

At least my curiosity was sated.

"Alright, thanks Flix."

Without warning, the little girl's hug became a little tighter and her tail wagging sped up a bit. I was only trying to give my appreciation, but it looked like it was received better than I expected.

"Anyways, I think that's enough, so can you let go?"

But just as quickly, her tail froze up as her hug got ever so slightly stronger. Flix upturned her head and peeked at me between my breasts.

"Do I have to?"

She gave me those puppy dog eyes again. It was as if she was on the verge of tearing up, and the very act felt like my heart was on the verge of tearing up.

"Well, maybe we can stay like this for a little longer."

I averted my eyes, unable to take it any longer.

"Yay!"

Once again she buried her face in my chest and her tail started to wag quickly again. The strength she put into her limbs and tail might've been a bit straining on her small body as her breathing grew audible with her quick and deep breaths.

Unable to move or do much in this situation, I wrapped my left arm around her back and pat her head with my right hand. Flix froze for a moment before squeezing me even tighter and wagging her tail even faster.

I was a little worried that she'd tire herself out, but since she was enjoying it so much, I opted not to ruin her fun.

 

"Ah! Flix's hogging Scarlet all to herself!"

As I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, a voice called out as the first of them reached the dining room.

The little girl on my lap froze for a moment before turning her head towards the voice. I couldn't see her expression, but she wrapped herself around me even tighter than before. Once more, I was glad of my high stats. This much force wasn't anywhere near enough to hurt me, though I was worried that it would cramp her limbs up.

On the other hand, the kids that showed up flinched before gathering themselves. All as a group, they surrounded Flix and me.

"C'mon Scarlet, play with us too!"

The kids grabbed my sleeves and pulled me in every direction, but the little girl tightened her grip even further.

"Ah, ummm, are all you kids waking up now?"

"We are! You can't see the sun, but the sky's getting brighter!"

"Brighter? Now?"

Flix had been with me for at least an hour, if not longer. I'd been indulging myself in the nostalgic feeling of petting a child, but when I thought about it, it was strange that nobody else had come down the stairs when Flix had.

"You...do you always wake up so early?"

"Umm...no...not usually..."

The triangular eared girl poked her face between my breasts, but after looking into my face for a second, she averted her eyes as she answered.

"Then how come you came down so early?"

"Umm...I woke up because I needed to pee...but I saw you when I was going back to bed..."

I didn't notice that. I must've been pretty engrossed in my thoughts at the time.

"Aren't you sleepy then? You can go back to bed for a while."

"No! I'm fine! Can I stay like this? It's a favour, right?"

(She's pulling such a thing like that?)

I thought it was a bit odd how much she liked this position, but while normally I had no reason to refuse it and wouldn't mind indulging her, she wasn't the only kid here demanding my attention.

"I think Miss Scarlet wants to make breakfast for everyone. Since everyone will be waking up about now, how about you continue that later, Flix?"

Peeking from a gap between the kids, Philia had shown herself with a gentle smile and came to my rescue.

"Mmm...okay..."

The reluctance was so palpable that I felt like I could draw a face in it with my finger. But after a few moments, she quietly got off. The other kids looked conflicted. They obviously wanted to play, but the mention of food made them hesitate.

Personally, I didn't mind either and I had already eaten, but between the two, I thought that making breakfast would be a better choice, and it would be a waste to discard the chance Philia gave me.

As I made my way to the kitchen, the kids all followed me like ducklings. It was cute, but could easily become troublesome.

"So, who wants to give me a hand?"

"""Me!"""

The answer was unanimous.

 

After breakfast, many of the kids left the building to go earn some money, albeit reluctantly since I was staying. I had to reassure them that I wasn't going to leave while they were gone, and I'd still be there when they came back.

While they were out, I helped out taking care of the kids that were too young to do minor chores or even sit on the streets to beg. Fortunately there wasn't many of them, only three that were that young. It seemed like since most of the kids here were the kids of adventurers, most of the time the parents would refuse more dangerous jobs until their children grew old enough that they didn't need constant attention. But jobs like that weren't so abundant that every adventurer with a child could do exclusively those, and even those that could might hit some especially bad luck, leaving behind the child with nobody to care for them.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you're doing for us."

Philia looked up as she leaned against me while we were sitting on a bench in the orphanage's back yard. The three tiny kids were in our arms taking a nap while we stared at the small dirt field across from us.

"I'm not doing anything special."

Everyone had been thanking me so much lately. It was nice to be thanked, but sometimes it felt excessive. They were letting me stay and in turn I helped out. It wasn't anything to be praised for.

"It's because it's not something special that I'm thankful for it."

I turned my head to my side. The director was looking directly up at me wearing a gentle smile on her face as her head rested on my arm. I quickly turned away. Looking at her face from so close made my heart race. This kind of intimacy was such a foreign thing for me, I wasn't able to deal with it properly.

If this was the norm amongst female friends in this world, then I was worried about what would happen if I were to make more friends.

"You know, that doesn't really make much sense, at least to me."

"Maybe not, but that's how I feel. You could be doing any number of extraordinary things to be thanked for, but instead you are helping me take care of the children. For me, that is something to be thankful for."

"I'm only paying back what I owe. You're letting me stay after all."

"Perhaps, but not only are you donating enough food to feed everyone, but you're also cooking everyone's meals, playing with the children, and even helping me with the little things. From my perspective, simply staying the night doesn't balance things out in the slightest."

Having refuted my argument so completely, I stayed silent as I looked at the two little kids in my arms, adjusting their position slightly so that neither of them would slip into an awkward position as they had their nap.

"You're quite thoroughly a mother to these children already."

From the corner of my eye, the director's gentle smile was directed towards the kids in my arms as she held the third in hers. I felt like I had been told something similar a while back.

"I'd prefer it if it was a big sister though."

"People don't always get what they want most."

"You...!"

As I turned to argue back, Philia quickly rose her body and her lips met mine. My entire body froze at the unexpected sensation and my mind went blank.

Rather than simply pressing her warm and soft lips against mine, I felt a pulling sensation as she sucked on my lips. Suddenly, something hot and wet intruded into my mouth and touched my tongue before Philia's face moved away from me.

The older lady sat back down, turning her fact to the kid in her arms while her face became cherry red.

My own felt like it was so hot it would catch on fire at any moment.

By the time I could move again, Philia had already returned inside and the kids in my arms were trying to attract my attention.

(If this is what friends between women are like in this world, I don't know how I'll survive it.)