I lay there in the closet, bound and gagged, alone to my thoughts.

(So, I really did it.)

I searched through my feelings, trying to figure out how I felt about it all, and most all I could find was a bit of satisfaction. There wasn't much grief, no regret. No, there was some regret. I hadn't found anything about the kid that they kidnapped, and now I couldn't even ask about it.

Even though it probably happened before I had arrived at the orphanage, I regretted that I hadn't had the foresight to at least get some clues before killing off those three.

There was also one last feeling bubbling up from deep within: hunger. The scent of blood permeated even this closed off closet, and while it wasn't particularly high quality blood, it did stimulate my appetite.

I could only hope that while I bore with it, my stomach wouldn't rumble at a bad time.

Aside from that, I was just bored.

Most of the little fluffballs had entered the closet and were floating around lazily. I could feel a few outside wandering around aimlessly. Unfortunately, I wasn't really in a position to entertain them, but it felt like they could at least read the atmosphere that much, and didn't insist on it.

To think that in the end I felt so little after killing people. I felt a little bad for doing it, but not some sort of crippling anxiety over it. I couldn't tell if it was because it was in my nature, if it was something inherent when it came to being a vampire, or if I'd been conditioned to care little about death after coming to this world,.

I really hoped it was the last one. As terrible as such a thought was, it was way better than the other two. And there was enough evidence that it couldn't be denied. I had spent every day since I was born in this world killing to survive. Even if I had never thought much of the things I had killed, it was still killing. Many of them weren't any different from killing bugs on Earth to me, and anything that felt more than that was like breaking robots or something. Challenges to overcome rather than ending lives.

If that was the case, then it wasn't an inherent part of this world nor my race.

(No, in a sense that's an inherent part of this world, but just not one that everyone experiences.)

But if it wasn't an inherent part of my race, then it cut down the chances that all other vampires were hostile to the major nations of this world. But in the end, I could only hope that I wasn't too much of an anomaly in that regard.

Since there wasn't much I could conclude on my own, I could only shelve this thought and move on. I did need to be careful to not lower the value of sentient life in my mind though, as now that I understood how little resistance I had to killing, I was extremely prone to falling down this slippery slope.

Moving on, I needed to think about what else I needed to do to avoid suspicion. So far, I had physically hidden and restrained myself. To any casual observer, it should seem like I was forcibly bound and put out of sight by some outside assailant. It was my hope that even under basic scrutiny that the facade would hold up.

In addition, the transformation I had put my body under should make it significantly harder, if not almost impossible, for someone to connect me to my true identity.

But that alone wouldn't be enough. I had only made the first impression that would keep me from being suspect. Suspicion couldn't be put onto me until I was well out of sight and no longer discoverable for further questioning.

For that, I needed to confirm my cover story. If I was playing the innocent bystander who was in the same room when the murder happened, I needed to be able to provide a basic witness account, otherwise I'd be suspect as there were witnesses of me entering the building.

But it wasn't like I needed anything more than some shady person entered though the front door and after killing the lecher who brought me to his home, ran away by climbing out of the window after binding me and hiding me in the closet.

Even a description of the killer could be done on the fly as long as it was reasonably consistent.

Since I most likely wouldn't have much to worry on that end, I was again brought about with boredom.

As I lay there in the darkness on my side, my mind drifted.

In the end, even if it was for self defence and to protect the orphanage, I did kill three people. What would people think if they found out? Rather what would the orphans think? Philia? Alicia?

The people...they can't find out. I'd be screwed if they did. The orphans' reactions were hard to predict. Many of them were too young to have solidified their morals, and would be heavily influenced by their affection of me. Philia...she probably wouldn't approve, but at the same time I thought she would understand as well.

(Alicia. What would she think?)

Like the orphans, she was hard to predict on this front despite living together for a year. On one hand she was young and impressionable like the orphans, yet her opinion of me was much more solidified and she was likely more able to objectively judge my actions.

(At least I'd like to think she could.)

Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but sometimes Alicia seemed much more mature than her age suggested. At least it felt like it to me.

Thinking back, Alicia was much stronger than I was when confronted over her death. She managed it with dignity I couldn't as she grew weaker day by day. In the end I was a mess, desperately trying to find a way to save her while she quietly accepted her fate.

Even in the end, she wanted to use what was left of her to support me. Despite only experienced a fraction as much life as I had, Alicia was able to do things I couldn't see myself being even close to being capable of.

As the images of her last moments played through my mind, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of my chest being crushed as tears freely overflowed from my eyes.

I missed her so much. I so desperately wanted to hear her voice, to feel her touch. To see her smile once again.

Laying there in the darkness, I quietly wept.

 

The sound of a flat echo brought me out of my gloom.

The dull reverberations were faint, but distinct, and repeated at a constant rate. It was the sound of feet against carpet through the walls.

Stretching out my senses, I felt the presence of someone approaching slowly. There didn't seem to be any urgency, so whoever it was wasn't aware something was amiss yet.

But as they approached, they paused for a moment then grew quick and loud before stopping entirely nearby. There was a few knocks, then the sound of a door opening.

"My Lord!"

A few more hurried footsteps before stopping entirely.

"My god, how could this have happened?"

"Mmmph!"

Judging the timing to be as good as it could be, I yelled out through my gag and lightly hit my feet against the bottom of the closet.

"Wha?!"

After a moment, I was suddenly blinded as the closet was opened.

"My god! You! Are you alright?"

An elderly man in a well creased black suit cradled my head in his arm and pulled the scarf out of my mouth.

"He...I...the lord...!"

I quickly stammered out, doing my best to sound unsettled.

"Shhh, shhh, it's safe now. Nobody is going to hurt you miss. Allow me to remove these bindings."

The old man lay me back down and started to fiddle with the shackles. It took him several minutes before I was freed, despite the shackles only being held together with a pair of large pins. I might need to review the design if I ever had to wear such a thing ever again. Then again, his hands were shaking pretty bad, so that might have had something to do with it.

"I apologize for the delay. I am Vanir, the head butler of the house Koree. May I hear your name?"

"Ah, umm...I'm Luna."

I hadn't considered my name to be asked. I could only hope he would accept such an impromptu name.

"Luna is it? I know it to be difficult, but may I presume you bore witness to what had happened my lord?"

Nodding, I gave him my fabricated story.

"When, when the lord asked, demanded me...as he was pushing me towards the bed I heard...a man, a big, tall man come through the door. When I turned, he was already behind the lord, and I saw pain, fear on his face as the tall man standing behind him. He was wearing a white cloak, and a hood. I couldn't see his face but. But he whispered something into the lord's ear before laying him on the ground. There was a knife, or something, in his back. Then the man, he turned to me. I tried to run, but he, he grabbed me, then gagged and shackled me. I was put into that closet. I, I heard, I don't know. Something strange. But after, it sounded like he opened the window, then there was the sound of some scratching. I didn't hear anything after that."

I stuttered horribly as I desperately tried to put together that story. The lack of planning and rehearsing really showed, but in turn I hoped that it sounded more authentic than being able to smoothly give my story like I was reading off of a script.

"I see. I suppose you were brought here at my lord's request?"

I nodded.

"How unusual. He much prefers humans over foxkins to warm his bed."

(Shit.)

"I, umm, I normally cover myself. This, this is what I was wearing when I brought here by his guards."

To reinforce my point, I quickly picked up the bundle of discarded cloth near the closet and unravelled it, revealing my robes and bag. To prove my point, I quickly put on and buttoned up my robes and showed off how I looked while hugging my white rabbit plush.

As an added touch, I tucked my tail between my legs and flattened my ears on top of my head.

"Ah, yes, I see. Forgive me for suggesting anything untoward you."

"Umm, no. It's fine."

"The sun had already crested the horizon. I am sure you would much prefer to rest and recover from your ordeal in a familiar place. Allow me to escort you."

The old man waved his other hand towards the door before making his way out. I couldn't help but stare at him for a moment before I got the clue and followed him. My cheeks felt a little warm. It was like I was being treated like a lady or something.

(Or rather, I am a woman, so in a sense this is only proper?)

It seemed like this was the first time I felt the positive side of being a woman in a public setting. All my time with Alicia was entirely private, and with the orphans I wasn't treated like a woman, just an adult. Philia was the closest, but with the way she treated me wasn't particularly feel distinct between a man or woman.

This old man made me feel like I was specifically treated as a woman, and it kinda made me a little happy. Like I could be a little proud of what I was. It was a far cry from how that lecher or the thugs treated me like an object.

(Well, aside from that perfume store shopkeeper, though he just treated me more like a customer than a woman.)

While I felt like I was losing more and more of my previous self, I had to admit, I enjoyed the feeling.

 

"Allow me to escort you all the way to your abode."

Right as we were reaching the front gates, the old butler turned around and gave me that terrible announcement.

"Ah, no. You must be busy. I can't."

"No, you are a guest of my lord, it is only proper that you be properly escorted."

"But, but after what happened, wouldn't you have to stay to handle the aftermath?"

"Oh...yes. In that case, please allow one our guards to escort yourself to your abode."

It felt like he really wanted to find out where I was staying, but that was the last thing I could afford. The way he was so insistent, he was probably at least a little suspicious of me already.

"No, but..."

"I insist. It is for your own protection."

(Hell no it is!)

"P, protection? Do you mean this city is dangerous enough that I would need such a thing during the day?"

"N, no. The city is perfectly safe. It is the pride of house Koree. But..."

"Then taking an escort would be an insult to your lord, wouldn't it?"

"..."

The old man's face twitched slightly, but otherwise maintained that gentle smile he had since the beginning.

"It would. I retract my words. I apologize if I had offended you."

"No, it's fine. Then, I'll be off."

I quickly made my way past the butler and through the gates the guards opened for me before walking down the street around a few corners through a bunch of side streets at random. When I was certain there wasn't anyone that could see me, I activated [Spirit Form] and made my way back to the orphanage.

 

In an alley near the orphanage, I fixed myself up to avoid making anyone worry the best I could. I took out my hat from my bag and put both on like I usually did. It was then that I was reminded I had transformed myself into a foxkin as I felt the ears on top of my head squish as I put the hat on.

Checking to make sure I had swapped out transformations and was presentable, I disengaged [Spirit Form] and exited the alley.

The second I was in sight, a bunch of the kids came running calling for my name. I gave them the best smile I could manage as I went inside with them, only to be rushed by almost all the rest of the other kids. Even Philia showed up, though she stayed a third of the way up the stairs to the second floor and just watched the scene of me being swamped with little kids all the while gently smiling.

The kids were all in a frenzy asking why I had gone when they woke up. All I could do was lie and just said that I couldn't sleep so I was taking a walk around the city. While the kids bought it easily, a quick glance confirmed that Philia didn't, and thus I was forced to prepare to explain at least some of what had happened later on.

For now though, since the kids were reassured, they went off to make some money. As I had come back a bit late, there wasn't enough time to make breakfast, but apparently they didn't have any real problems regarding that. The kids reassured me that they were used to not eating breakfast. When I looked at Philia to confirm it, she only gave a weak nod.

I kinda suspected it with how they had treated the breakfasts I had been making, but having it confirmed stung.

That aside, Philia and I were cuddling again on the bench like usual while holding the napping little kids in our arms. No, it had become my usual, but I would need to leave this city soon. Staying could risk bringing danger to the orphanage. If that butler got suspicious enough, he might be able to figure out that I was connected to this place and bring trouble to the kids.

He seemed much more decent than anyone else I had met from that place, but that didn't mean I could afford the risk, and she needed to know that. At the very least, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't give her a warning.

I really was going to miss these quiet times I spent with Philia.

"...You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I looked at my side as the little orphanage director buried a part of her face into my sleeve.

"If it hurts, you don't have to tell me what happened. I believe in you after all."

"...no, it's because you believe in me that I need to tell you."

"How much longer can you stay?"

Philia pulled on my arm as she leaned into me even harder, not raising her face in the slightest. I was a little surprised at the shift in subject.

"Ah, ummm, probably a few days, but that's it."

"...I see."

I wanted to do something. Comfort her or something. Parting probably hurt her more than it hurt me. But I was worried. Worried that doing anything would make parting even more painful for her. I cursed at my own spinelessness. I was a level 255 powerhouse, yet when it came to interpersonal subjects, I felt like a noob. No skills, no finesse, no guts.

But no matter how little courage I had when it came to interacting with people, Philia deserved to at least hear what had happened. What I knew.

"Last night, I killed some people."

"...and?"

Philia's body stiffened as I said it, but contrary to my expectations, she pushed her body more tightly against mine.

"I uh...it seemed like they were planning some terrible things for the orphanage. That, and they had already kidnapped one child it seemed."

"I see. So they were the ones who took Karlie?"

"Karlie?"

"Ah, no. Don't worry about it."

I was curious, but the way she shook her head made it hard to press further.

"Anyways. I found those people last night and killed them. I think I got away with it, but to make sure, I need to leave the city for a while until things settle down."

"*sigh* And you came back to make sure that we'd be alright before you left? You need to think about yourself more Scarlet. Are you sure you don't need to leave immediately?"

"It's probably fine? I made it look almost impossible for me to have done it, and the one to have left that house was a silver-haired foxkin in black robes."

"A foxkin?"

I took off my hat and hood, then swapped transformations.

"You never cease to amaze me."

"I have a lot of time to kill."

Doing my best to suppress a grin, I playfully flick my ears as Philia stared wide-eyed at them.

 

Afterwards, we worked a bit on soap-making then moved on to learning the fundamental magic skills before calling it a day.

That night, I checked on all the soap we had made along with the equipment we were using. Everything on that side was looking good and there wasn't anything to worry about, but as I thought about the next step, I realized that there was something I had forgotten: I hadn't had a plan on how to actually sell the things.

My market research had confirmed that there was no reasonable way to sell soap to the general population as it was seen as an exclusive item for the rich.

My only way to sell it would to find a store that already catered to the rich and noble. There was that one store that I had visited, and the store attendant that served me seemed to have been a decent person, but I was worried that it would be enough.

If the orphanage succeeded in selling the soap, then it would draw attention to it. It wasn't like selling a common commodity, but a luxury one. And on top of that, it would be better than some of the competition that was imported from outside the city.

Anything I could do to deflect suspicion would be extremely helpful.

Selling the soap at a relatively low price should deter the store from being tempted to harass the orphanage to sell the recipe, as if that happened, nothing would stop the Philia and the kids from selling the recipe to everyone else, completely destroying the market on high end soap. I could emphasize that point when marketing the soap as well just to make sure.

The problem was attracting third party attention. Once a high end specialty product was brought to the market, then everyone in that market would start looking for the source and try to discover their secrets. I doubted patents existed, so stealing the secrets would be high on the priority list. Selling the soap to multiple stores would mitigate that problem quite a bit, but on the other hand, it would expose the orphanage to quite a bit of overall attention, and threaten to turn it into a sweat shop as they were pressured into producing enough for all the stores they were selling to.

Keeping it to just one store would make it an exclusive product and naturally limit production by virtue of the store's inability to sell more than a certain amount. It would also make it easy for that store to limit sales though any number of excuses, and an item that was advertised to have a low production run would in turn garner prestige and inflate the profit margin. Probably.

The orphanage didn't need that much money to keep going, just a regular supply for the long term, so anything that would limit production, even if it meant the kids got a smaller cut, would be beneficial. In the end they were kids, and deserved to have time to play and learn.

But also by limiting the production and sales, it would increase the likelihood of someone trying to figure out the source and the recipe. People making copies on their own was fine, but actually going to investigate and discover the orphanage was a worry.

Philia could sell the soap to the store herself. The problem was buying the ingredients to make the soap. Or more specifically, the lye. It was blatantly obvious that the amount of ashes produced through ordinary day to day fire usage wasn't nearly enough to satisfy the lye needs of making the soap. Buying the ashes was the only solution, but then it would bring suspicion in regards to why the orphanage needed so much ashes. Bringing in more wood to produce more ashes in a bonfire was just asking for even more trouble, so that was out.

A trustworthy middleman was exactly what I needed, but I, being a person with almost no contacts in this world, was hardly someone who could come up with someone who could be a decent middleman on her own.

But, if I couldn't come up with someone, then I could just ask someone else if they knew someone.

(Well, at least I can hope that someone I knew would know someone trustworthy.)