Chapter 42 – Female Companionship (2/2)

(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.)

Ninetailed_Furball

Hi everyone! (≧∇≦)/

Sorry for the late release. Feels like it's been happening a lot lately, but at least I haven't missed any days yet! (Aside from the bonus chapter, but we don't talk about that (>_<))

That said, this chapter was quite unexpected for me. The events in it were supposed to be much shorter originally, yet somehow what was supposed to only take up a quarter of the chapter ended up taking up almost the entire thing?! I was supposed to get to the next day by the end of this chapter, yet we're not even halfway?! Σ(゜д゜;)

Well, I did kinda go a bit overboard with Scarlet's inner monologue. That, and Philia's little scene. (´･ω･`)

Did you know, originally Philia wasn't supposed to have any yuri scenes at all? She was just the director and was a completely minor character that would only have a few minor scenes but otherwise be a background character! Σ(ﾟДﾟ)

But you guys really took on to her, and after that petition so many of you signed, we got that nice yuri scene. After that, I couldn't help myself but include another! Ah, and my yuri juices just won't stop flowing either. Am I going to have to write another soon?

Well, you guys seemed to like it before, so I may go and do a bunch more. But I didn't tag yuri or GL on this story. What to do? ┐('～`；)┌

Anyways, after some comments on the last chapter, I figured I'd put on a late poll! It's nothing special, but I figured I'd want to quantify what you guys thought. Which of the perspectives did you like the most in the last chapter?

Oh, and I put so much effort in some of the names, yet nobody noticed? (Ｔ▽Ｔ)

I hope to see you guys in the comments again! Just like how you enjoy my story, I just can't stop reading your comments! It makes me so happy that you guys are so talkative! ♪┏(・o･)┛♪