44 Enjoying winter vacation

After that incident, Mei, Kiana, and Adam proceeded to have a lavish feast

Of course, Kiana partly succeeded in cooking a meal with Adam's supervision and help, but him and Mei still cooked by themselves as it wasn't enough

And it would be better to practice cooking in a more suitable environment, but now that it is Winter vacation, they wanted something special

... Although Kiana was intensely watching them cook with an unusually focused expression

He didn't know why Kiana became so dedicated to learning how to cook, to be honest, he expected her to give up after trying one time and failing. But to his surprise, she didn't give up, and even though he and Mei didn't let her cook, she still watched from the sidelines, hoping to learn

"Muah! That was delicious!" The white haired glutton exclaimed out loud without any hint of shame

"I agree. Eating food with friends by my side makes the food.... More enjoyable" Mei chimed in, expressing her thoughts

Certainly, eating the food you made with your family or friends makes the experience a lot more precious and enjoyable. Mei can attest to that because of her own experience

"It is certainly better than the generic and stale food in the orphanage" Adam also participated in the conversation, being grateful that he was out of that place

It wasn't a hellish experience or anything, but he just didn't like the environment, and he especially didn't feel safe in an orphanage under that guy Otto. Of course, interacting and becoming friends with Loli Bianka (Aka Real Kiana) certainly made it more enjoyable, yet also equally dangerous as it brought more attention to himself

Although he is not a simp... It was indeed worth it

"You are an orphan, Adam-senpai?" Kiana blinked her blue eyes at him, her voice brimming with curiosity and surprise

"Now that I think about it.... It's weird that you didn't have a surname registered in Chiba academy" The purple haired girl wasn't as surprised as the white haired girl because she already knew he was an orphan from the date they had previously

"Yes well, it isn't really important so I never mentioned it" He admitted quite clearly, without any change in his tone

"But it is!" Kiana suddenly stood up while slapping her arms on the table "Adam-senpai! Although my stupid dad left me suddenly, he still taught me a lot of things! Having no parents is just horrible!"

... Well, Kiana at least tried to cheer him up with good intentions, although for someone else, it would do the opposite

"...." Mei from the side looked at Adam sympathetically "Although I can't remember my mother, and my father didn't spend a lot of time with me.... He was still there when it mattered"

"Eh!? Mei-senpai, so we both only have fathers!?" The young Kaslana's eyes lit up at the other girl's reply

"Yes Kiana-chan, but that's not the point" The purple haired girl gently chided her "Adam, do you at least remember your parents?"

Kiana pouted at Mei's reply, but in a rare way of high emotional intelligence, she didn't retort as she felt that the atmosphere wasn't suitable

"Well..." Adam was deep in thought at this point, trying to recall all of his memories of his second life. With the help of [Great Sage], it wasn't difficult, as although his memories of his early years were blurry, they were still recorded in his brain

Being an adult in a child's body made his situation a lot more difficult than normal. A toddler's brain can't handle the cognitive functions of an adult soul, after all

"I lost my parents in the event that happened in the year 2000. I was too young back then, so their faces are blurry" Adam replied truthfully to the two girls, his voice still having that neutral voice without any fluctuations

Remembering their faces is the limit he could achieve, back then, he didn't have a super AI in his soul that could record everything like now so it is quite logical that he wouldn't be able to remember any more than that

[Hmph]

"Adam-senpai..." Kiana stared at him in sympathy, knowing the true nature of what happened in 2000, and knowing that it most likely had to do with 'honkai' and 'Herschers'. But she couldn't tell them about honkai, she didn't want to involve innocent people!

"Ah..." Mei also stared at him in sympathy and pity "Sorry for asking, it was wrong of me" She continued in a regretful tone

"It's alright. Although I'm grateful to them for giving birth to me, I didn't know them, so I can't bring myself to feel sad about their death" Adam reassured them indifferently

True, he was grateful that his parents provided him a newborn vessel for his soul to occupy and reincarnate into this world. And he also especially appreciated that he was born in the same age as the protagonists and not some random point in time, but that was it

"But Adam-senpai.... Don't you miss your parents?" The white haired warrior asked him in a soft voice, not understanding him as she herself missed her father, and she especially wanted to know her mother that died

"Nope" He said "Well sure, I wouldn't have minded getting to know them, but there is no point in thinking about that as they are already dead. And besides, I've gotten to know some amazing people that I wouldn't have otherwise interacted with, so it's better to think about the now and the future instead of what could have been"

"Then... I'm happy you're not sad, Adam-senpai!" Kiana exclaimed while giving him a thumbs up, returning back to her usual cheerful self

"That's a beautiful way of seeing things.... I wish I was the same...." Mei added with a downcast expression, voice dripping with admiration of how he saw the world

Adam sighed at her expression

He put his hand on her shoulder "Don't be so downcast, Mei. We haven't heard your father's side of the story, so we can't be sure if those allegations are true" He gave her his best smile, trying to reassure her

"I agree, Mei-senpai! I'm sure a bad person envied your father and put him in prison so they could steal his stuff!" The tuna continued after him

He was impressed by Kiana's intuition. She was pretty close to the correct conclusion.... That is if Cocolia wanting Herrscher Mei's core counts as her wanting Ryoma's stuff

"... Thank you, both of you" Mei smiled genuinely

Adam was dazed for a split moment after seeing her dazzling smile... It was very beautiful

Or maybe it was his hormones acting up, he is going through puberty, after all. Although it is a bit troublesome, he doesn't intend to control those with the power of Corruption

Adam didn't want to dull his emotions and his instincts intentionally. He is supposed to live his second life to the fullest, and while being in the honkai universe makes that goal difficult, he still plans to enjoy this life as much as possible

And looking at the smiles of joy on both Kiana and Mei's faces… he suddenly felt that being reincarnated in this world isn't as bad as he previously thought

...

..

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