In the small room assigned to her, Kagura picked up the child-sized Head Maid uniform that the Head Maid had just given her and looked at herself in the room's mirror.
"Ah... This height is only a little over 1.4 meters!
I've completely become a child!"
Recalling her former height of 1.7 meters, Inari Kagura sighed helplessly.
She had been lying in bed for almost the entire week since her injury, and the Symboli Family's servants had mostly taken care of her.
Therefore, she didn't have to worry about her food and lodging during this time.
It was only today, upon moving into her new room, that she had the chance to observe herself closely.
She didn't know if it was the advanced medical technology here or if her physical Soshi was much better in this life, but injuries of that severity had almost completely recovered within this week, leaving hardly any scars.
This greatly astonished her, having studied medicine previously.
During this time, she had also roughly understood her surroundings.
The old woman who saved her was called Speed Symbol, the head of the Symboli Family.
Although she wasn't very clear about the complex things of noble families, she knew that the Symboli Family was a very powerful family, and Speed Symbol was its current leader.
The world she was in seemed to be similar to Earth.
This place was similar to an island nation.
At least, she had never heard of creatures like Uma Musume on the original Earth.
She had heard of an anime called "Uma Musume Pretty Derby," but only heard of it; she knew nothing about its specific details.
However, at least it was still modern society here, and most common knowledge was still applicable to Earth.
This made Kagura feel a little relieved; at least she didn't have to worry about going to an unadaptable era.
Putting on the Head Maid uniform and wearing the white petal ornament on her left ear, Kagura looked in the room's mirror.
If it were in the past, the black-haired, straight-haired Uma Musume in the mirror would have greatly appealed to her own moe points, but with herself having become like this, it still made her feel somewhat conflicted.
"Am I living the way I like...?"
She used to think that a Head Maid uniform should be paired with long stockings like garter belts, but now that she had to work, she realized that walking around the house barefoot in slippers was the best choice for a traditional Head Maid.
Those flashy 'XP' accessories would only affect her Speed.
"Sigh, never mind..."
Throwing those jumbled thoughts out of her head, Kagura patted her cheeks to clear her mind, then gave a cheering gesture to the mirror.
"( ? o_o )? Hmm, perfect!"
As if responding to her, a thin mist suddenly appeared on the right side of the mirror, and then a line of text displayed on it.
—Good morning, you look so energetic.
It's great that your injuries recovered so quickly.
"Ah, I almost forgot, good morning, Miss Eclipse."
The person who wrote this line of text couldn't be seen in the mirror, but Kagura knew the other party was right beside her, so she greeted the invisible person.
This wasn't some legendary talking magic mirror.
Although Kagura initially didn't believe in ghosts or deities, two nights ago, when she was sleeping, she felt the bed beneath her suddenly sink as if someone had climbed onto it.
At the time, she broke out in a cold sweat and immediately instinctively turned her head to look, but naturally, she saw nothing.
However, she could clearly feel something there.
Scientific common sense made her vehemently deny her suspicions, and she fell asleep in unease.
Then, in her dream, she met this Uma Musume who called herself Eclipse.
From their communication in the dream, she learned that this body of hers was specially created by Eclipse, modeled after herself.
Biologically, there were no parents, but in the sense of a creator, Eclipse should be considered the parent of this body.
As for Eclipse's reason for doing so, according to her, when she awakened after a long time, she discovered a soul whose fate was not yet exhausted and was unwilling to remain dormant, wandering past her.
So, she created this body, placed that soul into it, and then sent it to the secluded shrine dedicated to Eclipse.
At the time, Kagura was utterly confused.
She felt her scientific common sense as a doctor being brutally ravaged.
Later, she had an epiphany—some things she didn't need to understand too clearly.
She just needed to know that she had originally died, and then Eclipse gave her a new body to be reborn here.
There was just a slight accident in the process: the lightning that descended with Eclipse's divine power set the shrine on fire.
Eclipse, having exhausted her power, could only quickly wake her up and tell her to flee, and then she ran until she collapsed from exhaustion at the Symboli Family's doorstep.
What Kagura found a bit regrettable was that Eclipse, as a deity, also didn't know why her soul appeared in this world, let alone how to send her back.
—Sorry, I still have no clue about your origins.
I haven't received worship for too long, so I don't have such omnipotent power.
Seeing this line of text, Kagura could almost see the disheartened look of the black-haired Uma Musume girl with her ears drooped.
"It's okay, this is pretty good as it is.
Being alive is more important than anything else, right?"
Kagura used words she often heard in the Hospital to comfort this Miss God who was a bit disheartened because she couldn't help her.
She didn't really mind living in a different place.
Since she couldn't do anything no matter how much she worried, she might as well adapt to the circumstances.
To Kagura, this deity who always followed her was like an invisible ghost friend, and she didn't dislike the feeling of having someone to talk to anytime.
However, Kagura still had work today, and she couldn't just keep chatting with Eclipse in her room.
After tidying her clothes, she put on her shoes and went out to report to the Head Maid... "Yo... I remember, you shouldn't be standing here at this time."
Speed Symbol emerged from her room and saw the Head Maid standing by the floor-to-ceiling window in the corridor, looking downstairs with a helpless expression. Thinking that the Head Maid would usually be busy with housework at this time, Speed Symbol couldn't help but feel a little curious.
"Didn't I ask you to teach that child how to work? Is there something wrong with her?"
"Ah, Head of the Family, it's not that there's anything wrong..."
The Head Maid sighed, and seeing Speed Symbol walk up to her, she pointed downstairs to Kagura, who was sweeping the courtyard like a whirlwind with a broom.
"...On the contrary, she's too capable. In just half a day, there's nothing left for me to teach her. Her housework is more skilled and efficient than mine. She's practically put me out of a job."
The physical Soshi of Uma Musume and humans cannot be generalized. The Head Maid truly felt it today. Inari Kagura's skilled techniques, enhanced by her physical Soshi, allowed her to achieve the efficiency of four people all by herself. Moreover, Kagura was meticulous and rigorous in her work. The Head Maid couldn't even find an opportunity to help Kagura finish anything.
"She even put you out of a job? Oh my... It seems some things aren't forgotten, even with amnesia... By the way, lunch today seemed a bit different than usual. Did she make that too?"
"Yes, she said she wanted to try, and she made a cuisine I'd never seen before. I saw her doing it so competently, so I didn't stop her. How do you like it? Does it suit your taste?"
"It's very good... Years ago, Old Mejiro and I traveled to a neighboring country to visit her granddaughter, and she treated me to that flavor in a grand Hotel there. I didn't expect to taste that flavor again, after so many years, from this child's hands."
Recalling today's lunch, Speed Symbol couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. To be honest, Inari Kagura's culinary skills were indeed quite surprising to her. She could say without exaggeration that all the maids in this house might not have the same level of skill as this young child.
"If you like it, how about I let her cook for you more often in the future?"
"She's still young, doing both cleaning and cooking. Give her some breaks, don't overwork her. Oh my... I originally just wanted to help this child and let her stay until I found a good place to settle her. I didn't expect her to be so capable... Haha, it seems I've gotten quite a bargain."
"Haha~ Everyone likes her. You've really found a treasure, Head of the Family. That child is unregistered now, isn't she? Since you like her so much, why not just adopt her?"
Remembering that the other maids in the house also really liked this new maid, constantly clamoring to pet her, the Head Maid couldn't help but laugh, and Speed Symbol laughed along with her.
"Adoption... Leaving everything else aside, that child herself isn't willing to accept such help. It's clear she knows it would cause us trouble and she's very concerned about it, so she refused me without hesitation."
"Oh my... This is truly..."
Seeing Speed Symbol's helpless expression, the Head Maid, who had probably figured out Kagura's personality by now, could only give a helpless smile.
"Speaking of which, did you do what I asked you to do earlier?"
"Yes, the investigation has been completed. More than a week has passed since the fire at Kagura's shrine. During this time, no one has tried to find her. Nothing was left at the fire scene. A child like Kagura couldn't have lived alone in such a remote place all this time. It can basically be confirmed that her family died in the fire."
"Alas... This is truly... Never mind. Help her register for an identity. Get all her identity procedures handled as soon as possible, otherwise, it will be very inconvenient for her to move around in the future."
Mid-sentence, Speed Symbol paused, chin in hand, thinking if she had forgotten anything. After a short while, she continued:
"Don't tell that child yet. She looks gentle and easygoing, but I don't know why she's so stubborn when it comes to accepting help. If she finds out, she'll start nagging me not to worry about her so much."
"Hehe~ You really do care about that child."
"To allow all Uma Musume to run happily, that is the ideal of the Symboli Family. Since I've seen it with my own eyes, there's no reason not to help. Moreover, such a sensible child makes one worry. Many things could be solved simply by asking us, but that child always wants to solve them herself. While independence is a good thing, she is, after all, a helpless child. In this situation, someone has to give her a hand."