Morning sunlight spilled across the floor, laying down a coat of golden paint. Unknown birds sang outside the window, and the warm, comfortable light put me in a good mood.

“Eileen, wake up.”

I opened the window to let the morning breeze in and freshen up the room.

I’m a skeleton now, so I don’t need to breathe, eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. But the habits I picked up when I was alive have stayed with me. I guess they’re proof that I really did live once.

“Mmm...”

The silver-haired girl let out a soft moan from the big bed. The bright sunlight made her frown and curl her delicate body into a ball, hiding beneath the covers like a little cat.

“Quit lazing around, Eileen. We’ve got lots to do today.”

I gently patted her, like an older brother trying to wake his little sister.

“Mmm... Five more minutes...”

But Eileen replied in a sleepy, childish voice and buried her head under the covers. The cowlick on her head wobbled, then drooped limply.

“...”

I chuckled and shook my head, then put on my armor and went downstairs to order her breakfast.

She’s probably been through a lot. And she’s still growing, so I might as well let her sleep a little longer.

Still, the mix of races in this country is pretty interesting...

Fairies with long, pointed ears, elves, humans, dwarves, and demi-humans with animal ears...

Thinking of that, I looked over at the beastgirl behind the counter, humming as she tallied the books.

“Hmm-hmm~ Hmm~~”

The pair of little animal ears atop her head twitched, and her gorgeous orange hair swayed gently with her full figure... No, calling it hair didn’t seem quite right. Its texture looked more like fur.

If you could write all that off as a costume, then the long tail poking out from beneath her maid’s skirt completely shattered my understanding of human evolution.

A beastgirl—or maybe a tigergirl.

I wonder if Darwin would be so mad about this that he’d throw off his coffin lid and come through time and space with me.

“Heh...”

This world really is fascinating. I wonder if it’s an isekai that came to life from the pages of some light novel.

If this really is another world straight out of a story, I hope the Creator secretly cranks up the strength of undead units. The higher, the better.

By the way, is there a rich catgirl around here? I might be able to borrow some money from her...

The kind you don’t have to pay back.

“Hello! Your breakfast is ready. Would you like me to bring it upstairs?”

While I was thinking about all sorts of nonsense, the beastgirl brought over a breakfast of stew in a small pot and a few soft rolls, smiling brightly. The rich aroma kept tickling my nonexistent sense of smell. I stared at the creamy white soup for three whole seconds, almost convinced I could wolf it down in one go.

【Olfactory system disabled】

“Ah...”

Paper-chan was thoughtful enough to turn off my sense of smell...

But... skeletons can’t eat... QAQ

I wanna eat...

“Um... Is something wrong with the food...?”

Seeing me stare at the breakfast without saying a word, the beastgirl asked worriedly.

“Oh, no, not at all! Thank you. I can take it back upstairs myself.”

“Oh, right. I haven’t asked your name yet.” I put on the kind of voice you’d use at a mixer and asked her name like a gentleman.

“I’m Fikal! Just call me Fei’er, Mr. Ojer!”

Her face turned a little red, and the tiger ears on her head quivered. She flashed a tiny tiger fang and smiled charmingly, her youthful beauty on full display.

“Fei’er, huh? That’s a lovely name.”

“Thank you.”

“Then I may have to rely on you to look after me from now on, Fei’er.”

With that, I straightened my helmet, said goodbye to her, and carried breakfast back to the room on the second floor.

Ah, that’s right... I have to prepare for the long haul. That means I’ll probably be staying here for a while, so it’s important to get on good terms with the owner.

After all, the place is quiet and elegant, with a hot tub and everything. The decor is carefully chosen for comfort. It could give Valhalla in Venezuela a run for its money. More than an inn, it feels like a chill little bar on the outskirts of town.

Most importantly, their prices are fair!

I wish they—or this world—had some kind of sound system. Then I could play something mellow in Fei’er’s ground-floor lounge, like “Welcome to VA-11 Hall-A” from Valhalla, and sip a glass of rum on the rocks. That’d be amazing.

“Sigh... Too bad I’m just a pile of Big Bone now. I can’t eat or drink... Anyway, has Eileen gotten up yet? I need to talk to her about what we’re going to do next...”

I pushed open the door and softly called the girl’s name as I looked toward the bed.

“Ah, good morning, Master...”

The girl, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, rubbed her eyes and sleepily folded up the bedding. But when she spotted the breakfast in my hands, her eyes lit up and she hurried over.

I smiled gently, set the breakfast on a nearby table, and gestured to the girl.

“Morning, Eileen. Time for breakfast.”

She twitched her little nose. The rich aroma made her swallow, and the cowlick on her head bounced around like it was undergoing Brownian motion. She asked me timidly,

“C-can I...?”

“Of course. I said I’d look after you, and I won’t go back on my word.”

The girl sat down at the table and blinked her lovely big eyes. Once she was sure I wasn’t joking, she cautiously picked up a piece of bread and took a tiny bite.

“Mmm...! It’s good! And so soft!”

Then, forgetting her manners, she wolfed it down with her little cherry-red lips.

“Good. I’m glad.”

I rested my arms on the table and watched her, occasionally wiping soup from the corner of her mouth or correcting the way she held her knife.

After a while, when I thought she was nearly done eating, I said, “Eileen, let me explain what’s going on.” My tone was very serious.

She flinched as if she’d been shocked, put down the bread in her hand, and looked at me uneasily before nodding.

I took a deep breath. She was always so timid that it made me nervous, too.

“Anyway, we’re partners now. And thanks for helping me deal with those Necromancers earlier.”

“Mm...”

“As for our plans for the near future, I don’t know much about this country yet, and this is your first time in this city. So things might be a little tiring for a while. We’ll have to introduce ourselves in all sorts of places, register as adventurers at the guild, and so on.”

She nodded.

“But... Master... you’re probably a very capable person, right...?”

Eileen suddenly asked me, fidgeting a little.

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Um... once you’ve learned about this country, and settled down...”

Her voice began to waver with tears.

“Will you... leave me behind? Will you sell me again...?”

Pfft.

That was what she’d been worried about?!

This kid’s pretty sharp!

“Hahaha! You’re smarter than I thought, Eileen!”

“Huh...?”

I cleared my throat twice and pretended to think it over, turning my head to look at her.

“Well, you are very cute. There must be plenty of rich people who’d pay a high price for that face of yours.” I gave her a wicked grin.

“B-but...”

She was scared now. Her voice was trembling.

“Even if I can’t get a high price for you, I could give you to some nobles as a gift. That might open a few doors for me.”

That was all true. I didn’t know what the standards of beauty were in this world, but Eileen really was cute in my eyes, and seemed to fit the tastes of certain... special interest groups. I was only saying it to scare her, though—

“Wah... Waaaaah...”

Huh?

I heard her gasp between sobs and hurriedly turned around.

The silver-haired girl clutched the corner of her tattered dress with one hand and wiped away her tears with the other. Her long, pointed ears drooped.

She... was crying?

“No... I don’t want to be sold... I... I’ll do anything you want! I... I...”

Hey, hey, it was just a joke!

I hurried over, wiped her tears, and cleared my throat before speaking with righteous conviction.

“Listen! Ahem... I can keep you by my side, and give you the treatment you deserve, just like I said before. But you have to be useful.”

“U-useful?” She sniffled and looked at me with eyes red from crying.

“Mm. I’d have a hard time handling everything that’s coming up by myself. And I’m not very good at magic. Necromancy is pretty much the only thing I’ve made any progress in.”

I pointed at my own skull.

“I am the Life-and-Death Spirit, after all.”

“So I need a teammate who can support me with other kinds of magic.” I pointed at Eileen.

“Can you do that?”

“I-I’ll try my best!”

She thumped her little pink fist against her chest and answered with fierce determination. Her cheeks were rosy, and she looked... kind of excited?

Well, that made sense. She’d never had a chance to learn magic before, had she?

“By the way, you don’t have to call me Master. Just call me big brother. And you don’t need to be so timid around me.”

I patted her head.

“I’m not going to hit you like those people did, so don’t worry.”

“Mm... Okay...”

She looked up at me and timidly called out,

“Big brother?”

“Yeah.”

I ruffled her little head again.

“No time like the present. Let’s get going.”

I stood up to leave, but then I remembered something. I glanced at Eileen beside me, with her earmuffs and tattered clothes, and thought it over for half a second.

Emmmmmmm...

“Big brother?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s get going!”

“Mm!”

“Let’s go buy you some clothes!”

“O-okay... Huh?!”

[Huh? Uh... Something cute, I guess...]

【We’ve got elegant clothes, light outfits, dresses, nurse uniforms, sailor uniforms, kimonos, maid outfits, suits, sleeveless bodysuits, flight attendant uniforms, queen outfits, [beep] and [beep] for [beep]. You can—】

[Stop, stop!! What the heck is all that?! What kind of messed-up stuff is in your database?!]

【The Encyclopedia of Isekai Slave Training. Want to take a look?】

[Please get lost, thanks...]