100 Days Later, Training the Gloomy Young Lady (5)
A few days later, in the study of my mansion at the Ludwig residence.
Scratch-scratch-
"Phew... Looks like it'll be done around next week."
I pulled the pen away from the manuscript paper and stretched.
100 Days Later, The Gloomy Young Lady Falls
I'd nearly finished the first draft of my next work. Since this one was based on 000 Days Later, Training the Gloomy Big-Tits Girl that I'd serialized in my previous life, the writing speed was way faster than expected.
Of course, I still had to tweak some settings to fit this world's culture...
But the plot's already there.
Coming up with a plot from scratch versus just revising an existing one were worlds apart in difficulty.
The real question is... should I make her boobs even bigger...?
It was common sense that the gloomy girl had to be stacked!
Naturally, the heroine of 100 Days Later, The Gloomy Young Lady Falls was described with some serious tits.
"Sluuuurp... Still kinda small, huh...?"
But compared to that robed girl's chest from the other day...
I had my doubts about whether the heroine's rack really deserved the big-tits label.
Knock-knock-
"Young Master Rian, you have a letter. And a guest has arrived. I've shown them to the drawing room for now. They say they're from the publishing house..."
Topaz's voice came from outside the door.
...Letters are one thing, but a guest?
I was used to getting letters these days. The publishing house was flooded with fan mail. They'd even set up a dedicated fan letter box at the entrance.
But a guest? No one knows I'm the author, right?
This was a secret just between Topaz and me. Even the publishing house manager thought I was just passing manuscripts from some author I knew. He had no idea Rian Ludwig was behind Raping Your Childhood Friend.
Well, I didn't plan to hide it forever...
But if my older brother or sisters found out? Total headache.
"...Young Master Rian? Are you all right? Why no answer?"
"Oh, sorry, Topaz. Was just thinking for a sec. Be right out."
"Tch... You scared me. ...Fine, I'll prepare some tea then."
"Yeah, thanks."
Click-
I stashed the manuscript in the drawer and left the study.
Step-step-
A moment later, I entered the drawing room to find an unfamiliar man fidgeting nervously.
"Sorry for the sudden visit, Young Master Rian!!"
The man bowed deeply the second I walked in.
"It's fine. More importantly, who are you?"
"I'm Strura, an employee at Ludwig Publishing House."
"...I see."
Slurp-
I took a sip of the tea Topaz had brought and eyed the man.
Ink stains on his cuffs and paper-cut fingers—no lie there.
"So, what's the publishing house want? If it's work stuff, they could've just sent it by messenger bird."
"Well... it seems someone's looking for you, so the manager sent me personally."
"Looking for me?"
I gave the employee a puzzled look.
Looking is looking. What did "seems like" even mean?
"See... it's not a person looking directly, but... for the past few days, a skeleton's been standing in front of the publishing house holding a sign."
"....?"
"I copied the sign exactly, so... thought you'd want to see it yourself."
The employee wiped cold sweat from his brow and pulled a crumpled note from his pocket.
Slurp-
[Looking for Person]
Red hair. Red eyes. Height approx. 183~185cm. Weight 78~82kg. Shoulder width approx. 47cm. Attire: upper noble-style shirt with black vest. Finger lengths: index 8.7cm, middle 9.2cm, ring─ ... .. .
"....?"
This wasn't even a wanted poster...
And okay, everything else aside.
Finger lengths are creepy as hell.
Who memorizes someone else's finger lengths down to the decimal?
But...
...That's totally me, though?
I was shocked at how perfectly the description matched me.
Hell, I didn't even know my index finger was 8.7cm... but height, weight, shoulders—all spot on.
Slurp-
I turned to look at Topaz.
She'd been peeking at the note too.
"What do you think, Topaz?"
"Hmm...."
Topaz crossed her arms and huffed lightly.
"First off, setting up a skeleton means it's a necromancer, right?"
"Probably."
Necromancers weren't viewed negatively here—it was a legit job. Sure, yanking corpses from graves willy-nilly to make undead was illegal... but parading one openly on the street meant it was from a legally purchased body.
"Hmmm... Why would a necromancer be looking for you? Think. Done anything shady lately?"
"...."
I pondered, but nothing came to mind.
Ah...!
Not wrong per se, but...
Something guilty did pop up.
No way that's related, right?
That robed girl's signed Raping Your Childhood Friend, preserved with magic in my safe.
"Young Master Rian. Answer."
"Nah, nothing."
I shook my head.
Not scared to tell Topaz—it just didn't seem related!
"Hmmm... Yeah, makes sense. You've been holed up in the study all the time lately... And if it was the main Ludwig family, no need for a skeleton stunt..."
As Topaz rubbed her chin in thought, I spoke first.
"Wanna go meet 'em? If that skeleton keeps standing there, it'll scare people off."
"...Haa, Young Master Rian. Saying that means you've already decided, huh?"
Topaz narrowed her eyes at me.
"You'd go anyway, even if I tried stopping you... You can't resist anything that looks fun."
She grumbled sarcastically, but I knew it was all worry.
I knew, but... couldn't help it!
Recently, writing Raping Your Childhood Friend had me swimming in dopamine, but before that? Chronic deficiency, like any modern guy cut off from the internet!
"...Well, it'll be crowded, so probably fine. Still, be careful."
"Got it. And I'll be quick—got stuff to do."
"Stuff...? Oh... right. Yeah."
Topaz eyed me up and down with a hint of disdain.
Probably thinking smut-writing...
But nope, wrong.
Slurp-
I leaned close to her ear and whispered.
"The custom order I commissioned... they're delivering today."
"...What's that?"
She tilted her head for a sec, then got it...
"Eek!?"
Her face flushed red instantly.
"...Young Master Rian!...A-are you insane?... Talking about that with someone right here!?"
"Topaz, reacting like that makes it weirder. Act natural."
"It's your fault for making me react this way!! Just don't do it!!"
Topaz trembled quietly, too embarrassed to yell.
So cute.
Satisfied with the teasing, I smirked.
"Alright, I'm off."
"Ugh... annoying... Haa... Fine, but be careful. For real."
"I said I got it. See ya later."
"...Yeah. Come back quick."
Clatter-clatter-rattle-!
The carriage arrived near the publishing house soon enough.
"Th-there it is, Young Master Rian."
"Yep. Thanks. I'll figure out what to do, so head back first."
"Y-yes... sir! Be careful!"
Honestly, I could've found it without him. The skeleton with the sign had cleared the area like it was deploying a zone...
Not a soul around.
Huh... Thought it'd be fine...
Ten years in this world, I'd gotten used to swords and magic...
But undead up close? Kinda scary.
Topaz wasn't worrying for nothing.
A bony corpse swiveling its empty sockets was way creepier than I'd imagined.
Made those bad necromancer rumors flash through my mind.
—From now on, your name is 'Some Meat'.
Killing folks for bodies, torturing or blackmailing into soul contracts, that kinda shit.
Well, not these days, supposedly.
Modern necromancers were pushing reforms like the "Corpse Consent Certification" to shake the image... but death's involved, so instinctual revulsion was hard to shake.
Eh... just ignore it.
Didn't the ancients say gentlemen avoid danger?
Dopamine mattered, but no need to stir up trouble.
As I turned to head home...
Crack-!
The swiveling skeleton locked eyes on me and froze.
"....?"
Fwoosh-!
Blue glow flared from its empty sockets...
Clack-clack-clack-!!
The skeleton ran.
"Kyaayaaahooo?!!"
"Hiiikweeeegooo?!?!"
Onlookers scattered with weird screams.
What the hell?! Why's it so fast?!
Good thing I'd kept my distance.
Normal skeletons were low-tier undead, human-compatible minus stamina. Even if spotted, this range should've let me ditch it easy.
Clack-clack-clack-!
"...!!"
But this one was faster than a living human. Not just fast—full knight-sprint speed.
Better smash it than run...!
I pulled up mana—
Shwoooosh-!!
Crunch-crash-!!
Thud-!
The skeleton slid belly-first across the ground at full speed, dogeza-style.
"...."
Staring at it halted right under my feet, I thought:
...Gentleman, you were wrong.
Running would've robbed me of this sliding dogeza show.
Clackclackclack-!!
The skeleton rubbed its palms together frantically.
Bones begging—clearly Pl-please!! I beg you!!—and the crowd started murmuring.
"Haa..."
I sighed.
Skeleton or not... ignoring that pro-level dogeza felt wrong.
...Wait, ignoring it might make it chase me again?
That thought was scarier.
"So... what do you want?"
"...!"
The skeleton popped up and pointed somewhere with a finger.
Slide-
I followed its finger...
...Bancliffe Hotel?
One of the empire's top luxury hotels came into view.