Wei’en went out holding a black umbrella with Miss Zombie at his side. With plenty of time before work, he first headed to the upscale shop he’d patronized the day before to buy some groceries.

"Welcome, sir, la... uh, lady."

An attendant in a black-and-white jacket respectfully opened the door, his gaze drawn to Shawa’s face.

’Such a slender, well-mannered lady, yet she’s blind... And what’s more, she has clear marks of abuse on her. What a pity.’

Wei’en didn’t notice the attendant’s expression, much less his thoughts. If he had, he’d have surely zapped him with a Lightning Arrow to clear his head.

He was engrossed in putting together the ingredients for breakfast.

A few unidentifiable eggs.

Potatoes? A bag of those.

This is a cut of Deep Sea snow fish. A piece this big is only 10 shillings; I’ll get one to try...

There was also barley bread—not the rock-hard stuff like black bread, but something more like sliced sandwich bread, which the shop called "Haisi."

After adding some seasonings and cooking oil, the grand total came to 1 gold pound and 12 shillings.

Wei’en paid promptly and had Miss Zombie carry the groceries. He, in turn, held the umbrella as they headed back to Golden Street.

"Looks like it’s going to rain all day."

"Rain. I don’t like it."

Shawa, carrying bags of all sizes in both hands, carefully huddled under the umbrella, trying to keep the rain from soaking her new dress.

Her ghastly white eyes stayed fixed on the ground, watching so she wouldn’t trip on the uneven flagstone path.

"Does it rain in the Undead World, too?"

"It does. Red."

Wei’en paused for a second. "Blood?"

"Mhm. Every time it rains, a lot of them... stand out in it. I don’t like it."

"Why?"

"They advance."

’Advance?’

Wei’en asked tentatively, "...The kind of ’advancing’ I’m thinking of?"

"Yes," Shawa said, her head lowered. "After they advance, they leave the small hill and go to the bigger hills. To kill, devour, or be killed."

’A small hill, bigger hills...’

For the moment, Wei’en dropped the idea of asking about the geography of the Undead World. "So you do that too? Kill and devour?"

"Yes. I do the killing and devouring. I don’t get killed."

"You’re pretty impressive, then."

"On my hill, I am the strongest."

’Why did that sound just a tiny bit arrogant?’

"Impressive, very impressive." Wei’en was inexplicably reminded of mountain bandit kings who declare themselves rulers of their domain. He never would have thought Miss Zombie was strong enough to be the boss of her own turf.

"Then why not advance and go to a bigger hill?"

Shawa shook her head. "Don’t want to die."

"..."

’Hearing that from a zombie was... a new one.’

However, Wei’en understood her thinking now. She just wanted to coast, happy to remain the strongest on her small hill.

But if she advanced to other hills, she’d have to start from the bottom of the food chain again, and that was too dangerous.

"Do you remember your life before... I mean, do you have any memories from before you went to the Undead World?"

"I don’t remember."

Hearing this, Miss Zombie stared right at him, seeming to wonder how he could even ask such a question.

Wei’en said sheepishly, "Don’t mind me, I was just curious."

"Mhm."

But for the rest of the walk, no matter what questions he asked, Shawa didn’t say another word.

After a silent walk back to their residence, Miss Zombie dropped the groceries, returned to her room, and even locked the door...

Wei’en scratched his head. ’Looks like Miss Zombie is pretty sensitive about her memories of her past life, huh?’

But he quickly put it out of his mind, focusing instead on preparing a sumptuous breakfast.

Pan-fried fish fillets, fried eggs, and pan... no, deep-fried potato slices.

Paired with a few special sauces, the flavor was surprisingly good.

This made Wei’en decide to bring some of the potato slices to the Secret Investigation Department when he left for work.

"Or, maybe I should bring some for Tina, too."

At that thought, Wei’en prepared a portion for Lisi and the others as well. Good things are meant to be shared, after all.

After a few days at the Secret Investigation Department, he had a pretty good handle on his colleagues’ tastes.

Lisi loved grilled meat; she was especially fond of chewy tendon.

Marco was the one with the sweet tooth. He especially loved pairing everything with cheese, which, in his words, felt like "a passionate kiss."

As for Tina, her tastes ran toward heavy-flavored and bizarre foods—the less said about that, the better.

Of course, he didn’t forget the newcomer, Kali. Something with a lighter flavor should be to her liking.

Soon, Wei’en had a portion prepared for each of them, which he stored in his Space Ring.

Seeing that it was ten o’clock, Wei’en tidied up, got dressed, and headed out the door. He tried to say goodbye to Shawa, but again received no response...

’Help, how do I placate my little zombie after I made her angry?’

Wei’en sighed. He suspected that if he asked other Wizards, their answer to his problem would be—"Take her apart."

"Good morning, Wei’en." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Good morning."

Kali had been busy ever since the red moon disappeared.

But a shade of sorrow clouded her face, born from her helplessness in treating the injured patients.

"Let’s head to the Secret Investigation Department first. Maybe Sister Lisi will have a way to treat them."

Wei’en knew why she was in a bad mood. Frankly, he hadn’t expected so many people to have been blinded by the Deep Sea Giant Beast last night.

Over a period of four hours, more than a hundred people had come to the Morris Clinic for help, some coming from several streets away.

"The Secret Investigation Department? Let’s go, quickly! I need to ask Captain Lisi."

Kali’s eyes lit up and her face grew animated. She grabbed Wei’en’s hand and ran toward the end of Golden Street.

[You have been targeted by the killing intent of Melbel Osiris. Evaluation: Tsk, tsk. Holding hands is a risky business. Reward: Survival Points +3.]