Throughout the night and into the morning, several of the men in the village had stayed up to either keep watch or help rebuild the many homes destroyed by the cave trolls. A part of me wanted to lend a hand but I knew it was better to keep my distance. Before midday the corpses of the four adventurers were retrieved and brought back to be given a proper burial.

"I'll have to see about getting you some clothes, Szandor. I can't have my guest walking about naked!"

Mr. Hart let out a laugh as he prepared lunch for himself and his daughter, Marie, who simply looked out the window with an air of gloom about her. I felt her father was trying his best to keep things positive especially since Marie couldn't bring herself to go visit the graves.

Though, now that he had mentioned it I guess I was naked. It didn't occur to me since, well, I really have nothing to hide. Still, having clothing might help to make myself more approachable at least.

"In fact, I think I have the perfect outfit for you. My main business is enchanting items but I have had experience as a clothier. Few years back an adventurer who was passing by had commissioned an outfit but left town before picking it up. He hasn't been back since unfortunately. I do rather hope he isn't dead."

"Thank you, Mr. Hart. You're too kind."

"Oh, please, just call me Henry." He casually laughed and then called for Marie to eat lunch.

I felt a bit awkward sitting at the table while Henry and Marie ate quietly but there really was no need for me to eat. I didn't exactly have a stomach to feed anyway. I almost left because of how awkward I felt but Marie insisted I stayed despite the fact she was still ever so quiet. The light bags under her eyes and her tired expression told me she didn't get much sleep last night.

I couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through. So I stayed for her sake.

Later in the day Henry brought to the small building next to their house which he had informed me was his workshop. The place was filled with scattered pages filled with scribbles and symbols while various objects laid about. There were also what appeared to be beakers filled with liquids of varying colors. In the back corner were dozens of racks where clothing hung.

Henry ushered me over to the racks and began skimming through. After only a few minutes Henry had found what he was looking for.

"Aha! There you are! I do hope it's to your taste."

Turning around he revealed an all black outfit with a black leather trench coat with white trim. There were even black gloves poking out from the pockets. The only thing that was no black was the mask to go with the outfit. Or at the very least the featureless metal part which reached from the chin to forehead, its color was a deep blood red.

Oi, this... this outfit is pretty cool. I realize how much I'll look like an edgelord but I'm not afraid to admit to liking that style. I could end being some cool anti-hero.

"Is it to my taste? Of course. Though, the mask..."

The mask is cool and will probably make me look mysterious but how the hell am I going to see?!

"Just try it real quick."

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

I did just that, and huh, I can see perfectly fine! Is this the result of his Alchemic Arts?

"I was able to enchant the mask to allow the wearer to see. When the adventurer had commissioned the outfit I guess he hadn't thought that far ahead. It's also enchanted with [Mirage]. It'll make you less noticeable to people around. Well, it'll only work on people not paying attention or those with little mana control. At the best the average person won't pay any mind to the fact that you're masked but others will."

"I see..."

Isn't this too perfect for me? This mask will allow me to go out in public without causing a scene. I can see now why he thought of this outfit for me. Afterall, I think he realizes I probably won't be able to stay forever. The villagers may be thankful I saved them but they're also still clearly scared of me and will more than likely push me out of town sooner rather than later.

After putting out the outfit and thanking Henry I decided to take a stroll around town to see how well the outfit worked. So far not a single villager has batted an eye. It's not as if I'm invisible but more of the feeling of just being a random person walking. It was kind of nice though it reminded me a bit too much of my old life.

The only one to notice me was Marie who at first seemed nervous until I called out her name which brought relief to her face.

"Oh, Szandor, it's you. So that's the outfit my dad was talking about? Wow, it's really quite something."

She said it with a giggle. Oi, is she making fun of me? Well, guess even in this fantasy world this outfit might seem a bit much. Though, it didn't matter since it was nice to see her smile finally.

"I haven't had the chance to thank you. To properly thank you for saving the village. Everyone may fear you but I appreciate what you did. You could've walked away. You didn't really know me or anyone in this village yet you were the one to save them."

Marie starred off with a melancholic look before continuing on. "You saved me. Back in the cave. I know you had your own reason for wanting to find a way out of the cave but you could've left me there. I'm really useless after all..."

A tear light streamed down her cheek as she avoided eye contact to hide her shame. I really wasn't good with these sorts of things so I simply kept quiet in hopes that lending an ear was what she was looking for.

"My father is really a genius. A natural Alchemist. And my brother was so gifted at Martial Arts he not only now works at the Erd Capital Dojo but is taught personally by the owner. But me? My punches don't leave a bruise and every time I enchant an item it doesn't work properly." She let out a soft laugh. "One time I enchanted a sword with fire and the blade was burnt to cinders in the blink of an eye."

"But the solace I found in all of that, were my books. I realized there was so much more to the world than that. I felt a burning passion to go out and explore. I used to dream about being an adventurer and even someday seeing what lies beyond our borders. If I have no talent for the magical arts then I'll simply write about them! But... they were right. Without talent how can I be anything more than a simple village girl?"

"By 'they' you mean...?"

"Yeah... they were never nice to me. You might think it's weird that I'm sad to see them dead. That I kept having nightmares last night of seeing their lifeless faces. Maybe I should be happy but... they were still human beings. Humans with friends and family who loved them. Isn't it cruel to cut a life so short?"

This girl... she really was kind hearted. Thinking back on my old life, I was in a similar situation. Growing up I had no talents but to be fair I had no drive to push myself to try anything. A lot of the kids at school picked on me for my lack of care and laziness. But I don't know if I would've shown these kinds of emotions to my bullies. She was definitely a better person than me.

It seemed she caught on to how long she had been going on for as she wiped away the tears and profusely apologized. "I didn't mean to go on for so long I just... even though we just met yesterday I can't help but feel a closeness with you. Like, we've been friends for years. Not that I know what having a friend is like." She let out a laugh as we continued walking on like nothing had happened.

I can't help but think, if I was a flesh and blood man, that what she just said was a type of romance flag. I felt an almost shameful sadness at that moment.

"Being an undead skeleton certainly has its drawbacks..."