I waited in Beginner’s Rest for Jessie to start our first lessons together. She sent a letter to my house with a time and date but hadn’t shown up yet. I’d spent almost an hour drinking water by myself at a table, yet there was nothing to show for my patience.

  “How long have you been here?” asked Nigel. He appeared seemingly out of nowhere and sat in one of the three vacant chairs beside me.

  “Too long,” I responded blandly. “Is Jessie dead?”

  “Ah. No. She, uh, has bad habits, is all,” replied Nigel. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “You’re going to have to wake her up if you need her before lunchtime.”

  “But she’s the one who picked this time. I’m a child. She’s an adult. It is her job to follow through with appointments. The burden shouldn’t be on me,” I protested immediately. “Is she actually dumb and lazy? Did I waste my money on her?”

  “Th-That isn’t it. Um, she’s very good at what she does, but she’s not very good at being a, well, person.”

  “That makes her useless.”

  Granted, I didn’t know what it meant to be an adult. I didn’t know anything about my past, how I died, who I was, what I did, how I lived, or anything relevant. While I possessed a depth of knowledge and maturity that no baby could possibly have, having retained many skills from my past life, I didn’t carry over my identity. I was a body without a soul, and it took me years, in a sense, to develop one. My experiences changed me, and I came into my own, but there was still so much about the world and life that I didn’t know.

  Even still, I knew Jessie was responsible for me due to her age and authority. At best, I was a remarkable child with an unusual level of intelligence and maturity, but aside from my eyes and my race, I wasn’t particularly skilled at anything. I mean, I fell down the stairs yesterday trying to redo the buttons on my shirt sleeve.

  It was Jessie’s job, as someone who’d lived in this world for so long and developed a sense of purpose and personhood, to do what she said she’d do and guide me, the person who paid her, as I required her to.

  Well, it wasn’t as if I had any better options. Quintin looked so relieved to pass my training on to someone else. It was time to get the woman’s ass motivated.

  Resolved, I sighed and stared at Nigel. “You’ve dealth with this before, haven’t you?”

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  Nigel nodded slowly.

  “Help me.”

  “I was hoping for a break. It’s been my job since I started traveling with my brother,” admitted Nigel. He scratched the back of his head and then offered me an apologetic smile. “It’s not that hard.”

  “Come on, just once. Then I won’t ask for you again.”

  “…fine.” Nigel begrudgingly stood up. “I apologize in advance.”

  We traversed the stairs until we were in front of Jessie’s room, a place I had already been before.

  “I’ll take the lead this time, so just, I dunno, reflect on your life choices,” joked Nigel. He knocked. “Coming in.” Without waiting for a response, he opened Jessie’s door and slid inside her room with me closely on his heel. He shielded his eyes as he did, which gave me an indication of what I’d be dealing with. Because of that, I didn’t bother copying him. I wanted to see all the shamelessness and carnage for myself.

  I deadpanned as I entered. How much of a degenerate is she?!

  Jessie laid in bed with a woman at her side. Jessie didn’t have any sheets on her and was completely naked. Her body was curled into a ball and shivering as she slept blissfully, hugging a pillow into her like letting go would kill her.

  Beside her, a random woman was sleeping soundly. Her hands were tied to the bedpost with cloth, and all the sheets were on her. She snored soundly, but her skin was red and sweaty. It looked like all the sheets were suffocating her.

  Clothes scattered the floor. It was easy to tell the difference between Jessie’s and the woman’s. Jessie always wore a revealing robe and a hat, which meant the girl owned the pants, shirt, and jacket strewn about. I didn’t recognize her, so this woman must have been some random adventurer, just like the last one.

  “Only one set of underwear,” I uttered as I glanced about the floor.

  “Jessie says they chaff her,” muttered Nigel weakly.

  “She must be powerful for you all to put up with this.”

  “Very. And my brother likes her.”

  “How so?”

  “They formed the party together,” said Nigel. “And they’re in some sort of relationship.”

  “Ah. Really?”

  “I don’t understand them either.” Nigel untied the random woman from the bed frame. Her lips let out a little grunt of relief as she was freed from the stress of her arms being pulled. “Wake up,” he cooed gently. “It’s morning.”

  Slowly, the woman opened her eyes.

  “I collected all your clothes for you ahead of time,” said Nigel. He offered the strange girl everything she wore in a neat pile. “Are you hurt? Do you need anything?”

  “Water,” she muttered. The woman locked eyes with the door and began to leave, her clothes tucked against her chest. “Tell her…whatever.” She opened the door and left.

  Why have so many people left this room naked?

  With that, Nigel and I were alone with Jessie. Nigel kept his eyes shielded politely as he crouched beside Jessie. All he did was hold her nose until Jessie gasped for air. “Yen’s here.” He patted my shoulder and swiftly left the room. “Have fun!”

  Then it was just me and Jessie.

  “Owwww! My head,” whined Jessie. She stood up, her chest sagging as she leaned over the bed like she was going to hurl. Her hair stuck to the sides of her mouth. She gagged, but nothing came out. “Oh, thank the Gods.” She rolled back into bed and stared at the ceiling. “Help me get dressed.”

  “With what’s on the floor or something else?” I asked blandly.

  “Floor’s good.”

  “I bet it is,” I whispered.

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing.”