A Bored Lich

The maid showed Doevm around the mansion and the various tasks he would be doing. Doevm made a show of being reluctant to stand still. He tried to help on each and every task, but the maid held him back. Then they got to the library, where the maid sighed.

"What"s wrong?" Doevm asked.

"The library is the worst. You have to take each book out and wipe them. They"re extremely expensive too. What"s so great about reading? Us commoners can get by just fine without learning how. Anyway, there"s always a person here cleaning every day. That"s how tedious cleaning books are. So we take them in s.h.i.+fts." she took out a cloth and very carefully wiped out each piece of dust on one of the more worn books, then proceeded to the next one.

"Can I see that cloth, I want to try?" Doevm asked, making sure to smile for the first time today. "I want something to take my mind off things. This looks perfect." The maid handed him a few books and a cloth and turned around. "Done." Doevm said.

The maid laughed, "You can"t possib-" Then she looked at the unnaturally clean book. Her lips quivered. She had to take a few seconds to absorb the miracle thrown at her. "You cleaned them really fast and for so well. Have you done this before?"

"Sort of." Doevm said. "I used to clean plates for a restaurant." he lied. "I"ve cleaned millions of books in my old collection. If there"s something I"m better at than magic, it"s cleaning books." he thought, saddening the image of his old life. "Books are similar. It"s a little relaxing, remembering."

"You worked at a restaurant?" The maid asked. "How irresponsible were your parents to let a two year old kid work at a restaurant?"

"My dad ran off, so very irresponsible." Doevm laughed, which transitioned to crying.

"I"m sorry," the maid hugged him. "I"m sorry, look you can clean all the books here. I"ll talk to the lord for you."

"Really?" Doevm asked in between exaggerated sobs.

"Yes, I"ll go do it now." The maid ran off, leaving Doevm some peace and quiet. He opened a random book: "A Bored Lich." He read a couple of pages, gave it a few power stones, then set it back down. He looked at the thousands of other books and smiled. "It feels like I"m back home." He spent the next hour cleaning to his heart"s content. He felt nostalgia for the first time. He entered a dream-like state where he cared for each book and shelf, giving it the cleaning it needed. The door burst open and the lord rushed through, followed by Thomas and the maid. Reginald picked up a book, ran his finger along its spine, looked for dirt, and smiled.

"Well done Doevm, how are you liking the library?" Thomas peeked out from behind his legs. "From what the maid tells me, you"re a natural at this, and a disaster at everything else. Would you like handle the library exclusively?"

"I like it very much sir, I feel like this job is my favorite." Doevm put back the book he was cleaning. "I just have a few complaints." at this, the maid"s eyes went wide.

"Complaints?" Reginald frowned. Thomas backed away from his father. "I know you haven"t interacted with n.o.bles much, but you cannot talk to your superiors like that, boy."

Doevm pointed to the higher shelves, which were still covered in dust. "I can"t reach," Then he pointed to his rag covered in filth and grime, "And I need more rags."

"Oh," Reginald laughed. "Those aren"t complaints, they"re requests. I accept. There"ll be a ladder and extra rags sent here immediately, and your job will be to clean the books every day. Do you have any other requests or questions?" Doevm shook his head. "Very well then, we"ll leave you to it." They shut the door.

"That was weird."

...

"Is that what you wanted Jameson?" Reginald asked.

"Yes sir, thank you sir." Jameson said as he stepped into the light. The maid jumped. "Maid, leave us, we have something to discuss." the maid bowed and left. "Doevm"s a brave kid. When I told him about Rena, he let everything out then and there. I think he just needs structure to put himself back together. I just hope putting him to work will do the trick, get his mind off of things."

"I hope so too. He cleaned those books faster and better than any servant. I wonder where he got that skill?"

"I don"t know sir, but what makes him happy is none of my business. Thank you for accepting my request and helping him settle in. I"ll teach him how to act towards n.o.bles. While his concerns were valid, his tone was inexcusable."

"Father, who was that servant?" Thomas asked. "He looked like he needed a bath. Everything about him was messy."

"Doevm was taken in yesterday. He arrived with the war monk. He just lost his mother to the rose field and his father vanished."

"His father vanished?" Thomas asked. "How does someone vanish? We couldn"t do that if we tried."

Reginald patted his son"s head. "That"s because we"re n.o.bles. No matter where we go, people will recognize us. Commoners aren"t as famous, nor is their life as good as ours. Doevm"s going through a lot right now, like when your mother pa.s.sed. We"ll get him cleaned up in no time. Come, you must drink your elixirs again." Thomas groaned and followed his father. Jameson peaked through the library doors at Doevm, hovering over a book.

"He can read too?" He shook his head. "Maybe he"s just looking for fun." he walked in the library. Doevm shut the book and pretended like he was cleaning the whole time. "You"re not fooling anyone." Jameson said. "I saw it, you can read, can"t you? Did Rena teach you that?"

"I was just looking for fun." Doevm said. He set the book on a stack of clean books.

Jameson tapped on the stack, "Then how come you knew to put these in alphabetical order? Don"t worry, I won"t tell anyone. It"s just I need you to be doing other things right now. You can"t spend all day reading in here, you have work to do."

"I"ll get everything done, you don"t have to worry." Doevm smiled and put the books back on the shelf. He took out a stack of dirty books and went to work.

"One more thing." Jameson said. "You have to learn how to talk to n.o.bles. The lord is a tolerant man, more tolerant than most n.o.bles, but you have to speak to him like a servant. If you talk to him like any random man on the street you"ll get kicked out of here."

"Oh," Doevm looked at the dirty books. "Is he going to kick me out already?"

"No, don"t worry. You can"t keep repeating the same mistake, so I"m going to teach you how to talk like a servant. Every time you talk, it needs to..."

And like that, years pa.s.sed. Doevm cleaned the library every day of his life and ate slop. He slept in a tiny closet and talked to Jameson often. He learned how to talk and act like a servant, especially if a guest of the lord came. He read books in secret, often getting caught by Jameson. He saw Thomas often, but they never talked to each other. Eventually, Doevm read every book in the library. His knowledge of human affairs and the state of the world caught up to the present. In his spare time, he worked out and developed his body.

As a skeleton, his balance was perfect. He didn"t have to worry about his muscles or his heartbeat. As a human, he had to relearn how to balance himself and rework his attacks to use every part of his new body effectively. Every day, when he was done cleaning, he looked outside the library"s window at the guards training in the front yard. He took one of the broom in his closet, chopped its bristles off, and imitated their stances from afar. He learned how to grip a spear, to put his weight behind a strike, and to do basics. In the night, he sneaked outside the manor, unsealed his mana, and gathered mana. His life was plain and boring. When he copied the guards" stances and moves, he longed to use them on an opponent.

He waited until he turned twelve. His hair was still short, as he cut it weekly with wind blades. His body, no matter how much he trained, was skinny. He had muscles all over, but they were lean instead of big. His eyes developed a chilling aura. He learned how to watch and a.n.a.lyse moves, and learned how to better handle a spear from watching Jameson lead his men. His skin turned pale because he didn"t go outside except for the night. He continued without rest, just like when he studied magic.

Cleaning books became therapeutic for him. He threw his worries away and dusted off memories. Some days, he even double cleaned them just because he wondered if he could do it. He learned to smile as he worked. Doevm found joy in such a simple action. Sometimes the lord would come in and study. They chatted, but as servant and master.

Doevm was happy, until one day...