From Corpse to Crown: Reborn as a Mortician in Another World-Chapter 16: The Heart of the City

Lucian stepped into Nox Levitica and felt swallowed by its immense scale.He had only seen the palace and its courtyard; he had no idea the capital would resemble a large city back on Earth.

Gleaming gray towers kissed the low, ash-stained sky while bridges lay like ribcages over canals of black water, dotted with boats moving cargo or people in a slow ritual.

Compared to the closed loop of his old life—funeral home, apartment, sleep, repeat—the capital was an endless body, wounded and walking anyway.

In his old life, he counted streets in blocks. Nox Levitica sprawled like a city that had grown around death out of spite.

This place... breathes differently. Lucian felt self-conscious when a few children stared at him before their parents urged them to keep moving.

His cane echoed through the cobblestone streets, as if it too were stretching its leg after being stuck in the mortician's quarters for two days.

Compared to the crowd of skeletons and corpses who had stared at him after he woke, the citizens now watched but didn't flinch.

As he and Rosa walked through the spirit market, he heard whispers of "the living mortician."The dead didn't say it with hatred or mistrust—just as a fact.

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He felt like he was being weighed, as if he were the heart on Anubis's scales, and the feather was on the other side.

After Rosa introduced him to the receptionist of the Undead Adventurers' Guild and the secretary of the Mage's Circle, he looked at three reanimated cats lounging lazily on tables at a nearby café.I wonder if they act like the cats back in my world, too?

They passed by a shop selling enchanted embalming tools.The plaque above the door read:Funeral Rites: Everything a Mortician Needs, Of Corpse!

The shopkeeper was a blonde zombie girl with a full sleeve of tattoos.

"As I stutter and shamble, you really are a live mortician," she said as he walked in.

Lucian smiled.

"Yes, and I'm looking for a satchel. Do you have one big enough for books?"

She reached behind the counter and pulled out a glass case full of satchels, all made from different materials and sizes.

"These... well, they were standard for morticians around a century ago. I don't know if the fashion's changed since then, but they'll last twice your lifetime, at least."

Lucian found a black satchel with runes sewn in silver.It looked like it would fit his Grimoire perfectly.He glanced at Rosa.

"How do I pay for things here?"

Rosa placed a hand over her heart and shook her head.

"Dear me, you're the Royal Mortician! You don't pay for anything unless the Queen fires you."

She slid a black card onto the counter, and the zombie girl grinned.

"Been ages since I last saw you, Rosa. Palace keep you locked up that often?"

The maid laughed and shook her head.

"Nah, she's been really good to me since I died. I only got flushed with formaldehyde twice! Just got back from Sweetwater."

"He saved Lira? Goddess, I couldn't charge the Queen after that! Good hands, that Lira. Keep that up and the city will love you, Lord Mortician. Go now, and tell your Queen that satchel's on the house."

"There you go," Lucian said as he slid the Grimoire into the black satchel.He almost swore that if it were a cat, it would have purred.

Lucian noticed the main difference between Nox Levitica and Earth was silence. People spoke in hushed tones as they bought items, but once they left shops and stalls, the skeletons and corpses moved solemnly.

When he saw more of them bow to him, Lucian knew word had spread.

The attention and interaction with the shopkeeper left Lucian overwhelmed. He sat by a fountain and tried to orient himself.

As he did, his satchel rustled. The Grimoire flipped itself open and the page gleamed with silver ink:

[Daily Objective]

Task: Mend three (3) broken bodies. Catalog your improvements.(Progress will be tracked.)Reward: 1 rank up

"All right... well, this is a large city. I'm sure there'll be people who need me," Lucian murmured.

They wandered further, past stalls lined with sinew and marrow-glaze pottery, until Lucian paused.At a crumbling chapel, a skeleton was using homemade plaster to fix the steps.

Lucian noticed the bone around their femur was badly chipped and held together with spider silk and faith.

"May I?" he asked, kneeling to the skeleton's level.

When it nodded, he murmured the Death Balm rite and watched with awe as the leg glued itself together with silver light.The skeleton gave a small salute and continued its work.

Within his satchel, Lucian's Grimoire glowed faintly.

One down, two more to go.

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I like this more than going on assignments. Lucian heard a skeleton yelp as it tried to laugh with its friend nearby.

"Stay still," he said, concentrating on casting his Death Balm.

"Sorry," the skeleton said, its rib slowly knitting back together. "Bad experience with healers tryin' to touch me. Didn't notice you were a bona fide mortician."

Its friend looked at Lucian with awe in its empty sockets.

"Maybe you are one of us, even if you smell like summertime."

Lucian didn't know what to reply to that, except:

"Thank you."

Dusk began to creep in, and the city seemed to exhale.

Lucian hardly noticed; he was busy helping a mute skeleton glue its jaw back together.

Thanks to accepting the Royal Mortician position, he understood the skeleton was signing thank you.

He wished he could communicate—and before he knew it, Lucian was gesturing back.

The skeleton signed: I hope you succeed. You're a nice man.

His heart felt extra warm, and the Grimoire quietly recorded his daily tasks.

As it finished, Lucian felt a tingling in his hands and feet. He felt stronger, like he could walk a few more miles without stopping. I see. I like how leveling up feels. Like I can actually be proud of myself.

Rosa glanced at him. "You've left your mark already, even if it's only halfway."

"I'll take halfway," Lucian said.

When dusk fully blanketed the city, Lucian lingered outside a bookstore waiting for Rosa.

He absently thumbed through a book discussing Egyptian mummification rites.

Even if it was a far cry from Earth, Nox Levitica had its charm.

And even if his visit had been short, Lucian felt a weak tug in his heart—like he had tethered himself to this realm.

Rosa met up with him moments later, holding a graveyard-shaped pastry.

It was full of strawberry jam, which delighted him.

Lucian almost felt sad as they turned the last corner and the obsidian spires of the palace came into view.

The Queen was waiting.

And so was Candlemere.