Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

At the next regular briefing, I conveyed Aylia’s proposal to the Demon Lord.

“Hmm, I see…”

We were in the Demon Lord’s office. Surprisingly modest and small, with no one else present.
The Demon Lord nodded slightly and murmured:

“A bold proposal, but one that is both rational and advantageous. She seems trustworthy. What do you think, Bait?”

I’m not “Bait,” you know…

I opened my mouth immediately to persuade him.

“Based on everything so far, I believe Aylia, the governor of Lüenheit, is a rational thinker, intelligent, and sincere.”
That was my honest opinion. She’s definitely fit to be a governor.
“In addition, our army has good relations with the various factions in Lüenheit. I believe it’s unlikely this alliance would cause any serious issues.”

Now that the most troublesome groups, the city guard and the Sonnenlicht Faith followers, had calmed down, there were no major obstacles.

The Demon Lord listened quietly, then nodded deeply.

“A proposal greatly beneficial to our army. But as it concerns the future of the Demon Lord’s forces, it must be considered carefully.”

So he still needs a bit of time, huh…

As he flipped through some papers, the Demon Lord asked:

“Speaking of which, I heard you used up all of the ‘Dragon’s Breath’ during the Tübahn campaign. Is that true?”

So he did find out.
Straightening my back, I quickly responded.

“Given the critical nature of the mission, I used the entire supply to ensure success.”

Honestly, if we hadn’t breached the gate back then, we couldn’t have taken the fortified city. No regrets about lobbing those barrels of gunpowder.
Though, yeah, I might’ve gone overboard.

I expected a scolding, but the Demon Lord simply nodded calmly.

“Very well. However, as it remains a top-secret weapon and lacks a proper deployment method, refrain from using it for the time being. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“In its place, we shall begin research into siege warfare technologies.”

Nice, that’s a huge help.

“I’ve also received a report on the use of the ‘Dragon Orbs.’ Since they proved effective in combat, continue using them under the Dragonfire Engineers’ supervision.”
“My deepest thanks.”

With those fireworks available, we’d be able to pull off some advanced tactics. This is big.
The Demon Lord stood from his large chair and gazed out the window. Even in the mist, the lush greenery looked vivid.

“Summer is near. And of course, fireworks go best with summer.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”

In a good mood, I nodded deeply.

Wait a second.
Something’s not right.

The Demon Lord turned and stared straight at me.

“Fireworks, Bait? Do you know what it is?”
“Ah, that is…”
“What I provided you with were Dragon Orbs. So what are fireworks?”
“Fireworks are…”

That’s when it hit me. Something insane.

The Demon Lord had been speaking Japanese all along.

“So, you understand Japanese, do you, Veit?”

He spoke smoothly, fluently, and even pronouncing my name exactly right.
I had no idea what was going on.

Or rather, I did.
The Demon Lord was a fellow Japanese.

“Could it be, Your Majesty…?”

I asked cautiously, switching back to the local language, but the Demon Lord replied without hesitation in Japanese:

“Indeed. I, too, am a reincarnated soul. Just like you.”

I couldn’t help but shout:

“WHAT!?”

The Demon Lord gestured for me to sit, and in Japanese, continued:

“Let’s talk through this step by step. Sit, and hear me out.”

Dumbfounded, I sat down, and the Demon Lord began: “I don’t know whether your Japan and mine were from the same time or even the same world.”

When he first reincarnated into this world, the dragonkin tribes were in deep civil conflicts—thanks to humans.
Humans had developed mines and driven the mountain-dwelling dragonkin out with force. The displaced tribes clashed as they sought new homes.

Disturbed by this, the Demon Lord unified the dragonkin through overwhelming strength. Together, they drove the humans out and reclaimed their ancestral lands.
To protect all demonkind, he formed the Demon Lord’s Army, integrating other species as well.

There had been other Demon Lords in the past, they were Heroes of the Demons, but none had formed a modern army before Friedenrichter.
Using an efficient military system and new tactics, he led the demon army to a streak of victories against humans.
Makes sense. He had knowledge from a previous life.
…Damn, sounds like he had a blast.

“I never imagined another reincarnated person existed. I was so focused on fighting, I didn’t even have the headspace to consider it. And then, you appeared.”

At first, the Demon Lord only saw me as a talented subordinate.
But when he accidentally mispronounced my name as “Bait” and I made a sour face, it piqued his curiosity.

Though honestly, anyone would dislike having their name mispronounced.
He soon forgot the incident—but also started practicing how to say it right.

“You’re surprisingly diligent, Your Majesty.”
“I owe that to my loyal men…”

He started to seriously suspect me when I began trying to make gunpowder.

“‘Dragon’s Breath’… in other words, black powder. When I saw you trying to synthesize that, I had my suspicions.”

Any modern person who reincarnated and becomes a soldier in another world probably would try that.
No wonder he’d caught onto me.
He even kept calling me “Bait” on purpose to see how I’d react.

Still, even then, he wasn’t convinced.
After all, a disciple of the Great Sage Gomoviroa might also be smart enough to figure out gunpowder.

“Besides, I wasn’t interested in reincarnated people for sentimental reasons. I was looking for skilled individuals—those with advanced knowledge or a worldview similar to mine. If you’d failed at ruling Lüenheit, I would’ve forgotten the whole thing.”

So even though he’d been watching me, he didn’t want to give me any special treatment just for being a fellow Japanese.

“But you kept achieving results. Especially winning over the Lüenheit factions and taking Tübahn. Those were big.”

I hadn’t noticed, but apparently my reputation had become solid because of all that.
He pulled out a familiar tea canister and a jar with a nostalgic aroma—green tea and sweet soy sauce.

“These were sent by Kurtze. Ryoku-cha and Shoyu-tare. At this point, I can no longer call it coincidences.”
“Don’t tell me, did you have him investigate me, Your Majesty?”
“I didn’t. I assigned Kurtze to support you because he’s an excellent engineer. I also wanted him to learn your administrative methods on behalf of the dragonkin.”

Just as I’d thought—Kurtze was one of the Demon Lord’s key subordinates.
It seemed that he had been putting me under his watch and reported everything to the Demon Lord.

“Yet there’s still one thing I don’t understand. Why didn’t you suspect me at all?”
“How could I possibly have?”

But the Demon Lord looked genuinely puzzled.

“My name should’ve made it obvious, no?”
“Your name… Friedenrichter, my lord?”
“Indeed. It means ‘Mediator of Peace’ in German. I took it to remind myself not to be blinded by power.”

Please, at the very least, use English instead.

“The dragonkin language sounds similar to German. When I became Demon Lord, I had no choice but to adopt a similar-sounding name.”

Apparently, he’d been agonizing over whether I was reincarnated or not because I showed no reaction to his name.
How was I supposed to figure that out?

“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”
“Speak.”
“This is all very sudden, and my head’s still spinning to accept it all at once…”

When I hesitantly replied, the Demon Lord didn’t get angry. In fact, he sounded apologetic.

“Wait, now. You understand my disposition, yes?”
“I understand it all too well, my lord. But, couldn’t you just ask if there’s any reincarnated person within your own army, or really, shouldn’t there be any more obvious method to appeal to a reincarnated person in general? Any method at all?”

At that, the Demon Lord loudly coughed.

“Now, hold on a second. Your lack of understanding of German is part of the fault. Changing my name is the farthest I am willing to compromise.”

Really now?

“If it is widely known that I am a reincarnated person, or that I am in search of a fellow reincarnated soul, only trouble will come knocking. For one, some might try to curry favor with me by pretending to have reincarnated from a different world as ours. A King’s authority mustn’t be misused, caution is paramount.”

I see.
Apparently, being a king requires more careful behavior than I thought.

I understand where he’s coming from, but that doesn’t mean my emotion isn’t a total wreck. I still haven’t sorted it all out.
It must have shown on my face, as the Demon Lord now bowed his head to me.

“Forgive me for this. I had been far too clumsy. …No, I had been scared. I couldn’t bring myself to see what kind of person you actually are.”
“Ah, no, please don’t lower your head, my lord. As inexperienced as I am, I do understand your feelings.”

Seeing the normally composed Demon Lord looking so sheepish made me feel awkward.
I knew it, he really should always be dignified and scary.

“Now, let’s get to the main point. As a demon, I want to protect my kind from humans. But as someone who was once human, I cannot bring myself to hate them. If possible, I want to create a land where demons and humans can coexist.”

He stood up and walked toward me.

“I won’t ask about your past life or what kind of person you were. I don’t plan to talk about mine either. But I believe you understand my struggle. Will you fight alongside me to make this dream a reality?”

Well, if that’s the case, then my answer is already decided.
I stood, knelt before him, and declared.

“I am now a member of the demon race—a single werewolf soldier. Please continue to use me to reduce the bloodshed between humans and demons.”
“I hear and accept your loyalty. …Thank you, Veit.”

His large, heavy hand rested on my shoulder.

“Now that I know you’re a fellow reincarnated soul, I can entrust Lüenheit to you without worry. We shall welcome Governor Aylia as an ally. We’ll discuss the details in a future meeting.”

Yay. She’ll be thrilled.

“Of course, I’ll be expecting even greater things from you now.”
“Yes, sir! I’m still emotionally shaken, but I’ll give it my all!”
“You’re more sensitive than I thought…”

The Demon Lord chuckled, and I couldn’t help but laugh too.

“Very well, since we’ve come this far, I may as well share some of my woes over dinner.”
“I’d be honored.”