Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Thus, Rasie would now live in Lüenheit not as Saintess Mildine, but simply as Rasie the Illusionist.
I had seen her skills as an illusionist recently, and the chances of her betraying us were low. After all, in her current state, she had no choice but to live under the protection of the Demon Lord’s Army.
Later, we received formal approval from His Majesty the Demon Lord to appoint her. She became the second human member of our army, following Aylia. Although she’s only classified as a foot soldier.
We’re steadily integrating humans into our ranks. Excellent.

“Hoho, you think so too?”
“Yes, I’m against it as well.”

I overheard Master and Rasie talking in the next room.
Apparently, they were getting along as fellow mages. Despite being shy, Master can open up when talking to other magic users.
I got curious about what kind of conversation a necromancer and an illusionist might be having, so I went to take a look.

“Just as an example, would you rather have a full-course meal with your coworkers, or a sandwich alone in the library?”

What kind of question is that?
Obviously, the full-course meal. Food is about quantity.

“Of course, the sandwich alone in the library.”
“I knew it!”
“Time spent quietly eating a sandwich alone in a dim room is soothing…”

I don’t get them.
I stared blankly at the two bonding through the open door.

Master, smiling cheerfully, noticed me and turned around.

“Oh, Veit. This apprentice witch has some promising talent.”
“What talent are you even evaluating?”

No one needs to polish their “eating-alone” talent.
Rasie smiled and held Master’s hand enthusiastically.

“Sir Veit! Lady Gomoviroa is such a friendly person! We really click!”

Yeah… Now that I think about it, both of you are the type that struggles with socializing…

Master nodded vigorously and made a declaration:

“I’ve decided to take this Rasie girl as a disciple. I know several powerful illusion spells long lost to human society. What say you, Rasie?”
“Yes, Lady Gomoviroa!”
“Now, now, ‘Movi-chan’ is fine.”
“Yes, Lady Movi-chan!”
“Very good, very good.”

My head hurts.
I’ll just get back to work.

I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or troubled about getting a younger apprentice sister, but Rasie brought us some interesting intel as well.

“Sir Veit, do you know of Schaldir, east of Lüenheit?”
“Of course. Not nearby, but it’s our eastern neighbor.”

Schaldir is a trade city like Lüenheit.
Minerals mined in the northern Boltz Mountains are processed into goods in industrial cities like Tübahn, then transported south to Lüenheit, and from there to various southern cities.
Schaldir lies even further east, along a long trade route stretching beyond the borders of Miraldia. You could think of it like the Silk Road.

However, Schaldir has a poor relationship with the northern cities. Apparently, lingering resentment from the unification war remains strong on both sides.

“There’s a rumor spreading even in the north that Schaldir, following Lüenheit, is also plotting independence from Miraldia.”
“Why? If they try to go independent in this situation, Schaldir will be crushed by the Alliance.”

“But everyone, even the Senate, is starting to worry the entire south might side with the Demon Lord’s Army if nothing is to be done. That might be why they started the fake hero project.”

Even if they’re on bad terms with the north, Schaldir’s only real path is to maintain the status quo. Aligning with the Demon Lord’s Army would require serious resolve.
If the Miraldia Alliance couldn’t trust each other that much, maybe they shouldn’t have unified in the first place.

At the same time, I remembered something.
Some of the residents who left Lüenheit tried heading to Schaldir.
Though they didn’t quite fit in and eventually came back, they reported strange behavior from Schaldir’s governor.
Supposedly, when Miraldia’s standing army requested to station troops there, the governor declined.

To the northwest of Lüenheit lies Bernehainen, and to the northeast, Tübahn. Both under Demon Lord control. The west is beyond Miraldia’s borders.
This means that for a potential invasion of Lüenheit, the only viable options Miraldia has are either from the east or the south. Out of two, attacking from the east—where Schaldir is—makes the most sense. The south is too far.
That makes Schaldir’s governor’s refusal to accept northern troops quite intriguing.
Of course, I’d already sent werewolf scouts and trade agents to investigate.

The result of the investigation made me scratch my head.
Schaldir has consistently rejected requests from the north.
This time, they gave the excuse: “We can’t provide adequate accommodations for your soldiers.” That’s a weak pretext when I heard one. They’re obviously covering something.
Their true intent was probably something like, “We don’t like you, stay out.”
However, this resentment towards northern-cities is something common to many southern cities, including Lüenheit. It stems from the north-vs-south divisions during the unification war.

The bigger issue is that the Senate itself is paying attention to these rumors.
Once something shakes the minds of rulers, it becomes more than just gossip—it’s a weapon of information warfare.
Maybe we can use this.

Later, Aylia came into the office, so I decided to run it by her.

“Ah… Those kinds of power struggles were common. Aindorf is a long-established household rich with history, and we only ever received a second-class fiefdom from the Senate. That’s just one example amongst many.”

Watching Master and Rasie’s “loner talk” out of the corner of her eye, Aylia continued.

“Even though we paid enormous taxes from trade into Miraldia’s treasury, my father and I remained second-class nobles.”
“So that’s why you gave up on Miraldia?”
“Second-class nobility is just management. We had no authority over city development. Even if citizens requested zoning or expansion, we needed the Senate’s approval—which wouldn’t come unless we paid massive ‘donations.’”
“That’s outrageous.”

Thankfully, now we don’t need permission. Lüenheit is undergoing a redevelopment boom.

“Schaldir likely faced similar treatment. I’ve been acquainted with the current governor since my father’s time. They used to bond over badmouthing the Senate.”

That’s some deep generational resentment…
But if bad rumors are reaching even the north, maybe there’s room for negotiation.

“Think we can talk to the governor of Schaldir?”
“I’m not sure. I know the current governor, Lord Aram, is a capable man. But I don’t know what pressures he’s facing lately, much less how he’ll react…”

This Aram guy doesn’t sound foolish enough to make a deal with the Demon Lord’s Army just because he dislikes the north.
Good. That’s the kind of leader we want to deal with.

“I’m interested now. I’d like to meet him.”
“You, Sir Veit?”

Aylia looked surprised, but I had already made up my mind.

“If he’s someone you know, he might at least listen. If not… Well, I’ll figure something out.”

It’s a werewolf’s bad habit—we don’t think much about failure.
Besides, the risk of assassination is low.

“Then it’s settled. Time to select an escort. I’ll leave the city to you, Lady Aylia.”
“I’m going to tell His Majesty about this, you know?”
“Now, now, don’t be so stiff. It’s all for Lüenheit’s safety. Come now, stop drinking tea and get back to work.”

I gave her a gentle push out the door and began thinking about who to bring along.