Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Before I could even voice my doubt, Parker spun his head around with a full rotation.

“Oho? Don’t tell me you think I’ve been out fooling around somewhere?”

Can this guy read my mind?

“Ha-ha-ha! I’ll have you know I’m a loyal adjutant of the Third Division of the Demon Lord’s Army! I’ve been working myself to the bone for the cause! Well, not literally, since, you know, bones don’t break easily!”

Good, a chance.

“The title of adjutant’s been abolished. You’re just Parker now.”
“Eht?”

For a brief moment, I managed to shut him up.

I clapped my hands and dismissed the werewolf squad.

“All right, you guys, back to your posts! I’ll handle him.”

At my words, the werewolves finally came to their senses and shuffled off, still looking puzzled.
Good grief. Let Parker run his mouth and nothing will ever be done…
I could tell he was already trying to bring up another topic, so I just scooped him up and dragged him back to my office.

“I was following the master’s orders, you see. I went all the way down south to Belrüsa. The merfolk live in those seas.”

Parker explained cheerfully, helping himself to my green tea.

“Did it go well?”
“Nope, not in the slightest”

Parker rattled with laughter.

“They’re shockingly pacifist, you know? Even when I said they wouldn’t have to fight, they just told me, ‘We can’t come onto land,’ and refused.”

Well, yeah. They’re merfolk.

“I told them just half of them would be fine.”
“Half?”
“Yeah, their upper half.”
“…You actually said that?”

Parker clacked his bones and laughed.

“I almost ended up as a drowned corpse.”
“You’re already just bones, aren’t you?”

You really shouldn’t have sent this guy for diplomacy, Master.

Parker gazed at the steaming teacup and spoke in his usual breezy tone.

“Well, I’ll leave the merfolk to you. Knowing how steady and thorough you are, I’m sure you’ll conquer Belrüsa soon enough.”
“I plan to pay them a visit before considering any invasion.”

If persuasion works, that’s always better.

“But if you’re dumping even merfolk negotiations on me, what exactly have you been doing?”
“Ouch, that stings my ears. Oh wait—where are my ears again?”

Quit with the exaggerated gestures. Also, you’ve told that joke at least ten times already.

“By the way, I can evolve that joke into ‘I don’t even have pain receptors,’ if you prefer. Which version do you like better?”
“Neither. Just go home.”

I ignored him and started planning ahead, but Parker wasn’t done.

“So you’re the one who avenged the Demon Lord and defeated the Hero, huh?”
“That’s not accurate. The Hero and the Demon Lord practically killed each other. I only finished him off.”
“Hmm…”

Crap, he’s about to say something again.
Then again, if he jokes about the Demon Lord’s death, my own senior disciple or not, I’ll deck him.

But Parker removed his hat, pressed it to his chest, and bowed.

“Thank you, Veit. You’re the pride of the Gomoviroa school.”
“Huh?”
“I loved the Demon Lord too. Being around him was calming. He wasn’t simply strong, you don’t find leaders like that often.”

It’d been a long time since I heard him speak seriously.
He scratched the side of his skull and murmured softly.

“…Oh gee. I no longer have the tears to cry.”
“Parker…”

My senior brother gripped his hat tightly and hung his head in silence.
After a moment, he looked up.

“I’m glad you’re my little brother.”

Apparently, that was his idea of a joke.
I placed a hand on his bony shoulder.

“I’ll admit to being your junior disciple, at least.”

After that brief solemn moment, Parker put his hat back on.

“Well, if the army’s top mood-maker is this gloomy, the whole Demon Lord’s Army will fall into despair. A true jester must dance and make others laugh, even in tears!”
“You’re not a jester. You’re just plain annoying. Also, you can’t cry, remember?”
“Ha-ha-ha! That’s the spirit!”

What spirit?

Then Parker stood up, returning to his usual chatterbox self.

“If you’re heading to Belrüsa, I’ll come along! I can at least show you the way.”
“You’d stand out too much.”
“Oh, I’ve got proper formalwear too, don’t you worry.”
“I mean your face, not your clothes!”

You can’t take a talking skeleton to a human negotiation.
The moment I was about to say that, the skull vanished—replaced by a ridiculously handsome man.
It took me two seconds to realize Parker had transformed.

The fragile, melancholic beauty spoke in Parker’s same obnoxious voice.

“How’s that? I’ve been studying illusion magic. I can’t fake touch or temperature, but visually, it’s flawless.”
“Why that face?”
“Because that’s how I looked when I was alive! Though it’s been ages since I died, so technically I should look older—but I can’t quite make wrinkles yet.”

Was he really this much of a looker?
With that personality?

“What do you think? Not many in our school can pull off illusions this good. Maybe I should quit necromancy and become an illusionist!”

Ah, right—he doesn’t know about Rasie.

“We’ve got a new disciple, a really skilled illusionist. She can make an entire wall feel solid to the touch.”
“What…seriously?”

He looked genuinely shocked.
Huh, so the expression’s part of the illusion too. Not bad.
Parker folded his arms and reverted to his skull face.

“W-well… anyway, this should be enough to let me come along, right?”

When he puts it that way, it’s hard to refuse.

“Fine. You can come. You’ve got nothing better to do anyway.”
“Ha-ha-ha! That’s my brother!”
“Stop saying that! And listen—don’t say anything stupid during negotiations! If you mess it up, I’m sinking you to the bottom of the sea!”
“I know that. Trust your older brother a little, will you?
“Shut it.”

He may act like a frivolous fool, but Parker’s one of the Great Sage Gomoviroa’s senior disciples—and a master necromancer in his own right.
When it counts, he’s surprisingly reliable.
Which only makes him all the more infuriating.
Damned older brother.