Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

After entrusting the business negotiation to his retainers, Garsche returned to his seat.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. But that was quite an interesting gift you brought.”
“Well, I didn’t really mean it that way.”

If anything, I was reflecting on my mistake—but Garsche was looking at me with admiration.

“You managed to figure out that it would go well with a dish you’d never even tried before. Impressive.”
“It goes well with anything.”
“Hmmm.”

Garsche folded his arms and grunted thoughtfully.

“Seems like you demons aren’t as barbaric as I thought. I may have misunderstood. My apologies.”

Well, demons are as barbaric as the rumors make of us, but if he wants to believe otherwise, I won’t stop him.

“It’s true we’ve lived in undeveloped lands, so don’t worry about it. But if possible, I’d like for us to live alongside humans and share in prosperity from now on.”

When I said that, Garsche gave a small nod.

“In that case, I’ve got no reason to pick a fight with the Demon Lord’s army. Better to work with you than those northern b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲. If what you’re saying is true, that is.”

There was a heavy note in his voice at that last line.
He still suspected we might be up to something out at sea. Can’t blame him—we are demons, after all.
All the more reason to talk with the merfolk about this.

Then Parker spoke up, sounding thoughtful.

“I’ve been negotiating with the merfolk for a long time under orders from Her Majesty. But in all that time, I never saw any suspicious activity from them. Do you have a map?”
“Yeah, hold on.”

There happened to be a map of Belrüsa on the wall, so Parker borrowed it and pointed with his finger—to an area offshore, southwest of Belrüsa.

“Here, maybe? The currents are mild around here. There are reefs and small islands, and a lot of merfolk live in these waters.”
“Huh?”

Garsche made a strange face.

“That’s off the trade route. We don’t want to disturb the reefs. A ship headed east to Lotzo went missing around there.”
“Then the merfolk probably aren’t involved. They tend to avoid human ships.”

Parker shrugged.
Garsche frowned, deep in thought.

“Hm… hey, you, Veit. How reliable is this guy’s word?”

Not at all.

Or so I wanted to say, but Parker didn’t look like he was bluffing or making things up.
Guess I’d better back him up.

“Parker is one of the Demon Lord’s most trusted top brass—and mine. He only reports what he’s verified himself.”

I caught a glimpse of Parker grinning smugly, which was annoying, but I couldn’t deny it.

“In any case, I’ll go meet with the merfolk myself. If there’s any sign of trouble, I’ll persuade them. And if that fails, the Demon Lord’s army will assist Belrüsa.”

Though I still think it’s probably a misunderstanding.

Garsche nodded, then brought a large bottle of mead from the counter.

“Drink.”
“Why?”

Garsche grinned.

“Negotiations are done for today. We’re throwing a welcome feast. Drink, unless you can’t handle it.”
“Oh?”

I took the bottle with a smile of my own.

“And we have food to go with it?”
“Plenty. Eat your fill.”

Looks like I’m getting a free all-you-can-eat dinner tonight.
Guess I’ll let myself be properly welcomed.

The next day, Parker and I went to a sandy beach on the outskirts of Belrüsa—outside the bay.

“Well then, shall we go meet the merfolk?”

Parker turned to me from a small rowboat, no bigger than a fishing boat.

“We’re going in that thing?”
“The sea here’s calm, and I don’t need food or drink. Just drift along the current for three days, and we’ll get there.”

He laughed dryly. I decided to ask, just in case.

“And what am I supposed to do during those three days?”
“Oh, right! I forgot about that. Then let’s do this.”

As if waiting for me to ask, Parker traced a sigil into the air.

“Come forth, friend, through the Dark Gates of Gewenna.”

His voice turned chillingly cold.
The air warped as the surrounding magic bent space itself, dimming the light.
Multiple distortions formed, and from them slowly emerged skeletons—rotted, but dressed like sailors.
Four of them in total.
Then, in a voice utterly unlike his usual tone, Parker intoned:

“Brave sailors, there’s no rest for you yet. Take up the oars.”

The skeletons climbed aboard in silence and began rowing with practiced motions.
I jumped into the boat and watched our grim little voyage begin.

The distinctive trait of Parker’s necromancy is that he can open the Gates of the Underworld and summon the dead directly. Unlike Master, he didn’t need to craft the undead’s body from scratch, so it’s quick and efficient—basically undead on rental.
However, the summoned forms depend on the place of summoning. Since we were by the sea, the skeletons were fishermen and sailors—people who must’ve died around here long ago.

Watching them row in silence, I asked Parker,

“Do they have any emotions or intelligence left?”
“Can’t say for sure. Communication’s one-way. But I think what remains in them is just their lingering attachment to life.”

He spoke softly, then added:

“I’m not so different from them myself. That’s why I can call them.”

After that, we fell silent, and the boat carried us out to sea under the skeletons’ steady rowing.

Before long, I felt something strange.
The magic in the air is spreading out like rings on water. A wave of magic power.
The merfolk use magic—specifically, mind-affecting spells.
I started to feel a vague longing to go home. To Lüenheit, to the Grünstadt Castle, to the hidden village of the werewolves.

“We’re close.”
“You can tell?”
“Yeah. I can’t hear it, but I can feel the waves of magic. This is a mind control spell, right?”
“Right. So this is the merfolk’s ‘Stay Away’ song.”

According to Parker, merfolk can use their songs to either draw people in—or drive them away.

“It doesn’t affect me, and probably won’t work on you either. But for humans, it’s enough.”

Our rowers were skeletons, of course—immune to such magic.

“Just head toward the center of the song, and we’ll reach them soon enough.”
“I see.”

I suppressed my homesick feeling and kept my eyes on the horizon.

After some time, when land had completely vanished behind us, the boat entered a sea full of reefs.
Ripples spread across the water—and from the waves rose several half-naked, beautiful women.
The merfolk. My first time seeing them. Surprisingly, all of them smiled warmly.
Parker took off his hat and bowed.

“Been a while. How have you all been?”

They replied in clear, cool voices:

“We’re fine, thanks to you.”
“Parker, who’s the gentleman with you?”
“My, what a handsome one.”

Since the only other passengers were skeletons, all their attention was on me.
A little embarrassing, honestly.

I greeted them.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Veit, vice-command to Demon Lord Gomoviroa.”
“Oh, you’re the Veit Parker told us about!?”

What’s with that reaction?
The merfolks gathered around, staring at me in awe.
I grabbed Parker’s skull and made a quick heads-up.

“What exactly did you tell them about me?”
“W-well, that you were my little brother…”
“You mean my junior disciple. Anything else?”

Parker collapsed onto the boat’s floor, pretending to be just another skeleton.

“Hey, say something.”

Seeing our little banter, the mermaid giggled and told me the rest.

“Parker’s always bragging about you! He said there are many talented people in the Demon Lord’s army, but you’re the best of them all.”
“He also said you understand people’s hearts—that even as a demon, humans love and trust you.”

They didn’t sound like they were lying or flattering.

When I stared at Parker, he averted his eyes bashfully.

“Gee, didn’t expect you would hear me boasting about you, little brother…”
“Don’t tell me you’ve been talking about me everywhere you go.”

Parker hurriedly protested,

“N-no, not just you! All of us under the school of Gomoviroa are precious to me. I’ve got no family left, so of course I talk about my comrades. What’s wrong with that?”

For once, he actually looked embarrassed.