Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

As agreed in the briefing, everyone took their positions.
Ekaterina poured her magical power into the ground. Because of the distance, she guided it through the soil like a thin line, storing it up directly beneath the one-eyed bear.
Perhaps sensing the amount and speed of the magic she was controlling, Forli let out a low, impressed sound.
When Ekaterina nodded to signal she was ready, Forli raised one hand—then brought it down.

At the same time, Ekaterina unleashed her magic with all her might.

(HYAAH—!)

This kind of inner battle cry was something a proper young lady could never let anyone hear. Still, it worked.

Boom!

With a thunderous rumble, the sugar beet field collapsed in a localized area. A huge cloud of dust billowed up, like a signal fire being lit. When it finally settled, the displaced earth had piled up around the edges, leaving something that looked like an absurdly enormous mole hole.

About three meters in diameter, and an estimated ten meters deep.
The one-eyed bear was nowhere to be seen.

The moment Forli brought his hand down, Regina and the other hunting dogs had dashed out from beside the carriage. They sprinted like arrows loosed from a bow and, in no time at all, surrounded the hole, barking furiously.

“It seems the one-eyed bear is already climbing up. I can see its head, but with the hounds barking at it, it appears unable to come out.”

…Forli, you can see that from this distance? Your field-oriented, wildlife-expert skills are incredible.
And the bear’s physical abilities are incredible too. How fast is it climbing a ten-meter vertical hole?
Then again, even bears in my previous life had ridiculous physical strength. I once saw a video of a bear running alongside a car—it was doing forty or fifty kilometers per hour, I think. A magical beast like a one-eyed bear could probably climb a sheer cliff faster than a human could climb stairs.

Ah, I see it. Using the mound of earth at the rim of the hole as a shield, it’s peeking out, looking for a chance to escape.
A roar echoed out as the bear raised its thick, clawed foreleg toward Regina.
But then—whoosh—a violent gust of wind blew, and the bear, along with its earthen cover, tumbled back into the hole.

When Ekaterina looked at Forli, he returned a faint smile. His magical affinity was wind; the gust had been his doing.
Such activation speed and precise control. Truly the skill of a seasoned veteran.

The one-eyed bear climbed up again almost immediately, and in the moment when the hounds pulled back, it emerged from the hole—only to find the knights had arrived. Surrounded by knights with spears at the ready, the bear tried to retreat back into the hole instead.

Not so fast!

Ekaterina released her magic and tried to raise an earthen wall at the edge of the hole.
But the one-eyed bear forced its way forward—

—and rammed straight into it.

“……”

More precisely, it crashed into the earthen wall while it was still rising from the ground, got caught in it, and ended up with only its head and forelegs sticking out on the far side, its body from the chest down left on this side, dangling in midair and flailing helplessly.

Is this a comedy sketch?! Why are you risking your life just to get a laugh, bear?!
…Still, stopping a bear without firearms—magic really is convenient. Now I understand why those with magical power become the ruling class. Why nobles crave strong magic. Seeing it in practice makes it clear.

The knights, wry smiles on their faces, regained their composure and leveled their spears.

.

(Ah…)

Instinctively, Ekaterina looked away.
She should see it through. She had the responsibility to. But she could not bring herself to look.
She could hear it, though.
Come to think of it… this was the first time, in both her previous life and this one, that she had ever been present at the moment a living creature was killed.

No—I’m not just merely *present*. I was the one who decided on this extermination. Even if I did not deal the final blow myself, it was I who took that life. I took that bear’s life. I have to acknowledge that.

“Milady, are you feeling unwell?”

Mina noticed her mistress’s condition at once and spoke up.

“No, I’m fine. My health is not an issue.”

Ekaterina shook her head, but even she could tell her complexion must look bad. What is wrong with me? I look like some fragile young lady.

Right then, Mina slipped an arm around Ekaterina’s body and hugged her tightly.

“My mistake. Ordinary women are not good with corpses. And for a kind young lady like you, it’s only natural. I’ll take you somewhere else.”
“Mina…”

That line and that behavior—those are exactly the kind of things Onii-sama would say and do. Oh no, what do I do if being a siscon is an airborne disease in this world?
…yeah no, obviously not.

“I really am all right. And besides, saying I am bad with corpses would be strange, when I eat meat at every meal. I know that.”

Yes. I must not forget: meat is the body of a creature that has died. I eat it. So saying that taking life is cruel or unbearable is just hypocrisy.
So why am I looking away?
…Sorry. I can’t look. Logic doesn’t help… I’m shaking. Ugh, how pathetic.

“Sir knights…”

A timid voice called out, and Ekaterina snapped back to herself.

“Thank you kindly. Thanks to you, it seems we can still grow the rest of the sugar beets. Truly, I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

The old man who had come to ask for help was bowing repeatedly. Ekaterina stepped away from Mina and smiled at him.

“You don’t need to thank us. Protecting our people is our duty. If we were of help to you, that alone makes me happy.”
“I’m grateful… truly grateful…”

Tears welled up in the old man’s eyes.
Forli chuckled softly.

“Milady, the one-eyed bear is a fine catch whose entire body can be used. Its fur makes durable, warm cloaks, its meat is nourishing, and above all, it possesses a special organ. The liquid that accumulates there becomes an excellent ingredient for healing medicine and can be sold for a high price.”

…Just a moment ago, we were worried about being eaten by the bear, and now we are the ones who will eat it. Truly the law of the jungle.
Still—thank you, Forli!

“You had debts, did you not? If the bear’s value helps with repayment, that would be most fortunate.”

A blessing in disguise. Good fortune and misfortune are woven together. I hope that after all the suffering he has endured, the old man can feel that something good has happened.
And if he continues growing sugar beets, living honestly, and paying his taxes, then from the perspective of governance, that is ideal.

Long ago, the Ainu people worshipped the animals they hunted as gods. I think I understand that feeling a little.
Thank you, one-eyed bear. Because of your life, people will be able to go on living.

The old man hurriedly shook his head.

“No, no… you all killed the bear, so it belongs to you.”
“It belongs to you. You have grandchildren, do you not? You can give them nourishing meat to eat.”

Something he should have received when disaster struck his homeland. Better late than never.

“I can feed them good food… I’m so grateful…!”

The old man was now sobbing openly.
By then, other villagers had come to see what was happening. They must have noticed the cloud of dust when the bear fell into the pit.

Forli identified one of the onlookers as the village chief and called him over, then briskly settled matters regarding the processing of the bear and the distribution of the spoils.
The fur and the healing-medicine ingredients would go to the old man and his grandchildren. The large amount of meat (this one-eyed bear was estimated to weigh two hundred kilograms) would mostly go to the old man’s family but be shared with the villagers as well—since in this world, without refrigerators or freezers, that was the best option. Some would be made into jerky. The bones would also be shared among the villagers, but the skull would belong to the old man, as it was said to be very effective at warding off animal damage.

Ekaterina praised the village chief. He had lent an empty house and farmland (abandoned fields, essentially) to the old man and his grandchildren when they had nowhere to go. How humane and kind, she said. Please continue to look after them.
Well, the house and land had not been free, which was why the old man had suffered from debt. But that could not be helped. The village chief had no room to run a charity.
Rather than pointing that out, it was better to raise goodwill, since the old man and his grandchildren would be living here from now on.
…Relations between rural communities and outsiders can become truly grim if handled badly.
The village chief, flustered but clearly delighted to be praised by a noble young lady, would probably treat the family well.

.

The old man and the villagers could butcher the bear themselves, but extracting the organ used for healing medicine required special skill, so the knights would handle that.

“We couldn’t show milady anything impressive, so at least let us be of some use,”

Oleg said, referring to how anticlimactic the subjugation had been. Ekaterina shook her head.

“It is because your coordination was flawless and you intimidated the bear that this was possible. I deeply admire your skill in achieving victory safely, without needless danger.”

It had ended up like a comedy skit, but if the knights had shown even a single opening, the bear might have chosen to charge instead of retreating into the hole.
A soccer-fan friend once told me: flashy plays matter less than solid, unglamorous assists.

At her words, the knights again placed their fists to their chests in salute and returned to their work.
While waiting, Ekaterina decided to use earth magic to till an overgrown, neglected field at the edge of the village. It would also serve as training in magical control—a win-win.
She poured magic into the weed-choked lot and dug deep into the soil. Across the entire area, the ground churned and writhed, breaking through weeds and the surface layer as dark soil rose up in twisting waves.
In a world without tractors, tilling was hard labor. Yet before their eyes, it was completed in moments, leaving behind soft, fluffy earth—perfect farmland for planting crops.

Ekaterina let out a breath with a smile.
That was tiring—but it feels good to work up a sweat!
Then cheers and applause erupted.

“Amazing! Nobles are incredible!”
“Thank you, Madam!”

The villagers watching burst into loud praise.
…madam?

“Everyone, this lady is not the duke’s wife. She is His Grace’s younger sister—the princess of Jurnova.”

When Forli said that, genuinely shocked voices replied, “What?!”

“O-our deepest apologies. We heard rumors that the duke had brought his beautiful wife with him…”

The village chief hurriedly bowed his head.
Where did that rumor even come from? A beautiful wife… meaning me? I’m Onii-sama’s wife?
Oh my, how nice.
You sure know how to please a brocon.