Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

A young man’s voice suddenly called out from behind them.

Judging by the voice, he seemed slightly older than Tatsumi… though he probably wasn’t much over twenty.

Reacting to the voice, Calcedonia—who had been called by name—turned around first.

Tatsumi followed shortly after her. At that moment, Tatsumi, who had been walking behind Calcedonia, noticed that she had a smile on her face when she turned around.

As if drawn by her, Tatsumi also looked back, and there stood a man.

He was likely around twenty years old as well. He was tall, probably over 180 centimeters, with a slender yet clearly well-trained physique.

He was clad in plate armor—what Tatsumi assumed was so-called plate mail—over his sturdy frame, and a sword hung at his waist.

His hair was a vivid red. The short, cropped style complemented his cool, well-defined features perfectly.

His reddish-brown eyes caught sight of Calcedonia behind Tatsumi and narrowed gently.

*Wow, he looks just like some prince or hero, was Tatsumi’s first impression of him.

“Oh, Morgan. Is today’s training over?”
“Yeah. I was thoroughly put through my paces again today.”
“Oh? Shouldn’t that be ‘you put the other soldier priests through their paces’?”

Regardless of Tatsumi’s thoughts, the two chatted in a very friendly manner.

So as not to interrupt their conversation, Tatsumi stepped back to the side of the hallway. As he did so, he realized that the name “Morgan,” which Calcedonia had mentioned earlier, sounded familiar.

*—Right. That nobleman, Cashin, mentioned him. If I recall, the rumor goes that he is Calcedonia’s lover… I think he’s called the Free Knight or something.*

As Tatsumi recalled his conversation with Cashin earlier that day, the man named Morgan suddenly turned his gaze toward him.

“By the way, Calcie. Who is this gentleman? He’s dressed in rather unfamiliar attire… Could he be a visitor from another country who has come to visit our temple?”
“Ah! How could I have… I apologize.”

Realizing she’d been talking without addressing Tatsumi, Calcedonia turned back to him and bowed deeply.

“Allow me to introduce you. This gentleman is Morganaik Tycourse. He is a soldier priest belonging to the Temple of Savaiv, and like me, he is an exorcist.”
“Huh? The same as you, Chiiko?”
“Yes. Morgan and I always work together whenever we receive a request for exorcism.”

Caledonia chuckled softly as she looked at Morganaik. Morganaik, in turn, gazed back at Caledonia with a gentle smile on his cool, handsome face.

It looks just like a couple of famous celebrities, Tatsumi thought, gazing at the two of them with a slightly out-of-place impression.

At the same time, he felt a sharp twinge of pain deep within his heart.

Just as Tatsumi was inwardly wondering why he felt such pain, Morganaik took a step toward him.

“As per her introduction, I am Morganaik. It’s a pleasure to meet you, stranger from another land.”

Saying this, Morganaik smoothly extended his right hand.

Thinking to himself that even in this world, a handshake is used to express friendship, Tatsumi gripped the hand Morganaik had offered.

“Likewise, nice to meet you. I’m… ah, no, my name is Yamagata Tatsumi… or should I go by Tatsumi Yamagata over here?”

Earlier, when Calcedonia had introduced Tatsumi to Cashin, she had introduced him as “Tatsumi Yamagata.” It seemed that in this country, just like in the West, people gave their first names first.

“So, Lord Tatsumi, what brings you to this country? Since you’re here with Calcie, I would assume you are to meet His Eminence Chrysoprase?”

Everyone in this temple knows that Calcedonia is Giuseppe’s adopted daughter. In fact, it’s quite common for Calcedonia to escort guests who come to visit Giuseppe to his quarters.

“Huh? Um… ‘His Eminence Chrysoprase’ refers to Giuseppe-san, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”

When Tatsumi asked Calcedonia, she nodded with a smile.

It was truly a trivial exchange, but the impact it had on Morganaik was immense.

To call Giuseppe Chrysoprase—who stands at the pinnacle of all Survive believers in the Kingdom of Largovere, no, indeed across the entire Zoisalicht Continent—by his first name as if he were a friendly neighbor was nothing short of astonishing.

As the Supreme Pontiff of the Savaiv faith and other religious orders, his authority rivals that of a king.

And this black-haired boy addresses such an esteemed person so cordially, who exactly is he?

There is another matter weighing on Morganaik’s mind. It is the fact that Calcedonia is behaving with remarkable familiarity toward this boy—no, acting as if she were serving him.

Even though she is Giuseppe Chrysoprase’s adopted daughter—and is known throughout the Kingdom of Largovere as the “Holy Maiden”—Caledonia treats him with a deferential attitude, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Moreover, her expression is one of sheer delight.

Serving this boy brings her unbearable joy.

Morganaik could tell that this was unmistakably the case, judging from Calcedoina’s demeanor, and that weighed on his mind very much.

.

Indeed, Calcedonia normally greets everyone with a smile. However, this is strictly out of her duties as a priestess; With fellow women aside, she hardly shows her true self when dealing with men, much less treating them with such intimacy.

The men she is close to are her grandfather Giuseppe, his aides, as well as a few archpriests who have doted on her since childhood. However, many of them are elderly, so from Calcedonia’s perspective, she likely doesn’t view them as members of the opposite sex.

Morganaik secretly took pride in the fact that he was the man closest to her in age and with whom she was most intimate.

Up until now, Morganaik had teamed up with Calcedonia countless times to carry out their work as exorcists.

By now, quite a few people regarded Morganaik and Calcedonia as a pair of exorcists.

Exorcists who hunt monsters in the city or belong to the Church often tackle a single job as a group of several people.

Their enemies are powerful beasts and monsters. It goes without saying that facing them with multiple people is more advantageous than going alone.

There are some who stubbornly insist on working alone, but they are either exceptionally skilled, have difficulty interacting with others, or are simply quite eccentric.

It has been several years since Morganaik and Calcedonia became exorcists, and during that time, the two have always worked together as a team.

At times, they would travel together for days to reach the location of a request, and then wander through forests and wilderness until they had defeated the target beast or monster.

In the beginning, their conversations were minimal, but as they took on more and more assignments together, the two gradually grew closer.

As they risked their lives fighting magical beasts side by side, they naturally opened up to one another. Though they were awkward at first, they survived countless perilous situations together, building mutual trust and confidence.

That fact gives Morganaik a sense of solid confidence.

Although she is adopted, Calcedonia—being the daughter of the Supreme Pontiff—reportedly receives a mountain of marriage proposals every single day.

Fortunately, since Giuseppe has no political ambitions, he does not seem to intend to use her as a pawn in a political marriage. And so, the man closest to Calcedonia has been Morganaik.

Rumors have spread throughout the community that the two are lovers. Working together constantly, such rumors had begun to circulate before they even realized it.

And Morganaik himself, too, had come to harbor feelings for Calcedonia that went beyond those of mere work colleagues.

To her personality, which, despite being called by grand epithets like “The Saint,” was in reality no different from that of any ordinary girl.

To her kindness, which reached out to heal anyone who was hurting.

To her innocence, where she would sometimes go too far and make a mistake, then stick out her tongue playfully to cover it up.

And above all, to her genuine smile she’d let him glimpse, hidden behind her forced smile.

Morganaik had come to see Calcedonia as a woman, just as he saw himself as a man.

.

“You were summoned by His Eminence when we passed each other yesterday. …Speaking of which, I haven’t seen you around for the past few days, Calcie.”

Morganaik suppressed the question welling up inside him and turned back to Calcedonia.

“Yes. I was sent by my grandfather to go and welcome Lord Yamagata over here.”

At this point, only Calcedonia and Giuseppe knew that Calcedonia had successfully cast a summoning spell and brought Tatsumi into this world.

While the existence of summoning magic is known, it is not a spell that just anyone can perform. On the contrary, it is now considered a form of grand magic that borders on legend.

Giuseppe judged that if word got out that Calcedonia had succeeded in performing such a spell, it could lead to an unexpected uproar.

Of course, even if Calcedonia were to attempt a summoning spell again, there was no guarantee of success. Nor was he confident that Calcedonia could summon anyone other than Tatsumi.

Because the one summoning was Calcedonia. And because the one being summoned was Tatsumi.

Perhaps it was precisely because these conditions were met that the summoning spell succeeded.

For that reason, although Calcedonia had been holed up underground for several days preparing the spell, the official story was that she had been sent by Giuseppe to greet a guest.

That said, that official reason wasn’t a complete lie. It was precisely because Calcedonia had summoned him that Tatsumi was able to come to this world.

“Is that so? Ah, forgive me. You were on your way to His Eminence’s chambers. I apologize for holding you up, Lord Yamagata.”
“No, don’t worry about it. And you can just call me Tatsumi.”
“Understood, Lord Tatsumi. Then, please call me Morgan as well.”

Morganaik said with a cheerful smile. But Tatsumi, standing directly in front of him, clearly saw that his reddish-brown eyes flashed with an intense light for just a moment.

After bowing, Morganaik turned his back on the two of them and walked away.

Tatsumi watched his retreating figure, tilting his head slightly. That strangely intense gaze Morganaik had shown just now. Tatsumi couldn’t fathom its meaning.

“Is something wrong, Master?”
“Ah, ah, no, it’s nothing. More importantly, Morgan—they call him the Free Knight, right? What does the Free Knight mean?”
“You know his epithet, Master…? Oh, come to think of it, Lord Sankeelay mentioned him briefly today.”

Glancing sideways at Tatsumi with a look of concern, Calcedonia explained what the epithet means.

Traditionally, a knight is one who serves a king, a country, or the nobility.

Those who devote their loyalty and martial prowess to their lord, literally becoming a shield and a sword for him, are called knights.

They are required to possess a noble spirit and a body of steel, which demands constant self-discipline and training. And because of their glamorous and valiant image, they enjoy immense popularity among women and children.

Of course, not all knights fit this description, but if you ask the general public what a knight is, you would likely receive an answer along these lines.

However, a free knight has no lord to serve.

In the Kingdom of Largovere, those who take up their swords for the weak and those in need—in lieu of having a lord—are called free knights.

That said, not just anyone can call themselves a free knight.

As mentioned earlier, a knight serves a lord. And they receive a stipend from that lord to support themselves.

Therefore, free knights, who have no lord, have no steady income.

Even a child knows that, in order to survive, one must have some form of income.

For this reason, those who become free knights often find themselves in financial straits.

Unlike the glamorous and honorable knights, free knights, while no less honorable or renowned, inevitably give off a rather unassuming impression.

For these reasons, few people call themselves free knights. Furthermore, the reality is that not many people aspire to become one.

After hearing this explanation about free knights, Tatsumi got the impression that they might be closer to heroes than to knights.

“Morgan has defeated countless mabeasts and fiends to help those in need. He never asks for money; he does it simply because there are people suffering. Of course, if it’s an official request, the temple provides a reward. But even without a request from the temple, he takes up his sword of his own volition to help those in need. I think it’s only natural that he came to be called ‘The Free Knight.’”
“…And, when he fought for those in need…you were with him, weren’t you, Chiiko?”
“…Yes… As a priestess… and as his friend… I wanted to help him… B-but!!”

Calcedonia spun around to face Tatsumi with a burst of energy.

“I-I was, um, strictly, just there as a friend… B-by no means I possess a feeling that the people rumored I do for him!! M-my feelings belong to…”

Her face was bright red. Yet her expression was desperate. Tatsumi understood exactly what Calcedonia was trying to say.

She must have been worried about the rumors regarding the “Free Knight” and the “Holy Maiden” that Cashin had mentioned earlier. So Tatsumi replied with a smile.

“I see. So rumors are just rumors, right?”
“Y-yes…!! W-will you believe me…?”
“Of course I believe you.”

Tatsumi gently ruffled Calcedonia’s hair with his palm as she bowed her head slightly and gazed up at him intently.

“A-anyway, let’s hurry and go tell Giuseppe-san that we’ve found a place to live.”
“Yes!!”

Just as she had done when they went out into the town, Calcedonia wrapped her arms around Tatsumi’s waist and nestled happily against him.

At that moment, the faint pang of pain Tatsumi had felt deep within his heart a moment ago was no longer there.