Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“I’m against it!!”

After hearing Giuseppe’s proposal, Tatsumi and Calcedonia both stared blankly for a moment, but once Calcedonia finally seemed to grasp what Giuseppe had said, she loudly voiced her opposition.

“I can’t let Master do something so dangerous!! Why on earth would you even think of making Master an exorcist, Grandfather!?”

Seeing Calcedonia lashing out at her grandfather with such fury, Tatsumi once again wore a dumbfounded expression—though for a different reason this time.

“Calm down and think about it will you, Calcedonia? There’s no one else with as much natural talent for being an exorcist as Sonny, is there? After all, he’s a Heaven mage, a wielder of external elements, and a Perceiver. From the perspective of specters, Sonny is practically their natural enemy.”
“I certainly acknowledge Master’s talent… but surely you aren’t thinking of using him for your own gain, are you…?”

Caledonia confronted her grandfather with such intensity she seemed ready to unleash a killing intent. But Giuseppe hadn’t aged in vain. He calmly absorbed even the force Caledonia was projecting.

“Goodness… You get too extreme whenever it comes to Sonny. I respect his wishes above all else. If he has no desire to become an exorcist, I have no intention of forcing him.”

Sighing in exasperation, Giuseppe turned back to Tatsumi.

“So, what do you say? I’m not asking you to fight specters right off the bat. First, you should thoroughly master the basics, and then gradually gain experience in actual combat. As for combat skills, you can train alongside the soldier priests, and when it comes to magic, Calcedonia or I can teach you. There’s no need to rush—just take your time and steadily build your skills as an exorcist.What say you, son? Would you be willing to give it a try?”
“Master… You don’t need to push yourself. If you don’t want to, you can just say no.”

Giuseppe and Calcedonia were waiting for Tatsumi’s decision. Glancing back and forth between their faces, Tatsumi took his time to think it over.

“…There’s no need to give an answer right away. Think it over carefully and then—”
“No, Giuseppe-san. I’ll do it. No, please let me do it. Please make me an exorcist just like Chiiko.”

Tatsumi sat cross-legged on the bed and bowed deeply toward Giuseppe.

.

“M-Master… Why…?”

Prompted by Giuseppe, Tatsumi settled back into a comfortable position on the bed, and Calcedonia looked at him with a sad expression.

Tatsumi smiled at Calcedonia and began to explain his feelings.

“Chiiko. I want to get stronger.”
“Stronger…?”
“Yeah. I’ve really come to realize it. This world is full of more danger than the world I came from… Japan. If I want to protect my precious family… if I want to protect you, Chiiko, I have to get stronger.”
“Master…”

Hearing Tatsumi clearly say “my precious family,” Calcedonia blushed and her red eyes welled up with tears.

“And by actually fighting a specter… I’ve realized just how terrifying they really are.”

It would not be an exaggeration to say that there are no completely pure and virtuous people in this world. Everyone harbors a little darkness within their hearts.

That goes for Giuseppe, Calcedonia, and even Tatsumi. As long as one is human, darkness is bound to lurk somewhere in the heart.

Specters stir that darkness and make it grow. A kind family member or neighbor can suddenly transform into a monster overnight. That is the true horror of these specters

In fact, two noble figures, Baldio and Morganaik, have already fallen into becoming fiends because of a single specter. Anyone could hear a specter’s whispers tomorrow.

“If I have the power to fight off specters, I want to cultivate it. I don’t delude myself into thinking I can do anything for everyone in the world who’s been violated by specter. But if there’s something I can do, even within the limits of my power, I want to do it.”

Tatsumi let his upper body, which he had been propping up, fall back onto the bed with a thud.

Then, turning only his head toward Calcedonia, he flashed a mischievous grin.

“…or so the idea I want to sell. But the truth is there’s only…one person I want to protect.”
“Eh…?”

Calcedonia’s heart skipped a beat. Right now, Tatsumi was looking straight at her with sincere eyes. The one person he wants to protect—those eyes spoke volumes without a word.

“I’m happy you’re looking out for me, Chiiko. Back then…when I went to the temple garden with Morgan-san to save you, you told me I was a burden. But you deliberately used such harsh words, didn’t you? To make me leave that place… to keep me out of danger.”

Now Tatsumi understood. He understood why Calcedonia had clearly called him a burden back then.

“It’s true—from your perspective, I’m nothing but a burden right now. But someday…someday for sure, I’ll definitely become strong enough to fight side by side with you, Chiiko… no, strong enough to fight specters while protecting you, Chiiko, just like Morgan-san did back then.”

The seamless teamwork between Morganaik and Calcedonia was etched clearly into Tatsumi’s memory.

He doesn’t know when he’ll reach that level, but reaching those heights was still Tatsumi’s goal right now.

“That’s why… I’m going to become an Exorcist. I will become an Exorcist…and become a man capable of protecting Chiiko… no, Calcedonia…!”

Becoming an Exorcist. Tatsumi clearly declared his resolve to Calcedonia and Giuseppe.

That was the moment when the Exorcist who would later be known by the epithet Heaven Soarer set his sights on the path he must take.

.

Changing his stern expression back to his usual calm one, Giuseppe nodded with satisfaction.

“I have heard your resolve clearly, my son. However… I cannot simply treat someone with no track record as an Exorcist right away. First, you must undergo various training here in this temple, and then gain practical experience hunting mabeasts in the city. Even Calcie and Morgan the Free Knight…no, every Exorcist begins by gaining experience as a mabeast hunter in the city.”

Giuseppe was certainly right. First, one gains experience fighting mabeasts, and only then does one become an Exorcist who faces specters. That is the path everyone follows.

“In this town of Levantis, there are several taverns and inns where mabeast hunters gather. Once you’ve acquired a certain level of skill, you should visit one of those places and take on some work.”

Not just in the Kingdom of Largovere, but in every town or village of any size on the Zoisalicht Continent, there is at least one tavern and inn where mabeast hunters gather. Requests to exterminate mabeasts tend to accumulate in such places. Or perhaps it is precisely because requests gather there that the mabeast hunters gather as well.

According to Calcedonia and Giuseppe, Morganaik apparently started out as just an ordinary mabeast hunter in the streets. However, his skills were recognized, and he was recruited to become an exorcist attached to the temple.

“Ah… come to think of it…”
“Is something wrong?”

Seeing Tatsumi look as if he’d just thought of something, Calcedonia tilted her head—and her stray strand of hair—and asked.

“That reminded me of something. What ever happened to Morgan-san and Baldio-san after that?”

Morganaik and Baldio were both possessed by a specter and transformed into fiends. Only now did Tatsumi finally remember them.

*I wonder what happened to those two. Could it be that they’ll be charged with some kind of crime for being possessed by the specter?*

Tatsumi, who knew absolutely nothing about this country’s laws, began to worry about them.

He noticed that Calcedonia and Giuseppe’s expressions were also clouded with worry.

“C-could it be… that Morgan-san and Baldio-san have been charged with a serious crime…?”
“No, that’s not it. Not exactly… but it has certainly become a bit of a predicament. I didn’t come to this room merely to check on you, my son; I also had something I wished to discuss with you, should you have regained consciousness.”
“With me?”

Giuseppe nodded. “Quite so.” Yet his face lacked his usual gentle smile.

.

According to the laws of the Kingdom of Largovere, if one commits a crime while possessed by a specter, they are generally not held criminally liable unless the offense is particularly egregious.

Of course, it’d be different if they laid waste to an entire town—one cannot be acquitted in such a case—but even then, the punishment is typically limited to about ten years in prison.

Since it is immediately apparent whether one is possessed by a specter simply by looking into their eyes, the excuse that “I did it because I was possessed by a specter” does not hold water for anyone who has legitimately committed a crime.

So far, this sounds like a rather merciful law, but in reality, there was a hidden side to it that the general public was unaware of.

It seems that the king of this country several generations ago was a man of great greed.

He was the sort of man who could not rest until he had obtained anything he desired—be it rare treasures or beautiful women—and would sometimes even wield his royal authority to get what he wanted.

However, despite his greed, he apparently harbored a pathological fear of being possessed by a specter. He lived in daily dread that his own deep desires would summon a specter and that he might one day turn into a fiend himself.

One might think he should have simply suppressed his desires, but that king did not do so.

Instead of curbing his own desires, the king enacted a law stating, “Those possessed by the specter must not be punished. The specter is to blame, not the person possessed.”

In essence, he had built a protective barrier in advance to ensure he would not be legally punished should he himself become possessed by the specter.

However, others—especially the common people—perceived this law as compassionate, and it came to be widely accepted. It is said that some even completely forgot the king’s previous greedy deeds and hailed him as a merciful and benevolent ruler.

Regardless of the reason the law was enacted, this widely accepted statute has continued to be enforced in the Kingdom of Largovere even after the king’s death.

“Neither of them suffered any mental instability due to being possessed by a specter, and their physical injuries were only minor. Since they cannot be legally prosecuted, they are living their lives as before… or so I’d like to say…”

Giuseppe let out a weak sigh.

“It’s true that, in the eyes of the law, Morgan and Baldio cannot be charged with a crime. However, this incident took place in the courtyard of this temple. The courtyard of the House of God, where the laws of the domain do not reach—and for clergymen to have assaulted Calcie—a young woman—in that very courtyard… I simply cannot treat them as if he were without sin, as one who serves the gods…”
“Eh…? Then what about Morgan-san and Baldio-san…?”
“Baldio is deeply remorseful about what happened. To atone for his sins and discipline himself, he has voluntarily relinquished both his position as my assistant and his status as high priest. He says he intends to travel around the land from now on as a mere pilgrim priest. I suspect… he has no intention of ever returning to this temple.”

Baldio says he will never return to the Temple of Savaiv in Levantis and intends to spend the rest of his life traveling. That is how deeply he regretted and reflected on what he had done this time.

“He was a man with a promising future, but his resolve is firm, and it’s hard to change his mind. So, in the end, I decided to let him do as he pleases.”

Saying this, Giuseppe slumped his shoulders. Calcedonia, standing beside him, also looked somewhat lonely.

He was a subordinate she had relied on as her assistant, and someone she looked up to like an older brother. Since Calcedonia, who had actually been attacked, seemed to harbor no ill will toward him, Tatsumi felt it was only natural that they were feeling down.

“…Well, that settles things as far as Baldio is concerned… but the problem lies with Morgan.”

Giuseppe let out a heavy sigh and turned to Calcedonia, who was standing behind him.

“Could you please inform Morgan that Spnny has awakened and ask him to come here?”
“Understood.”

Bowing to Tatsumi and Giuseppe, Calcedonia quietly left the room.

“As for Morgan, things are a bit more complicated than with Baldio…”

Giuseppe’s shoulders remained slumped as he spoke.

.

“Surely you’ve heard of Morgan’s reputation in this temple… no, in this country, my son?”

After Calcedonia had left, Giuseppe asked Tatsumi.

The noble Free Knight whom the Temple of Savaiv—no, the Kingdom of Largovere—prides itself on. His fame was widely known, and minstrels vied with one another to sing of his exploits alongside those of the Holy Maiden

“If word spreads that said Free Knight has been possessed by a specter… it won’t end with just Morgan’s personal reputation being ruined.”

If news of this incident spread, it could even bring the Temple of Savaiv’s authority into disrepute. Furthermore, if it became known that even a man with the epithet of the Free Knight could not resist the temptation of a specter, there was no telling what kind of turmoil would spread throughout the city.

“For that reason… after consulting with the Kingdom, we have decided not to make this incident public—especially the fact how Morgan fell into becoming a fiend.”

Fortunately, or perhaps not, Morganaik had made arrangements right from the start of the incident to keep people away from the garden.

This was a measure taken out of consideration for Baldio’s reputation, given that it was a man of his stature that was possessed, but it proved to bear an unexpected fruit. As a result, the only ones who know that Morganaik has been bewitched by the specter are Tatsumi and Calcedonia, the parties directly involved in the incident.

Apart from them, the only others aware of this incident are the very top echelons of the Savaiv Church and the Kingdom of Largovere. To protect the church’s authority and prevent public unrest, they apparently intend to treat Morganaik’s incident as if it “never happened.”

As for Baldio, although he was witnessed by several believers as he was bewitched by the specter and attacked Calcedonia, he is merely an Archpriest and lacks the fame and recognition of the Free Knight. Therefore, he will not have a significant impact on the church or the people.

Furthermore, since he has decided to embark on a pilgrimage to atone for his sins, it has been decided that he will not face further prosecution.

Consequently, the official story for this incident will apparently be that “a single priest fell to the specter, and that specter was exorcised by the Free Knight and the Holy Maiden.”

“As the party directly involved and the only one sustained life-threatening injuries, there are likely aspects of this that your heart cannot accept, my son… but we have no choice but to make you accept it regardless of what you wish. Of course, if there is anything besides that I can do to help, I will do my utmost. I’m sorry, my son, but would you please accept this explanation?”

With that, Giuseppe bowed deeply to Tatsumi.