Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“…………Hey…………Hey, miss, you okay……Hello?”

A gentle call and the sensation of a light tap on my cheek—just enough not to hurt—slowly brought my consciousness back from the darkness.
Wondering what was going on, I lifted my face… and right in front of me was the face of a stranger.

“~~~~~~!!?”

A silent scream surged from the back of my throat.

“O-oh!? Miss, what’s wrong!?”

I looked around… but the two people I could always rely on were nowhere to be found!?　

Reiji, Ayame, where are you!?　

In a panic, I tried to move away from the stranger in front of me… but I must have stepped on a wet tree root by accident, and the ground gave way beneath my feet.

“Eek!?”

Just as I was about to get back up, my slipping body fell backward, and I plunged headfirst into the still-soft snow.

I opened my eyes a few times—blink, blink—and, enveloped by the cold sensation around my head, realized why I was face-first in the snow.

“…You good?”
“…Yes, I’m sorry… My head is cold…”

Hearing the man’s puzzled voice… I finally calmed down and looked away out of embarrassment.

.

“…So, then. It was you who fixed this, right?”

The man—apparently named Scott—pointed at the huge hole in the stomach of his blood-stained clothes and asked. Magic couldn’t repair the clothes, but the skin peeking out from underneath didn’t have a single scratch.

“…Thank goodness, you seem okay. How do you feel? Does anything feel off?”
“None at all. I’m right as rain. To be honest, I thought I was a goner. You’re a lifesaver, miss.”

Seeing Scott-san bow his head deeply, almost like he was prostrating himself, I hurriedly asked him to please raise his head. It just didn’t feel right to have an older person bowing like that.

“But… Honestly, I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’ta been saved…maybe I was getting my just deserts.”

Scott-san’s expression suddenly darkened, and he looked as if he were about to cry.

“…Just deserts?”
“Yeah… I been letting bad guys do terrible things in front of me, all while pretending I didn’t see it…It was scary, and I never did what I should have—maybe I’m being punished for that…”
“That’s not…”

The man standing before me didn’t look like a bad person at all.
He had been standing by my side, protecting me while I was unconscious for about ten minutes—completely defenseless—and now, perhaps out of consideration for the embarrassing spectacle I’d just made of myself, he was keeping his distance.
I could see concern in every little thing he said and did, and I felt that this older man was truly a good person.

…And yet, he said, “I shouldn’t have been saved.” If he was going to say that, then even I and the people around me were constantly turning a blind eye to the “bad things” right in front of us, simply because we didn’t want to get involved in any trouble.

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I found myself instinctively taking his hand in both of mine.

“…But you’ve been regretting that ever since, haven’t you, Scott-san? If you’ve been blaming yourself, that means you’re by no means a bad person.”
“But…”

Ah, my hands are shaking. I hope he didn’t notice. Still, I’m managing to keep my composure better than I thought I would.

“Why don’t you try to find the courage again next time? …I’m sure there will be other chances to make amends. Don’t say things like ‘I wish I were dead’… After all, you’re alive, right here, right now…aren’t you?”

I clasped his rough hands and smiled at him, trying my hardest to cheer him up.
I could faintly feel his pulse through our clasped hands. Yes, he was alive. The people in this world weren’t NPCs—they were real, flesh-and-blood human beings who had walked their own paths and carried their own burdens.

“I’m really glad you’re alive, and that I made it in time.”

It was true—I was able to save him. Me, of all people, who had only ever managed to survive by being saved by others.

“……Got it. Since you gave me this second chance at life, I’ll do my best. Sorry about that—showing such a pathetic side of myself to a girl younger than me.”

As he muttered that and gave a wry smile, I smiled back and told him not to worry about it.

.

“What’s your plan now, miss?”
“Well… I have something I need to take care of, so I’m heading further ahead…”
“I see… It’s about two *koku*¹ of walking to the nearest town, but be very careful and head there as soon as possible. You shouldn’t stay in a deserted place like this for too long. Leave right away.”

With that warning, spoken out of concern for my safety, he bid me farewell and disappeared into the depths of the forest.

“…Well then.”

I had to take care of my own business. Although my headache had subsided considerably, a faint dull ache remained, and the sense of urgency telling me to get there was still gnawing at me.

.

I—Scott—am a scout for a low-tier mercenary group… or rather, perhaps I should say I “was”…
It was a bunch of good-for-nothings who called themselves a “mercenary group,” but were really just a gang of thugs. They’d swindle their clients, get cut off from work, and eventually resort to banditry in this backwater just to scrape by.
I’m absolutely hopeless at fighting, but they hired me as a scout because of my sharp eyes and quick reflexes. So how the hell did I end up like this? Thinking about it now, I should’ve just stayed in the countryside working the fields. But I couldn’t seem to break away, got mixed up in their shenanigans, and ended up here.

But…when I was attacked by some weird monster and my belly was ripped open—just when I thought I was about to die—an angel appeared.
For some reason, when I woke up, there was this incredibly beautiful young girl sitting right in front of me, unconscious. I was so startled I thought the heart I’d just managed to salvage might stop beating all over again.

That angel—no, that young miss—was such a kind soul. At first, she was terrified of a stranger, and when she started talking, her hands were trembling slightly… She reacted just like a girl who’d been dragged here by the gang and subjected to atrocities.
Yet, she listened to my troubles, and on top of that, she took my hand and told me, “You’re not a bad person. Do your best next time.” With tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, she even told me, “I’m glad you’re alive”… Her hand was trembling as she touched me too—she must have been scared, I’m sure.

But I’m sure that young miss would be disillusioned if she found out the truth. I’m such a worthless guy for being too scared to tell her.
So at the very least, I’ve got to lure those good-for-nothings somewhere else so that young miss can get away safely. To do that, I’ll need to get some clothes… If they see my clothes torn like this, they’ll know there’s a priest around who can even bring the dying back to life. A treasure like that would end up being taken back by those good-for-nothings.
And that’s not all—she’s such a beauty, and by any standard, she looks like a noblewoman or a young lady from a well-to-do family.
If she were to fall into the hands of those guys—who’ve set aside their own issues only to heap resentment and bitterness on people like her—who knows what terrible things they’d put her through… I’m pretty sure there were some spare clothes at the mountain hut up ahead. I need to get those…

“Hey, what the hell are you doing away from your post?”

I flinched at the voice behind me. Damn it—there are still her footprints here…

“Huh… what’s with your clothes…? Oh, and if you try to lie… you know what’ll happen, right?”

As I feel the coldness of the blade against my cheek, I…

.

“Yikes…”

Deep within the forest, a small clearing suddenly appeared where crystal-like formations had sprung from the ground in a circular pattern.
In that spot alone, the snow had vanished, exposing the bare earth, and a fantastical landscape—as if from another world—spread out before me… No, wait, I know this.

“This… it really is a 『Wound of the World』, isn’t it…”

Yes, this was exactly like the scenes I had often seen in-game, in high-level raid boss areas and dungeons—though back then, this scenery covered a much, much larger area. It looked exactly like the place known as a 『Wound of the World』.

—Occasionally, 『Wounds』 like this open up in this world, allowing the otherworld to encroach and various threats to emerge… That was the setting, after all. In other words, this place was actually on the verge of becoming another world.

“But why is it here of all places? And why is it so small… Eek!?”

The moment I took a step inside, even though I wasn’t aware of it, wings materialized with a flutter on my back.
Knowledge instantly flooded my mind. It was as if I were remembering something I’d forgotten… or as if an installation had just been completed right at this very moment.

“Huh… I kind of know what to do…”

Staggering, I walked toward the center of the space, which was less than ten meters in diameter.
As if guided, I held out both hands, and the spatial crack—the very essence of the 『Wound of the World』—smoothly appeared between them.

It’s suffocating.
It hurts.
Help me. Help me. Help me.

Yes, it feels as if the world itself is screaming directly at me.
I gently wrapped my three pairs of light wings around the crack—the very source of it all—as if embracing it.
In my arms, I heard the voice of a “something” that wasn’t human—something I had previously perceived as nothing but pain—crying out in agony.

—I see. That’s why I was called. Because I listened to the voice asking for help.

*“—“Slumber, slumber, O my darling baby; gently rocked by mother’s gentle hand;

Softly rest and safely slumber, while she swings thee by this cradle band.

Slumber, slumber, all so sweetly buried; guarded by thy mother’s loving arm;

All her wishes, all possessions, and her love shall shelter thee from harm—”*

Gently, as if patting a child’s back or soothing them, I wove the words.
The words themselves were nothing out of the ordinary—a famous lullaby on Earth—but… through these wings, they became words of power², cloaked in healing energy, and seeped into the 『Wound』.
I felt a sense of exhaustion, as if something were being drawn out of my body with the most intense force I’d experienced since being transported to this world. But in tandem with that, the cracks in my arms slowly and gradually filled in… until eventually, they vanished in an instant.

Relieved by this sight, the strength drained from my lower body, and I slump down onto the ground.
However, before I knew it, that spot alone had become overgrown with grass, gently cradling my limp body.

***

The protagonist sure does fall over a lot. Since she didn’t lose consciousness this time, I guess that counts as a pass?

The song is Schubert’s famous lullaby. I just couldn’t bring myself to write my own lyrics…