Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Tentatively stepping out of the room, I found myself in a hallway lined with several guest rooms, just like a bed-and-breakfast. I’d actually been out this far a few times before to use the restroom. Descending the stairs from my room on the second floor, I stepped outside, squinting at the direct sunlight I hadn’t felt in a while, and my eyes fell upon a small but well-maintained garden with a pleasant atmosphere. When I asked Reiji about it while we were in the room, he told me that, because there was hardly anyone visiting it, there were no inns in this town—or rather, village. This detached cottage was apparently opened to visitors from out of town as a place to stay, courtesy of the town mayor.
…I don’t think this was here in the game either.

“Ah, missus, thanks for all your hard work.”
“Oh, is that you guys? Has that girl recovered enough to go outside? That’s great to hear.”

Sol and Rage greeted a kind-looking older woman who was tending to the plants as if they were old friends. As I stood there staring blankly from behind, she suddenly addressed me, making me jump.

“Ah, right. This is Mrs. Miranda, the mayor’s wife—she’s the one taking care of us and managing this place. This is your first time meeting her, isn’t it, Iris?”
“I know the situation, and she’s a nice person, so don’t worry… What’s wrong, Iris?”
“……You’re as pale as a ghost. Are you feeling okay?”

A hand reached out toward me. The missus’? Wait, no? It was a rough, calloused man’s hand…

“――――――!?”

A wordless shriek burst from my throat of its own accord. Before I knew it, I’d curled up and dived into Sol’s embrace.

“…Oh dear.”
“…I’m sorry. I thought she’d be fine by now, since we were the only ones in the room with her.”

Even though my mind told me she seemed kind and like a good person, my body stiffened instinctively.

“Iris? It’s okay. Take a good look. Come on, does the lady look like the type to hurt you?”

When I tentatively turned my head, the woman was looking at me with a sympathetic expression.

“……I’m so sorry… that was rude of me……”
“No, it’s okay… You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you… Get well soon, okay?”
“Yes…… I’m sorry.…… Could you give me a hand, please?”
“Hm? Sure… Wait, miss, don’t push yourself too hard!”

I took the woman’s hand. It felt as if my heart was being squeezed tightly, but I managed to hold on. Her hands were a little rough from doing dishes and slightly dirty with dirt, but they smelled comforting—maybe like herbs? These were hands that wouldn’t hurt me. I didn’t need to be afraid. Didn’t they both tell me I’d be okay? As I kept telling myself this over and over, my racing heart gradually calmed down.

“…I’m okay now. Thank you so much.”

I gently let go of her hand, gave a slight, wry smile, and bowed to express my gratitude. The trembling from earlier subsided. It seemed she’d been categorized in my mind as someone “I can trust,” and with her, I felt I could interact normally.

“…You’re okay now, young miss?”
“Yes. Once again, I’ll be counting on your kindness for a while, ma’am.”

I gave a light, cheerful smile and bowed my head. The woman finally seemed relieved and sent me off, saying, “Don’t push yourself too hard. I’ll have something sweet ready for you today, so do your best out there.”

.

Pulling my hood down low, I stepped out onto the streets. Both in scale and the number of buildings, the town had changed completely from the frontier town of the original game, and the number of people passing by was on a whole different level. I was nervous at first, but as long as I kept my whole body hidden, blocked out the stares of those around me, and avoided looking at others as much as possible, I seemed to be managing just fine.

“…I guess it’s still a little rough for you.”
“Let me know right away if it gets too much, okay?”
“Ugh… I’m sorry…”

No—unfortunately, if I weren’t clinging to Sol’s arm, my knees would give out and I’d collapse any second. Ever since I inhabited this body, I’d been unusually sensitive to people’s gazes; every time someone looked my way, a chill ran down my spine and my limbs started to shake. Especially when it was a man’s gaze—my heart sometimes raced violently, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. It really had gotten much worse… but even so, we were secretly relieved that I was still able to get around like this.

Somehow, we managed to reach our first destination. It was a modest single-family home, the kind commonly found in the neighborhood—likely where an ordinary family had once lived a perfectly normal life. However, the yard was overgrown with weeds, as if it hadn’t been tended to in a while, and you could sense the emotional strain the family had endured while their daughter was missing.

“So, this is the home of the first victim… You’re okay with this, right?”
“Yes… This is a job only I can do. Since the victim is a girl, please wait outside.”

The two of them had acted as intermediaries to explain the situation to the victim’s family, and now they were standing a short distance away, watching me with concern. I really wanted Sol to help, too, but since we’d decided the other day to live in a way that would fit our current bodies, I couldn’t very well rely on him.

In the room we were led to, a young girl lay on a bed. She looked about my age… or rather, the age of my current body. She must have been a simple yet lovely girl originally, but half her face was covered in bandages, her entire body was wrapped in them, and furthermore… her right hand was missing from the elbow down. She lay there, looking pitiful.
It had been about a month since she went missing… Many of her wounds had already closed unevenly, leaving scars. If left as is, even with treatment, they would surely cast a long shadow over the rest of her life. Just as it was in the game, priests other than the player—those capable of using healing magic—were extremely rare, and apparently, you wouldn’t find them easily unless you went to a major town. Even so, treating injuries this severe was said to be no easy feat, but considering that, the effectiveness of my healing magic seemed to be quite remarkable.
That said, I certainly couldn’t treat scars that had already fully healed… at least not with the power I had until now.
At a time like this, I was grateful to have been reincarnated. Careful not to wake the sleeping girl, I quietly unfurled the wings of light on my back. I couldn’t very well expose them to public view, so I’d asked the family to wait outside beforehand. The patient, too, had been put to sleep using pollen from a flower with a very mild sedative effect.

Ever since I treated Scott, several new spells had begun to take root within me. Although I’d already verified that they all had the drawback of requiring me to unfurl my wings to use them, their effectiveness was guaranteed.

“…Return to the form you once had… ‘Restoration’”

Suddenly, so abruptly that it made me dizzy, the mana within me was drawn upward. The particles of light drifting around me gathered between my hands, forming a sphere that shone as brightly as my wings. When I gently pressed it against the girl’s chest—right over her heart—the light instantly spread throughout her body. The effect was dramatic; even wounds that had already healed and left scars began to fade away as if melting. It was as if time were being rewound… no, it actually was being rewound.
A magic of “restoration”—not “healing”—that erased the very fact that she was ever injured. Since it could only rewind time up to a certain point, and since it erased even useful things like the results of training, its use was limited, but in this case, it was extremely useful. It probably wouldn’t heal the emotional scars, but at least… Even if only slightly, I hoped it would add to her hope for the future… With that wish in mind, I watched as the treatment was completed. The hair, which had been haphazardly torn out and was patchy in places, the gouged scars on the face, and the painfully broken arm were all completely restored. The body, emaciated from the harsh environment, regained a somewhat healthy appearance—though not quite perfect. After witnessing it all, I let out a sigh of relief, made the wings on my back disappear, and headed out to report to everyone waiting outside.

.

After that, perhaps because my duties were clear while the treatments were underway, no seizure-like episodes occurred. More than anything else, I felt sorry for the scarred children before me, and my heart was consumed solely by a sense of mission to heal them as quickly as possible.

I visited the second and third patients as well. By the time I was relieved to see that all their visible external injuries had healed and the families were rejoicing and shedding tears, I felt a sudden dizziness, as if I were about to faint. It seemed I’d burned through a lot of mana—I must have been quite drained.

“Let’s call it a day. You shouldn’t push yourself until your stamina returns.”

Sol, who had keenly sensed the situation, suggested we head home for the day. My suggestion to visit just one more household was easily shot down by a two-to-one vote, and we set off on our way home.

.

We had left the inn around noon, but it was already approaching dusk by the time we returned. People had finished work for the day or were out buying ingredients for dinner, and the once-sparse streets were now seeing a fair amount of foot traffic.

“Still, I wasn’t sure how things would turn out at first… but it seems to be going surprisingly well, which is a relief.”
“That’s true. There are still victims out there, so we’ve got to keep doing our best tomorrow, too.”

I clenched both fists with a “Hmph!” and made a gesture to psych myself up. Perhaps because I was in such a good mood, I didn’t mind the stares from those around me as much as I had at first.

“Hahaha… You seem really happy, don’t you?”
“Auu… I know it’s a bit inappropriate, but I’m just so happy that I can be of help to someone like this…”

Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve always longed to help others. Maybe that’s why I was able to keep playing Worldgate Online even though everyone around me told me it was too harsh and that I should quit. After all…

“Over ‘there,’ all I could ever do was be helped by others.”
“That’s…”
“I’ve told you countless times—we did it because you’re important to us. Don’t drive yourself into a corner like that. I’ve told you that over and over, haven’t I?”
“……Yes. I’m sorry, Reiji-san.”

I messed up. Did I make him angry again? Whenever we talked about things like this, Rage always seemed to get a little grumpy. He walked with his head down, looking dejected…

That was my mistake. Since nothing had happened all day, I’d let my guard down.

It was just by chance—truly by chance—that I bumped into a man who, after having a drink on his way home from work, was walking with unsteady, wobbly steps. With my small frame, I couldn’t possibly withstand the impact, and I was easily knocked over, landing on my butt.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!”
“――!?”

My breath caught at the threatening voice. It felt like the temperature of my whole body had suddenly dropped.

“Hey, old man, cut it out. That’s――”
“The f̲u̲c̲k̲’s you’re hiding your face for anyway?! When apologizing, at least take it off—”

I didn’t even have time to hold him back. Reiji’s hand, reaching out to stop him, was just a split second too late. The hood was ripped off with brute force, exposing the silver hair shimmering like a rainbow and my bare face to everyone around me.

“—N-, no… o, o…!?”

A dazed gaze right in front of me pierced through me. Huh, why did I feel a breeze on my cheek? Oh, the hood… Ah. Oh.

“Hey, look at her—”
“Whoa, that’s amazing—”
“Is she some kind of noble?”
“No, look, she’s the one who got captured by those bad guys—”

Stares pierced me from all directions. Eyes drenched in bestial lust crawled all over my body.

…………

Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to have gone back to town?
Why am I still in that filthy room?
The townspeople’s
the bandits’
their curious stares
and lust-filled stares
at my body, tightly wrapped in a cloak,
and at my naked flesh, brutally exposed.

They’re looking. Where?
At places that should never be exposed to public view.
No, that doesn’t make sense.
After all, I have nothing left to hide.
No, I’m properly dressed.
Huh. Huh? Huh, huh, huh?

A hand is reaching out.
No, no one is reaching a hand toward me.
But, yet, a hand. A hand is closing in. Countless, endless……
What?　
What is it?

.

*――Thus my 僕 (Yanagi) consciousness shifted away from me 私 (Iris).*

.

“……UWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!?”

Someone’s screaming. The voice sounded strangely close… or rather, was this… my voice?

“Right here!? Get out of the way, old man!!”
“N-no, w-wait, I didn’t do anything…!”
“Shut up, get lost, old man!! Iris!? Pull yourself together, come on, I’ve already put the hood on you!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I won’t resist, I’ll be good and do as I’m told, don’t bite me, no, no, no, AAAAAHHHHH!?”
“Damn it, this… it’s gotten way, way worse!? You guys, get lost!! Don’t look at!!”

My body was screaming. It was shaking uncontrollably, my heart was beating out a strange rhythm, and with my erratic breathing—unable to get proper air into my lungs—I kept screaming things I didn’t even understand.

And yet… Why was I 僕 looking at me 私 with such cold-hearted composure?

“Damn it! I’ll chase those guys away! Sol! Don’t let her bite her tongue, okay!?”
“I know, leave it to me!”

As I continued to scream, my whole body trembling, Sol shoved his finger into my tiny mouth. He tried to keep me from biting my tongue. My own mouth, now beyond my control, began to scratch Sol’s finger.

“It’s okay, it’s okay… Look, I’m here, and Rage will be back soon… all right?”
“…Phew… phew…”

Enveloped in his embrace, my tiny body was completely hidden by Sol’s cloak. As he gently patted my back, my breathing gradually calmed down. The tension in my jaw, which had been clenched to the limit, eased, and eventually, my body went limp, and my consciousness slipped away.

And I 僕 who, somehow, kept on observing the whole situation calmly, was brought along.

.

“…She’s finally calmed down, huh?”

Held tightly in Sol’s arms, Iris’s entire body went limp. She was so languid and completely devoid of strength that I began to worry if she was even alive. The trails of tears streaming from the corners of her eyes and the drool at the corners of her mouth looked heartbreaking; though her eyes were open, her pupils reflected nothing.

Even the Yanagi I knew before had never shown such an extreme reaction.

Over the past few days, she’d been fine enough to crack jokes when she was with us.

Although we’d noticed a slight worsening today, there hadn’t been any major issues, so we’d completely let our guard down. We’d been optimistic, thinking it was just a “slight worsening.”

—But the emotional wounds “Iris” had suffered hadn’t even begun to show themselves yet.