Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

At the school festival, plays are generally performed in the auditorium.
Naturally, no single class can have exclusive use of the auditorium for an entire day; instead, each class is allocated a specific time slot. Within that time, they must set up, perform, and take down the set.
Apparently, every year, many classes fail to factor in the time needed for setup and takedown, resulting in them running behind schedule.
It’s a common occurrence.

One of the reasons Ekaterina assembled a team for set and prop work was to ensure she had enough people for setup and takedown on the day of the event.
In her past life as a corporate slave software engineer, she used to create detailed timetables and strictly manage the time required for each task during release preparations and cleanup.

*(My corporate slave blood is boiling!)*

So declared Ekaterina, clenching her fist inwardly, but as someone who died of overwork because of her corporate slave life—what good would it do to let that blood stir again, even if it kills her?
Well, that aside. Given the time constraints of the performance, the play’s story tends to be either simple and straightforward or based solely on a single scene from an existing famous play.

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It was Nikolai who told her this. As a senior with a wide social circle, he seemed to be quite the source of inside information.

*“An opera at the school festival? What the hell are you thinking?!”*

Giving his younger sister Marina, who had suggested the idea, a firm rub on the head, Nikolai explained the situation and gave it a resounding thumbs-down.

*“A play with all that singing? You’ll run out of time in the blink of an eye. Every year, there’s always a group that runs out of time mid-song, and the actors end up having to pack up the set while still holding the backdrops.”*

A scene straight out of a comedy sketch played out in Ekaterina’s mind.

*“But Onii-sama, our class has Lady Olga, Lord Selezar, and Lady Ekaterina! No one will be satisfied if there’s no music!”*
*“That’s why you’ve got suggestions to do a choir instead! So why did you turn it into a play?”*

Nikolai had a very valid point.
But still, putting on a play with Ekaterina in the lead role…! That had been the class’s unanimous decision at the time, and Marina had merely spoken on their behalf, so it was a bit unfair for her to get scolded.

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That aside, this time, the play is an original work.
Therefore, it’s simple and straightforward.
Even though it’s called an opera, there are only a few songs.

After explaining that this was unavoidable due to the auditorium’s availability, Ekaterina outlined the play’s story.

The protagonist of the story is Anemoni, the Traveling Saintess.
Legend has it that she saved many people from epidemics while traveling and raised countless orphaned children, earning her the reverence of the Holy Mother. However, she wasn’t simply kind; there are also tales of her heroic deeds, such as defeating mountain bandits and punishing corrupt officials who had lined their own pockets through misconduct.
This time, the story focuses on her compassionate deeds rather than her heroic exploits.

Incidentally, while there are several names for the Wandering Saint in folklore, such as Esther, the name Anemoni was chosen simply because Flora is playing the role, and Ekaterina wanted a name associated with a flower.

So, accompanied by just one attendant, Anemoni has arrived in a remote region of the ancient Astra Empire.
She finds a spring and tries to rest there, but a man claiming to be a local hunter appears and tries to chase her away.
However, the saintess’s attendant is incredibly strong and turns the tables on him!
So the hunter reveals his true form as a Water Demon and challenges her to a rematch!
But her companion also reveals his true form as a Monkey Demon and defeats him again!
Naturally, the one playing the role of her companion is Marina.
The Water Demon surrenders, but grumbles in frustration, “If this had been my home pond, and if my partner had been safe, I wouldn’t have been defeated so easily…”

At this point, Anemoni steps forward and heals the Water Demon’s partner, the Tree Demon (since there was no equivalent to the pig character Zhu Bajie in the Imperial Kingdom, Ekaterina changed it to a plant, thinking it would go well with water), as well as the Water Demon’s wounds.
As for why the saintess’s magical power can heal a monster’s wounds—well, that’s just how this story is set up.
Impressed by that magical power and her compassion, the Water Demon and the Tree Demon declare, “We will serve you for the rest of our lives!” and become the Saint’s second and third attendants.
Incidentally, the Water Demon and the Tree Demon are scheduled to be played by the two young men who formed a trio with Marina at the musical evening.

Speaking of which, why do they have such injuries? And why have they left their territory’s pond to come here?

When asked this by the Saintess, the Water Spirit and the Tree Spirit took turns explaining that their home had been taken away by strangers who suddenly appeared.
They said the strangers had descended in droves; though they initially tried to negotiate, the strangers showed no willingness to listen, and their home was forcibly seized.

*“There are many others besides us who have been driven out,”*
*“How pitiful.”*
*“O’ Saintess! I alone am sufficient as your escort. Let’s drive those intruders away, return these two to their original home, and continue our journey together!”*

Following the Monkey Demon’s proposal, the group decided to defeat the intruders.

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Rereading this section she had written, Ekaterina gazed into the distance, thinking, “This plot development is probably the typical storyline of those classic period dramas from my past life…”

She didn’t think she’d actually watched many of those period dramas, but she knew them intuitively. Perhaps it was already engraved in the DNA of the Japanese people. But even after she had been reborn as a citizen of the Imperial Kingdom, it was still engraved there… What exactly is reincarnation…?
Stop thinking about that and get back to writing the rest!
Ekaterina quickly reined in her mind, which was trying to escape the task at hand.

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The Saintess and her three companions headed for the former dwelling of the Water Demon and the Tree Demon.
Waiting for them there was a man and a woman. Dressed in garish costumes, they made their entrance with a cackling laugh!
When the Saintess tried to talk to them, they snapped, “There’s nothing to discuss!” Then, commanding countless monsters that appeared all at once, she and the man by her side used their powerful magic to repel the Saint and her party.

Indeed, this was the grand entrance of the Villainess!

Restraining her attendants, who were about to charge forward, the Saintess retreated for the moment.
“Why are you retreating? We can take them on!” her attendants protested, but she replied:

“I don’t think that person is a bad person.”

What a typical Saintess, living but in a fantasy world…Alas, that isn’t the case.
The one playing the Villainess is none other than Olga-chan!
Even if Olga, with her small-animal-like cuteness, reminiscent of a rabbit or a Chihuahua, lets out a cackle, it doesn’t suit her at all. The audience is sure to nod in agreement with the Holy Maiden’s words.

Then the scene shifts to the Villainess. As if she were a completely different person, she sings that song with a sorrowful expression. She had held high hopes and lived believing in love. But now she has fallen into hell, and her dreams will never return to her…

After another battle, the Saint’s side emerges victorious. That’s when the Villainess’s true story is revealed.
In reality, she was the princess of a fallen kingdom. Her country was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, and she led the survivors to a new home. But they were driven out time and again from the places they tried to settle, causing her to lose faith in humanity. Determined that “I have no choice but to take their homes for the sake of my pitiful people who are on the verge of exhaustion!” she acted the way she did.
The magical beasts she had under her command were actually her people disguised to look like them. When they removed their disguises, wounded people were revealed.

Please don’t hurt me! I’m not a bad villainess!

That kind of thing.
Well, the term Villainess is kind of falling apart here, but let’s just leave that aside.

In the end, the Saintess called out to the original residents, urging them to coexist peacefully, and she joined hands with the Villainess. The Water Demon and Tree Demon said, “We’re going to follow the Saintess, so we’ll leave this place to you! Live happily!” And that was the happy ending!

At the very end, everyone sings one more song together. It’s a famous song from Ekaterina’s past life, a song meant to comfort a friend who’d just gone through a breakup, but she reimagined it by replacing “love” with “dreams,” turning it into an anthem of encouragement for a fresh start. I’m sorry to the singer-songwriter from her past life.

Even the villainess has her own circumstances, you know—please don’t hate or condemn her without good reason.
I’d be happy if this laid the groundwork for you to think that way.
It was with such ulterior motives that this ending came to be.

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Hiding her true feelings, of course, Ekaterina explained the plot of the play in a manner befitting a young lady, then said brazenly:

“The theme of this play is ‘Peace and Coexistence.’”

The whole class was genuinely impressed and applauded.