Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“Ah, the loss. How I have lost.”

Even by my own standards, I took a real beating.
The loss of physical strength and mana isn’t that bad. In fact, my body doesn’t even have a single scratch.
What I’ve lost so much were my homemade monsters, created from “materials” I gathered from various places.
I’d found them very useful because they all retained a fair amount of rationality and listened to me well, but I’ve lost almost all of them in this incident.

“I suppose I should be glad you’re still here, Bandersnatch.”

When I call his name, Bandersnatch shakes his two dog-like heads happily. Fufu, what a cute little thing.
Finding solace in stroking his fluffy fur, I sit down on Bandersnatch.
The sun’s about to rise, so let’s rest in a nice spot in the shade.

“Fufufu, that was fun.”

I run my fingers over my torn clothes. My favorite dress was ripped, and I didn’t manage to get what I came for, but we did establish a connection—and I was able to suck on her
Of course, to tell the truth, I wanted to make her mine without letting her put up a fight, but with all those unexpected factors piling up, it couldn’t be helped.

Unexpected strength, unexpected rescue, an unexpected ace up her sleeve. And—

“—I wonder if she’s unexpectedly grown.”

Perhaps because she had such an innocent heart, I might have ended up pampering her a little too much.
With all those unexpected factors piling up, I wasn’t able to fully carry out my plan. That’s truly a shame. But it did make things more interesting.

“Innocent girls are lovely, but girls who’ve become aware of their own charm are also very, very lovely, aren’t they?”

If I lick the corner of my lips, I can still faintly taste the sweetness of her blood.
Even just licking a tiny bit of blood fills my mouth with a taste of magic so dense I’ve never felt anything like it before. It’s made me want her even more.

Argento Vampyr. I will definitely get my hands on that silver.

“To try to resist even in the face of my own injustice—that’s truly beautiful.”

The world is steeped in injustice.
No matter how much you devote yourself, no matter how much you wish for something, no matter how far you reach out—there are times when it simply won’t come true. And the weak are crushed by that injustice.
That is a terribly, terribly common occurrence. To protest it is nothing more than the howl of the weak.

But there are those who possess the strength to resist that injustice.
Those who, even when faced with injustice, stand up to it, fight back, and gain something—even if they don’t win.
I like people like that.

“……I had been one, back then…… No, no. It’s too late now.”

It’s also a given that time that has passed cannot be recovered.
Swallowing the words that would have been meaningless anyway, I entrusted my body to bandersnatch.
Wagging its two heads and tails joyfully, bandersnatch kicked off the ground.
The refreshingly cold night breeze gradually grew warmer, signaling the arrival of that annoyingly warm morning.

“First, I’ll fully restore my mana, change my clothes… and then, I’ll start preparing all over again.”

I’m not so conceited about my own power to believe I could resume my pursuit right away.
To be perfect, I need to put in the necessary effort and preparation.
There’s also the matter of that troublesome Artifact. Next time, I’ll have to be more careful to make sure it doesn’t break.

“Ah…”

When I brought my hand to my mouth, the shape of my lips, wet with saliva, formed a smile.

…I’m smiling, aren’t I?

Not making a sound—just smiling.
Satisfied with that fact, I buried myself in bandersnatch’s fur.

“I’m going to take a little nap. Bandersnatch, please keep me in the shade.”

Sleep is good for restoring magic.
Since I can’t move properly while the sun is out anyway, I’ll just take a nap.
Feeling the scent of the beast and its gentle rocking, I closed my eyes.
Intending to sink my consciousness deep so I wouldn’t even dream, I drifted off to sleep.