Author: Hyougetsu	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: Mab	English Source: Re:Library

Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

After leaving the Demon Lord’s chamber, I finally felt alive again.

“I thought I was going to die, Master.”
“You’re more of a coward than I expected.”

My master chuckled, perched comfortably on my shoulder.

“His Majesty may speak and act with menace, but he’s truly a kind ruler. He doesn’t punish anyone unless they’ve truly messed up.”
“I wish you’d told me that beforehand…”

As I sulked, my master lightly patted my head from atop my shoulder.

“I figured you already knew. Still wet behind the ears, I see.”
“Apologies for being inexperienced…”

While chatting like that, we walked through the courtyard—until a figure emerged from the mist. It was Dog, the deputy commander of the Second Division and a beast-ogre.
I instinctively tensed up.

“Are we doing this again?”

But he shook his head.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I lost this time.”

With that, Dog stepped aside and let us pass.
In demon society, strength is justice. Those who don’t follow that rule don’t live long.

“You’re more honest than I thought.”

I stayed alert while walking past him, but he didn’t show any hostility.
Instead, he said:

“Next time, I’m taking you down.”
“Still not giving up, huh.”

I sighed. But among the strong, it’s customary to accept any challenge.

“Fine. Next time, then.”
“Damn right.”

The beast-ogre twisted his grotesque face into something resembling a smile.

Once we were outside the castle, my master spoke up.

“Don’t let your guard down. He may be a beast-ogre, but he’s a rare talent.”
“He seems to have a decent grasp of tactics, too.”

I nodded, and my master continued.

“He also understands the value of training, and he’s clearly put in the work. That agility isn’t something you see in your average brute. Despite his size, he has very few openings.”
“You mean that guy?”
“Well, it probably won’t help him against a werewolf, though.”

My master laughed, amused, and gave my head another pat.

“He’ll likely go down in history as a genius among beast-ogres. But still, he can’t match you. After all, you’re my disciple.”

With that, she hopped down from my shoulder.

“Well then, I have military duties to attend to. Time to part ways.”
“What about the skeleton soldiers?”
“I’ve ordered them to obey you. Use them however you see fit. I’ll come right away if anything happens.”
“I see…”

It felt a little lonely, not having her around. But she is a top officer in the Demon Lord’s army. I couldn’t expect her to babysit me forever.

“Then I’ll handle the governance and defense of Lüenheit as best I can.”
“Good. Keep a close eye on the Miraldia forces. And don’t underestimate the will of the humans.”
“Understood.”

My master gave me a warm smile and waved, then chanted a spell and vanished.

I returned to Lüenheit—to the governor’s residence, in my own room.
I was a little worried about what might’ve happened while I was gone.
It couldn’t have been more than an hour, but there aren’t any clocks in this world, so it’s hard to tell.

“Oh, it arrived.”

In the corner of the room, heaps of silver coin pouches were stacked. I was once again impressed by how efficient the Demon Lord was. Someone must’ve sent them via teleportation.
There were a lot of payments due today. This would help immensely.

“All right, let’s get this sorted.”

I returned to my human form and got back to work.

I pulled out a map to think ahead.
Miraldia is a federation of seventeen city-states. While the Senate holds considerable power, it’s still a loose coalition at heart.
Right now, the Demon Lord’s army is focusing all efforts on conquering Miraldia. The Second Division is advancing through the north, and the Third Division—my unit—is pushing from the south.
So far, we’ve already captured three cities in the north and two in the south.

“The Second Division’s making some serious progress…”

For the record, the town Dog captured wasn’t even a proper city—just a mining settlement. It doesn’t count in the tally.
That said, the Second Division has been aggressively targeting not just cities, but other key locations too. It makes them look flashy.
Well, all they do is smash and destroy. If that’s all it took, we could’ve done the same.

Now the real issue is the Miraldia Allied Forces.
Their job is maintaining security and defending cities. Their peacetime force is small, and they’ve never had to recapture a city before.
Plus, no city wants to leave itself undefended. So each one probably contributes only a small number of troops. At most, they could mobilize a few thousand quickly.
That means they’re unlikely to send forces to both the north and south at once.

“If they go anywhere, it’ll be north, right?”

That’s where the Second Division is rampaging with no regard for collateral damage or civilian casualties. They even managed to take Schwelm, a strategic northern stronghold.
That place was supposed to be guarded by 2,000 elite heavy cavalry and 3,000 infantry. I honestly don’t want to imagine how the Second Division pulled that off.

If Miraldia’s forces are heading north, then we’re safe for a while.
…Still, I should review our own strength.
First, my elite werewolf unit: 56 members. They’re the best of the best, but we’re short on numbers.
The dogfolk unit: 200. They’re small and weak, so they’re not as effective in combat.
Thankfully, my master loaned me 2,000 skeleton spearmen. These guys are powerful—immune to arrows, perfectly disciplined, and unshaken by fear.
So that’s 2,250 troops in total—but I only need to feed 250 of them. Skeletons don’t eat or sleep. Huge bonus.

“Why are you grinning like that, Veit?”

A sudden voice snapped me out of my thoughts. It was big sis Fern.

“Huh? Oh, uh… what’s up, Fern?”
“Well, I’ve got a bit of a situation—about the Sonnenlicht Faith.”
“Oh, those guys.”

Miraldia has several religions, but the Sonnenlicht Faith is the biggest. Its doctrine promotes harmony and compassion, but with a more sinister interpretation, you could call it borderline totalitarian.
Despite preaching love, they’re pretty cold toward other faiths.

Fern twirled her ponytail and sighed.

“The clergy here are asking for freedom of religion. Specifically, they want us to allow their worship and pilgrimage obligations.”
“Hmm…”

I folded my arms.
Letting them hold worship gatherings isn’t a big deal. Sure, some radicals might try to plot during those, but banning them wouldn’t stop that.
But pilgrimages are trickier.

The Sonnelicht Sect requires its followers to make regular pilgrimages to several nearby holy sites. According to the documents I rushed to get earlier, each believer is supposed to make one pilgrimage every two years.

“Lüenheit has a population of 3,000, and about 40% follow the Sonnenlicht Sect. That’s 1,200 people, right?”
“And half of them—600—are due to go on pilgrimage this year.”

Fern looked genuinely troubled. No surprise.
I scratched my neck, deep in thought.

“A hundred people or more could try to use the chaos as cover to escape.”
“Or worse—some might use the pilgrimage excuse to sneak in.”
“Oh… good point.”

As I brooded over it, Fern leaned in and peered at my face.

“So… we’re going to ban it, right?”
“We have to. But we can’t be careless when restricting religion. That never ends well.”

I stood up, remembering all too well the blood-soaked religious history I’d learned in my previous life.

“I’m going to ask the governor to gather every religious leader in Lüenheit.”
“All of them?”

Fern looked wide-eyed. I nodded firmly.

“Sonnenlicht Faith, Ruhigermond Faith, the local folk religions—every last one.”¹

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