Felicia

“Well, it seems I’ve hit the jackpot, haven’t I?”

The boy had turned pale as the utterance of the name. There was no doubt about it. He really must be him—the second child of the Greenwood household, and one of the people responsible for Vera’s demise.

“I-I’m not—”

“No use in denying it. With the power you have displayed just now, and the reaction you just displayed, I know for sure that you’re him. Hugo Greenwood. Part of the Greenwood family who had assassinated Vera Marjoram of the Magocracy. Such a feat could only be done by powerful people, and you, Milord, you are one such person.”

He instinctively reaches for his wand. Good. He’s not as naive as I thought.

“It’s fine. After all, I too am an enemy of the Magocracy. The enemy of my enemy is my ally, as the saying goes, isn’t it?”

Hmm, still doesn't trust me, huh?

"It's true. They have sent people to kill me before. You see, I came from there. Became a fugitive after I rejected their forced marriage."

Oh? His expression just changed.

"I believe it's someone you probably are quite familiar with. Thomas Marjoram, the grandson of the person your family killed."

And now, his eyes widened. Bingo. This little lie of mine is working after all.

"...I see. Another victim of that hobbit bastard, huh?" He smiled grimly.

"Yes, which is why you should trust me, Milord. After what they tried to do to me, I have no love for them whatsoever. In fact, I would like to make you an offer."

Here it is. Let's not be pushy and see how he reacts first.

“You see, I too have a plan to journey to the Demon Continent. So, if you’d like, I would love to accompany you there, Milord.”

And now, to wait for his reaction.

…

…

“Flameu, you're Felicia Myne, aren't you?"

My heart stopped.

"E-eh? W-who are—"

"The necromancer who ran away from the Magocracy many years ago. You're her, are you not?"

My legs shook. The grip on my staff tightened. Sweat poured out of my orifices.

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone. In exchange, don't tell anyone my true identity either, alright?"

And then, he smiled. It was such a charming and honest smile that my racing heart slowed down just by looking at it.

BA-DUMP

Aah, w-what is this feeling? Why am I feeling all warm and tingly inside?

N-no, stop it! Think about it, Felicia! Necromancy is a dark art! Even in the Magocracy it's heavily frowned over as evil! He wouldn't approve of me doing it! And he's such a do-gooder he would either report me to the authorities or kill me himself!

"W-why?" I croaked, almost in a whisper. "Y-you don't hate… the magic I practice?"

"Well…" He scratched his head, still with that so-adorable smile. "I don't know. I think magic isn't good or evil innately. It's how you use it that matters."

...I couldn't believe what I just heard.

"And Flameu, I don’t think you’re an evil person. The way you cared for Leila… I don’t think an evil necromancer would be able to do something like that. Well, I don’t know how a good necromancer would be though. So far, you’re more like a good alchemist to me.”

His smile had transformed into an easygoing grin, while my mind was still frozen in shock.

This boy...  Is it his kindness? Or is it his naivety? He thinks I’m a good person, just because I took care of some sickly child. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know all the despicable things I had done just to get this far.

“Oi, Charles! Can you help with the burial?”

I gasped. It was that beastman’s voice. He had snapped me out of my stupor.

“Ah, yes, coming!” the boy replied. He gave me another smile before leaving.

Just in time before he saw me collapsing to the snow.

That smile… that innocence… that bravery… it's just like them… Aaron… Pip… Bryn… Elt… 

Is this a dream? How can I be this fortunate all of a sudden, to meet a person like that out of the blue?

I want him… I want him to love me. Love me lots and lots and lots, just like Berault does with his wife.

...No. He doesn’t deserve me. I’m dirty. Rotten to the core. Such a wonderful man deserves a wonderful woman as well. Not me, who has given up her own dignity.

No. The only future I have is as the evil necromancer that will wage war against the world. And to drag such an innocent person like him to it… I can never do such a thing.

With a grim smile, I stood up once again.

Ah, tears. You’ve lost the right to cry a long time ago, Felicia. For your dream world, you have decided to become a monster. And monsters do not cry, do they?

-------

Hugo

Well, that was a surprise.

I was now going towards where Red was. They had gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades, and they wanted my help on burying it. The earth mages they had didn’t know how to make earth coffins, and the holes they conjured weren’t deep enough. So I had to do the procedure all by myself. It was going to be done not in the snow, of course, but on solid ground.

To think that she’s actually her—the person Marina told me about all that time ago. Heh, what a funny coincidence.

Well, she might be secretly a necromancer, but I see no reason to get all fired up about it. To be honest, the fantasy geek inside me always thought that necromancer is a pretty cool class in RPGs. Controlling corpses and skeletons to fight for your bidding and all that—pretty neat stuff.

I know the art is heavily frowned upon in this world. Maybe because most folks who use it are just psychos who would do stuff like digging up graves or raising the corpse of their enemies' friends, families, or lovers to fight them.

I don't think she belongs to that category though. Sure, she killed the folks who chased after her, but that's just self-defense, isn't it? And thanks to her, Marina stopped being bullied at the academy.

...Yeah, hard to feel sorry for her.

If she's manipulating the corpses of monsters or bad guys like bandits, then more power to her. They won't be missed.

I now saw the corpses up close. There are seven of them—with some in less-than-ideal state. I'm sure I don't need to describe what kind of state they're in, if you consider the monsters they were up against. Some are male, some are females, some are young, some are old—it doesn't matter. Death greets them all the same. Such is the perilous life of an adventurer.

I closed my eyes and gave a short prayer to the Saint, asking her to take their souls to Valhalla. I'm not a Milicis' follower by any means, but I wanted to pray for them. And so I did. I'm not some fervent atheist either after all.

The others did the same, with the clerics even giving their blessings to them.

And then, it was my turn to do my job.

"Earth Sprite! Come out and cover these corpses in earth coffins! Then bury those coffins deep into the ground!"

For the task, I decided to use my summon instead of doing it by myself. It's been a while since I called her. She might feel lonely, you know.

The Sprite appeared in a flash, manifesting from the earth as a rising lump of mud. She gave me a short, emotionless glance before performing her task. Using her ability, it was easy for her to shape her mud into coffins before hardening them. As for the burying, she simply turned the ground beneath the coffins into sinking mud, before turning it solid again.

I took a deep sigh afterwards. I felt bad for them. They couldn't even be buried in their hometowns. But that's just another risk you have to accept as an adventurer. I've asked and the clan said they came from all over the continent, and even beyond that. So it's impossible for them to return their bodies, even if they wanted to.

"Master." Suddenly, the Sprite spoke. It took me aback. She rarely ever did. "Why do you look sad?"

I smiled at her, ruffling her head. "Because I just saw those other humans die. Do you know what death means?" A fey should have no concept of death, being the immortal creatures they are.

She shook her head.

"It means you'll never be able to see them again."

A sad look swept her normally static expression.

"Master, I know why you're sad. I… don't want to never see you again either. So please, do not die."

"Oh, don't worry." I lifted her up and hugged her. "I got no plans on dying anytime soon."

"...Good."

With that one word, she vanished.

"Sir Charles, was that your summon?" The gnome mage suddenly asked with sparkling eyes. "That was a sprite, was it not? And the other one, that was a great fairy. It's my first time, you know, seeing someone summon fey creatures like that."

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows. "I thought they're pretty common."

"Oh no, not at all! Summoners like you are already pretty rare as it is. But a great fairy? That's really rare. And a sprite as well? You must be beloved by the fey, Sir!" He laughed.

Loved by the fey, huh? I don't know about that. I think he just thinks like that because he's not from the Magocracy where summoning is a lot more common. After all, the Church here kinda frowns on it, though it's not illegal like necromancy.

Afterwards, they started working on the drake corpses. Red promised me that they wouldn't touch the dragon itself. It all belonged to me and Flameu.

Arcturus wasn't around by the way. He ran away.

I wouldn't blame him. I had run away as well.

------

I returned to Flameu soon after, and it seemed she was already finished taking off the scales that I would carry with me.

"M-Milord?! You've returned!"

And it was all too obvious that her demeanor had completely changed.

Her confident gait had completely disappeared, replaced by a nervous disposition (I shouldn't be saying this but this version of her is actually kinda cute). It's clear that me knowing her true identity bothered her.

"H-here. Your scales." She gave me a large pouch filled with them. As expected, they were quite heavy indeed. I quickly put it inside my bag.

"M-Milord…" She softly spoke afterwards. "Are you really sure you don't mind?"

"Hmm, mind what?" I smiled at her.

"Me being a necromancer, that is."

"Sure, I don't. As long as you're the good kind of necromancer, that is."

"The good kind?" She tilted her head slightly.

"You don't use it on innocent people for example. You only use it on bad guys and monsters. Umm, you can control the corpses of monsters with necromancy, right? Not just humans?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she put her left hand on the front of her mouth as she broke into a giggling fit.

Uhh, did I say something funny?

"Milord, you really are something, aren't you?" She wiped her tears with her index finger. "I've never met someone as nice and trusting as you before."

H-hey, is she calling me naive?

"So, where do you get the impression that I’m a good necromancer, huh?” She smiled. “Tell me.”

“Well…” I averted her gaze. “I just think that the way you cared for Leila. That can’t be something a bad necromancer would do. She would just let her die and resurrect her as a corpse, no? And yet, you tried so hard for her sake, to the point of staying up all night like that. And the way you comforted her, it’s really motherly as well. That gentleness… I don’t think a bad necromancer would be capable of that.”

Now that I said it out loud to her face like this, my cheeks couldn’t help but redden a little. Maybe it’s because it sounded like I was flirting with her, which I certainly wasn’t doing. I was simply stating my honest opinion, that’s all.

And then, a sight that nearly gave me a heart attack surfaced out of her.

Her face went as red as a tomato, far redder than my own. She averted my gaze, completing that “blushing schoolgirl” look that would make any man go crazy. Except that she’s not a schoolgirl but a completely full-grown adult instead.

For me, who can appreciate a beautiful woman no matter their age, it was a heavenly sigh that made my heart skip a beat.

“T-then, how about my offer from before?”

“Huh?” I raised my eyebrows. What offer?

“You know, me accompanying you to the Demon Continent?"

Oh right, she did mention something like that…

"... I'm sorry, but I already have a girl I like. In fact, that's why I'm going there in the first place—to meet her."

I sighed internally. I am not dense. I can see where it would go, if I take her along.

She's fond of me. In that way. And if I let her tag along, sooner or later, I'll end up seduced by her and I'll betray Sherry's trust. I can't have that.

She's a nice woman. Would certainly love to bury my face in that cleavage. But unfortunately, I already have somebody. And I am not like that Arcturus guy. I fully intend to be a respectable human being in this second life of mine.

Her reaction? Painful. It looked like I just broke her heart.

"I-I see…" Her voice audibly shook. "Y-you already have a lover, Milord." Her eyes looked away. "O-of course. I-it's not that odd. Ehe...ehehehehe…"

Uuh, what's with that ominous laugh?

She didn't say anything else regarding her request afterwards. She asked me to bury the dragon as well, but not as deep as the corpses, and then she told me to be on my way, after writing me a letter for the princess (she used the nearby tree to write it on). She then used what I assumed was the royal stamp on it, before giving it to me.

"Don't worry, Milord. I'll take care of the medicine. You don't have to worry a thing. You have that high elf to find after all. You have to send a word to your girlfriend after all. Aha...ahahahaha…"

...I sure hope I haven't just sent her to the dark path by rejecting her like that.

I took the letter and then bid farewell to her, wishing her good luck in her future endeavors. I told her that it's been a pleasure to be working with her as well.

Who knows? Maybe one day we will meet again.

----------

Felicia

Slowly but surely, his figure disappeared out of my sight as he descended down the snowy hill we were on.

And with it, my chance for happiness had vanished as well.

“Ha...ahahahahaha...ahahahahahahahahaha!”

“Ahahahahahahahahaha!”

I couldn’t stop myself. I laughed and I laughed and I laughed as I cried.

Ha! What was I thinking? Did I truly think that I would be fortunate enough to have some sweet young man just pop out of thin air as a lover? And even if I do, I would never deserve such a person! Not after everything I did! After all, no good men would ever want to marry a whore who, without hesitation, used her body to get around. Especially if they’re of the loyal type like him. No good man would want to marry a prostitute. It’s simply common sense.

I am unworthy of him. It’s as simple as that.

Oh, I certainly noticed how much he’s attracted to my body. Even though he’s still young, he’s already just as active as an adult man in that department. And yet, he refuses my offer, bringing his lover as the reason. He knows that if we travel together, I will end up seducing him and making him cross the line he doesn’t want to cross.

Whoever his girlfriend is, she’s a very lucky girl indeed. Unlike me, who only receives misfortune after misfortune from the wheels of fate. Yes, ever since that day—ever since that monster decides to use us commoners as test subjects for his plague…

I have lost everything. No one loves me. I have no home to return to. The only thing I have is my knowledge as a mage. My necromancy. I’ve sacrificed everything to get this far. Just a little more, just a little more until I can cheat Death itself.

And then, Paradise shall come to this world.

…

Yes, it’s better this way. I don’t want to drag him into my problems. He already has enough as it is, being the assassin of Vera and all.  They would come from him sooner or later, just like they did for me.

...Heh, with that level of strength though, they won’t be able to touch him. In fact, I would like to see them try.

I suppose in a way, his existence still brings good fortune to me. His assasination might mean that the Magocracy would give up on bringing me back entirely. Those greedy fools want me to be paraded like the villain I am in their streets. Or perhaps they simply want the book I’ve stolen back. Whatever their reason is, they want me alive. And they would be hesitant to cause trouble in a vassal kingdom of the Holy Empire either.

Go forth, Hugo Greenwood, and may fortune be with you. And forget about worthless old me, who is nowhere near a good person as you thought I was.

For when we meet again, I shall be the bad necromancer that you spoke of.