Necromancers start their training by first staring at their own death. They must hypnotize themselves and see their flesh decompose many, many times. Their reflection in the mirror rots away disgustingly before their eyes—and they get used to it. They stare at death, carry death, and learn that life is always accompanied by death.
And necromancy is a craft that controls death.
Shishigou Kairi waited for the girl to arrive while smoking a cigarette. He didn't set up any detection or protective Bounded Fields, leaving himself far too defenseless.
But then, Shishigou knew quite well that there was no meaning in such things if the one he was going to face was her. Any Bounded Fields he made at this point would simply be a waste of his prana and tools.
Shishigou noticed the wind change direction slightly, and flicked away his still-lit cigarette.
He looked up at the sky above and called out to the young girl suspended in the air there.
"Now then. You don't mind if we skip introducing ourselves, do you?"
The man smirked, and the girl smiled in turn.
In a somewhat narrow alleyway caught between two buildings, Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia had stabbed the [arms] sprouting from her back into the walls of the buildings. The arms gave off the impression of being smooth yet hard, and were similar to insect legs—that was what Shishigou thought.
"...Very well. There's no way either of us doesn't know each other's names. However, may I give a warning just in case?"
"Go ahead."
"—Leave now, necromancer. All this far and wide land belongs to us Yggdmillennia. I will overlook your insolent trespassing should you leave. If you ignore this warning, your folly will be repaid with compensation equivalent to death."
"Heh... So, do you think I'll obey that?"
In response to Shishigou's words, Fiore spoke with a satisfied smile.
"No. But if I declare that first, I wouldn't be able to resolve myself inside."
I see, Shishigou thought with a wry smile. To put it another way, since she had warned him—she wouldn't hesitate to kill him now.
And of course, Shishigou had no intention of obeying such a warning. His answer was to reach his hand for his shotgun. At that instant, the density of prana in the surrounding area thickened.
There was no more room for idle talk between them. Fiore knew that Shishigou Kairi was a freelance magus and that he surpassed her in terms of battle experience. Shishigou knew that Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia was a prodigy who bore the next era of the Yggdmillennia clan on her shoulders.
—The magecraft this person uses is necromancy. However, his magecraft isn't as simple as turning corpses into ghouls and using them as slaves. For example, the small firearm he's holding...
—The magecraft this young lady uses are Euryphis1 and human engineering... If I remember right, her Mystic Code is called the Bronze-Link Manipulator.
The frozen atmosphere between the two of them was blown away by the metal lid of a garbage can nearby. Perhaps blown by the wind, it fell down noisily and caused the tension between them to explode. Shishigou pulled out his sawed-off shotgun in a single smooth motion and Fiore whirled down from the sky fiercely and resolutely.
He pulled the trigger—and a bullet manufactured from a processed finger cut off from a magus sniffed out the presence of a magus and rushed out to hit her right in the head.
