My Harem of Dangerous and Crazy Women as a Reincarnated Necromancer-Chapter 81: The Truth Laid Bare

Mark walked through the forest with Rose still pressed against his arm, while Yuki and the others went ahead making sure there were no animals or semi-humans that could catch them off guard.

The trees rose on both sides, forming a natural ceiling of leaves that filtered the sunlight into irregular patches on the ground.

It was a peaceful path.

Too peaceful for what Mark was about to hear.

"So..." Mark said, turning his head slightly toward Rose. "What’s this important thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

Rose didn’t answer right away, instead she kept walking in silence for a couple more steps, her body still pressed against Mark’s arm.

And then she finally spoke.

"Master," Rose said, turning to look him directly in the eyes. "Are you really a reincarnated person?"

The moment Mark heard Rose’s words, everything stopped.

His mouth opened slightly but no words came out.

His body went completely still and his eyes opened wider than normal as he stared at Rose.

’What? How? When?’

The questions piled up in his head so fast that none of them managed to reach his mouth.

Rose looked at him for a couple of seconds, then closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

"You don’t need to answer anymore..." Rose said, opening her eyes again. "Your reaction told me everything I needed to know."

Mark felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him.

’Damn... damn, damn.’

Mark swallowed and tried to compose himself.

"What makes you think that?" Mark asked in a voice that tried to sound calm but didn’t quite manage it.

"The demoness," Rose replied without hesitation. "I heard her say it when she was talking to you."

Mark stayed quiet, and hearing his silence she continued.

"I never expected a rumor that absurd to actually be true," Rose said in a tone of disbelief. "Those stories about people arriving from another world... I always thought they were just tales. Exaggerated legends that people repeated to convince themselves that humans weren’t the last link in the food chain."

Then Rose paused and looked at Mark.

"But here you are," Rose said. "Now I have irrefutable proof right in front of me."

Mark’s mind was working at full speed, trying to assess the situation.

Rose knew the truth, and there was no way to deny it anymore.

’Well... there’s no point in keep pretending,’ Mark thought, quickly conceding. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"In the hypothetical case that were true..." he said, looking at Rose with caution, "would it change anything about our situation?"

"Hmmmm," Rose said, bringing a finger to her chin.

The sound stretched for a couple of seconds while Rose appeared to think deeply about the question.

Then, without warning, she pressed herself back against Mark’s arm with the same naturalness as before.

"Not really," Rose replied with a smile, hugging Mark’s arm again. "But if you want my personal opinion, I think it makes you even cooler than you already are."

’Cooler?’ Mark thought, surprised.

"If all those stories about the supposed legendary warriors of the past who appeared out of nowhere are true," Rose said, looking ahead as she walked, "then you must be incredibly powerful."

Mark opened his mouth to say something but Rose continued before he could.

"And I understand why you hide your powers," Rose said. "Even in a situation like the one we faced against the demoness, you showed nothing... that requires an impressive level of self-control. Keeping your cards hidden even when your life is on the line... that’s something very few people would be capable of."

Rose was completely misreading the situation, she thought Mark was like the heroes from the legends. Someone incredibly powerful who concealed their true strength for strategic reasons.

But the reality was very different.

"Rose..." Mark said in a tone that was more serious than anything he had used throughout the conversation. "I’m not as cool or as powerful as you think."

Mark paused for a second and sighed before speaking again.

"I’m sorry to tell you that unlike those who came before me, I wasn’t lucky enough to arrive with all my power."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah — right now I’m nothing more than an ordinary human."

Hearing that, Rose stared at him, visibly thoughtful, but then her expression shifted from confusion to something Mark couldn’t quite identify.

"Then... maybe your power is blocked somehow," Rose said finally. "If the previous reincarnated ones arrived with powers and you didn’t, that doesn’t mean you don’t have them. It means something is preventing them from manifesting."

Mark hadn’t thought about that, or well, he had, but very vaguely.

At some point during the first weeks after his arrival in this world he had wondered if there was something more he wasn’t seeing.

But he had never reached any concrete conclusion and had eventually stopped thinking about it.

"And if that’s the case..." Rose continued, "then the best thing would be to start looking for a way to restore your power."

"Easier said than done," Mark replied. "I have no idea where to even begin looking for something like that... I don’t even know if I actually have blocked powers or if I simply arrived with nothing."

"That’s what you have me for, or well, all of us," Rose said with a smile.

"...Thanks."

"And one more thing, I think when we get to your dungeon, you should tell the others about this."

Mark stayed quiet, considering Rose’s words, trying to think of reasons why that was a bad idea, but in the end he couldn’t find any.

’Rose is right,’ Mark thought. ’There’s no reason to keep hiding this from them.’

"You’re right," Mark said finally. "I’ll tell everyone when we get there."

"Obviously I’m right," Rose said, winking at him. "I’m always right."

Mark let out a short laugh and shook his head at the vampire’s words.

Rose widened her smile, then glanced back to look at Alice, who was following them from a distance.

The nun was walking several meters behind them, covering the rear as Mark had asked.

From that distance she couldn’t hear what Mark and Rose were talking about, but she could see perfectly well how Rose was pressed against her lord’s arm.

And she could see the laugh Mark let out while talking with the vampire.

"Why is my lord so attached to her?" Alice murmured quietly. "And why are they laughing so much? What’s so funny?"

Alice unconsciously quickened her pace, closing the distance between herself and the pair walking ahead, before realizing what she was doing and forcing herself to slow back down.

"...That should be me, not her," Alice said through clenched fists as she watched Rose walk cheerfully alongside Mark.