At the very least, my desperate explanation succeeded in clearing up Rachel's misunderstanding.
"I see, so that was the situation... I didn't realize you were using blood as a metaphor. Since I don't possess blood myself, the thought didn't even occur to me."
"Oh, that's right. You're a Living Doll, aren't you, Rachel? Does that mean a dead person's soul inhabited a doll?"
"Indeed, there are cases like that. In fact, a Living Doll born from such circumstances is considered the standard form. In my case, however, I am what you might call 'cultivated'... My husband manufactured this body himself."
"I've heard of that before," Noah added, nodding as she joined the conversation. "Necromancers can transmute their own magic power to create a pseudo-soul, which they then use to animate undead soldiers."
I didn't actually know much about the Undead category of demons. Among my acquaintances, Zex and Isis were supposedly part of that group, but even if they were categorized together, Isis and Zex felt fundamentally different in nature.
"That is correct," Rachel explained. "While we are all grouped together as Undead-type demons, our ecologies are quite diverse. This may be a redundant explanation for you, Miyama-sama, given your proficiency with Sympathy Magic, but magic power carries emotion. Negative emotions in particular manifest strongly, and there are times when a grudge binds a soul to this world. Of course, a soul that lacks the strength to achieve self-resurrection cannot naturally transmute into something else on its own. However, curiously, these negative souls tend to attract their own kind. It is said that Undead demons are born when multiple souls saturated with negative magic power coalesce. It is common for them to inhabit a physical medium during that process; since they easily latch onto forms close to what they were in life, dolls are a staple choice."
"If you say they 'easily' inhabit them, does that mean they don't necessarily have to be in something humanoid?"
"Precisely. They might inhabit plants and become known as Living Trees, or they might not take a physical form at all, settling into a magic power body—a shape like a ghost. However, though she is said to belong to the Undead, the Death King is quite unique. In her case, she is less of a ghost and more the incarnation of the very concept of death. Ecologically, she is closer to the Spirit Race; it might be most accurate to describe her as a Spirit of Death."
That made a lot of sense when I thought about it. As I'd felt earlier, Isis had a different aura about her than Zex or Rachel. Describing her as a Spirit of the concept of death certainly felt right.
In reality, since she was an existence centered on the soul of the Great Evil God of Despair, she was likely closer to a god than a spirit. However, Rachel had no way of knowing those circumstances, so it was only natural for her to perceive Isis as a spirit.
"Returning to my own story," Rachel continued, "necromancers—including my husband—utilize those souls and negative magic power. That said, convenient souls aren't always just lying around when you need them. Therefore, they fundamentally transmute their own magic power to create pseudo-souls, which are then used to produce Undead Soldiers. Since I was created through that process, I suppose I am closer to a magic doll or a golem."
"I see. Still, that's incredible. Creating pseudo-souls of the dead..."
"I didn't have any necromancer acquaintances, so I don't know the specifics," Noah supplemented, "but they use extremely complex and difficult magic formulas, and the consumption of magic power is massive. I believe the actual number of necromancers is very small to begin with."
I nodded along with Noah's explanation. The only necromancers I knew were Zex and Rasal, and both were top-class individuals even among the Count-class. If Noah, who had met all sorts of powerful people during her time as an adventurer, didn't know any, then necromancy must truly be a difficult branch of magic.
"I've only heard bits and pieces from my husband, but I heard that Rasal Marfik, who joined the Death King's faction, was researching a way to circulate negative magic power in a special way," Rachel noted. "Specifically, a method of generating ten units of negative magic power from a single unit. If perfected, it would be a terrifying technique that could theoretically produce an infinite army of Undead Soldiers. After years of research, Rasal-dono apparently completed it. My husband praised her, saying, 'The undisputed pinnacle of necromancy is Rasal-dono.'"
Come to think of it, even during the Maid Olympia After-party, Zex had consistently stated that the best necromancer in the Demon Realm was Rasal. For someone like Zex, the Great Sage of the Undead, to so honestly admit defeat, Rasal's skill must be truly peerless.
Regardless, listening to these kinds of stories was fascinating. In a sense, this was the true highlight of a party filled with such a diverse group of people.
Serious-senpai: "My first impression of her was just a cocky necromancer who’d been put in her place because of that 'first-move dogeza,' but as the story moves along, her sheer competence keeps coming to light. Out of everyone under the Death King, she might be the one acting most like a proper subordinate—an incredibly capable one at that."