The misadventures of the necromancer

Waking with the sun already shining in the sky, he couldn’t help contemplating the lovely mess he’d gotten himself into. The only thing that still gave him any joy was imagining the toad that old hag from yesterday must have swallowed when she got home and spoke with those juvenile delinquents from whom he had saved the first girl—the one called Sena.

Because talking with them, she must have learned that he could withstand blades and turn invisible. Between that and what she had seen in person, well…

He could guess that for the next few days, their little clan wouldn’t come near this place even at gunpoint. Meaning he might still get some rest.

A lovely, appealing idea—immediately shattered by the baby’s cries. Which, of course, reminded him of last night’s conversation, after all the embarrassed thanks and awkward introductions.

In the end, they had come to discussing what to do with these new burdens he’d acquired: two girls and a baby. True, the girls might have local knowledge that could be useful, but at least geographically, he didn’t feel he needed their help.

And that led to the big problem—the child, for whom nobody here, neither he nor the girls, had any supplies. The child was little, so he still needed milk.

The only source would be the clan the girls had just abandoned—and who wanted the child dead. So even if they provided milk, they’d have to be insane to believe it wouldn’t be poisoned or something like that.

Another option was to return to the village they had passed through on the way here. The small problem was that it was practically a week away, especially considering they would be carrying the child, which would slow them down. And he seriously doubted the baby would survive that long without proper food.

Not to mention that for him, it would mean doubling back and wasting who knows how much time wandering around, just to get milk. From a place where he hadn't made many friends.

They even began considering whether they should give the child a little potion, though remembering that potions consumed in excess are toxic, which would be a huge risk. But it might be the only way to keep the child alive long enough, but for now, that option was shelved.

Thankfully, one of the girls then suggested visiting another clan not far away—two days at most—since they should have food for the child.

That immediately cheered him up, as he could dump this new mess he’d gotten himself into on someone else. And continue on his way without having to worry.

At the moment, the only annoyance was that he’d have to give up the ring, but it was always unlikely he’d find it again anyway.

The girls, especially Sena, seemed a bit wary of his delight. But that didn’t matter, and they went to sleep—or tried to, since a hungry baby doesn’t allow peaceful nights.

But that brought them to this lovely morning. In which he had planned to grab a quick meal and leave immediately for the clan that had good relations with Saca’s family.

Or at least that was the plan—until an unfamiliar female voice echoed through the camp.

“Sena! Sena!!”

Looking toward the noise, he saw the girl with the baby pacing around, clearly looking for someone. And glancing around himself, he had to admit he didn’t see the other girl’s figure either.

That made him rub his face in frustration, muttering to himself, “What new mess is this?”

With no real alternative, he went over to the group that had gathered and asked, “What the hell is going on here?”

A few moments of exchanged glances passed before Grumpy mustered the courage to answer him.

“Well… Nero… It’s like this. We don’t know where Sena is.” With no other way to respond, he simply nodded for him to continue.

“Well… that’s just it. When we woke up, she was already gone. So we have absolutely no idea where she might’ve gone.” Grumpy finished, bracing for the scolding he looked sure would follow.

Instead, he turned to the most reasonable source of explanations: the blonde, Saca. She seemed frightened by that, making the baby in her arms start crying again.

So he tried to stay calm, while thinking to himself, How did I end up here? And he asked the girl, as gently as he could, “Any idea what happened to your friend?”

After all, considering what Sena had gone through to keep her friend safe, it seemed extremely unlikely she hadn’t said something.

The girl kept muttering, “Easy… easy…”, while trying to calm the child, which—considering the tears forming in her own eyes—was probably the opposite of how she felt.

Which left him unsure what to do. It’s not like he could yell or say something smartassed to a girl whose husband’s family had just wiped out her own.

So he had to simply watch her, which only seemed to make her more nervous, as she tried to soothe her brother. Eventually, she (yes, she, not the baby) seemed a bit more in control and finally answered:

“I’m sorry, my Lord, I don’t know where she went. She only said we needed to prove our worth and left… I thought she was going to prepare breakfast or something.”

An answer that only made him more worried, as it sounded like a prelude to new problems and complications—but didn’t clarify at all where the girl had gone. The only option that came to mind was to ask his only halfway competent companion if it knew anything.

“Any idea where she went?” And, unsurprisingly, the mule turned in a direction.

Which made sense—the undead mule that had served as sentry during the night must have seen where the girl had gone.

And seeing that she seemed to have gone toward the lake, the only idea he had was to go there. Which he did with a small procession behind him, as everyone else followed. For a moment, he even considered sending someone back to the camp. But he doubted there was any risk they needed to guard the camp against, and anyone sent back would hardly do anything useful while the situation was unresolved.

But, not wanting to tempt fate, he ended up summoning a new skeleton and ordered it to guard the camp before continuing to the lake—hoping that the girl had simply gone to try to catch something for a good breakfast.

So they followed the path they had come to know quite well over the past few days, considering all the attempts he had made to see if the ring was still in the lake. As such, they quickly found themselves at the lake’s shore.

Sadly, from there, they had no idea where to go next, since the girl could have gone either right or left, and no one here was a scout.

Just as he was about to decide that they should split up, the mule once again proved to be his most useful asset, indicating something near the shore.

Up close, it was easy—especially for the other girl—to identify Sena’s shoes and some of her clothes. All perfectly folded and arranged. Which unsettled him, because he remembered that being a common trait of people who had decided to end their lives.

Considering the torment she had just gone through—watching everything she had fought for, including her husband, collapse—it wouldn’t be all that surprising of a conclusion.

Sad and unpleasant, but not surprising.

Saca began shouting again, “Sena! Sena!” and the boys imitated her as if they expected the girl to magically appear out of thin air. Meanwhile, he himself couldn’t find the courage to say anything—he simply let them shout while the baby’s crying added to the chorus.

But suddenly Saca pointed at the water, jumping and shouting, “Sena!”

This time, though, she clearly wasn’t calling out for her. She was pointing at someone swimming in the lake.

Which led him to understand that the girl, for some stupid reason, had simply decided to take a bath in the lake. Something that, remembering the times he’d tried to throw himself into the freezing water to look for the damned ring, left him impressed by the sheer idiocy of such an idea.

But for someone who lived here, it might well be fun and pleasant. And the girl’s face as she approached certainly looked happy enough.

When she began stepping out of the water, her pleasant figure was hard not to notice. That, and the fact that she was slightly shivering.

When her friend—now smiling, the child in her arms having stopped crying from excitement—approached to hug her, Sena lifted an arm and said, “I’m all wet.”

But that didn’t stop her from walking toward him and, revealing something in her hand, announcing, “I heard you were looking for this!”

In her hand was a ring that looked like copper.

And with that, he understood—she must have overheard the boys talking about how he had been searching for a ring. And to prove her worth, she’d gone looking for it.

At that moment, he felt like shouting in her face, “Idiot! You risked your life for this?” But fortunately, he controlled himself, though he couldn’t help noting that this was not the ring he was looking for.

In fact, though the ring was useful and valuable, what he really cared about was whether the ring was there or not. Because if it were there, it would be conclusive proof that Nero had never taken it—meaning that the world he had experienced in the game and this world were not the same, just as the previous adventure in the Temple of Divine Trials seemed to suggest.

Not that any of that mattered in the face of the girl’s bright smile over a simple copper ring that could never possibly hold the magic of the Grand Mage’s ring he sought.

Her need to search for the ring raised another, more critical question.

“What do you want, girl?” he asked her.

That immediately wiped the joy from her face as she pondered how to answer.

“Well… I mean… My Lord…”

Just hearing that last part nearly made his eyes roll. Instead, he just stared at her, waiting to see where she was going with this.

With a mixture of bravery and fear in her voice, she finally said, “Don’t leave us with the Vey.”

He recalled that that was the name of the clan friendly to Saca’s family, the same one that supposedly had food for the child.

“They'll never fully accept us. And the moment you leave, they might even sell us to the Clue,” she explained—an entirely reasonable concern.

Which left him in the same mess as before. And so, staring into the distance, he calmly asked her:

“Ever heard of Inverten?”

The girl shook her head to say no.

“It was the biggest city in this region, and it’s in that direction,” he said, pointing in the direction he had been looking. Deciding that it was best to deal with the immediate problems first and then figure out what to do with these new burdens.

“I’ve never heard that name,” she said, clearly confused.

“Well, you’ll get to know the place. Because that’s where I’m going after getting food for the kid. So stop wasting time. Let’s go.”

And with that, he turned to head back to the camp—since, after all, he might as well continue with his original plans.

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