The misadventures of the necromancer

Sena can see Nero and Adar approaching them, her heart still pounding from everything they have just witnessed.

From discovering that this group belonged to Eran, one of the Five, and that they were looking for Nero, to the beginning of that little battle, when for a moment it really seemed to her that Nero was going to lose.

But in the end, he had simply summoned a few more skeletons, which he probably should have done from the beginning instead of rolling around on the ground. After knocking a few people down, the remaining people wisely surrendered when the skeletons began surrounding them.

Nero then insisted that they stay back while Adar helped him make sure everyone was properly restrained.

That had led to a brief conversation between Nero and Eran, which she wished she could have heard. Just so she could say that she had been there while two mages like them talked.

But even with the fight over, she still feels uneasy. And judging by the tense way Saca is carrying herself, she is clearly not the only one. Even Delmic, despite remaining silent, has a slight expression on his little face. As if he himself understands that this isn't over yet.

When they are close enough to hear her, she exclaims, “Well. You managed to beat them, Nero.” She exclaims, trying to remain optimistic.

Nero merely nods, while exchanging hesitant looks with Adar. Which certainly can't be a good sign.

Delmic stretches toward Nero as if he wants the necromancer to pick him up.

But Saca is the one who finally breaks the strange atmosphere by asking directly, “So what do we do now?”

“Well...” Adar begins hesitantly, and it is obvious that he is thinking very carefully about his next words.

“You go into the city and report what you just witnessed,” Nero says abruptly.

“Report what just happened!?” Sena repeats incredulously at what she has heard. She had assumed they would prefer to find some way of hiding this.

Nero nods and continues. “Yes, you will give them some details, but not too much.”

What sounds like a contradiction to her.

“Yes, yes. Don't be too specific... After all, it's better if you don't embarrass him too much,” Adar adds, making her suspect that he is referring to Eran, who has just been defeated by Nero.

“And what are you going to do?” Saca asks again, making a good point. Since what Nero just said only concerned the two of them. But not Adar and Nero themselves. Although she would love to have more details about what they are actually planning.

“We...” Adar hesitates again.

Only for Nero to complete it once more. “We're leaving.”

That sounds strange to Sena, prompting the question, “Leaving? Leaving for where?”

“Leaving this city. It's not as if we can stay here after this fiasco!” His voice is calm, but she can see how dissatisfied he is about it. She understands, since now they will have to abandon the city. Where their lives had been much simpler than before, on the road.

“But what about us?” Saca suddenly asks, strangely enough. Naturally, they'll have to leave too.

“Of course you two are staying here,” Nero replies.

This results in her “What?”

“I, Grumpy here, Blondie, and of course the mule are leaving,” he begins calmly, pointing at himself and Adar with a finger. Before pointing toward her and continuing. “You and Saca are staying in this city.”

For a moment, she doesn't know what to say while he continues speaking.

“See if you can stay in the house we bought. If that doesn't work, sell it and move into the city itself...”

Here he turns toward Adar and comments, “They're going to need some money.”

Adar nods and says, “Yes... I'll leave some in the house later. Remember that loose floorboard we found in the kitchen?”

“No!!” he finally finds the strength to say something. “No, we can't separate!”

“Sena...” Nero begins, giving her a calm smile, as if explaining something to a child.

“You're forgetting something.” And with a slightly sad look, he glances at Saca. She herself has a lost expression as she looks at her brother in her arms.

At that same moment, Delmic continues stretching his arms, this time toward Adar, who is also wearing a sad smile.

And she understands!

The baby still depends on milk. Even last night had been tense because they didn't have much to give him. And he hadn't reacted all that well to the goat's milk they had kept for situations like yesterday's.

Even so, she has to try. “But we managed to come here, maybe...”

But she has to fall silent when Saca's heavy gaze forces her to. Her brother's life is at stake, after all. That, and Nero's shake of the head.

“That was already a risk. And besides, we have to consider the state of our health restoration potion reserves...” She knows they have fewer and fewer of them, and after this turn of events, buying more won't be easy.

“No. Trying to take him with us would be a risk I'd take if I literally had no other option,” he finishes.

“So we're staying here alone!?” She feels bitter simply saying the words.

But he just looks at her.

“Alone!?”

Looking between them, he once again gives them a small smile.

“Have you forgotten who we were supposed to meet today?”

Esther and the... “No!!!”

Nero merely nods, while she remembers the two men who had tried to kill him.

“Apparently they're going to be useful sooner than I expected,” the necromancer comments.

“Can we trust them?” Saca asks, but Sena only needs to remember how formal and respectful they had been when approaching her to speak with him.

“Considering everything they witnessed, plus the news of what just happened... At the very least, they'll be extremely cautious about messing with me,” he replies with a shrug.

And yes, Sena agrees with him regarding the assassins, but...

“And the rest of the city?”

“The rest of the city will be informed by the two of you...” Nero begins.

“As Nero said, you go into the city and reveal that we were attacked by a group claiming to belong to Eran...” Adar begins explaining what they want them to do.

“Don't give too many details. Just tell them what you saw, and that we sent you into the city to report the attack.”

“But how does that make sense? We're simply going to say that one of the Five attacked us.” She has to object.

Adar smiles and continues. “Instead, say that someone claiming to be the Bane of Mages attacked us. Nobody here has any reason to believe that. Especially not you two, if we told you otherwise. Right?”

An interesting point and possibility, which leads her to a question. “Can they be...”

“Maybe, but it's unlikely. The problem is that they know about the mule. Everything else is irrelevant.” Nero immediately destroys her hope that Eran might not be Eran and that all this might not be necessary.

“And that's the point you two need to avoid. The mule!” Adar continues, this time with a nod from Nero.

“The mule is the only evidence of necromancy. If you maintain your ignorance about it, nobody can say otherwise.”

“But will they believe us?” Saca asks, revealing some anxiety. Because that is the real problem for them.

“Why wouldn't they? Just stick to the same story you told them yesterday...” Adar declares, trying to reassure them. “You told us yourselves that you avoided most of the council's questions by claiming that you'd only known us for a short time and therefore knew very little.”

“It's the same thing,” Nero adds.

“When it comes to the mule, you never go near it. We always kept you away from it. Simple!” After hearing Adar, Sena looks at Saca, and the two of them nod.

“The most important thing for now is to deal with whatever questions you will get at the city entrance as quickly as possible. So you can go to the inn where you work, Sena,” Nero begins, explaining the next part.

“There you'll contact those two as discreetly as possible. Don’t let anyone realize that you know each other!”

“But they were with you when you arrived at the orphanage,” Saca interrupts, remembering an important point.

“And with all the confusion, how many people are going to remember that? What matters is that our connection takes as long as possible to be discovered,” he replies.

“Let’s only worry about that if and when it happens. The two assassins should be good at keeping a low profile,” Adar adds.

“But, as I was saying. Talk to them and inform them that your safety is now their responsibility...” Sena can’t even imagine how they will react to that. Yes, it is true that they should obey Nero. But what will happen when the necromancer isn’t around?

“Also tell them that I want to speak with one of them...” This catches her attention, and he turns toward Adar.

“You mentioned an inn not too far away.”

“Yes, yes. It’s an inn about a day’s journey east.”

Nero listens to Adar and nods.

“All right. Then tell them I want to see one of them at that inn in two days.”

Hearing this, Sena can’t help but feel a smile growing on her face.

“Then you’re not leaving.”

That could mean he perhaps only wants to create the impression that they are leaving.

He, in turn, looks at her expressionlessly before announcing, “Of course we’re leaving. But we have things to arrange first...” He shakes his head in frustration and adds, “You don’t seriously think I’m going to leave you without alternatives and at least some measure of security. Do you?”

Despite the destruction of the little hope she had, she can’t help but appreciate his concern for them. And before she can say anything that might reflect that, he speaks again.

“I think that’s everything. Or can you think of anything else, Grumpy?”

Adar shakes his head. “Not that I can remember, but we’re doing this in a hurry.”

“I know. But in that case... you can go.”

And with that, he begins sending them away.

“Nero, Adar, I don’t know...” Saca begins, clearly trying to thank them as they part.

But Nero raises a hand, silencing them.

“Don’t say anything else. But remember, you don’t know that we’re leaving. When you find out, you’re going to be very shocked and sad.”

With that, she understands that he wants to avoid any scene that might reveal their complicity.

As she begins to walk away, her eyes fall upon the group of prisoners watching them she as to ask, “And them?” She can’t help feeling that these people are responsible for the latest destruction of her life.

Nero looks at the group and shrugs.

“And them, what? I’m not going to kill them.”

Then he looks back at them and adds, “Beating them was already a headache. Massacring them would only create even more problems. It would guarantee that we’d be hunted by an army.” He lets out a bitter sigh. “Maybe with them alive, things won’t become quite that extreme.”

“Go on, go. There’s no point wasting any more time,” he encourages them again to leave.

Adar, on his part, gives them a small wave goodbye.

And so, they leave, returning to the path they had been following before encountering Eran and his men.

They walk along, occasionally glancing at the two boys behind. But what keeps running through her mind is the image of an unharmed hand gripping the blade of a sword.

The sword that had been about to end her life.

And the exact moment when she had first encountered this strange necromancer.

When she looks at Saca, her brother in her arms, she can’t help but smile.

The three of them are alive now only because a group of necromancers protected them when no one else did.

A group of necromancers who never asked for anything in return, not even thanks.

Only for a group of “heroes” to force them to leave.

What a joke!!!

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